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Terms of Use

HowlRound Theatre Commons Terms of Use

Effective as of 1 October 2018

1. Philosophy

The HowlRound Theatre Commons Website (howlround.com) together with its companion websites the World Theatre Map Website (worldtheatremap.org), and any other website or application that links to these Terms of Use (collectively, the “Websites”), are operated by Emerson College (“Emerson”, the “College”, “we,” or “us”) in Boston, Massachusetts. The College is a 501(c)(3) educational institution with a business address at 120 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116, United States of America.

The Websites exist to provide the theatre community with open forums through which they may preview their works, gain exposure, encourage the growth of others, and benefit from genuinely constructive criticism. Constructive feedback is a necessary element of the community's growth experience, and such input can, and should, occur in a provocative, albeit civil and mutually respectful environment conducive to enrichment. The College expects users of the Websites to govern their conduct accordingly and to refrain from engaging in any defamatory remarks or personal attacks on other artists, regardless of whether those others are users of the Websites.

With these principles in mind, set forth herein are the Terms of Use of the Websites. In addition, the World Theatre Map and HowlRound Theatre Commons TV websites, given their unique nature, may from time to time have additional terms of use governing those sites. Please read these Terms along with any additional terms posted on the World Theatre Map and HowlRound Theatre Commons TV websites carefully because they apply to your use of the Websites.

2. General Information Regarding These Terms of Use

Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the Websites. These Terms of Use (“Terms”), together with any documents expressly incorporated by reference, govern your access to and use of the Websites, together with all other subdomains thereof, and all products, information, and services provided through the Websites (together with the Websites, the “Services”).

You may only use the Services in accordance with these Terms, any additional terms as may be separately applicable to the Websites, and any other College policy applicable to you. You may not use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful, prohibited by these Terms, or any applicable additional terms, contrary to any other conditions or notices that are made available on the Website, or contrary to any other College policies. A directory of College policies may be found at the College’s website (http://emerson.edu/policy), and users are encouraged to review the College’s institutional policies.

Human-readable summary of Sec 2: These terms, together with any special terms for particular websites, create a contract between you and Emerson. The contract governs your use of all websites operated by Emerson, unless a particular website indicates otherwise. These human-readable summaries of each section are not part of the contract and are not legally binding, but are intended to help you understand its terms.

3. Your Agreement to the Terms

BY CLICKING “I ACCEPT” OR OTHERWISE ACCESSING OR USING ANY OF THE SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS. By clicking “I ACCEPT” or otherwise accessing or using any Services you also represent that you have the legal authority to accept the Terms on behalf of yourself and any party you represent in connection with your use of any Services. If you do not agree to the Terms, you are not authorized to use any Services. If you are an individual who is entering into these Terms on behalf of an entity, you represent and warrant that you have the power to bind that entity, and you hereby agree on that entity’s behalf to be bound by these Terms, with the terms “you,” and “your” applying to you, that entity, and other users accessing the Services on behalf of that entity.

Human-readable summary of Sec 3: Please read these terms and only use our sites and services if you agree to them.

4. Changes to the Terms

From time to time, Emerson may change, remove, or add to the Terms, and reserves the right to do so in its discretion. In that case, we will post updated Terms and indicate the date of revision. If we feel the modifications are material, we will make reasonable efforts to post a prominent notice on the relevant Website(s) and notify those of you with an account via email. All new and/or revised Terms take effect immediately and apply to your use of the Services from that date on, except that material changes will take effect 30 days after the change is made and identified as material. Your continued use of any Services after new and/or revised Terms are effective indicates that you have read, understood, and agreed to those Terms.

Human-readable summary of Sec 4: These terms may change. When the changes are important, we will put a notice on the website. If you continue to use the sites after the changes are made, you agree to the changes.

5. Content Available through the Services

Provided as-is: You acknowledge that Emerson does not make any representations or warranties about the material, data, and information, such as data files, text, computer software, code, music, audio files or other sounds, photographs, videos, or other images (collectively, the “Content”) which you may have access to as part of, or through your use of, the Services. Under no circumstances is Emerson liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to: any infringing Content, any errors or omissions in Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, transmitted, linked from, or otherwise accessible through or made available via the Services. You understand that by using the Services, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, or objectionable.

