BY ACCESSING OR USING WWW. DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS.ORG (THE “WEBSITE”), YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS.
1.1. Acceptance; Authority. By registering for and/or using the Services in any manner, including but not limited to visiting or browsing the Website or App, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, or do not have all requisite authority and consent to be bound by the Terms (as further described below), you may not access or use the Website, App or Services in any way.
1.2. Types of Users. The Services are available to several different types of Users, who will have different types of accounts with different tools, functionalities and restrictions. For example, the Services may be accessed by educators and instructors (collectively, “Professors”) teaching a class (“Course”) in which the Services are a part of the curriculum, the students enrolled in such classes (“Students”) or by individuals working within an educational institution, such as a college or university (collectively “Schools”) who will use the Services to monitor the progress of Students across several Classes.
1.3. Eligibility. We may, in our sole discretion, refuse to offer the Services to any person or entity and change the eligibility criteria at any time. You are solely responsible for ensuring that these Terms are in compliance with all laws, rules and regulations applicable to you and the right to access the Services is revoked where these Terms or use of the Services is prohibited or to the extent offering, sale or provision of the Services conflicts with any applicable law, rule or regulation.
1.6. ARBITRATION. THESE TERMS REQUIRE THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR CLASS ACTIONS, AND ALSO LIMITS THE REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE. MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ARBITRATION IS INCLUDED BELOW.
2. Services.
2.1 Use of the Services. The Website, App and Services, and the information, data and content made available on the Website, App or Services (“Content”) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property and proprietary rights laws throughout the world. Subject to the Terms, Democracy & the News grants you a limited license to access, view, download, print or reproduce certain portions of the Services, as designated by Democracy & the News, for the sole purpose of using the Services for your (or your Students’ or School’s) educational, non-commercial purposes.
2.2. Restrictions. The rights granted to you in the Terms are subject to the following restrictions: (a) you shall not license, sell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, reproduce, distribute, host or otherwise commercially exploit the Website, App or Services; (b) you shall not use framing techniques to enclose any trademark or logo on the Website, App or Services; (c) you shall not modify, translate, adapt, merge, make derivative works of, disassemble, decompile, reverse compile or reverse engineer any part of the Website, App or Services except to the extent the foregoing restrictions are expressly prohibited by applicable statutory law; (d) you shall not use any manual or automated software, devices, or other processes (including but not limited to spiders, robots, scrapers, crawlers, avatars, data mining tools, or the like) to “scrape” or download data from any web pages contained in the Website, App or Services; (e) except as expressly stated herein, no part of the Website, App or Services may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, provided that you may reproduce or print certain Content made available through the Website, App or Services, as designated by Democracy & the News, on behalf of your Students who have existing Accounts; and (f) you shall not remove or destroy any copyright notices or other proprietary markings contained on or in the Website, App or Services. Any future release, update or other addition to the Website, App or Services shall be subject to the Terms. Democracy & the News, its licensors, suppliers and service providers reserve all rights not granted in the Terms. Any unauthorized use of the Website, App or Services terminates the licenses granted by Democracy & the News pursuant to the Terms.
3. Registration.
In order to access certain features of the Services, you must have a registered account for the Services (“Account”). Accounts are categorized as “Professor” and “Student.”
3.1. Responsibility. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your Account. You may not share your Account or password with anyone, and you agree to notify Democracy & the News immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. You agree not to create or access an Account using a false identity or any false or inaccurate information, or on behalf of someone other than yourself. You agree that you shall not have more than one Account at any given time. You agree not to create an Account or use the Services if you have been previously removed by Democracy & the News, or if you have been previously banned from any of the Services.
3.2. Individual Users. By accessing or using the Services in any way, you are representing that you have the authority and permission to enter into the Terms on your own behalf and to use the Services as contemplated hereunder, including without limitation any consent necessary to use the Services in connection with any Student with whom you use the Services.
3.3. Use By or on Behalf of an Entity. If you are using or accessing the Services on behalf of a School, you must also have the authority and permission to enter into the Terms on behalf of the School and to use the Services on such School’s behalf as contemplated hereunder, including without limitation any consent necessary to use the Services in connection with any particular Students. In such cases, the term “you” as used herein shall also refer to such School. Your School also be responsible for any activities, including any violation of the Terms, that occur under your Account and any Accounts created using your Account.
3.4. Changes in Eligibility. In the event that you are no longer (a) employed by your School (or another School through which you receive Services) or (b) otherwise authorized to view or use Student records, you (i) must notify Democracy & the News immediately of such change and (ii) are not permitted to continue to view or use your Account.
