Terms of Use - Alliance of Rural Public Media

Effective Date: March 6, 2023

Introduction; Consent to Terms

Please read these Terms of Use before using the Alliance of Rural Public Media website or any application, feature or service of the website (the “ARPM Site”). By using the ARPM Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and acknowledge that ARPM’s Privacy Policy describes how we and others may collect and use the information when you use the ARPM Site.

We may modify, add, or delete portions of these Terms of Use at any time by notifying you of the change in writing (including by email or by posting the modified Terms of Use on the ARPM Site and updating the date above). Please check these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy frequently for updates. Your continued use of the ARPM Site following the posting of updated Terms of Use means that you agree to those changes.

Please note that these Terms of Use are separate and distinct from the terms of use and privacy policies governing the sites, applications, platforms, and services of National Public Radio, Inc. (NPR), NPR Member stations, any of the public radio stations or other organizations that are partners of or have contributed content to the ARPM Site (the “ARPM Site Partners”), or the sites, applications, platforms and services that may link to or from the ARPM Site.

Additional terms and conditions – such as terms and conditions applicable to the use of content, materials, features or services of the Partner Portal for ARPM Site Partners (the “Partner Portal”) – may apply to your use of particular areas, features or services of the ARPM Site. We may send you additional terms and conditions or post additional terms and conditions on the Partner Portal when you log in to those areas. If there is any conflict between those additional terms and conditions and these Terms of Use, the additional terms and conditions will take precedence over these Terms of Use.

Copyrights

The contents of the ARPM Site are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The contents of the ARPM Site are owned by or licensed to the Alliance of Rural Public Media (“ARPM,” “we” or “us”). Some of the content included on the ARPM Site also may be owned by or licensed to NPR, NPR Member stations, or the ARPM Site Partners. You may not reproduce, distribute, republish, upload, transmit, display, prepare derivative works of, publicly perform, sell, transfer, assign, license, or use for commercial purposes any copyrighted content or material on the ARPM Site without the prior written consent of ARPM, except as provided in these Terms of Use or as otherwise agreed in writing between you and ARPM. All rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Use are reserved to ARPM.

You may copy, download one copy on a single device, and print a limited amount of content on the ARPM Site, for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided that: (a) you include without modification all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the content; (b) you do not modify the content; and (c) you do not use the content in any way that is unlawful or harmful.

If you are a ARPM Site Partner, you may copy, download and use content and materials provided via the Partner Portal solely to promote your organization’s mission and/or for advocacy purposes in support of your organization’s public policy goals, provided that (a) you include without modification all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the content and materials; (b) you do not modify the content or materials, except as permitted by ARPM; (c) you do not use the content in a manner that suggests that ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, or any of the ARPM Site Partners promote or endorse your, or any third party’s, causes, ideas, products, sites, applications, platforms, or services; (d) you do not use the content or materials in any way that is unlawful or harmful to any other person or entity; and (e) your use of the content and materials shall be in accordance with any and all further instructions and terms and conditions provided by ARPM.

To request permission for any other use of the ARPM Site content, material or services, please contact us.

Trademarks

The Alliance of Rural Public Media, APRM, National Public Radio, NPR, and ARPM Site Partners’ names and logos are trademarks or service marks, respectively, of ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and the ARPM Site Partners. These marks are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution and confusing or misleading uses under national and international trademark laws, and all rights in these marks are reserved by their respective owners. You may not use any of the ARPM Site-provided service marks, logos, or graphics without ARPM’s prior written consent, except as specifically Except as otherwise expressly permitted by these Terms of Use, you may not use any such marks without the prior written consent of their respective owner(s).

User Materials and Partner Materials

Users of the ARPM Site may post, upload, transmit and/or otherwise submit (“Submit”) comments, messages, photos, images, and other content and materials (“User Materials”) on or through the social networking features, Contact page, Get Involved page, the Partners page, the Partner Portal, and other features and services of the ARPM Site. You acknowledge that User Materials may be routed through our servers, the servers of one or more third parties on our behalf, and the Internet, and may be viewed by ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and ARPM Site Partners.

You further acknowledge that in the case of User Materials Submitted through the Partner page, through the Partner Portal, as part of a request to become a ARPM Site Partner, or otherwise Submitted by a ARPM Site Partner or a party seeking to become a ARPM Site Partner (“Partner Materials”), such Partner Materials may be viewed on the ARPM Site by the general public. You acknowledge that the ARPM Site, including the social networking features, discussions, Contact Us page and other features of the ARPM Site, is for public and not private communications.