You agree that you are solely responsible for your reuse of Content made available through the Services, including providing proper attribution. You should review the terms of the applicable license before you use the Content so that you know what you can and cannot do.

Licensing: All Content owned by Emerson College and made available by Emerson College on the Website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, unless marked otherwise.

Human-readable summary of Sec 5: We try our best to have useful information on our sites, but we cannot promise that everything is accurate or appropriate for your situation. Content on the site is licensed under CC BY 4.0 unless it says it is available under different terms. If you find content through a link on our websites, be sure to check the license terms before using it.

6. Content Supplied by You

Your responsibility: You represent, warrant, and agree that no Content posted or otherwise shared by you on or through any of the Services (“Your Content”), violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights, breaches or conflicts with any obligation, such as a confidentiality obligation, or contains libelous, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material.

Licensing Your Content: You hereby agree that all Content you voluntarily provide to the Website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, is not copyrightable, or is in the public domain. When you post your Content, you designate the website on which the Content is posted (e.g., HowlRound Theatre Commons.com, WorldTheatreMap.org) and yourself as the “Attribution Party” for the purposes of the Attribution 4.0 license, as defined therein, and grant permission for the relevant Website URI to be associated with your Content for purposes of that license. If Content you provide is protected by copyright, then if it is not licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, you must not provide it to the Website. For the avoidance of doubt, you may otherwise license your Content on any terms or no terms at all, but upon uploading or supplying Content protected by copyright to the Website, you are licensing such Content under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license in addition to any such other license that may apply to your Content, and designating the website on which the Content is posted and yourself as the Attribution Party for purposes of that license.

Removal: Emerson may, but is not obligated to, review your Content and may delete or remove Your Content (without notice) from any of the Services in its sole discretion. Removal of any of Your Content from the Services (by you or Emerson) does not impact any rights you granted in Your Content under the terms of an Emerson license.

You may request the removal of your Content from the Websites at any time, and Emerson will take reasonable steps to promptly remove such Content from the Websites. You agree that Emerson is only be capable of removing Content from the Websites, and that it has no authority over or ability to control the conduct of any third-party. Accordingly, the College cannot remove Content from email archives, wiki history pages and similar community forums where you may post content, or others’ computers, such as Content you may have sent to others in an email posted to a HowlRound Theatre Commons email list. If you choose to remove Content, the Creative Commons license you granted when submitting such Content will remain in full force and effect in accordance with its terms.

Human-readable summary of Sec 6: We do not take any ownership of your content when you post it on our sites. If you post content you own, you agree it can be used under the terms of CC BY 4.0 or any future version of that license. If you do not own the content, then you should not post it unless it is in the public domain or licensed CC BY 4.0, except that you may also post pictures and videos if you are authorized to use them under law (e.g., fair use) or if they are available under any CC license. You must note that information on the file when you upload it. You are responsible for any content you upload to our sites.

7. Third Party Content

Third party Content and third party websites that the Website links to or embeds, including but not limited to blogs, video, photo, and news feeds, are subject to the license terms accompanying such Content. For third party content and third party websites that Emerson supplies, as a courtesy Emerson will take reasonable steps to clearly mark any such third party content or third party websites that are not licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license; provided, however, that Emerson cannot and does not make any guarantee or warranty whatsoever about the license terms of third party content or third party websites and provides all such information AS-IS. We encourage you to always verify the license of any such Content before use.

Human-readable summary of Sec 7: Third party materials may be subject to different license terms than other content on the sites. Please check the appropriate license for content before you use it.

8. Registered Users

Registration of an account on the Websites is void where prohibited. Only persons who are fully competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties set forth in these Terms and to abide by and comply with these Terms may register for an account and use the related Services; provided, however, that if you are under the age of majority in your jurisdiction but over 13 years of age, you may join with the express permission of your parent or legal guardian. Any registration by, use of or access to the Services provided to Registered Users (defined below) by anyone (1) under the age of 13 or (2) under the age of majority in their jurisdiction but without parental or guardian permission, is unauthorized, unlicensed and a violation of these Terms. By registering for an account on any of the Websites or using the related services, you represent and warrant that you (1) have attained the age of majority in your jurisdiction, or (2) are over the age of 13 and have the express permission of a legal guardian to become a Registered User and use services made available to Registered Users, and you further agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions governing the Websites.