4. User Code of Conduct.
As a condition of use, you agree not to use the Services for any purpose that is prohibited by the Terms or by applicable law. Do not post, or permit others to post, Content on the Services or on your profile that (a) encourages illegal activities, is fraudulent or tortious or is unlawful; (b) insults, defames, harasses or threatens others; (c) violates the copyright or intellectual property or privacy rights of others; (d) contains obscene material; (e) harms or impersonates others; or (f) advertises or sells a product or service. Do not submit the work of others as your own work or otherwise attempt to cheat on assignments. Do not attempt or engage in any potentially harmful acts that are directed against the Services, including but not limited to violating or attempting to violate any security features of the Services, introducing viruses, worms, or similar harmful code into the Services or interfering or attempting to interfere with use of the Services by any other user, host or network, including by means of overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mail bombing” or “crashing” the Services.
5. User Content.
5.1. License to User Content. Except with respect to Data, which shall be governed by the license set forth in Section 5 of these Terms, by submitting, providing, uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available (“Make Available”) any Content to Democracy & the News, including on or through the Services, (such Content, your “User Content”), you grant to Democracy & the News a nonexclusive license to view, download, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, distribute and display such User Content in connection with the Services.
5.2. Responsibility. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users of the Services and any other parties with whom you interact through the Services. You agree that Democracy & the News will not be responsible for any liabilities incurred as the result of such interaction. You use all User Content and interact with other Users at your own risk.
5.3. No Obligation to Monitor Content. You acknowledge that Democracy & the News has no obligation to review, monitor or pre-screen Content on the Services, although Democracy & the News reserves the right in its sole discretion to review, monitory, pre-screen, refuse, modify, or remove any Content (a) that violates any law or regulation; (b) that violates these Terms; (c) that otherwise creates or may create liability for Democracy & the News; or (d) for any other reason Democracy & the News determines in its sole discretion. Except as expressly set forth in these Terms, Democracy & the News does not approve, endorse or make any representations or warranties with respect to User Content or Student Data.
5.4. Security. Democracy & the News cannot guarantee the security of any User Content. Except as expressly set forth herein or otherwise agreed to by Democracy & the News in writing, (a) Democracy & the News has no obligation to store any User Content and (b) Democracy & the News has no responsibility or liability for (i) the deletion or accuracy of any Content, including User Content, (ii) the failure to store, transmit or receive transmission of Content, including User Content, or (iii) the security, privacy, storage or transmission of other communications originating with or involving use of the Services.
6. Data.
6.1. General. “Data” includes all data that personally identifies a Professor, Student, School, or other user, such as name, address, username, and password, or any other non-public information about a user. Democracy & the News will only collect and use Data as necessary to fulfill its duties and provide and improve the Services.
6.2. Disclosure of Data by Schools, Professors, and Administrators using Democracy & the News are solely responsible for ensuring that you and your School are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations related to your disclosure of Data and other user information to Democracy & the News in connection with the Services, including, but not limited to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, for all Data provided to Democracy & the News, you represent and warrant, to the extent required by applicable law such as FERPA, that your School has (a) notified such Students’ parents or legal guardians of your use of third party services, including Democracy & the News, and the potential disclosure of Data in connection with such use and (b) obtained the appropriate consent(s) from the parents or legal guardians of such Students. If such Student is 18 years old or older, the notice and consent requirements of (a) and (b) shall apply to the Student instead of such Student’s parent or legal guardian.
6.3. License to Data. By making available any Data to Democracy & the News, including on or through the Services, you grant to Democracy & the News a nonexclusive license to view, download, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, distribute and display Data solely for the purposes of (a) providing the Services and (b) creating, using, and disclosing Data for product development, research, or other purposes.
6.4. School Requests. Democracy & the News may make Data available upon a verified request by the School, Professor, Student, Parent or Administrator who provided such Data or who would otherwise have verified authority to receive such Data.
6.5. Subcontractors. Democracy & the News may rely on one or more subcontractors to perform the Services.
7. Proprietary Rights.
Services. Democracy & the News’s name and other related logos, service marks and trade names used on or in connection with the Services are the trademarks and intellectual property of Democracy & the News and may not be used without Democracy & the News’s permission. Other trademarks, service marks and trade names that may appear on or in the Services are the property of their respective owners.
8. Third-Party Websites.
The Services contain links to third-party websites (“Third-Party Websites”). Such Third-Party Websites are not under the control of Democracy & the News. Although Democracy & the News makes reasonable efforts to curate the Content it makes available on the Services, Democracy & the News is not responsible for any Third-Party Websites and does not review, approve, monitor, endorse, warrant, or make any representations with respect to Third-Party Websites, or their products or services. You use all links in Third-Party Websites at your own risk. You should review applicable terms and policies of any Third-Party Websites before proceeding with any transaction with any third party.
