Terms of use

National Deaf News, a subsidiary of New Jersey Deaf News, Inc. (“National Deaf News and NJ Deaf News,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) welcomes you.  We provide you access to our website, available at www.nationaldeafnews.com (the “Website”) subject to the following Terms of Use, which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you.  By accessing the Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy, which is hereby incorporated by reference (collectively, this “Agreement”).  If you do not agree to any of these terms, then please do not use the Website.

 

THE SECTIONS BELOW TITLED “BINDING ARBITRATION” AND “CLASS ACTION WAIVER” CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER.  THEY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.  PLEASE READ THEM.

 

Capitalized terms not defined in these Terms of Use shall have the meaning set forth in our Privacy Policy.

 

  1. DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE; RESTRICTIONS

 

We provide Visitors with access to the Website as described below.

 

Visitors.  Visitors, as the term implies, are people who do not register with us, but want to explore the Website.  No login is required for Visitors.  Visitors can: (i) view all publicly-available content on the Website; and (ii) e-mail us.

 

  1. COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

 

Our community, like any community, functions best when our users follow a few simple rules.  By accessing the Website, you agree to comply with these community guidelines (the “Community Guidelines”) and that:

 

  • You will comply with all applicable laws in your use of the Website and will not use the Website for any unlawful purpose;

 

  • You will not access or use the Website to collect any market research for a competing business;

 

  • You will not impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

 

  • You will not interfere with, or attempt to interrupt the proper operation of, the Website through the use of any virus, device, information collection or transmission mechanism, software or routine, or access or attempt to gain access to any Content (as defined below), data, files, or passwords related to the Website through hacking, password or data mining, or any other means;

 

  • You will not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the Website;

 

  • You will not cover, obscure, block, or in any way interfere with any advertisements and/or safety features on the Website;

 

  • You will not use any robot, spider, scraper, or other automated means to access the Website for any purpose without our express written permission; provided, however, we grant the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the public portions of the Website for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly-available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials;

 

  • You will not take any action that imposes or may impose (in our sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our technical infrastructure; and

 

  • If you find something that violates our Community Guidelines, please let us know, and we’ll review it.

 

  1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

 

The Website contains material, such as videos, photographs, software, text, graphics, images, sound recordings, and other material provided by or on behalf of National Deaf News (collectively referred to as the “Content”).  The Content may be owned by us or by third parties.  The Content is protected under both United States and foreign laws.  Unauthorized use of the Content may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws.  You have no rights in or to the Content, and you will not use the Content except as permitted under this Agreement.  No other use is permitted without prior written consent from us.  You must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the original Content on any copy you make of the Content.  You may not sell, transfer, assign, license, sublicense, or modify the Content or reproduce, display, publicly perform, make a derivative version of, distribute, or otherwise use the Content in any way for any public or commercial purpose.  The use or posting of the Content on any other website or in a networked computer environment for any purpose is expressly prohibited.

 

The trademarks, service marks, and logos of National Deaf News (the “National Deaf News Trademarks”) used and displayed on the Website are registered and unregistered trademarks or service marks National Deaf News.  Other company, product, and service names located on the Website may be trademarks or service marks owned by others (the “Third-Party Trademarks,” and, collectively with National Deaf News Trademarks, the “Trademarks”).  Nothing on the Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use the Trademarks, without our prior written permission specific for each such use.  Use of the Trademarks as part of a link to or from any site is prohibited unless establishment of such a link is approved in advance by us in writing.  All goodwill generated from the use of National Deaf News Trademarks inures to our benefit.

 

Elements of the Website are protected by trade dress, trademark, unfair competition, and other state and federal laws and may not be copied or imitated in whole or in part, by any means, including, but not limited to, the use of framing or mirrors.  None of the Content may be retransmitted without our express, written consent for each and every instance.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS WITH AND SUBMISSIONS TO US

 

Although we encourage you to e-mail us, we do not want you to, and you should not, e-mail us any content that contains confidential information.  With respect to all e-mails and communications you send to us, including, but not limited to, ratings, feedback, questions, comments, suggestions, and the like, we shall be free to use any ratings data, ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in your communications for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to, the development, production, and marketing of products and services that incorporate such information without compensation or attribution to you.

