Global Terms of Service
(August 12th, 2014)
Three guidelines & Tips
General Terms
Registration & Content upload
Use at Your Own Risk & Third-Party Links, Sites, and Services
Privacy
Indemnification
Intellectual Property & Arbitration
Limitation of Liability & Warranty Disclaimer
Entire Agreement/Severability
Payment
Communications Terms of Service
Description of use: OVL mail and OVL messenger
Member account, password, and security
The Marketplace Terms of Service
Using the Marketplace
Listing Conditions
Purchase Conditions
Three guidelines & Tips
• Post what is yours.
• No ads (except on your profile page, in the Marketplace or in the Member directory).
• No issues that pull people apart.
Tips. The best way to promote your interests is to help someone else. If you comment on my post, I might wonder who you are and click on your name, which brings me to your profile page. Your profile page is where you can promote your interests with your images, text, and links to your website and social media.
When you post or comment on the bulletin boards:
• Respect your fellow members and the spirit of the community.
• The site is for creating and building up, not destroying and tearing someone (or something) down.
• Unless you send a message (or join a private group), all posts on the site are visible to the public.
• Post about real life events, info, and issues.
The site is monitored by the community of members. Should any posts violate the guidelines listed above, the member in question will be contacted via private message, the offending post will be deleted, and the member may be blocked from site.
- See Our manifesto.
These Terms of Service (TOS) govern your access to and use of the OurVillageLife (OVL) service and any related websites, any information, text, graphics, or other materials created and/or provided by OurVillageLife (the Content) and any services and/or software provided through the Site or by OurVillageLife (the Services). These TOS limit OurVillageLife’s liability and obligations to you, grant OurVillageLife certain rights, and allow OurVillageLife to modify, suspend, or terminate your access to and use of its site or any related site, the Content, and/or the Services.
You understand that by using the OVL site and/or a related site, OVL’ Content, and OVL’ Services, you are agreeing to be bound by these TOS. If you agree to these TOS on behalf of a business, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that business to these TOS and your agreement to these Terms will be treated as the agreement of the business. In that event, you and your will refer and apply to that business.
OVL reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to you, and you agree to receive legal notices electronically if we so choose. We may revise these Terms from time to time and the most current version will always be posted on our website. If a revision, in our sole discretion, is material we will notify you. By continuing to access or use the Products after revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.
Registration & Content upload
By accepting these TOS, using OVL’ Content and Services, and registering for a OVL account, you affirm that you are 18 years old or an emancipated minor, or possess parental or legal consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into a binding legal contract. To fully use the OurVillageLife service, and have the best possible access to OVL content, you must register as a member by providing a member name, password, and valid email address. If you are a business, government, or non-profit entity, the person whose email address is associated with the account must have the authority to bind the entity to these Terms. You are responsible for all activity that occurs within or on behalf of your account, including any activity by unauthorized members. Anything that you post or otherwise make available on our Products is referred to as "Member Content." You retain all rights in, and are solely responsible for, the Member Content you post to OVL.
Content upload
▸ You acknowledge and agree that we have no obligation to review or monitor Member Content. You agree that we may delete, re-format, or edit Member Content without notice. You agree that we will not be liable to you for such acts. You understand that we will not pay you for your Member Content or for our use of your Member Content. Except as prohibited by law, you waive any moral rights you may have in any Member Content you submit, even if your Member Content is altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You understand that we do not endorse any Member Content.
▸ You grant us an unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual and royalty-free right and license to all or any portion of your Member Content. We may use this license to exploit your Member Content in any manner and for any purpose. This might include hosting, caching, or storing your Member Content. We might also copy, distribute, or sell your Member Content. From time to time we might also display, perform, publish, broadcast, or transmit Member Content. You also understand that we may modify, edit, reformat, or translate your Member Content.
▸ We may use and publish your Member Content in any format and in all media that exists now, or may exist in the future. You agree that we may use any part of your Member Content, including any of your ideas, concepts, or techniques for any purpose. We may sub-license any of these rights to other third parties. These third parties may benefit from the rights and licenses granted to us under these Terms and any Additional Terms. Your Member Content may be searched and accessed by others.
▸ You represent and warrant that you own your Member Content and have the right to grant the license described above. You further represent and warrant that our use of your Member Content will not violate anyone’s intellectual property rights or other rights of any person or entity.
▸ We may allow you to comment on and participate in interactive features on our sites. These might include blogs and other social communities. We may also allow you to submit content and materials on our sites. For example, you might be able to post photographs, messages, music, or videos. The things you post are your Member Content.