Services offered to Registered Users are provided subject to these Terms. Emerson reserves the right to modify or discontinue the accounts of Registered Users and related services at any time. Emerson disclaims any and all liability to Registered Users and third parties in the event Emerson exercises its right to modify or discontinue user accounts or related services.

You agree to (a) provide accurate, current and complete information about you, if and as may be prompted by the registration process on the Website, (b) maintain the security of your password(s) and identification, (c) maintain and promptly update your registration information and any other information you provide to Emerson, and to keep it accurate and complete to, among other things, allow us to contact you, and (d) be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account. It is your responsibility to ensure that Emerson has up-to-date contact information for you. You may not set up an account or membership on behalf of another individual or entity unless you are authorized to do so.

Although Emerson will not be liable for your losses caused by any unauthorized use of your account, you may be liable for the losses of Emerson or others due to such unauthorized use.

Your participation as a Registered User and use of the related services terminates automatically upon your breach of any of the Terms. In addition, Emerson may, at any time: (a) modify, suspend or terminate the operation of or access to your user account for any reason; (b) modify or change such Websites and any applicable Terms and policies governing your user account and related Websites and services for any reason; and (c) interrupt user accounts and related Websites and services for any reason, all as Emerson in its sole discretion deems appropriate. Your access to your account, and use of the related Website may be terminated by you or by Emerson at any time and for any reason whatsoever, without notice.

In addition, Emerson reserves the right to delete and purge any account and all Content associated therewith following any prolonged period of inactivity, all as may be determined by Emerson in its sole discretion.

Human-readable summary of Sec 8: Please do not register for an account on our sites unless you are over 13 years old. Emerson has the right to end your account at any time. You are responsible for use of your account. And of course, please do not set up an account for someone else unless you have permission to do so.

9. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to engage in any of the following activities:

A. Violating laws and rights:

You may not (a) use any Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any local, state, national, or international laws, (b) violate or encourage others to violate any right of or obligation to a third party, including by infringing, misappropriating, or violating intellectual property, confidentiality, or privacy rights.

B. Solicitation:

You may not use the Services or any information provided through the Services for the transmission of advertising or promotional materials, including junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of unsolicited or unwelcome solicitation.

C. Disruption:

You may not use the Services in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Services, or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Services; including by (a) uploading or otherwise disseminating any virus, adware, spyware, worm or other malicious code, or (b) interfering with or disrupting any network, equipment, or server connected to or used to provide any of the Services, or violating any regulation, policy, or procedure of any network, equipment, or server.

D. Harming others:

You may not post or transmit Content on or through the Services that is harmful, offensive, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, defamatory, hateful or otherwise discriminatory, false or misleading, or incites an illegal act.

You may not intimidate or harass another through the Services; and, you may not post or transmit any personally identifiable information about persons under 13 years of age on or through the Services.

E. Impersonation or unauthorized access:

You may not impersonate another person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity when using the Services.

You may not use or attempt to use another’s account or personal information without authorization.

You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, or the computer systems or networks connected to the Services, through hacking password mining or any other means.

Human-readable summary of Sec 9: Play nice. Be yourself. Don’t break the law or be disruptive.

10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EMERSON OFFERS THE SERVICES (INCLUDING ALL CONTENT AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES) AS-IS AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE SERVICES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. EMERSON DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL BE ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY SERVERS USED BY CC ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. EMERSON DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION REGARDING USE OF THE CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES IN TERMS OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

Human-readable summary of Sec 10: Emerson does not make any guarantees about the sites, services, or content available on the sites.

11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL EMERSON BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF REVENUE OR INCOME, LOST PROFITS, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES SUFFERED OR INCURRED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY THAT ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES (OR THE TERMINATION THEREOF FOR ANY REASON), EVEN IF EMERSON HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EMERSON IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE WHATSOEVER IN ANY MANNER FOR ANY CONTENT POSTED ON OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES (INCLUDING CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT RELATING TO THAT CONTENT), FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, OR FOR THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES.