 

If you email or otherwise through our Website or our social media pages any videos, photographs, sound recordings, or other content or material (collectively, “User Content”), you expressly acknowledge and agree it will be accessible by others, and that there is no confidentiality or privacy with respect to such User Content, including, without limitation, any personally identifying information that you may make available.  YOU, AND NOT NATIONAL DEAF NEWS, ARE ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL YOUR USER CONTENT THAT YOU EMAIL OR OTHERWISE TRANSMIT OR PROVIDE VIA THE WEBSITE OR OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES.

 

You retain all copyrights and other intellectual property rights in and to your own User Content.  You do, however, hereby grant us and our sublicensees a non-exclusive, royalty-free, freely sublicensable, perpetual license to modify, compile, combine with other content, copy, record, synchronize, transmit, translate, format, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and otherwise use or exploit your User Content and all intellectual property and moral rights therein throughout the universe, in each case, by or in any means, methods, media, or technology now known or hereafter devised.  You also grant us and our sublicensees the right, but not the obligation, to use your User Content, your social media sign-in name, name, likeness, and photograph in connection with any use of the related User Content permitted by the previous sentence and/or to advertise and promote the Website, National Deaf News, and our products and services.  Without limiting the foregoing, you acknowledge and agree that uses of your User Content, sign-in name, name, likeness, and photograph permitted by the foregoing rights and licenses may include the display of such User Content, sign-in name, name, likeness, and photograph adjacent to advertising and other material or content.

 

If you submit User Content to us, each such submission constitutes a representation and warranty to National Deaf News that such User Content is your original creation (or that you otherwise have the right to provide the User Content), that you have the rights necessary to grant the license to the User Content under the prior paragraph (including, without limitation, any sensitive or personally identifiable information contained therein), and that it and its use by National Deaf News and its content partners as permitted by this Agreement does not and will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property, privacy, or moral rights of any person or contain any libelous, defamatory, or obscene material or content.

 

  1. NO WARRANTIES; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

 

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NATIONAL DEAF NEWS DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT AND ANY OTHER DATA OR INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.

 

YOU ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE WEBSITE MAY CONTAIN BUGS, ERRORS, AND OTHER PROBLEMS THAT COULD CAUSE SYSTEM FAILURES.  CONSEQUENTLY, THE WEBSITE AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THAT THE WEBSITE OR CONTENT WILL OPERATE ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS SERVERS, OR THE CONTENT ARE FREE OF COMPUTER VIRUSES OR SIMILAR CONTAMINATION OR DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES.

 

WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTIES’ RIGHTS, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.

 

IN CONNECTION WITH ANY WARRANTY, CONTRACT, OR COMMON LAW TORT CLAIMS: (I) WE AND OUR LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOST DATA OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO ACCESS AND USE THE WEBSITE OR THE CONTENT, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES; AND (II) ANY DIRECT DAMAGES THAT YOU MAY SUFFER AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE CONTENT SHALL NOT EXCEED FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50).

 

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES. THEREFORE, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS ON WARRANTIES IN THIS SECTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

 

NOTHING IN THESE TERMS OF USE SHALL AFFECT ANY NON-WAIVABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS THAT APPLY TO YOU.

 

  1. EXTERNAL SITES

 

The Website may contain links to third-party websites (“External Sites”).  These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by us of the content on such External Sites.  The content of such External Sites is developed and provided by others.  You should contact the site administrator or webmaster for those External Sites if you have any concerns regarding such links or any content located on such External Sites.  We are not responsible for the content of any linked External Sites and do not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such External Sites.  You should take precautions when downloading files from all websites to protect your computer from viruses and other destructive programs.  If you decide to access linked External Sites, you do so at your own risk.

 

  1. INDEMNIFICATION

 

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us and our officers, directors, employees, agents, successors, licensees, licensors, and assigns harmless from and against any damages, liabilities, losses, expenses, claims, actions, and/or demands, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising or resulting from: (i) your breach of this Agreement; (ii) your misuse of the Content or the Website; and/or (iii) your violation of any third-party rights, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, property, publicity, or privacy right.  We shall provide notice to you of any such claim, suit, or proceeding and shall assist you, at your expense, in defending any such claim, suit, or proceeding.  We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control (at your expense) of any matter that is subject to indemnification under this section.  In such case, you agree to cooperate with any reasonable requests assisting our defense of such matter.