If we have questions about your User Materials and Partner Materials, we have the right, but not the duty, to contact you for further information.

APRM reserves the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit User Materials and Partner Materials.

You retain the copyright and other ownership rights in any User Materials and Partner Materials that you Submit on or through the ARPM Site. However, by Submitting Partner Materials on or through the ARPM Site, you hereby grant ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, other ARPM Site Partners, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates, a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free worldwide, transferable license to use, copy, sublicense, modify, transmit, publicly perform, display (including framing), create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, and/or adapt your Partner Materials in connection with the promotional and advocacy purposes of ARPM, in any and all media formats or channels, whether now known or hereafter devised, including, but not limited to, the ARPM Site, NPR.org and NPR sites, applications, platforms and services, NPR Member stations sites, applications and services, ARPM Site Partners sites, applications, platforms and services, and other sites, applications, platforms and services, without payment and without further notice to you or request for consent. You further grant ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and ARPM Site Partners, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates, the right to contact you in connection with your User Materials and Partner Materials and to use your name, organization name, city and state, and other information that you have provided in connection with the authorized use of the Partner Materials.

In addition, you grant each user of the ARPM Site a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to access your Partner Materials on or through the ARPM Site and to use your Partner Materials pursuant to these Terms of Use.

For any User Materials and Partner Materials you Submit on or through the ARPM Site, you agree to abide by the following rules for Submitting User Materials through the ARPM Site.

● You may not Submit any User Materials under a false name or a false email address. You may not impersonate another user or provide any false information about yourself.

● You may not Submit any User Materials or links to material that is libelous, defamatory, false, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, in violation of the law, harmful to children, in violation of third-party privacy rights, or that constitutes hate speech or a personal attack.

● You may only Submit User Materials for which you have the copyright or other necessary rights and permissions to distribute electronically. You may not plagiarize content or violate or infringe on the rights of third parties, including copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, privacy, personal, publicity, moral or proprietary rights. You promise and represent that you own or have all necessary rights and permissions to use, distribute and authorize ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and users of the ARPM Site (to the extent permitted by these Terms of Use), to use and distribute any User Materials. By Submitting any User Materials through the ARPM Site, you grant to ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and users of these sites, applications, platforms and services (to the extent permitted by these Terms of Use) the licenses to use such User Materials.

● You may not Submit any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising, promotion, solicitation for goods and services, or recruiting. You may not use the APRM Site for political campaigning.

● You are solely responsible for any User Materials Submitted using your account. ARPM does not and cannot review all User Materials Submitted by you or others and is not responsible for any User Materials submitted by you or others on or through the ARPM Site. However, ARPM has the right (but not the obligation) to review, screen, delete, edit or move any User Materials that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be in violation of the Rules for Use of the Service or these Terms of Use, or for any other reason, as determined in ARPM’s sole discretion.

You further agree to the representations and warranties, and indemnification obligations, set forth in the “Representations; Indemnity” section of these Terms of Use.

Links to the ARPM Site

ARPM is committed to serving public radio. ARPM encourages and permits links to content on the ARPM Site, however, the use the ARPM Site content for inappropriate commercial purposes or in any way that is unlawful or harmful. We reserve the right to withdraw permission for any link.

Links to Third Party Sites, Applications, Platforms and Services

The ARPM Site may contain links to sites, applications, platforms and services maintained by third parties, over which ARPM has no control. ARPM does not endorse the content, products or services of such sites, applications, platforms and services, or any of their operators, and ARPM is not responsible or liable for the content, operators, availability, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, services, or other materials on or available from such third party sites, applications, platforms and services. ARPM 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 use of or reliance on any such content, products, or services available on or through such third party sites, applications, platforms and services.

The ARPM Site may include certain embedded tools provided and controlled by third parties and governed by the terms and policies of the third parties. You should only use these third-party tools if you agree to their respective terms and policies.

Passwords

To participate in certain ARPM Site activities, you must register and establish a password. You are solely responsible for all activities that occur using your registration or password. You must maintain the confidentiality of your password, and you agree to immediately notify ARPM of any unauthorized use of your account or password.

