Terms of Use If you have any questions or concerns about these Terms of Use please don't hesitate to contact us at info@storycenter.org. Thank you! USER OBLIGATION If you are seeking to upload material to this site or to engage in any activities within the site other than passively viewing site content, you must register and become a site member. As part of the registration process, you will be asked to ACCEPT these Terms of Use. On doing so, you will be deemed to have consented to and you will be bound by these Terms of Use. Visitors to the site merely wishing to view content do not need to register and become members. However, any use of this site (which includes but is not limited to simply viewing the site's content) constitutes your acknowledgement and acceptance of these Terms of Use, which takes effect the moment you first use the site. The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) reserves the right at any time to change the terms, conditions and notices under which its services are offered, including but not limited to these Terms of Use, by posting such changes online. It is your responsibility to refer to and comply with these updated terms and conditions upon accessing the site. Your continued use of this site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions as modified. If these Terms of Use are not accepted in full, you do not have permission to access the contents of this site or to upload content to this site and you should cease using this site immediately. If there is any conflict between these Terms of Use and rules and/or specific terms of use appearing on this site relating to specific material, then the latter shall prevail. ABILITY TO ACCEPT TERMS OF SERVICE You affirm that you are either more than 17 years of age or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties set forth in these Terms of Use, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Use. You must be 17 years or over or possess legal parental or guardian consent to register as a member of this website. If we discover or have any reason to suspect that you have not reached 17 years of age or that you do not have legal parental or guardian consent, then we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your membership to this site immediately and without notice. Children and young people under 17 are entitled to access this site to view its content but are not presently able to register as members and actively participate ‹ i.e., upload content. PASSWORD, SCREEN NAME AND SECURITY When you register as a member of CDS, you will be asked to select a Screen Name and we will provide you with a Password which you are then free to change to your own original Password. Your Screen Name and Password allow you to access your account and, as we continue to enhance the site, log on to areas of the site that are reserved for members only. You accept that it is your sole responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your Password and Screen Name and that you are responsible for all activity that occurs under them. CDS is unable to check the identity of people using the site and will not in any way be liable where your Password or Screen Name are used by someone else. You agree to notify CDS immediately of any unauthorized use of your Password or Screen Name and any other breach of security as soon as you become aware of it. Any private information and/or data relating to your membership to CDS or your uploaded content that you are asked to supply or that you supply voluntarily as part of the registration process and as part of the upload/download process, will only be used by CDS our subcontractors, employees, agents and advisors, including legal advisors, as part of the process of administering your membership and when making decisions whether any material you seek to upload onto the site should be accepted or rejected. In addition, we may, at our sole discretion, disclose this information to the police, regulatory bodies or any legal advisers in connection with any suspected or alleged criminal activity or offense or suspected breach of these Terms of Use, including but not limited to any claim of infringement by you, or otherwise where required by law. Otherwise, this information will be kept private and confidential and will not be passed on to third parties without your express consent. HOLD HARMLESS AND INDEMNIFICATION You agree to hold harmless and indemnify CDS, its employees, agents, representatives and third-party content, distribution, advertising or other strategic partners from and against any third-party claim arising from or in any way related to your use of the storycircles.org site, including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys fees, of every kind and nature. If CDS receives notice of such a claim from someone other than the member whose use of the site is in question, CDS will provide that member with written notice of such claim, suit or action, at the email address provided by that member at the time of registration. GRANT OF LICENSE When you upload or post content to storycircles.org and set your setting to public, that content becomes public content and will be searchable by and available to anyone who visits the storycircles.org site. CDS does not claim ownership of the materials you post, upload, input or submit to the storycircles.org site. Content that you upload and set to public on storycircles.org will generally be available to the public in RSS feeds designed to allow for the automatic syndication of content throughout the Web ‹ storycircles.org is an open platform and designed for the free exchange of content and ideas. To the extent reasonable and possible, CDS will give you control over distribution of your content to third-party Web sites, devices and platforms. CDS respects the fact that your content is yours, and will not sell advertising on your content or sell your content without your permission. You may remove content you have posted on storycircles.org at any time. When you delete content from storycircles.org, such deleted content, while not available to the viewing public and other storycircles.org users, will remain on the storycircles.org server until such time as you make a specific request to storycircles.org for permanent deletion of such content from the storycircles.org server. Such requests must be made in writing, via email, to storycircles.org customer service at the following address: info@storycenter.org. When you do remove your content, the license described above will automatically expire. We cannot guarantee that content deleted from storycircles.org or permanently deleted from our servers will be deleted from the Web sites or systems of third parties. If you would like your content removed and/or permanently deleted from any Web sites other than storycircles.org, you will be required to contact such Web sites directly, and we cannot guarantee any outcome, action or result with respect to any such request by you. COPYRIGHT AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The content on the storycircles.org site, including without limitation, the text, software, graphics, photos, and videos, is subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under United States Copyright Act and trademark laws, foreign laws, and international conventions. CDS reserves all rights not expressly granted in and to the website and said content. Other than as expressly permitted, you may not engage in the unauthorized use, copying, or distribution of any of said content. All copyright, trademarks, service marks and other intellectual property rights in this site (including the design, arrangement, and look and feel) and all material or content supplied as part of the site, other than user-generated content, shall remain at all times the property of storycircles.org, its affiliates, associated companies, and/or licensors. The names, images and logos identifying storycircles.org are proprietary marks of CDS. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right under any trademark or service mark of CDS, or any third party unless expressly stated otherwise. You shall be solely responsible for your own content and the consequences of posting or publishing said content. In connection with all content that you upload to storycircles.org, you affirm, represent and/or warrant that: (i) you own, or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize CDS to use, all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to said content, including without limitation any musical recordings contained therein; and (ii) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in any uploaded video to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person in the manner contemplated by the website and these Terms of Use. As a creator of content uploaded to storycircles.org or as a passive user of the storycircles.org site, you may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or in any way exploit any of the content on the storycircles.org site in whole or in part outside of the specific usage rights granted to you by each license. If you download or print a copy of any storycircles.org content for personal use, you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein. You may not otherwise use, reproduce, display, publicly perform, or distribute such content in any way for any public or commercial purpose unless such use is expressly granted by a particular license. If you believe that any of your intellectual property rights have been violated (e.g., your copyright or trademark infringed) by material available on the storycircles.org, you will need to provide, at a minimum, the following information immediately: The nature of your complaint and an exact description of where the material about which you complain is located within the site; In the case of a copyright/trademark dispute, identification of the copyrighted/trademarked work that you claim has been infringed and a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright/trademark owner, its agent, or the law; Your name, address, telephone number, and email address; A statement by you that the above information is accurate and, in the case of a copyright/trademark dispute, that you are the owner of the copyright/trademark involved or are authorized to act on behalf of that owner; and your electronic or physical signature. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. For directions and more information on our copyright policy and procedure for reporting alleged copyright infringement, please click here. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. PRIVACY CDS and storycircles.org respects the privacy of its users. Everyone always says these things in these documents, but we really mean it. CDS/storycircles.org will not share personally identifiable information about you with any third-party except as required by law. PROHIBITED CONTENT Our goal is to promote the free-flowing exchange of expression relating to members interests, activities and hobbies while maintaining high standards of respect and decency. In order to attain this goal, and in addition to the other content and/or action restrictions set forth in these Terms of Use and elsewhere on the storycircles.org website, the following content is prohibited on storycircles.org: Content involving nudity, including but not limited to, nudity or partial nudity of children of any age. Content that exploits children or minors or that discloses any personally identifying information beyond a first name about persons under the age of 18. Content that disseminates personal information about another individual for malevolent purposes, including libel, slander, defamation or harassment. Content that has as its sole or primary purpose to advertise a particular product or service that, in the sole judgment of CDS, does not otherwise have redeeming value to the community. Content that is or may be deemed to be grossly offensive to the online community, including but not limited to, blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred and profanity. Content promoting or providing instructional information about illegal activities. Content depicting cruelty to animals. Copyrighted content or material that is used without the express permission of the owner. Content intended to abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights of others (such as the rights of privacy and publicity). Content that contains software or other material protected by intellectual property laws unless you own or control the rights thereto or have secured all necessary consents and/or licenses. Content or other material that contains viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of CDS servers or another users computer. Content that violates any applicable laws or regulations not specifically referenced herein. As a condition of your use of the storycircles.org site, you warrant that you will not use the services offered on the site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. You may not use the storycircles.org site in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the storycircles.org site or interfere with any other parties use and enjoyment of the storycircles.org site. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information, including but not limited to, software and other storycircles.org proprietary materials, through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the storycircles.org site. CDS has no obligation to monitor the content which has been uploaded to the Web site for compliance with the foregoing. However,CDS reserves the right to review materials uploaded to storycircles.org and to remove any materials in its sole discretion for any reason or no reason, at any time, with or without notice to you. storycircles.org reserves the right to terminate your access to any or all of the services offered by storycircles.org at any time without notice for any reason whatsoever. CDS does not control or endorse the content, messages or information found in any user-generated content or uploaded material and, therefore, CDS specifically disclaims any liability with regard to such user-generated content or uploaded material and any actions resulting from such user-generated content or uploaded material. You agree to use the services provided by CDS only for their intended, lawful purposes and in accordance with all applicable laws. You agree not to use CDS in any manner that interferes with its normal