AWN.com Terms of Service Document

 

AWN Terms of Service

Updated August 28, 2009

Hello, and welcome to the Animation World Network publishing group, which includes AWN.com, VFXWorld.com, AWNtv.com, AnimationBlogspot.com, AIDB.com and AWN Press.  Before you can start using this website, you must read and agree to these AWN Terms of Service.

Acceptance of Terms

Please read this page carefully. Your use of this site constitutes your agreement to the following terms and conditions. If you do not accept the Terms of Service, do not use the website or any associated services. 

AWN, Inc., AWN.com, AWNtv.com, VFXWorld.com, AIDB.com, AnimationBlogspot.com as well as the associated web pages, features and functions made available to you from these websites (collectively, "AWN") provides its service to you, subject to the following Terms of Service ("TOS"), which may be updated from time to time without notice. You can review the published version of AWN’s TOS most any time at: http://AWN.com/tos [1].

This TOS includes the AWN Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into this TOS by reference.  Your use of AWN constitutes your agreement to all such terms, conditions, policies and notices of this TOS, including the AWN Privacy Policy.

Description of Service

AWN is a web publishing and hosting service that provides users with access to a collection of on-line resources as well as allows users to submit video and other content for publication (the "Service"). Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance the current Service, including the release of new AWN properties, shall be subject to the TOS. You understand and agree that the Service is provided "as is" and that AWN assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, reliability, availability or security of the Service or the deletion, failure to store or deliver any user communications or personalization settings.

Modifications to Service

AWN may change, add or remove any part of this TOS, or any other terms associated with the use of the AWN system and website, at any time, without prior notice, by posting a notice of such changes to the TOS page of the AWN website. Any changes shall become part of the TOS and shall take effect as soon as they are posted. By using the Service, you are indicating your explicit consent to the terms and conditions of this TOS. If you do not agree with the terms and conditions of this TOS, do not use the Service.

Content Submitted To AWN

The Service is provided free of charge, with the goal of fostering communication and connections between people.  We respect freedom of speech and our user’s responsibility for the text, data, messages, or information concerning or linked to software, music, sound, photography, graphics, video or other electronic materials (the “Content”) they choose to publish.  We feel that censoring this Content is contrary to the goals of the Service and to the belief in freedom of expression.  In order to uphold these values, it may become necessary to take steps to curb abuses that threaten the Service.  Should any Content you have published be reported to AWN as being offensive or inappropriate, AWN might contact you to ask that you modify, remove or otherwise protect (by means of special administrative settings) the Content in question within a reasonable period of time as determined by AWN.  Should you fail to meet such a request, AWN may terminate your account.  AWN, however, is not obligated in any way to monitor or restrict user’s Content in any way.

Due to the nature of the Service, AWN may carry Content that you may find offensive, inaccurate, inappropriate and/or misleading.  We expect you to use proper judgment and common sense when using the Service.  AWN does not endorse, support, represent or guarantee the accuracy, truthfulness or reliability of any Content or communication posted or otherwise published via the Service.  You rely on any published Content at your own risk.

AWN does not claim ownership of, and takes no responsibility for, any 3^rd party content including but not limited to the content of any messages, information, logos, electronic files or materials you upload, post, distribute, or transmit via the Service. AWN has no obligation to monitor any 3^rd party content.  AWN does not assume any responsibility or liability for your Content. You will be solely responsible for any and all liability with respect to your Content. Under no circumstances will AWN be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available via the Service. You or a third party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Service and you are responsible for protecting those rights, as appropriate. You further warrant and represent to AWN that the Content will not infringe any copyright, right of privacy or right of publicity, or any other intellectual property rights, and does not contain any defamatory, libelous or scandalous material, or infringe or violate any other right of any third party. You will not use the Service or permit others to use the Service in any way that violates any law or regulation or subjects AWN to liability. You also represent and warrant that there is no litigation or claims pending against you that may adversely affect the rights granted to AWN hereunder. AWN reserves the right to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request. By posting, uploading files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication through the Service which is intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant AWN a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such Content on AWN for the purpose of displaying and distributing the Service. AWN furthermore reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any Content in its sole discretion.

You further grant all rights necessary to effectuate the goals of this agreement, including, without limitation, all rights requisite to perform the Service being provided by AWN. This grant of publishing rights is provided free of charge. There are no required royalties or payment of any kind to be paid to you or any third party by AWN for use of the Content, and AWN’s use of the Content as provided under this TOS will not violate the rights of any third party. You acknowledge and agree that AWN may preserve Content and may also disclose Content if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with legal process;
• Enforce the TOS;
• Respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or
• Protect the rights, property, or personal safety of AWN, its users and the public.