Certain jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability for incidental or consequential damages, which means that some of the above limitations may not apply to you. IN THESE JURISDICTIONS, THE FOREGOING EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS WILL BE ENFORCED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

Human-readable summary of Sec 11: Emerson is not responsible for the content on the sites, your use of our services, or for the conduct of others on our sites.

12. Indemnification

To the extent authorized by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Emerson, its employees, officers, directors, affiliates, and agents from and against any and all claims, losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting directly or indirectly from or arising out of (a) your violation of the Terms, (b) your use of any of the Services, and/or (c) the Content you make available on any of the Services.

Human-readable summary of Sec 12: If something happens because you violate these terms, because of your use of the services, or because of the content you post on the sites, you agree to repay Emerson for the damage it causes.

13. Privacy Policy

Emerson is committed to responsibly handling the information and data we collect through our Services in compliance with our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms. Please review the Privacy Policy so you are aware of how we collect and use your personal information.

Human-readable summary of Sec 13: Please read our Privacy Policy. It is part of these terms, too.

14. Trademark Policy

Emerson name, logos, icons, and other trademarks may only be used in accordance with our Trademark Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Master Terms. Please review the Trademark Policy so you understand how our trademarks may be used.

Human-readable summary of Sec 14: Please read our Trademark Policy. It is part of these terms, too.

15. Copyright Complaints

A. Notice.

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any Content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing our Copyright Agent with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C § 512(c)(3)):

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;

4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail;

5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Emerson’s designated Copyright Agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement is Robert Fleming, Executive Director, Iwasaki Library, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. Email: [email protected]. For clarity, only DMCA notices should go to the Copyright Agent. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section 5(D), your DMCA notice may not be valid.

B. Counter-Notice.

If you believe that your Content that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have the authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the material in your Content, you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to the Copyright Agent:

1. Your physical or electronic signature;

2. Identification of the Content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the Content appeared before it was removed or disabled;

3. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the Content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the Content; and

4. Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court in Boston, MA, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

5. If a counter-notice is received by the Copyright Agent, Emerson may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed Content or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the Content provider, member or user, the removed Content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at Emerson’s sole discretion.

Human-readable summary of Sec 15: Please let us know if you find infringing content on our websites.

16. Termination

By Emerson: Emerson may modify, suspend, or terminate the operation of, or access to, all or any portion of the Services at any time for any reason. Additionally, your individual access to, and use of, the Services may be terminated by Emerson at any time and for any reason.

By you: If you wish to terminate this agreement, you may immediately stop accessing or using the Services at any time.

Automatic upon breach: Your right to access and use the Services automatically upon your breach of any of the Terms.

Survival: The disclaimer of warranties, the limitation of liability, and the jurisdiction and applicable law provisions will survive any termination. The license grants applicable to Your Content are not impacted by the termination of the Terms and shall continue in effect subject to the terms of the applicable license. Your warranties and indemnification obligations will survive for one year after termination.

Human-readable summary of Sec 16: If you violate these terms, you may no longer use our sites.

17. Miscellaneous Terms

Choice of law: The Terms are governed by and construed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States, not including its choice of law rules.

Dispute resolution: The parties agree that any disputes between Emerson and you concerning these Terms, and/or any of the Services may only be brought in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the District of Massachusetts, and you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of such court.

If you are an authorized agent of a government or intergovernmental entity using the Services in your official capacity, including an authorized agent of the federal, state, or local government in the United States, and you are legally restricted from accepting the controlling law, jurisdiction, or venue clauses above, then those clauses do not apply to you. For any such U.S. federal government entities, these Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the United States of America (without reference to conflict of laws) and, in the absence of federal law and to the extent permitted under federal law, the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (excluding its choice of law rules).

No waiver: Either party’s failure to insist on or enforce strict performance of any of the Terms will not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

Severability: If any part of the Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any law or regulation or final determination of a competent court or tribunal, that provision will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

No agency relationship: The parties agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Emerson as a result of the Terms or from your use of any of the Services.

Integration: These Terms and any applicable Additional Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Emerson relating to this subject matter and supersede any and all prior communications and/or agreements between you and Emerson relating to access and use of the Services.

Human-readable summary of Sec 17: If there is a lawsuit arising from these terms, it should be in Massachusetts and governed by Massachusetts law. We are glad you use our sites, but this agreement does not mean we are partners.