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Terms and Conditions
Last Updated: Oct. 11, 2024
Welcome, and thank you for your interest in The Center for Story & Witness. (“CSW,” “the Center,” “we,” or “us”) and our website at www.storyandwitness.org, along with our related websites and other services provided by us (collectively, the “Service”). These Terms of Service are a legally binding contract between you and the Center regarding your use of the Service.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS CAREFULLY:
BY CLICKING “SUBSCRIBE” OR BY OTHERWISE ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD, AND, AS A CONDITION TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY, THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING THE CENTER’S PRIVACY POLICY (TOGETHER, THESE “TERMS”). IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, OR DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS, THEN YOU DO NOT HAVE OUR PERMISSION TO USE THE SERVICE. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, AND THE CENTER’S PROVISION OF THE SERVICE TO YOU, CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE CENTER AND BY YOU TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS.
YOU AGREE TO RECEIVE TEXTS OR CALLS FROM OR ON BEHALF OF THE CENTER AT THE PHONE NUMBER YOU PROVIDE TO US. THESE TEXTS OR CALLS WILL INCLUDE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR SERVICES. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THESE TEXTS AND CALLS MAY BE CONSIDERED TELEMARKETING UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THEY MAY BE SENT USING AN AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE DIALING SYSTEM OR OTHER AUTOMATED TECHNOLOGY, AND YOUR CONSENT IS NOT A CONDITION OF ANY PURCHASE.
ARBITRATION NOTICE. Except for certain kinds of disputes described in Section 14, you agree that disputes arising under these Terms will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration, and BY ACCEPTING THESE TERMS, YOU AND THE CENTER ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY CLASS ACTION OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.
1. Center for Story & Witness Service Overview.
1.1 The Center for Story & Witness (formerly The Voices and Faces Project) cultivates and shares stories that bear witness to social injustice to change minds, hearts and public policy. We do so through our testimonial writing workshops; narrative advocacy trainings; performances, publications and programs; and our Teacher Training Institute & Fellows Program
1.2 The Center for Story & Witness is not a medical or health care service provider. All information and content, including text, graphics, images, videos, audio and other material, contained on or available through the Service is for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or recommendations of any kind. The Center makes no representation and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information or content contained on or available through the Service, and such information and content is subject to change without notice. All such information and content provided by The Center or in connection with any communications supported by The Center is intended to be for general information purposes only and is in no way intended to create a provider-patient relationship as defined by state or federal law. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through the Service with other sources and review all information regarding any medical condition or treatment with your physician. You should always seek the advice of your qualified health care professionals with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your individual needs and any medical conditions. NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE SERVICE. IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF OR ARE SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT OR EMERGENCY CARE, YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL OR CALL EMERGENCY SERVICES IMMEDIATELY. The Center does not recommend, endorse or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability of any specific practices, products, procedures, treatments, opinions, health care providers or other information that may be contained on the Service. THE CENTER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE NOR LIABLE FOR ANY ADVICE, COURSE OF TREATMENT, DIAGNOSIS OR ANY OTHER THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION, SERVICE OR PRODUCTS THAT YOU OBTAIN THROUGH THE SERVICE.
2. Eligibility. You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. By agreeing to these Terms, you represent and warrant to us that: (a) you are at least 13 years old; (b) you have not previously been suspended or removed from the Service; and (c) your registration and your use of the Service is in compliance with any and all applicable laws and regulations. If you are an entity, organization, or company, the individual accepting these Terms on your behalf represents and warrants that they have authority to bind you to these Terms and you agree to be bound by these Terms.
3. Licenses
3.1 Limited License. Subject to your complete and ongoing compliance with these Terms, The Center grants you, solely for your personal, non-commercial use, a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the Service.
3.2 License Restrictions. Except and solely to the extent such a restriction is impermissible under applicable law, you may not: (a) reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, or create derivative works of the Service; (b) make modifications to the Service; or (c) interfere with or circumvent any feature of the Service, including any security or access control mechanism. If you are prohibited under applicable law from using the Service, then you may not use it.
3.3 Feedback. We respect and appreciate the thoughts and comments from our users If you choose to provide input and suggestions regarding existing functionalities, problems with or proposed modifications or improvements to the Service (“Feedback”), then you hereby grant The Center an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free right and license to exploit the Feedback in any manner and for any purpose, including to improve the Service and create other products and services. We will have no obligation to provide you with attribution for any Feedback you provide to us.
