Crosscut LLC terms of service

1. Introduction
Welcome to Crosscut, a site owned and operated by Crosscut LLC. The site provides you with various publishing and community services such as the ability to post information and reviews to a Web page and participate in online discussions ("Services"). Your use of the site and the Services is subject to the following terms of service. If you are not willing to follow these terms of service, please do not use the site.

2. Copyright and Ownership
All of the content featured or displayed on the site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, photographs, images, moving images, sound, illustrations, and software ("Content"), is owned by Crosscut LLC, its licensors and/or its content providers. All elements of the site, including, but not limited to, the general design and the Content, are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to intellectual property rights. Except as explicitly permitted under this or another agreement with Crosscut LLC, no portion or element of the site or its Content may be copied or retransmitted via any means and the site, its Content and all related rights shall remain the exclusive property of Crosscut LLC or its licensors unless otherwise expressly agreed.

3. License
User published content remains the intellectual property of the individual user. By posting content on the site, you grant Crosscut LLC a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media, whether now known or hereafter discovered. In addition, you warrant that all so-called "moral rights" in those materials have been waived. You are responsible for any releases, clearances and permissions (including those relating to privacy and rights of publicity) necessary for Crosscut LLC to post the content and exercise its rights under this paragraph.

4. DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT ("DMCA") NOTICE
In operating the site, we may act as a "services provider" (as defined by the DMCA) and offer services as online provider of materials and links to third party sites. As a result, third party materials that we do not own or control may be transmitted, stored, accessed or otherwise made available using the site. If you believe any material available via the site infringes a copyright, you should notify us using the notice procedure for claimed infringement under the DMCA. We will respond expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material claimed to be infringing and will follow the procedures specified in the DMCA to resolve the claim between the notifying party and the alleged infringer who provided the content. Our designated agent (i.e., proper party for notice) to whom you should address infringement notices under the DMCA is Chuck Taylor, Editor, 206-674-3000, chuck.taylor@crosscut.com, 1000 Second Ave., Suite 3700, Seattle, WA 98104.

5. Restricted Content and Activities
The Services and the site may only be used for the intended purpose for which the site and Services are being made available. You shall comply with all applicable domestic and international laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations regarding your use of our services.

Except as may be otherwise indicated in specific documents within the site, you are authorized to view, play, print and download documents, audio and video found on the site for personal, informational, and noncommercial purposes only. You may not modify any of the materials and you may not copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer or sell any information or work contained on the site. Except as authorized under the copyright laws, you are responsible for obtaining permission before reusing any copyrighted material that is available on the site. For purposes of these terms of service, the use of any such material on any other Web site or networked computer environment is prohibited. You will not remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notices from material found on the site.

In the event you download software from the site, the software, including any files, images incorporated in or generated by the software, and data accompanying the software (collectively, the "software") are licensed to you by Crosscut LLC or its licensors. Crosscut LLC does not transfer title to the software to you. You own the medium on which the software is recorded, but Crosscut LLC retains full and complete title to the software, and all intellectual property rights therein. You may not redistribute, sell, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the software to a human-readable form.

You agree that you will not use the site or any services offered on the site to post, upload or distribute any of the following:

• • Sexually explicit or pornographic material; hate speech; defamatory, abusive, threatening or harassing speech; or racial, religious or personal attacks. Crosscut LLC news editors reserve the right to publish questionable phrases necessary to serve a journalistic purpose, but that right does not extend to material you upload on the site.
• • Material which infringes upon the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy of third parties
• • Promotion of any activity that may be found illegal at the local, state or federal level or any content that is itself illegal in any way.
• • Direct links to or descriptions of goods and services that are prohibited under these terms of service
• • Commercial content of any kind, including but not limited to graphic and text advertisements, chain letters, spam offers, surveys, contests, or any clear promotion of commercial interests beyond appropriate discussion of site content or outside the context of specifically placing an online classified ad
• • Content that is untrue, inaccurate, misleading, or libelous
• • Executable programming of any kind, such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spy ware, time bombs, cancel bots, easter eggs, or any form of malicious or benign computer programming whatsoever
• • Encrypted content or content that can be demonstrated to contain encoded messages
• • Content in any language other than English if an accurate, reliable translation cannot reasonably be acquired
• • Identifiable impersonations of another individual, by false representations in the text, by creating a misleading screen name that misrepresents the identity of the poster in an identifiable fashion, or by utilizing another individual's account to post, with or without that individual's knowledge
• • Content that creates liability for us or causes us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other partners or suppliers

6. Corporate Identification, Site Content and Trademarks
All trademarks, service marks and trade names of Crosscut LLC and its partners and licensors used herein (including but not limited to "Crosscut," the Crosscut corporate logo, and the associated designs and logos) (collectively "Marks") are trademarks or registered trademarks of Crosscut LLC or its affiliates, partners or licensors. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, or modify the Marks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the site, without Crosscut LLC's prior written consent. The use of the Marks on any other Web site or network computer environment is not allowed. You may not use the Marks as a "hot" link on or to any other Web site unless establishment of such a link is approved in advance.

7. Right to Remove Content or Block Access
Crosscut LLC may, at its discretion but without any obligation, remove content that does not meet these terms of service or is otherwise inappropriate, according to its sole interpretation, and may also remove all other content by that user, disable a user's account, and otherwise seek to prevent that user from utilizing our services. Crosscut LLC may also, at its discretion, disable and suppress content from any account where the chosen screen name is deemed to be offensive or inappropriate, or is a violation of trademark, copyright, or other applicable law. We may take these actions in the event that (a) you breach these terms of service, including without limitation engaging in any of the restricted activities detailed in section 5); (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us.