9. Indemnification.
You agree to indemnify and hold Democracy & the News, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, partners and licensors (collectively the “Democracy & the News Parties”) harmless from any losses, costs, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) relating to or arising out of: (a) your User Content or any Data Made Available by you; (b) your use of, or inability to use, the Services; (c) your violation of the Terms; (d) your violation of any rights of another party, including any User; or (e) your violation of any applicable laws, rules or regulations. Democracy & the News reserves the right, at its own cost, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with Democracy & the News in asserting any available defenses. You agree that the provisions in this section will survive termination of the Terms.
10. Disclaimer of Warranties.
YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK, AND THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS. DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS PARTIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS PARTIES MAKE NO WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION OR CONDITION THAT: (A) THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (B) YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE; (C) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR (D) ANY ERRORS IN THE SERVICES WILL BE CORRECTED. ANY CONTENT DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE ACCESSED THROUGH THE SERVICES IS ACCESSED AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY OR PERSON, OR ANY OTHER LOSS THAT RESULTS FROM ACCESSING SUCH CONTENT.
11. Limitation of Liability.
YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS PARTIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES; ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR FOR ANY DAMAGES FOR PERSONAL OR BODILY INJURY OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE TERMS, ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, RESULTING FROM: (A) THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES; (B) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (C) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD-PARTY ON SERVICES; OR (D) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATED TO THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, COPYRIGHT, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR MORE THAN THE GREATER OF (I) FIFTY DOLLARS ($50); OR (II) THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS HEREUNDER IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE DATE YOU FIRST BRING A CLAIM. DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS PARTIES ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TIMELINESS, DELETION OR FAILURE TO STORE ANY CONTENT OR USER COMMUNICATIONS. THE LIMITATIONS OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN DEMOCRACY & THE NEWS AND YOU.
12. Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement.
It is Democracy & the News’s policy to terminate membership privileges of any User who repeatedly infringes copyright upon prompt notification to Democracy & the News by the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s legal agent.
13. Term and Termination.
The Terms commence on the date when you accept them (as described in the preamble above) and remain in full force and effect while you use the Services, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the Terms. If you have materially breached any provision of the Terms, or if Democracy & the News is required to do so by law (e.g., where the provision of the Website or the Services is, or becomes, unlawful), Democracy & the News has the right to immediately suspend any Services and licenses provided to you under this Agreement (“Suspension”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, Democracy & the News may terminate your Account immediately in its sole discretion in the event that (a) you are a repeat infringer for purposes of Democracy & the News’s copyright infringement policy as described in Section 14 or (b) you violate any restriction of these Terms after Democracy & the News makes reasonable efforts to provide you with notice of a previous violation. You agree that Democracy & the News shall not be liable to you or any third party for any Suspension or termination of your Account made in accordance with the Terms. Termination of any Services includes removal of access to such Services and barring of further use of the Service. Termination of all Services also may include deletion of your password and your User Content and, if applicable, Student Data. Upon termination of any Service, your right to use such Services will automatically terminate immediately. Democracy & the News will not have any liability whatsoever to you for any Suspension or termination, including for deletion of your User Content and, if applicable, Data. Upon early termination of the Services by Democracy & the News, in the event that you have purchased Premium Features, Democracy & the News will refund to you a pro rata portion of fees for such Premium Services paid to Democracy & the News hereunder to the extent such fees are for Services that have not yet been rendered or made available to you. All provisions of the Terms which by their nature should survive, shall survive termination of Services, including without limitation, ownership provisions, indemnification, warranty disclaimers, and limitation of liability.
16. General Provisions.
16.1. Release. Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law, you hereby release Democracy & the News Parties and their successors from claims, demands, any and all losses, damages, rights, and actions of any kind, including personal injuries, death, and property damage, that is either directly or indirectly related to or arises from any interactions with or conduct of other Users or Third-Party Websites of any kind, arising in connection with or as a result of the Terms or your use of the Services. You hereby waive California Civil Code Section 1542, or any similar law of another jurisdiction, which states in substance, “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”
16.2. Dispute Resolution.
(a) Arbitration shall be subject to the Federal Arbitration Act and not any state arbitration law. The arbitration shall be conducted before one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving commercial contract disputes from JAMS. As modified by these Terms, and unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties in writing, the arbitration will be governed by JAMS’s rules for commercial arbitration and, if the arbitrator deems them applicable, the procedures for consumer-related disputes.