4. Ownership; Proprietary Rights. The Service is owned and operated by The Center for Story & Witness. The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, data, computer code (including source code or object code), products, software, services, and all other elements of the Service provided by the Center (“Materials”) are protected by intellectual property and other laws. All Materials included in the Service are the property of the Center or its third-party licensors. Except as expressly authorized by the Center, you may not make use of the Materials. There are no implied licenses in these Terms and the Center reserves all rights to the Materials not granted expressly in these Terms.
5. Third-Party Terms
5.1 Third-Party Services and Linked Websites. The Center may provide tools through the Service that enable you to export information, to third-party services, including through features that allow you to link your account on the Service with an account on the third-party service, such as X or Instagram, or through our implementation of third-party buttons (such as “like” or “share” buttons). By using one of these tools, you hereby authorize the Center to transfer that information to the applicable third-party service. Third-party services are not under the Center’s control, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Center is not responsible for any third-party service’s use of your exported information. The Service may also contain links to third-party websites. Linked websites are not under the Center’s control, and the Center is not responsible for their content. Please be sure to review the terms of use and privacy policy of any third-party services before you share any information with such third-party services. Once sharing occurs, the Center will have no control over the information that has been shared.
5.2 Third-Party Software. The Service may include or incorporate third-party software components that are generally available free of charge under licenses granting recipients broad rights to copy, modify, and distribute those components (“Third-Party Components”). Although the Service is provided to you subject to these Terms, nothing in these Terms prevents, restricts, or is intended to prevent or restrict you from obtaining Third-Party Components under the applicable third-party licenses or to limit your use of Third-Party Components under those third-party licenses.
6. Communications
6.1 Email. We may send you emails concerning our products and services, as well as those of third parties. You may opt out of promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions in the promotional email itself.
7. Prohibited Conduct. BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE NOT TO:
7.1 use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any local, state, national, or international law;
7.2 violate, encourage others to violate, or provide instructions on how to violate, any right of a third party, including by infringing or misappropriating any third-party intellectual property right;
7.3 access, search, or otherwise use any portion of the Service through the use of any engine, software, tool, agent, device, or mechanism (including spiders, robots, crawlers, and data mining tools) other than the software or search agents provided by the Center;
7.4 interfere with security-related features of the Service, including by: (i) disabling or circumventing features that prevent or limit use, printing or copying of any content; or (ii) reverse engineering or otherwise attempting to discover the source code of any portion of the Service except to the extent that the activity is expressly permitted by applicable law;
7.5 interfere with the operation of the Service or any user’s enjoyment of the Service, including by: (i) uploading or otherwise disseminating any virus, adware, spyware, worm, or other malicious code; (ii) making any unsolicited offer or advertisement to another user of the Service; (iii) collecting personal information about another user or third party without consent; or (iv) interfering with or disrupting any network, equipment, or server connected to or used to provide the Service;
7.6 perform any fraudulent activity including impersonating any person or entity, claiming a false affiliation or identity, accessing any other Service account without permission, or falsifying your age;
7.7 sell or otherwise transfer the access granted under these Terms or any Materials (as defined in Section 5) or any right or ability to view, access, or use any Materials; or
7.8 attempt to do any of the acts described in this Section 8 or assist or permit any person in engaging in any of the acts described in this Section 8.
8. Modification of Terms. We may, from time to time, change these Terms. Please check these Terms periodically for changes. Revisions will be effective immediately except that, for existing users, material revisions will be effective 30 days after posting or notice to you of the revisions unless otherwise stated. We may require that you accept modified Terms in order to continue to use the Service. If you do not agree to the modified Terms, then you should discontinue your use of the Service. Except as expressly permitted in this Section 9, these Terms may be amended only by a written agreement signed by authorized representatives of the parties to these Terms.
9. Term, Termination, and Modification of the Service
9.1 Term. These Terms are effective beginning when you accept the Terms or first access or use the Service, and ending when terminated as described.
9.2 Termination. If you violate any provision of these Terms, then your authorization to access the Service and these Terms automatically terminate. In addition, the Center may, at its sole discretion, terminate these Terms or your account on the Service, or suspend or terminate your access to the Service, at any time for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, and without any liability to you arising from such termination. You may terminate your account and these Terms at any time by contacting customer service at info@storyandwitness.org.
9.3 Effect of Termination. Upon termination of these Terms: (a) your license rights will terminate and you must immediately cease all use of the Service; (b) you will no longer be authorized to access your account or the Service; and (c) Sections 4.3, 5, 10.3, 11, 12, and 13 will survive. If your account has been terminated for a breach of these Terms, then you are prohibited from creating a new account on the Service using a different name, email address or other forms of account verification.
