Effective as of: July 9th 2008
BrightHub.com is a Web-based service, provided by Bright Hub, Inc. (“Bright Hub”), where experts and community members share knowledge and information (the “Service”). You should read these terms and conditions (“Terms of Use”) carefully; they describe your legal relationship with Bright Hub and govern your access to and use of brighthub.com (the “Site”), the Service offered via the Site, and all text, data, audio, software, graphics, images, photographs, and videos contained therein (the “Content”). YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY CLICKING THE “I AGREE” BUTTON, OR BY USING THE SITE, THE SERVICE, ANY CONTENT ON THE SERVICE, OR YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF USE IN THEIR ENTIRETY, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITE OR SERVICE.
1. Modification of the Site or Terms of Use. Bright Hub reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify or discontinue the Site and the Service, or to modify these Terms of Use without advance notice. We will keep you informed of any changes; if we do modify these Terms of Use, we will give you notice of the changes. After we have provided such notice, your use of the Site or the Service will represent your acceptance of the new terms. If any modified terms are not acceptable to you, your only option is to cease using the Site and the Service, and if applicable, to cancel your Bright Hub account.
2. Your Account. You can create a Bright Hub account by registering on the Site. In creating an account, you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information, and you agree to update your information when it changes. You are responsible for safeguarding the password that you use to access the Service and you agree not to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to take sole responsibility for any activities or actions conducted under your account, whether or not you have authorized such activities or actions. You will immediately notify Bright Hub of any unauthorized use of your account. In order to use the Service, you must be at least 18 years of age.
3. Comments and Other User Content. You may post comments and other types of Content on the Site in response to articles or other Content on the Site (“User Content”). You will be solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of posting or publishing it. In connection with your User Content, you represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Bright Hub to use all trademark, copyright, and other proprietary rights in all your User Content to enable use of the User Content on the Site and in conjunction with the Service. By submitting any User Content to Bright Hub or the Site, you grant Bright Hub a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, and publicly perform the User Content in connection with the Site or Bright Hub's (and its successors') business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Site (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. Given the nature of User Content, Bright Hub does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to your User Content. Bright Hub has the right (but not the obligation) to remove or edit User Content, but does not regularly review User Content. We will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting, publishing, or otherwise making available any User Content, emails, or other materials that are believed to violate these Terms of Use or any applicable law.
4. Ownership of the Site and Service. The Site, Service and Content are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of the United States and foreign countries. Except for any User Content, all right, title, and interest in and to the Site, Service and Content, including without limitation the organization of the Service features and the look and feel of the Site, are and will remain the exclusive property of Bright Hub and its licensors. Except as expressly permitted in these Terms of Use or by a Creative Commons license clearly attached to certain Content, you will not reproduce, modify, or prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, or otherwise use the Site, the Service, or any Content. If you want to make commercial use of the Site or any Content found on the Site, you must enter into a written agreement with Bright Hub or the appropriate owner of the Content, in advance of any such use.
5. Feedback and Feature Suggestions. All feedback, comments, and suggestions for improvements to the Site or Service that you provide to Bright Hub hereunder are referred to collectively as “Feedback.” You acknowledge and agree that all Feedback will be the sole and exclusive property of Bright Hub. You hereby irrevocably transfer and assign to Bright Hub and agree to irrevocably assign and transfer to Bright Hub all of your right, title, and interest in and to all Feedback, including without limitation all worldwide patent rights (including without limitation patent applications and disclosures), copyright rights, trade secret rights, and other intellectual property rights (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) therein. At Bright Hub’s request and expense, you will execute documents and take such further acts as Bright Hub may reasonably request to assist Bright Hub to acquire, perfect, and maintain its Intellectual Property Rights and other legal protections for the Feedback.
6. Termination and Cancellation. In the event that you breach these Terms of Use, Bright Hub has the right to suspend your access to the Site and Service and remove from the Site and Service any material you may have posted. Bright Hub also has the right to shutdown the Site, terminate all or some of the Service, or suspend or terminate your access thereto at any time and for any reason or no reason. You may terminate your Bright Hub account at any time and for any reason by sending an email to 270 River Street, Troy, NY 12180. Bright Hub will not be liable to you or any third party for termination of the Service or termination of your use of the Service. The rights and obligations of the parties contained in Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 will survive the termination of these Terms of Use.
