Terms of Service

home // About EARN // Terms of Service
Give Now Success Stories

Terms of Service
(effective as of March 23, 2011)

Welcome to the network of websites (the “Sites”) operated by EARN.org (“EARN”).  EARN offers the Sites conditioned upon your acceptance of these Terms of Use (the “Terms”), and your continued use of the Sites constitutes your agreement to these Terms.  If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms, do not use the Sites.

Your License to Access the Sites.

The content, information, software, designs, and data included in the Sites (the “Content”) are protected by intellectual property and other laws.  You must comply with these and any other applicable laws when you use the Sites.

Unless indicated to the contrary, you may use the Sites only for personal, non-commercial use.  In connection with these uses, you may access, copy, download, print, and link to the Content made available on the Sites, provided that you do not modify or delete any copyright or other notice that appears on the Content.  If you are interested in reprinting, republishing, or distributing content from EARN, please contact EARN to obtain written consent.

We reserve all rights in the Content and the Sites that we do not specifically grant in these Terms.  Without limitation, you may not modify, distribute, transmit, perform, broadcast, publish, license, reverse engineer, transfer or sell, or create derivative works from, the Sites or any Content unless you obtain our prior written approval.  You also may not use the Sites in a way that could harm us or any third party.  For example, you may not use the Sites in a way that could:

  • damage or interfere with the proper working of the Sites;
  • intercept any Content or information that we have not intentionally made available to you or defeat any access controls that we have implemented;
  • give you access to the Sites or Content using any interface other than the interface that we provide or attempt to “scrape” or “harvest” Content, except if you use a “robot” program in connection with a bona fide Internet search engine and we do not instruct you not to access the Sites using that program;
  • frame the Sites, display any Content in connection with an unauthorized logo or mark, or do anything that could suggest falsely a relationship between us and any other party;
  • otherwise adversely impact the operation of the Sites, the Company, or any third party.

Registration and Access Restrictions.

You are required to register with us in order to use certain features of the Sites.  You agree to (a) provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself when we request it; (b) maintain and promptly update this information to keep it true, accurate, current, and complete to the extent the Sites permit such updates; and (c) use limited-access portions of the Sites only using access credentials that we have issued to you. 

You must maintain the confidentiality of any access credentials that we issue to you and may not share them with any other person.  You must notify the Company immediately of any unauthorized use of your credentials or any other breach of security.  Even if you notify us, you will be responsible for any activities that occur using your access credentials, including any charges resulting from the use of your account. 

No Professional Advice.

The Sites do not provide professional advice, and the information included on the Sites is offered for informational purposes only. 

Privacy.

Our Privacy Policy describes our practices with regard to personal information that we collect through the Site.  The Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference, and by using the Site you agree to our use of any information that we collect from you in conformance with our Privacy Policy.

User Submissions.

Some of the Sites may allow you to submit or transmit audio, video, text, or other materials (collectively, “User Submissions”) to or through the Sites.  When you provide User Submissions, you grant to the Company a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable and fully sublicensable 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 invented, invented, for any non-commercial purpose, legislative efforts, or fundraising.

Except as provided in our Privacy Policy, we do not guarantee that User Submissions will be private, even if the User Submission is in a password-protected area.  Accordingly, you should not provide User Submissions that you want protected from disclosure.

If your User Submission is a video, you can disable access to that User by deleting it from your YouTube account. If your User Submission is a textual narrative or other form of User Submission, you can disable access to that User Submission by contacting EARN via email at info@earn.org with a written request to disable access to your User Submission, including sufficient details in your request for EARN to identify and disable such User Submission. 

By providing User Submissions through the Sites, you represent, warrant, and covenant that you own those User Submissions or otherwise have the right to grant to us the rights described in this section.  You further represent, warrant, and covenant that the User Submissions:

  • will be accurate and will comply with these Terms;
  • will not cause injury to any person or entity, including as used by us in accordance with these Terms;
  • will not include professional advice;
  • will not be false, fraudulent, libelous, defamatory, sexually explicit, obscene, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, infringing on intellectual property rights, abusive, hateful, harassing, illegal, or otherwise objectionable;
  • will not constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or otherwise give rise to liability or violate any law;
  • will not contain software viruses, political campaigning, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of “spam”; and
  • will not contain advertising or other commercial material, except with our prior written consent. 

In addition to our other legal rights, we may limit or terminate your license to use one or more of the Sites, or certain features of the Sites, at any time and for any reason, including if we believe that you have violated these Terms.

We may refuse or remove a User Submission without notice for any reason, including if we believe that a User Submission may violate these Terms or be otherwise objectionable.  However, we have no obligation to monitor User Submissions, and you agree that neither we nor our employees or agents will be liable for User Submissions or any loss or damage resulting from User Submissions.