▸ You agree that your Member Content is accurate and complete. You also agree that:
▸ Your Member Content is created exclusively by you. This means that you did not copy it from any other source. If you did not create your Member Content, anyone that created it or helped create it must give you permission to submit your Member Content to us. You must obtain consent and a release from any person (or the legal guardians of any persons) depicted in your Member Content before you submit it with full knowledge from these persons that we may exploit it in any manner whatsoever. Anyone you get consent from must understand that we will use the content you submit in any manner we think is appropriate.
▸ Your Member Content does not threaten or disparage others. This includes not harassing or intimidating other Members. It also includes not defaming or libeling anyone. Your Member Content does not use hateful language. This includes not making negative comments connected to race, national origin or religion. You also cannot disparage someone because of their gender, age, or sexual preference.
▸ Your Member Content does not instigate violence. This means that your Member Content will not describe how to perform a violent act.
▸ Your Member Content does not include depictions of minors. This means not including the image or likeness of individuals who are under 18 years of age.
▸ Your Member Content does not disclose confidential or personal information about others. Your Member Content will only disclose personal information with the other person’s consent. This also means that your Member Content does not include information you must keep confidential under contract. This also means that your Member Content does not violate anyone’s privacy or publicity rights.
▸ Your Member Content does not and will not contain advertising. You may, however, submit advertising on your Member profile.
▸ Your Member Content does not contain harmful materials that harm our site or services. This includes viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, spiders, or other passive collection mechanisms.
▸ You are responsible and liable for posts on our sites and services made on your account. If you violate any of these provisions, we may shut down your account. We may also take legal action against you.
▸ We may cancel your account and delete your Member Content at any time, and without notice, for any reason or no reason. We are not liable for any information removed from our site or services.
Use at Your Own Risk & Third-Party Links, Sites, and Services
Your access to and use of OVL, its Content, and its Services, is at your own risk. OVL will have no responsibility for any harm that results from your access to or use of its site, any related site, its content, or its services. OVL’s site, any related or incorporated sites and their respective services, OVL Content, and OVL Services are provided as is, without any warranty, express or implied. OVL specifically disclaims any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any and all warranties arising out of course of dealing or usage of trade.
Our Products may contain links to third-party websites, advertisers, services, special offers, or other events or activities that are not owned or controlled by OVL. We do not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access any third party website, service, or content from OVL, you do so at your own risk and you agree that OVL will have no liability arising from your use of or access to any third-party website, service, or content.
Privacy
See OVL’s Privacy Policy.
Indemnification
In the event of any third party action alleging any wrongdoing by you, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless OVL and its affiliates, employees, owners, and agents, from and against any such action that (a) arise from your use of OVL, its Services, or its Content; (b) allege a violation by you of these Terms; or (c) allege an action by you that is either against a law or regulation, or infringes on the rights of others.
Intellectual Property & Arbitration
OVL only agrees to host images, videos, articles,... that you produced or that you are authorized to use. Don’t upload images or videos that you didn’t create, or that contain other protected material (such as art, music, or sporting events) for which you don’t have a license. Failure to respect the intellectual property rights of others is grounds for immediate termination of your OVL account and may result in other punitive action by OVL and/or any person or entity whose intellectual property has been improperly used. OVL has adopted and implemented the OVL Copyright Policy in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
For any dispute you have with OVL, you agree to first contact us and attempt to resolve the dispute with us informally. If OVL has not been able to resolve the dispute with you informally, we each agree to resolve any claim, dispute, or controversy (excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) arising out of or in connection with or relating to these Terms by binding arbitration by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under the Commercial Arbitration Rules and Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes then in effect for the AAA, except as provided herein. Unless you and OVL agree otherwise, the arbitration will be conducted in the county where you reside. Each party will be responsible for paying any AAA filing, administrative and arbitrator fees in accordance with AAA rules, except that OVL will pay for your reasonable filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees if your claim for damages does not exceed $75,000 and is non-frivolous (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)). The award rendered by the arbitrator shall include costs of arbitration, reasonable attorneys' fees and reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses, and any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Nothing in this Section shall prevent either party from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief from the courts for matters related to data security, intellectual property or unauthorized access to the Service. ALL CLAIMS MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTIES' INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, AND, UNLESS WE AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S CLAIMS. YOU AGREE THAT, BY ENTERING INTO THESE TERMS, YOU AND OVL ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.