8. Account Security
You are entirely responsible for the security and confidentiality of your password and account. Furthermore, you are entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account, except activities instigated by us, either deliberate or inadvertent. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security of which you become aware. You are responsible for taking precautions and providing security measures best suited for your situation and intended use of the Services and site. You agree that we have the right to provide user billing, account, content or use records, and related information in response to lawful process, orders, subpoenas, or warrants, or to protect our rights, customers or business). Anyone able to provide your personally identifiable information can access your account so you should take reasonable steps to protect this information.

9. Information Control
User published content does not represent the views of Crosscut LLC or any individual associated with Crosscut LLC, and we do not control this content. In no event shall you represent or suggest, directly or indirectly, Crosscut LLC's endorsement of user published content. Crosscut LLC does not vouch for the accuracy or credibility of any user published content on the site, and does not take any responsibility or assume any liability for any actions you may take as a result of reading user published content on the site. You may be exposed to content that you may find offensive, objectionable, harmful, inaccurate or deceptive; there may also be risks of dealing with underage persons, people acting under false pretense, or international trade and foreign nationals. By using the site, you assume all associated risks.

10. Transactional Partners
In some cases we partner with another company to co-promote its services within the site. In these cases, you are transacting directly with the other party. On those pages, the transactional partner's brand is clearly visible, and its terms of service are posted. When using partner pages, you are bound by partner terms of service in addition to remaining bound by Crosscut LLC terms of service; when there is a conflict between Crosscut LLC's terms of service and partner terms of service, Crosscut LLC terms of service shall be held as the primary, enforceable terms of service.

11. Links to Third Parties
The site contains hyperlinks to other Web sites controlled by third parties. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and do not imply endorsement by Crosscut LLC of, or any affiliation with, or endorsement by, the owner of the linked site. Crosscut LLC is not responsible for the contents or use of any linked site, or any consequence of making the link.

12. Fees
Crosscut will collect payment from you if you purchase any products or services sold on the site. In the event legal action is necessary to collect on balances due, you agree to reimburse Crosscut LLC for all expenses incurred to recover sums due, including attorneys' fees and other legal expenses. You are responsible for purchase of, and payment of charges for, all Internet access services and telecommunications services needed for use of the site.

13. Access and Interference
You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the site for any purpose without our express written permission. Additionally, you agree that you will not: (i) take any action that imposes, or may impose in our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the computer infrastructure we use; (ii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the site or any activities conducted on the site; or (iii) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the site.

14. Release
In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users of the site, you release Crosscut LLC (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

15. No Warranty
Your use of and browsing of the site are at your own risk. WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND OUR SUPPLIERS PROVIDE THE SITE, EVERYTHING ON THE SITE AND ALL SERVICES "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND OUR SUPPLIERS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS OR ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. CROSSCUT LLC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THE SITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. Some states do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal rights that vary from state to state.

16. Liability Limit
Crosscut LLC assumes no liability in the event that legal action is taken against you by a third party as a result of content you publish on the site, whether for copyright infringement or any other illegal activity related to your content. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you post; that the content is accurate; that use of the content you supply does not violate these terms of service and will not cause injury to any person or entity; and that you will indemnify Crosscut LLC or its affiliates for all claims resulting from content you supply. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR OUR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS OR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE, ANY CONTENT THEREON, OUR SERVICES OR THESE TERMS OF SERVICE (HOWEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR YOUR USE THEREOF, WHETHER IN A CONTRACT ACTION OR BASED ON NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHER TORT ACTION, OR ANY OTHER CLAIM WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF CROSSCUT LLC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL CROSSCUT LLC'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00).

17. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Crosscut LLC and any affiliated company or individual harmless from any and all liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, related to any violation of these terms of service by you or your authorized users, or in connection with the use of the site or the Internet or the placement or transmission of any message, information, photographs or images on the site by you or your authorized users or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

18. Privacy
Please read our Privacy Statement.

19. General
These terms of service shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of Washington as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within Washington between Washington residents. We do not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted or secure access to our services, and operation of the site may be interfered with by numerous factors outside of our control. If any provision of these terms of service is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. You agree that these terms of service and all incorporated agreements may be automatically assigned by Crosscut LLC at our sole discretion. Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. These terms of service set forth the entire understanding and agreement between us with respect to the subject matter hereof. 14 (Release), 3 (License), 13 (Access and Interference), 16 (Liability Limit), and 17 (Indemnity) shall survive any termination or expiration of these terms of service.

20. Changes to Terms of Service
Crosscut LLC reserves the right to change any aspect of these terms of service at its discretion, and will immediately publish changes to these terms of service as soon as they are made.

21. Entire Agreement
These terms of service are the entire agreement between the user and Crosscut LLC and supersede any prior understandings or agreements (written or oral).

How to contact Crosscut LLC
If you have any questions about these terms of service, the practices of the site, or to resolve a dispute, you can contact us:

By e-mail:
publisher@crosscut.com

By mail:
Crosscut LLC
1000 Second Ave., Suite 3700
Seattle, WA 98104

Updated March 1, 2007

About Crosscut

RSS feeds
About us
How to advertise
Contacts
Privacy policy
How to contribute/freelance policy

The latest from news outlets and blogs around the Pacific Northwest, chosen by Crosscut editors.
 

More Clicker