operation or with any other users use and enjoyment thereof. You further agree that you will not access, or cause others to access, storycircles.org through an interface or in a manner that would interfere with the storycircles.org-hosted content or the honoring of copyright licenses attached to storycircles.org-hosted content. You also agree that you will not access storycircles.org from any territory where its contents are illegal. CDS does not endorse any user-generated content or any opinion, recommendation or advice expressed therein, and CDS expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with user-generated content. If notified by a user or a third party of uploaded material that allegedly does not conform to these Terms of Use, CDS may investigate the allegation and determine in good faith and in its sole discretion whether to remove the user-generated content. THIRD PARTY SITES/LINKS TO Storycircles.org storycircles.org may contain links to other websites (Linked Sites). The Linked Sites are not under the control of CDS and CDS is not responsible for the contents of any Linked Site, including without limitation, any link contained in a Linked Site, or any changes or updates to a Linked Site. CDS is not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any Linked Site. CDS is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by CDS or any association with its operators. If you decide to visit any Linked Site, you do so at your own risk and it is your responsibility to take all protective measures to guard against viruses or other destructive elements. CDS does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, services or information on, or available from, third party websites or material. CDS is not responsible for any damage, loss or offense caused by, or in connection with, any content, advertising, products, services or information available on such websites or material. Any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings are solely between you and the relevant provider of the service. CDS does not claim any legal authorization to use any trademark, trade name, logo or copyright symbol displayed in or accessible through a Linked Site. CDS disclaims all liability for any legal or other consequences (including claims for infringement of third party rights) of links made to this site on websites not affiliated with CDS. COMMERCIAL AGGREGATION You may not distribute, transmit, broadcast, commercially exploit or modify in any way material or content or permit or assist any third party in aggregating content found on the storycircles.org site for commercial use. You may aggregate, embed or "deep-link" content from storycircles.org to your own Web site, service or platform for non-commercial purposes. You must at all times respect the copyright licenses attached to content (i.e. Creative Commons licenses) while aggregating, embedding or deep-linking storycircles.org content. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER Please note that the information, software, products and services included in, or available through, the storycircles.org website are continually being updated and upgraded. CDS does not represent that they are reliable, accurate, complete, or otherwise valid. ACCORDINGLY, THE SITE IS PROVIDED AS IS WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND AND YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK. CDS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, WARRANTY OF SATISFACTORY PURPOSE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, COMPATIBILITY, SECURITY AND ACCURACY. Some states do not allow the exclusion of warranty, so the above exclusions may not apply to you. The information and other materials included on this site may contain inaccuracies and typographical errors. CDS does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information and materials or the reliability of any statement or other information displayed or distributed through the site (including, without limitation, the information provided through the use of any software or any user-generated content). You acknowledge that any reliance on any such statement or information shall be at your sole risk. CDS reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to correct any errors or omissions in any part of the site and to make changes to the site and to the materials, products, programs, services or prices described in the site at any time without notice. CDS does not warrant that the functions contained in this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs. CDS does not represent the full functionality, accuracy or reliability of any material. CDS may terminate, change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of this site, including the availability of any features of the site, at any time without notice or liability. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL CDS AND/OR ITS EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR AFFILIATES, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE storycircles.org WEBSITE, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE storycircles.org WEBSITE OR RELATED SERVICES, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS OBTAINED THROUGH THE storycircles.org WEBSITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE storycircles.org WEBSITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF CDS OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you. If you are dissatisfied with any portion of the storycircles.org website, or with any of these Terms of Use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the storycircles.org website and services provided therein. LAW AND JURISDICTION These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California. Disputes arising from these Terms of Use or your use of the storycircles.org website shall be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of California. Any cause of action you may have with respect to your use of this site must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises. CDS makes no representation that materials on this site are appropriate or available for use at other locations outside of the United States and access to them from territories where their contents are illegal is strictly prohibited. If you access this site from a location outside of the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws. MISCELLANEOUS If any of these Terms of Use or any other policies posted by CDS management on the storycircles.org website should be determined to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by reason of the law of any state or country in which these Terms of Use are intended to be effective, then to the extent permissible, such Term of Use or policy, or portion thereof, shall be severed and deleted from the remaining terms, conditions and policies, and the remaining terms, conditions and policies shall survive and continue to be binding and enforceable. The failure of CDS to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these terms and conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The section headings contained in these Terms of Use are included for convenience only, and shall not limit or otherwise affect these terms and conditions.