 

Use of Service

You must be at least thirteen (13) years old to use the Service.  AWN reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time for any reason without notice.

You agree that you are responsible for your own use of the Service, for all your Content, for all posts you make and for any consequences thereof. In consideration of your use of the Service, you agree:

• To use the Service in compliance with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations, including any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence and all United States export control laws.
• To provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service's account registration process (“Registration Content”).  If any of your Registration Content changes after the creation of your account, you agree to promptly update the Registration Content to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or AWN has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, AWN has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).
• Your use of the Service is subject to AWN’s Privacy Policy.  Please review the entire policy at http://www.AWN.com/privacypolicy [2].
• Not to upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that is unlawful (including, without limitation, Content which infringes or misappropriates or otherwise violates any rights of any third party), harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, fraudulent, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.
• Not to promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities, nor to promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual.
• Not to forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Service.
• Not to upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as people’s personally identifying or confidential information, Social Security numbers, Drivers’ License numbers, inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements).
• Not to upload items that are designed to misleadingly appropriate the identity of another person. 
• Not to upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights ("Rights") of any party.
• Not to upload items that are designed to damage the systems (ex. Viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, etc.) or designed to crack the system or extract protected data.
• Not to attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability or security of any of the systems used to provide the Service.  This includes attempting to overload, flood, spam, mail bomb or crash the system.  We aggressively seek to remove spam from AWN.
• Not to aggregate, package, spider, collect, display any of the content on this site without the express written consent of AWN.
• Not to copy, duplicate or use any of the coding, markup language, or software that comprises the site or any of its services. None of these items may be reverse-engineered or duplicated for any purpose.
• Not to use the Services to harass or “stalk” another person, company or organization.
• Not to use the Services for any commercial use, without prior written permission from AWN.  Prohibited commercial uses include any of the following actions:
  • Sale of access to the Services or any Content from or on another website.
  • Use of the Services for the primary purpose of generating advertising or subscription revenue.
  • Use of Services or Content with the intent or effect of competing with or displacing AWN from its markets.

Prohibited commercial uses do not include:

• • Displaying the Content through embedded links on an ad-enabled blog or website provided the primary purpose is not to gain advertising revenue or compete with AWN.
  • Any use that AWN expressly authorizes in writing.
• Not to use or launch any automated robots, spiders, offline readers or other such systems that access websites in a way that sends more requests to the AWN servers in a given period of time than a human being could reasonably produce in the same period of time using a standard online web browser.  Notwithstanding the above, AWN grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy Content solely for the purpose of and to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the Content.  AWN reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.

 

Advertisements and Promotions

You understand and agree that the Service may include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for AWN to provide the Service. You also understand and agree that you will not obscure any advertisements from general view via HTML/CSS or any other means. By using the Service, you agree that AWN has the right to run such advertisements with or without prior notice, and without recompense to you or any other user. The manner, mode and extent of advertising by AWN on your Content and throughout the Service are subject to change at AWN’s discretion. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. You agree that AWN shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Service.

Account Setup and Security

In order to access and use certain AWN features, functions or services, you will be required to create an AWN account. You may never use another person’s account without permission. You will need to select and provide us with a unique userid and password as well as your email and other information we may require in order to complete the Service's registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the userid, password and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your userid, password or account. You agree to notify AWN immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security. Ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. AWN cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this section.

Changes of Information

Information of any type provided by AWN to you through your use of the Service may change at any time without notice. Information about individuals, companies, organizations and other entities may change without AWN being informed of such change. While AWN will use its best efforts to provide accurate information, AWN does not guarantee, nor provide any assurance that any of the information you obtain through your use of the Service is accurate or up to date, or is free of data entry error.

Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESSED, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS OF THE SERVICE FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. AWN MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR VALIDITY OF THE DATA AND/OR INFORMATION SENT OR ACCESSED THROUGH ITS SITE OR THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE ERROR FREE. AWN MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY OR SECURE, THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, OR THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.