Limitation of Liability & Warranty Disclaimer
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: (I) OVL SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OR OVL’S CONTENT AND/OR OVL’S SERVICE, OR A RELATED OR INCORPORATED SITE’ CONTENT AND/OR SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY; AND (II) OVL’S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO OVL, IF ANY, OVER THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE FILING OF YOUR CLAIM(S).
YOU SPECIFICALLY AGREE THAT OVL SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE CONTENT OR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY, AND THAT THE RISK OF HARM OR DAMAGE FROM ANY CONDUCT BY ANY THIRD PARTY RESTS SOLELY WITH YOU.
OVL Content and OVL Services are controlled by facilities in the United States of America. OVL makes no representations that OVL is appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access OVL from any location outside the United States of America, you do so at your own risk and you are solely responsible for your compliance with all local laws and regulations.
Entire Agreement/Severability
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with OVL in connection with the Products, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and OVL concerning the Products. If any provision of these Terms is deemed invalid, then that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.
Payment
If you purchase a subscription for (“Enhanced Services”), you agree to pay that fee using PayPal. You also agree to pay the applicable fees for the Enhanced Services (including, without limitation, periodic fees for prime accounts) as they become due, and to reimburse us for all collection costs and interest for any overdue amounts. Failure to pay may result in the termination of your account. We do not guarantee refunds for lack of usage or dissatisfaction. You also acknowledge that OVL’s Prime Services are subject to this Agreement and any additional terms related to the provision of the Prime Service.
Communications Terms of Service
OVL provides OVL Mail and OVL Messenger (the “Services”), all of which are subject to the terms and conditions of this Terms of Service and the applicable OVL Global Terms of Service (“TOS”), which is incorporated into this TOS. Your use of the Services constitutes acceptance of and is subject to this TOS and the law specified by OVL. This TOS may be updated by OVL from time to time without individual notice to you.
By accessing, using and continuing to use the Services, you represent and warrant that you are permitted to do so under applicable law. You are solely responsible for using the Services in compliance with any and all applicable law.
Description of use: OVL mail and OVL messenger
• Saving and Accessing Information. OVL Messenger allows you to see when your friends are online, and send and receive instant messages and other information. OVL Messenger will also allow you, and the people with whom you communicate, to save your conversations and other information in your OVL Mail accounts located on OVL servers. This means you can access and search your message history from any computer or device with access to the Internet. Whether or not you use this feature, other Members may choose to use it to save conversations and other information with you in their account located on OVL servers. Your agreement to this TOS constitutes your consent to allow OVL to store these communications and other information on its servers for back up, security and all other purposes set forth in this TOS. You are solely responsible for the content that you use or store in connection with the Services and if you wish, are solely responsible for backing up your data.
• This TOS grants you no right, title or interest in any intellectual property owned or licensed by OVL, including, without limitation, the Services and OVL trademarks.
• Communications from OVL. You also understand and agree that the Services may include certain communications from OVL, such as service announcements and administrative messages and that you will not be able to opt out of receiving such communications.
• Accessing and Using the Services. In order to use the Services and those services and products within the Services (for both free and charged services), you must obtain access to the World Wide Web, either directly or through devices that access web-based content. You are responsible for and must pay any service fees associated with such access and for all costs of any equipment used to gain such access (which could include third party fees).
• Blocking. By using the Services, you acknowledge that other Members of the Services (including OVL Messenger) may elect to receive a notification from the Services when you sign on and may send you instant messages and other information or call you via the Services. If you wish to block the notification feature of OVL Messenger sent to other Members or if you don't want to receive messages from such Members, you will have to enable the "Ignore" or similar feature separately. Your ability to send and receive instant messages and other information may be blocked by OVL and other Members, which may partially or wholly limit your ability to use the Services. By using the Services, you agree that OVL has no responsibility for assessing or resolving any disputes arising from your or any other Member's ability (or otherwise) to ignore, send messages or other information, or otherwise use the Services. The prior sentence does not apply to you if OVL Deutschland provides you with your OVL Mail account.
• OVL Fees. OVL reserves the right to charge fees for future use of or access to the Services, or other OVL services and web sites, in OVL's sole discretion. If OVL decides to charge fees, OVL will provide you with prior notice.
Member account, password, and security
You agree OVL provides you only with the right to access your account in accordance with this TOS and applicable rules and guidelines. OVL does not guarantee that you will have permanent access to your data used with the Services, or that it will provide copies to you in the event data is deleted or lost. OVL encourages you to properly back up your data. OVL may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to the website.
The Marketplace Terms of Service