Rules for Use of the ARPM Site

By using the ARPM Site, including Submitting User Materials or Partner Materials through the ARPM Site, you agree to the following rules:

You must be at least 18 years of age to submit any User Materials, Partner Materials or personal information on or through the ARPM Site. If you are under 18 years old, you may browse the ARPM Site or register for email newsletters or other features of the ARPM Site with the consent of your parent or guardian, so long as you do not submit any User Materials or Partner Materials if your parent or legal guardian reviews and agrees to these Terms of Use before you use any part of the ARPM Site, or they complete the purchase and/or registration on your behalf. If you are under 13 years of age, or if you are an EU user under 16 years of age, please do not send any information about yourself, including your name, address or email address. If we discover that we have collected any personal information from a child under 13, or from an EU resident under 16, we will remove that information from our database as soon as possible.
You may not submit any software or other material which contains any virus, trap door, back door, worm, Trojan horse or other harmful computer code, files, scripts, agents, programs, adware, device or other features that may access, alter, delete, damage or disable any hardware, software, information or other property of the ARPM Site, ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, ARPM Site Partners, or users of the ARPM Site. You may not use the ARPM Site to distribute chain letters, mass mailings, “spam,” or duplicative or unsolicited messages in violation of applicable laws, or to gather usernames and/or email addresses for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or other communications to other users of the ARPM Site.
You may not interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the ARPM Site, any portion or contents thereof, or related systems or networks, or use the ARPM Site in any way that degrades their reliability, speed or operation, or their underlying hardware or software. In addition, you may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the ARPM Site or related systems or networks.
You acknowledge that ARPM has the right to limit or terminate your, or any other person’s, access to or registration with the ARPM Site for any reason, in its sole discretion, including violation of these Terms of Use.

Representations; Indemnity

You represent and warrant that if you Submit any User Materials, Partner Materials or personal information on or through the ARPM Site, (a) you are at least 18 years of age; (b) you have obtained all clearances, releases, licenses and rights to any User Materials and Partner Materials you Submit on or through the ARPM Site that may be necessary for their use as contemplated by the ARPM Site and these Terms of Use; (c) there are no encumbrances or restrictions on the User Materials or Partner Materials or their use as contemplated by these Terms of Use; (d) the User Materials and Partner Materials, and their use by ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and ARPM Site Partners (pursuant to these Terms of Use) does not and will not libel any person or entity, or violate or infringe upon the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, reputation, creative or other rights of any person or entity or violate these Terms of Use; and (e) your use of the ARPM Site complies with these Terms of Use.

You agree that you will indemnify and hold harmless the ARPM, NPR, NPR Member stations, and the ARPM Site Partners, and their respective directors, officers, employees, members, subsidiaries and affiliates from any and all claims, liabilities, costs, or expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from: (1) your breach of any of the above representations and warranties; (2) your use of the ARPM Site; (3) the User Materials and Partner Materials you have Submitted on or through the ARPM Site; or (4) ARPM’s authorized publication, distribution, or use of such User Materials and Partner Materials, or the authorized publication, distribution or use of such User Materials and Partner Materials by NPR, NPR Member stations, or ARPM Site Partners.

Disclaimer

ARPM is not responsible or liable for any User Materials Submitted by you or a third party, including any User Materials, on or through the ARPM Site. ARPM cannot verify the accuracy of statements that users make or place on or through the ARPM Site, and does not guarantee that any User Materials have been submitted with the permission of the copyright or proprietary owner or are otherwise in compliance with the Rules for Use of the Service or these Terms of Use.

THE ARPM SITE AND ANY CONTENT, MATERIALS, USER MATERIALS, FEATURES OR PRODUCTS AVAILABLE OR SOLD ON OR THROUGH THE ARPM SITE ARE AVAILABLE ON AN “AS IS”, “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE OPERATION OF THE SERVICES OR THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, GOODS, OR SERVICES APPEARING OR OFFERED ON THE SERVICES OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY WEBSITES OR SERVICES LINKED FROM THE SERVICES. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, STATUTORY OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO (I) THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NO LIENS AND NO ENCUMBRANCES; (II) THE WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT, MISAPPROPRIATION OR VIOLATION OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR PROPRIETARY RIGHTS OF ANY PERSON; (III) WARRANTIES ARISING THROUGH COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE IN TRADE; AND (IV) THE WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CORRECTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF DATA OR CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SERVICES OR OTHERWISE BY ARPM. FURTHER, THERE IS NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OF ANY OTHER PERSON OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN ANY DOCUMENTATION. ARPM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE ARPM SITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE ARPM CONTENT, FUNCTIONS OR MATERIALS CONTAINED THEREIN, WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, UP-TO-DATE, FREE OF VIRUSES, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. ARPM DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE ARPM SITE OR ENDORSE, RECOMMEND, OR MAKE ANY WARRANTIES AS TO THE CONTENT, INFORMATION, MATERIALS, USER MATERIALS, FEATURES, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, OPINIONS, OR STATEMENTS AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE ARPM SITE OR THROUGH LINKS ON THE ARPM SITE. ARPM MAKES NO REPRESENTATION THAT THE SERVICES ARE APPROPRIATE OR AVAILABLE FOR USE OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE BY OR ON BEHALF OF ARPM SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY. USE OF THE ARPM SITE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL ARPM, NPR, NPR MEMBER STATIONS, ANY OF THE ARPM SITE PARTNERS, OR THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, SUBSIDIARIES, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE: (A) FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE ARPM SITE; (B) RELATING TO ANY CONTENT, SERVICES OR PRODUCTS AVAILABLE OR SOLD ON OR THROUGH THE ARPM SITE OR TO ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT OR MATERIALS (INCLUDING USER MATERIAL, (C) FOR THE DEFAMATORY, INFRINGING, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY, OR (D) IN CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, OR LINE OR SYSTEM FAILURE. IN NO EVENT WILL ARPM, NPR, NPR MEMBER STATIONS, ANY OF THE ARPM SITE PARTNERS, OR THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, SUBSIDIARIES, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF $100.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, THESE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY HEREIN, DO NOT EXCLUDE ANY STATUTORY CONSUMER RIGHTS CLAIMS OR DAMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH PERSONAL INJURY OR RESULTING FROM ARPM’S INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT, RECKLESSNESS, FRAUD, OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARPM’S LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. ANY CLAIM AGAINST US SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID, IF ANY, FOR USE OF THE SERVICES.