(b) You are thus GIVING UP YOUR RIGHT TO GO TO COURT to assert or defend your rights EXCEPT for matters that may be taken to small claims court. Your rights will be determined by a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR and NOT a judge or jury. You are entitled to a FAIR HEARING, BUT the arbitration procedures are SIMPLER AND MORE LIMITED THAN RULES APPLICABLE IN COURT. Arbitrator decisions are as enforceable as any court order and are subject to VERY LIMITED REVIEW BY A COURT.
(c) You and we must abide by the following rules: (1) ANY CLAIMS BROUGHT BY YOU OR US MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTIES’ INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING; (2) THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS, MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING, AND MAY NOT AWARD CLASS-WIDE RELIEF, (3) the arbitrator shall honor claims of privilege and privacy recognized at law; (4) the arbitrator’s award shall be final and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction; (5) the arbitrator may award any individual relief or individual remedies that are permitted by applicable law; and (6) each side pays its own attorneys’ fees and expenses unless there is a statutory provision that requires the prevailing party to be paid its fees’ and litigation expenses, and then in such instance, the fees and costs awarded shall be determined by the applicable law.
(d) Any and all controversies, disputes, demands, counts, claims or causes of action (including the interpretation and scope of this clause, and the arbitrability of the controversy, dispute, demand, count, claim or cause of action) between you and Democracy & the News and our employees, agents, successors or assigns, regarding or relating to these the Services or these Terms, shall exclusively be settled through binding and confidential arbitration.
(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing, either you or we may bring an individual action in small claims court. Further, claims of infringement or misappropriation of the other party’s patent, copyright, trademark or trade secret shall not be subject to this arbitration agreement. Such claims shall be exclusively brought in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco, California. Additionally, notwithstanding this agreement to arbitrate, either party may seek emergency equitable relief before the state or federal courts located in San Francisco, California in order to maintain the status quo pending arbitration, and hereby agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the courts located within San Francisco, California for such purpose. A request for interim measures shall not be deemed a waiver of the right to arbitrate.
(f) With the exception of subparts (1) and (2) in the paragraph 16.2(c) above (prohibiting arbitration on a class or collective basis), if any part of this arbitration provision is deemed to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, or otherwise conflicts with these Terms, then the balance of this arbitration provision shall remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with its terms as if the invalid, unenforceable, illegal or conflicting provision were not contained herein. If, however, either subparts (1) and (2) in the paragraph 16.2(c) (prohibiting arbitration on a class or collective basis) is found to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, then the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void, and neither you nor we shall be entitled to arbitration. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, the dispute shall be exclusively brought in state or federal court in San Francisco, California.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision in these Terms to the contrary, if we seek to terminate the Dispute Resolution section as included in these Terms, any such termination shall not be effective until 30 days after the version of these Terms not containing the agreement to arbitrate is posted to the Website, and shall not be effective as to any claim of which you provided Democracy & the News with written notice prior to the date of termination.
(h) Any and all controversies, disputes, demands, counts, claims or causes of action between you and Democracy & the News and our employees, agents, successors, or assigns, regarding or relating to these the Services or these Terms, shall exclusively be governed by the internal laws of the State of California, without regard to its choice of law rules and without regard to conflicts of laws principles except that the arbitration provision shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
16.3. Miscellaneous. The Terms, and your rights and obligations hereunder, may not be assigned, subcontracted, delegated or otherwise transferred by you without Democracy & the News’s prior written consent, and any attempted assignment, subcontract, delegation or transfer in violation of the foregoing will be null and void. Democracy & the News may assign this Agreement without your consent. Democracy & the News shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargos, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, accidents, strikes or shortages of transportation facilities, fuel, energy, labor or materials. Where Democracy & the News requires that you provide an e-mail address, you are responsible for providing Democracy & the News with your most current e-mail address. In the event that the last e-mail address you provided to Democracy & the News is not valid, or for any reason is not capable of delivering to you any notices required permitted by the Terms, Democracy & the News’s dispatch of the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice. Any waiver or failure to enforce any provision of the Terms on one occasion will not be deemed a waiver of any other provision or of such provision on any other occasion. If any provision of the Terms is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unenforceable, the other provisions of the Terms will remain enforceable, and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed modified so that it is valid and enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law. Unless you have entered into a separate School Agreement, the Terms are the final, complete and exclusive agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and merges all prior discussions between the parties with respect to such subject matter.