9.4 Modification of the Service. The Center reserves the right to modify or discontinue all or any portion of the Service at any time (including by limiting or discontinuing certain features of the Service), temporarily or permanently, without notice to you. The Center will have no liability for any change to the Service, including any paid-for functionalities of the Service, or any suspension or termination of your access to or use of the Service.
10. Indemnity. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you are responsible for your use of the Service, and you will defend and indemnify the Center, its affiliates and their respective shareholders, directors, managers, members, officers, employees, consultants, and agents (together, “the Center Entities”) from and against every claim brought by a third party, and any related liability, damage, loss, and expense, including attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of or connected with: (1) your unauthorized use of, or misuse of, the Service; (2) your violation of any portion of these Terms, any representation, warranty, or agreement referenced in these Terms, or any applicable law or regulation; (3) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property right or publicity, confidentiality, other property, or privacy right; or (4) any dispute or issue between you and any third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you (without limiting your indemnification obligations with respect to that matter), and in that case, you agree to cooperate with our defense of those claims.
11. Disclaimers; No Warranties by the Center
11.1 THE SERVICE AND ALL MATERIALS AND CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ON AN “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. THE CENTER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE SERVICE AND ALL MATERIALS AND CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, INCLUDING: (a) ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT; AND (b) ANY WARRANTY ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE. THE CENTER DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE OR ANY PORTION OF THE SERVICE, OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT OFFERED THROUGH THE SERVICE, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR FREE OF ERRORS, VIRUSES, OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, AND THE CENTER DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY OF THOSE ISSUES WILL BE CORRECTED.
11.2 NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM THE SERVICE OR THE CENTER ENTITIES OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY REGARDING ANY OF THE CENTER’s ENTITIES OR THE SERVICE THAT IS NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE SERVICE AND YOUR DEALING WITH ANY OTHER SERVICE USER. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU USE ANY PORTION OF THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY (INCLUDING YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR MOBILE DEVICE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE) OR ANY LOSS OF DATA.
11.3 THE LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND DISCLAIMERS IN THIS SECTION 12 APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. The Center does not disclaim any warranty or other right that the Center is prohibited from disclaiming under applicable law.
12. Limitation of Liability
12.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL THE CENTER’S ENTITIES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSS) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF, OR YOUR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE, THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT ON THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT ANY CENTER ENTITY HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE.
13. Miscellaneous
13.1 General Terms. These Terms, including the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, are the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between you and the Center regarding your use of the Service. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms and all rights granted under these Terms, at any time without notice or consent. The failure to require performance of any provision will not affect our right to require performance at any other time after that, nor will a waiver by us of any breach or default of these Terms, or any provision of these Terms, be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. Use of Section headers in these Terms is for convenience only and will not have any impact on the interpretation of any provision. Throughout these Terms the use of the word “including” means “including but not limited to.” If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, then the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.
13.2 Governing Law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois without regard to conflict of law principles. You and the Center submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts and federal courts located within Illinois, for resolution of any lawsuit or court proceeding permitted under these Terms. We operate the Service from our offices in Illinois, and we make no representation that Materials included in the Service are appropriate or available for use in other locations.
13.3 Privacy Policy. Please read The Center for Story & Witness Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) carefully for information relating to our collection, use, storage, and disclosure of your personal information. The Center for Story & Witness Privacy Policy is incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.
13.4 Additional Terms. Your use of the Service is subject to all additional terms, policies, rules, or guidelines applicable to the Service or certain features of the Service that we may post on or link to from the Service (the “Additional Terms”). All Additional Terms are incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms.
13.5 Consent to Electronic Communications. By using the Service, you consent to receiving certain electronic communications from us as further described in our Privacy Policy. Please read our Privacy Policy to learn more about our electronic communications practices. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures, or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that those communications be in writing.
13.6 Contact Information. The Service is offered by The Center for Story & Witness, located at 303 E. Wacker Dr. Suite 2108, Chicago IL 60601. You may contact us by sending correspondence to that address or by emailing us at info@storyandwitness.org.
13.7 Notice to California Residents. If you are a California resident, then under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S-202, Sacramento, California 95834, or by telephone at +1-800-952-5210 in order to resolve a complaint regarding the Service or to receive further information regarding use of the Service.
13.8 No Support. We are under no obligation to provide support for the Service. In instances where we may offer support, the support will be subject to published policies.
13.9 International Use. The Service is intended for visitors located within the United States. We make no representation that the Service is appropriate or available for use outside of the United States. Access to the Service from countries or territories or by individuals where such access is illegal is prohibited.