Data Use Charges

If you use the ARPM Site on your mobile device, please check your wireless plan, because carrier data use charges or other fees may apply. You agree that you are solely responsible for any costs you incur to access the ARPM Site, including any excess data charges. You should keep in mind that the use of the ARPM Site on your mobile device to send content to another person may result in wireless charges to both the sender and the receiver.

Right to Change the ARPM Site

ARPM reserves the right to change, terminate or suspend the ARPM Site or any features, content or materials contained on the ARPM Site, in any way, at any time, and for any reason. ARPM also has the right to require you to cease accessing any features, content, or materials of the ARPM Site.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notices; Copyright Agent

ARPM respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement by any content or material on the ARPM Site, please provide the following information in writing to the ARPM’s Copyright Agent (see 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) for further detail):

a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright;
a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
a description of the material that you claim 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 sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
information so that we can contact you, such as address, telephone number, and email address;
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;
a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a copyright that is allegedly infringed.

If you believe that any content or materials you posted, uploaded, or Submitted to the ARPM Site that were subsequently removed from the ARPM Site were improperly removed or disabled, or to which access was disabled, please provide the following Counter-Notification to APRM’s Copyright Agent (see 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) for further detail):

your physical or electronic signature;
a description of the materials that have 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;
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 the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

ARPM’s Copyright Agent can be reached as follows:

Alliance of Rural Public Media

1111 North Capitol Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 513-2040

Fax: (202) 513-3021

Email: [email protected]

Only DMCA notices should be sent to the Copyright Agent. For other comments or questions regarding the ARPM Site, please contact us through our Contact page.

Users Outside the United States

The ARPM Site is controlled and operated within the United States and is not directed to users outside the United States. ARPM makes no representation that content, materials, or products available on or through the ARPM Site are appropriate or available for use outside of the United States. If you access the ARPM Site from a location outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with applicable laws, including local laws regarding online conduct and content and U.S. export laws and regulations.

Miscellaneous

These Terms of Use, together with the Privacy Policy, represent the entire understanding of the parties regarding the use of the ARPM Site and supersede any previous documents, correspondence, conversations, or other oral or written understanding related to the use of the ARPM Site. These Terms of Use are separate and distinct from the terms of use governing the sites, applications, platforms, and services of NPR, NPR’s Member stations, and the ARPM Site Partners, and the sites, applications, platforms, and services that may link to or from the ARPM Site. These Terms of Use are governed by and construed under District of Columbia law, without regard to its choice of law rules, and, where applicable, the laws of the United States. Any dispute or claim relating in any way to the ARPM Site will be governed and interpreted by and under the laws of the District of Columbia, without giving effect to any principles that provide for the application of the law of any other jurisdiction. To the extent permissible by law, any disputes under these Terms of Use or relating to the ARPM Site will be litigated in the local or federal courts located in the District of Columbia, and you hereby consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in the District of Columbia. A modification or waiver of a part of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver or modification of any other portion of the Terms of Use. If for any reason any provision of these Terms of Use is found unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remainder of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

Questions

If you have any questions about the ARPM Site these Terms of Use, please contact us through our Contact page.