7. What You Must NOT Do. The Site and Service may be used and accessed for lawful purposes only. You agree to abide by all applicable local, state, national, and foreign laws and regulations in connection with your use of the Site and Service. In addition, without limitation, you agree that you will not do any of the following while using or accessing the Site or Service:
(a) Submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret, or otherwise subject to third-party Intellectual Property Rights, or privacy or publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant Bright Hub all of the license rights granted herein;
(b) Submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, or racially or ethnically offensive; or that encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise be inappropriate;
(c) Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security related features of the Site or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Content;
(d) Upload, stream, email, or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation, as well as viruses or other computer code that may interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of the Site or the Service, or interfere with the access of any other user to the Site or the Service;
(e) Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any posting or in any way use the Site or Service to send altered, deceptive, or false source-identifying information;
(f) Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the network infrastructure or servers that operate the Site or the Service;
(g) Obtain any information or materials relating to the Site through any means not intentionally made available by Bright Hub to you, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to Bright Hub’s technology, computer systems, or networks associated with the Site, or attempt to index, search, or crawl the Site with any automated software or other similar mechanism;
(h) Attempt to decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Site or the Service;
(i) Attempt to manipulate or otherwise game any pageview calculations, search engine rankings, advertising keywords systems, or contributor feedback mechanisms;
(j) Harm, threaten, stalk, or otherwise harass other users of the Site or Service;
(k) Collect or store personal data about other users of the Site or Service without their express permission;
(l) Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, through pretexting or some other form of social engineering, or otherwise commit fraud; or
(m) Encourage or instruct any other individual to do any of the foregoing or to violate any term of these Terms of Use.
Bright Hub will terminate your access to the Site and the Service, if you are determined to be a repeat infringer. A repeat infringer is a user who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice or has had User Content removed from the Site more than twice. Bright Hub has the right to decide whether Content or User Content is appropriate and whether it complies with these Terms of Use. Without prior notice and at its sole discretion, Bright Hub may, at any time, remove inappropriate User Content or terminate your access for uploading Content in violation of these Terms of Use.
8. What Bright Hub Is NOT Responsible For. Your use of the Site, Service, and Content is at your sole discretion and risk. The Site, Service, AND Content, and all materials, information, products, and services included therein, are provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis without warranties of any kind. BRIGHT HUB EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, RELATING TO THE SITE, SERVICE, AND CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, and NON-INFRINGEMENT. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from Bright Hub, will create any warranty not expressly stated in thESE TERMS OF USE. Bright Hub makes no warranties regarding the availability, uptime, operation, maintenance, timing, or delivery of the Site or Service. Some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties. Accordingly, some of the above exclusions may not apply to you.
9. Third Party Links, Content, Recommendations. The Site may contain User Content and provide links to third-party websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that Bright Hub is not responsible or liable for the availability, usefulness, safety or accuracy of User Content, such websites or resources or the content, products, or services available from such websites or resources. You acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any such websites or resources. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you would have against Bright Hub with respect to such User Content. You acknowledge that the use of any advice, opinion, recommendation, statement or other information contained in or displayed on the Service or the Site is at your own risk. Prior to purchasing any third-party products or services described on the Service or the Site, you are advised to verify independently all pricing, product quality and other information necessary to make an informed purchase. Neither Bright Hub nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, representatives or licensors shall have any liability arising from your purchases of third-party products or services based upon the information provided on the Service or the Site.
10. Limitation of Bright Hub’s Liability. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEITHER BRIGHT HUB NOR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS, WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE OR ACCESS) THE SITE, SERVICE, AND CONTENT, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARE FORESEEABLE AND WHETHER OR NOT BRIGHT HUB HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BRIGHT HUB WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT OR SOFTWARE UPLOADED ONTO, POSTED ON, OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE SITE OR THROUGH THE SERVICE. IN NO EVENT WILL BRIGHT HUB’S CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED $100 USD. Some states or jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to you.
11. What You Will Indemnify Bright Hub From. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Bright Hub, its officers, directors, employees, and agents, harmless from and against any third-party claims, liabilities, damages, and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with (i) your access to or use of the Site, Service, or Content; (ii) your User Content; (iii) violation of these Terms of Use by you or any other user of your account (whether authorized or not); or (iv) your gross negligence or willful misconduct.
12. General. You will not assign any rights granted to you or delegate any of your duties under these Terms of Use; any attempt to do so will be void and of no effect. Bright Hub may assign its rights and delegate its duties under these Terms of Use in their entirety in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of all, or substantially all, of its assets relating to these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use will be governed by the laws of the State of New York, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Any claim or dispute between you and Bright Hub that arises in whole or in part from the Site or Service will be adjudicated in the federal or state courts located in the Northern District of New York. You and Bright Hub hereby consent to personal jurisdiction and venue therein. These Terms of Use and any other legal notices published by Bright Hub on the Site constitute the entire agreement between you and Bright Hub concerning your use of the Site and the Service, except to the extent you have a formal relationship with Bright Hub as a Content provider under a Bright Hub Content provider agreement, in which case your formal provision of Content will be governed by that agreement and all other uses of the Site and Service will be governed by these Bright Hub Terms of Use. To the extent you have a relationship with Bright Hub as a Content provider, your relationship with Bright Hub as a Content provider is governed by a different agreement. If any provision of these Terms of Use is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, which will remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this these Terms of Use will be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and a party’s failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Use will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The headings and captions are for convenience only and are not to be used in the interpretation of these Terms of Use. All notices to Bright Hub in relation to these Terms of Use will be in writing and delivered by confirmed facsimile transmission, by courier or overnight delivery service, or by certified mail, and in each instance will be deemed given upon receipt. All notices to Bright Hub will be sent to the 270 River Street, Troy, NY 12180, or to such other address as may be specified by either party to the other in accordance with this Section. Bright Hub may provide notices to you by email to the email address specified in your Bright Hub account (if any).