Links to Third Party Sites.

The Sites may contain links to other sites that are not affiliated with EARN—for example, if you upload video content to the Sites, you must do so through your YouTube account.  These links are provided as a convenience to you.  However, we do not represent that we have endorsed or evaluated the information on those other sites.  Your relationship with the operators of these third-party sites is governed by the terms and conditions and privacy policy, if any, of those sites, and not by these Terms.  You therefore should review those documents before using the third-party services.

Copyright Infringement Notice.

We respect the intellectual property rights of others.  If you believe that Content on the Sites violates your copyright, please send us a notice using the following contact information:

EARN
235 Montgomery St. # 470
San Francisco, CA 94104
Attention: Webmaster

Email: info@earn.org

Telephone: (415) 217-3660

Your notice must include:

  • a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
  • identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
  • information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;
  • a statement that the complaining party has 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; and
  • a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Upon receipt of a notice of claimed infringement that satisfies these requirements (or any statement in conformance with 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)), we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any Content that is claimed to be infringing upon the copyright of any person under the laws of the United States and will terminate the access privileges of those who repeatedly infringe on the copyrights of others.  United States law imposes substantial penalties for falsely submitting a notice of copyright infringement.

Disclaimers.

YOUR USE OF THE SITES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.  THE SITES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO RESTRICT OR TERMINATE YOUR ACCESS TO THE SITES OR ANY FEATURE OR PART THEREOF AT ANY TIME.  WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTIES THAT MATERIALS ON THE SITES ARE NON-INFRINGING, AS WELL AS WARRANTIES IMPLIED FROM A COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR COURSE OF DEALING; THAT ACCESS TO THE SITES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; THAT THE SITES WILL BE SECURE; THAT THE SITES OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THE SITES AVAILABLE WILL BE VIRUS-FREE OR OTHERWISE FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; OR THAT INFORMATION ON THE SITES WILL BE COMPLETE, ACCURATE, OR TIMELY.  IF YOU DOWNLOAD ANY MATERIALS FROM THE SITES, YOU DO SO 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 MATERIALS.  NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITES WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.  WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON THE SITES IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETENESS, CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

In certain states, the law may not permit the disclaimer of warranties, so the above disclaimer may not apply to you.

Limitation of Liability.

TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EARN (OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, SUBSDIARIES, JOINT VENTURES, OR EMPLOYEES) WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO: (1) THE SITES (INCLUDING ANY DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITES), (2) ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES ADVERTISED IN OR RECOMMENDED THROUGH THE SITES, OR (3) OUR REMOVAL OR DELETION OF ANY MATERIALS SUBMITTED OR POSTED ON THE SITES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES (BUT NOT INCLUDING DAMAGES CAUSED BY OUR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE). 

Your sole and exclusive remedy for any claims or disputes involving us that are not waived by these Terms will be to discontinue your use of the Sites.

Indemnification.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless EARN and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, service providers, or subcontractors, from and against any and all losses, liabilities, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs, arising from or in connection with your use of the Sites or our products or services or any violation or alleged violation by you of these Terms of Use or applicable law.  We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and, in such case, you agree to cooperate with us in the defense of such matter.  You may not settle any claim covered by this Section or admit any liability on the part of EARN without EARN’s prior written approval.

Jurisdiction and Venue.

The laws of the State of California govern these Terms of Use, without regard to conflict of laws rules, as if entered into by residents of California and fully performed therein.  You irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in or serving San Francisco County, California for any action relating to the Sites or these Terms of Use.  Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, we may seek injunctive or other equitable relief from any court of competent jurisdiction.

Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, you must file any claim or action related to use of the Sites or these Terms within one year after such claim or action accrued.  Otherwise, you will waive the claim or action.

Changes to These Terms of Use.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change these Terms at any time by posting revised terms on the Sites.  It is your responsibility to check periodically for any changes we may make to these Terms.  Your continued use of the Sites following the posting of changes to these terms or other policies means you accept the changes.

Entire Agreement; Severability; No Waiver.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy incorporated within them by reference and any policies that we post on the Sites, constitute the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether oral or written, between the parties with respect to such subject matter. 

If any provision of this agreement is deemed unlawful, void, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the agreement will remain in place and the invalidated provision will be deemed replaced by an enforceable provision that most closely reflects the intent of the parties.

Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision in these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that right or provision or any other rights or provisions included within the Terms.

How to Contact Us.

If you have any questions or comments about these Terms or the Sites, please contact EARN:

By email—info@earn.org;

By mail—EARN, 235 Montgomery St. #470, San Francisco, CA 94104; or

By phone—(415) 217-3660.

Thank you for visiting our Sites.