Limitation of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL AWN AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS) WHETHER OR NOT FORESEEABLE, THAT RESULT IN ANY WAY FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR YOUR RELIANCE ON INFORMATION PROVIDED, OR THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETIONS OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, EVEN IF AWN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY AWN MATERIAL, OR WITH ANY OF AWN'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING AWN.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, AWN and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, advertisers, suppliers, co-branders or other partners, employees and independent contractors, from and against any and all claims or demands made by any third party, including but not limited to any action, cost, damage, obligation, disbursement, expense, liability, loss, penalty, judgment, suit, settlement payments, including without limitation, attorneys’, accountants’ and other reasonable professional fees and cost, due to, arising out of, relating to, or as a result of Content you submit, post, transmit or make available through the Service, your use of the Service, your connection to the Service, your violation of the TOS, or your violation of any rights of another. This indemnification shall survive the termination of the TOS.

Termination

You agree that AWN, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if AWN believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS. AWN may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Service, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Service under any provision of this TOS may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that AWN may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Service. Further, you agree that AWN shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service.

Restrictions on Use

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Service, use of the Service, or access to the Service.

Links

You may publish links within the Content to other World Wide Websites or resources. Because AWN has no control over such links, sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that AWN does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that AWN shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with your or any third party’s use of or reliance on any such materials, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

Acceptance

Your use of the Service constitutes acceptance of this TOS. You hereby waive any and all defenses you may have based on the electronic form of this TOS and lack of signing or other form of electronic execution by the parties hereto. You agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this TOS and any additional terms, conditions, rules or procedures imposed by Service or by third party content providers in connection with third-party content, software or services available on, through or in connection with Service.

Waiver

Failure to enforce strict performance of any provision of this TOS will not constitute a waiver of AWN's right to subsequently enforce such a provision or any other provision of this TOS, nor will any delay or omission on the part of AWN to exercise or take advantage of any right or remedy that AWN has or may have hereunder operate as a waiver of any right or remedy.

Severability

In the event that any of the provisions of this TOS shall be held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining portion hereof shall remain in full force and effect and such provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent possible so as to effect the intent of the parties and shall be reformed to the extent necessary to make such provisions valid and enforceable.

General Information

This TOS constitutes the entire agreement between you and AWN and governs your use of the Service, superceding any prior agreements between you and AWN. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use other affiliate or AWN services. You acknowledge and agree that any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this TOS, or any breach thereof, shall be determined and settled by binding arbitration in Los Angeles, California, pursuant to the rules then pertaining of the American Arbitration Association. Any award rendered shall be final and conclusive upon the parties and a judgment thereon may be entered in the highest court of the forum, State or Federal, having jurisdiction. The parties will share equally the administrative costs of such arbitration proceedings. This TOS and all matters or issues collateral thereto shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, United States of America, applicable to contracts made and performed entirely herein.

Copyright Information

AWN respects the intellectual property rights of others, and requires that the people who use the Service do the same. It is our policy to respond promptly to claims of intellectual property misuse.

If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on the AWN.com website in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our designated copyright agent with the following information in writing:

• the electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to act on the owner's behalf;

• identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;

• identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit AWN to locate the material, including the full URL.

 

your name, address, telephone number, and email address.

• a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

• a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

 

If AWN receives such a claim, AWN reserves the right to refuse or delete Content as described previously in the section titled “Content Submitted to AWN,” or to terminate a user's account in accordance with the previous section titled “Termination.”

Our designated agent to receive notification of claimed infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act OF 1998 ("DMCA") is:

 

Dan Sarto

Publisher

AWN, Inc.

6525 Sunset Blvd., GS10

LA, CA  90028

(323) 606-4200

After receiving a claim of infringement, AWN will process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions under the DMCA and other applicable intellectual property laws. Upon receipt of notices complying or substantially complying with the DMCA, AWN will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity, and will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is claimed to be infringing. AWN will take reasonable steps to expeditiously notify the subscriber that it has removed or disabled access to such material.

Upon receipt of a proper counter notification under the DMCA, AWN will promptly provide the person who provided the initial notification of claimed infringement with a copy of the counter notification and inform that person that it will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it in ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days. Additionally, AWN will replace the removed material and cease disabling access to it ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days following receipt of the counter notice, unless AWN's designated agent first receives notice from the person who submitted the initial notification that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the subscriber from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the AWN system or network.

You may provide us with a counter notification by providing our copyright agent the following information in writing:

• your physical or electronic signature;

 

• identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled, including the full URL;

 

• a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled;

 

• your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which AWN may be found and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the initial notification of infringement.

 

If you have any questions or concerns about anything contained in this document, please email us at info@AWN.com [3] or mail us at AWN, Inc., 6525 Sunset Blvd., GS10, Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA.  Thank you.