 

  1. COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS

 

National Deaf News is based in the United States.  We make no claims concerning whether the Content may be downloaded, viewed, or be appropriate for use outside of the United States.  If you access the Website or the Content from outside of the United States, you do so at your own risk.  Whether inside or outside of the United States, you are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws of your specific jurisdiction.

 

  1. TERMINATION OF THE AGREEMENT

 

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate this Agreement and your access to all or any part of the Website, at any time and for any reason without prior notice or liability.  We reserve the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or any part of the Website at any time without prior notice or liability.  Sections 3-14 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

  1. CONTROLLING LAW

 

This Agreement and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey without regard to its conflict of laws provisions.

 

  1. BINDING ARBITRATION

 

In the event of a dispute arising under or relating to this Agreement, the Content, or the Website (each, a “Dispute”), either party may elect to finally and exclusively resolve the dispute by binding arbitration governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”).  Any election to arbitrate, at any time, shall be final and binding on the other party. IF EITHER PARTY CHOOSES ARBITRATION, NEITHER PARTY SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE SUCH CLAIM IN COURT OR TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL, EXCEPT EITHER PARTY MAY BRING ITS CLAIM IN ITS LOCAL SMALL CLAIMS COURT, IF PERMITTED BY THAT SMALL CLAIMS COURT RULES AND IF WITHIN SUCH COURT’S JURISDICTION.  ARBITRATION IS DIFFERENT FROM COURT, AND DISCOVERY AND APPEAL RIGHTS MAY ALSO BE LIMITED IN ARBITRATION.  All disputes will be resolved before a neutral arbitrator selected jointly by the parties, whose decision will be final, except for a limited right of appeal under the FAA.  The arbitration shall be commenced and conducted by JAMS pursuant to its then current Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures and in accordance with the Expedited Procedures in those rules, or, where appropriate, pursuant to JAMS’ Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures. All applicable JAMS’ rules and procedures are available at the JAMS website www.jamsadr.com. Each party will be responsible for paying any JAMS filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees in accordance with JAMS rules.  Judgment on the arbitrator’s award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause shall not preclude parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction.  The arbitration may be conducted in person, through the submission of documents, by phone, or online. If conducted in person, the arbitration shall take place in the United States county where you reside.  The parties may litigate in court to compel arbitration, to stay a proceeding pending arbitration, or to confirm, modify, vacate, or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator.  The parties shall cooperate in good faith in the voluntary and informal exchange of all non-privileged documents and other information (including electronically stored information) relevant to the Dispute immediately after commencement of the arbitration.  As set forth in Section 13 below, nothing in this Agreement will prevent us from seeking injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction as necessary to protect our proprietary interests.

 

  1. CLASS ACTION WAIVER

 

You agree that any arbitration or proceeding shall be limited to the Dispute between us and you individually. To the full extent permitted by law, (i) no arbitration or proceeding shall be joined with any other; (ii) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be arbitrated or resolved on a class action-basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (iii) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons. YOU AGREE THAT YOU MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST US ONLY IN YOUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

 

  1. EQUITABLE RELIEF

 

You acknowledge and agree that in the event of a breach or threatened violation of our intellectual property rights and confidential and proprietary information by you, we will suffer irreparable harm and will therefore be entitled to injunctive relief to enforce this Agreement.  We may, without waiving any other remedies under this Agreement, seek from any court having jurisdiction any interim, equitable, provisional, or injunctive relief that is necessary to protect our rights and property pending the outcome of the arbitration referenced above.  You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consent to the personal and subject matter jurisdiction of the federal and state courts in the State of New Jersey for purposes of any such action by us.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

Our failure to act on or enforce any provision of the Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of that provision or any other provision in this Agreement.  No waiver shall be effective against us unless made in writing, and no such waiver shall be construed as a waiver in any other or subsequent instance.  Except as expressly agreed by us and you in writing, this Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between you and us with respect to the subject matter, and supersedes all previous or contemporaneous agreements, whether written or oral, between the parties with respect to the subject matter.  The section headings are provided merely for convenience and shall not be given any legal import.  This Agreement will inure to the benefit of our successors, assigns, licensees, and sublicensees.