Updated CC terms of use

This page features DRAFT terms of use ("TOU") for the CC websites. Once approved, these TOU will replace the current master TOU governing the CC websites.

Summary of changes from the existing TOU

1. Removed almost 3000 words with very little change in legal meaning in order to make the TOU easier to read and understand.
2. Added more headings and reorganized the terms to make the TOU easier to read and understand.
3. Clarified that the TOU apply when you use the legal tools on the site.
4. Revised terms so that all changes to the TOU take effect immediately once posted on the CC website.
5. Added a provision that exempts governments and IGOs from the choice of law and dispute resolution clauses if they are not legally authorized to agree to such terms.
6. Dedicated the text of the TOU to the public domain via CC0 so others can repurpose them without having to provide attribution to CC. Currently the TOU are published under CC BY.

DRAFT: Full text of proposed TOU below

Terms of Use – effective as of [ ]

1. General Information Regarding These Terms of Use.

Master terms: These master terms of use (“Master Terms”) apply to your use of all of the websites that Creative Commons Corporation operates, including http://creativecommons.org, wiki.creativecommons.org, openpolicynetwork.org, open4us.org, teamopen.cc, donate.creativecommons.org, and the powerofopen.org (the “Websites”), as well as the products, information and services provided through the Websites, including the license chooser and legal tools (together with the Websites, the “Services”).

Additional terms: In addition to the Master Terms, your use of any Services may also be subject to specific terms applicable to a particular Service (“Additional Terms”). If there is any conflict between the Additional Terms and the Master Terms, then the Additional Terms apply in relation to the relevant Service.

Collectively, the Terms: The Master Terms, together with any Additional Terms, form a binding legal agreement between you and Creative Commons in relation to your use of the Services. Collectively, this legal agreement is referred to below as the “Terms.”

2. Your Agreement to the Terms.

YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF ANY THE SERVICES (INCLUDING THE LICENSES, PUBLIC DOMAIN TOOLS, AND CHOOSERS) SIGNIFIES THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREED TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS. By accessing or using any Services you also represent that you have the legal authority to accept the Terms on behalf of yourself and any party you represent in connection with your use of any Services. If you do not agree to the Terms, you are not authorized to use any Services.

3. Changes to the Terms.

From time to time, Creative Commons may change, remove, or add to the Terms, and reserves the right to do so in its discretion. In that case, we will post updated Terms and indicate the date of revision. If we feel the modifications are material, we will make reasonable efforts to post a prominent notice on the relevant Website(s). We encourage you to periodically review the Terms because all new and/or revised Terms take effect immediately. Your continued use of any Services after new and/or revised Terms are effective indicates that you have read, understood, and agreed to those Terms.

4. No Legal Advice.

Creative Commons is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and is not a substitute for a law firm. Sending us an email or using any of the Services, including the licenses, public domain tools and choosers, does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.

5. Content Available through the Services.

Provided as-is: You acknowledge that Creative Commons does not make any representations or warranties about the material, data, and information, such as data files, text, computer software, code, music, audio files or other sounds, photographs, videos, or other images (collectively, the “Content”) which you may have access to as part of, or through your use of, the Services. Under no circumstances is Creative Commons liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to: any infringing Content, any errors or omissions in Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, transmitted, linked from, or otherwise accessible through or made available via the Services. You understand that by using the Services, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, or objectionable.

You agree that you are solely responsible for your reuse of Content made available through the Services. You represent and warrant to Creative Commons that you will comply with the applicable license when reusing Content made available through the Services. You should review the terms of the applicable license before you use the Content so that you know what you can and cannot do.

Licensing:

CC-Owned Content: Other than Creative Commons trademarks (subject to the Trademark Policy) and the legal code of Creative Commons legal tools (made available under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication), all Content on the Websites is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, unless otherwise marked. See the CC Policies page for more information. :CC-Owned Code: All of CC's code is free software; please check our code repository [link] for the specific license on any particular software tool.

Search Tools: On some of its Websites, Creative Commons provides website search tools, which return Content based on any license information our search tools are able to locate and interpret. Those search tools may return Content that is not CC licensed, and you should independently verify the terms of the license attached to any Content you intend to use.

6. Content Supplied by You.

Your responsibility: You represent, warrant, and agree that no Content posted or otherwise shared by you on or through any of the Services (“Your Content”), violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights, breaches or conflicts with any obligation, such as a confidentiality obligation, or contains libelous, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material.

Licensing Your Content: You retain any copyright that you may have in Your Content. You hereby agree that Your Content may: (a) be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license or any later version of a Creative Commons Attribution License, or (b) is in the public domain (such as Content that is not copyrightable or Content you make available under CC0), or (c) if not owned by you, is a media file that is available under any Creative Commons license or that you are authorized by law to post or share through any of the Services, such as under the fair use doctrine, and that is prominently marked as being subject to third party copyright. All of Your Content must be appropriately marked with licensing (or other permission status such as fair use) and attribution information.

Removal: Creative Commons may, but is not obligated to, review Your Content and may delete or remove Your Content (without notice) from any of the Services in its sole discretion. Removal of any of Your Content from the Services (by you or Creative Commons) does not impact any rights you granted in Your Content under the terms of a Creative Commons license.

7. Registration.

By registering for an account through any of the Services, including wiki.creativecommons.org, you represent and warrant that you (1) are the age of majority in your jurisdiction (typically age 18) or, (2) are over the age of 13 and have the express permission of a legal guardian to obtain an account and to use Services in connection with the account. Creative Commons reserves the right to modify or discontinue your account at any time for any reason or no reason at all. You agree to (a) only provide accurate and current information about yourself, (b) maintain the security of your passwords and identification (though use of an alias or nickname in lieu of your legal name is fine), and (c) be fully responsible for all uses of your account. You must not set up an account on behalf of another individual or entity unless you are authorized to do so.

8. Prohibited Conduct.

You agree not to engage in any of the following activities:

1. Violating laws and rights:

• You may not (a) use any Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any local, state, national, or international laws, (b) violate or encourage others to violate any right of or obligation to a third party, including by infringing, misappropriating, or violating intellectual property, confidentiality, or privacy rights.

2. Solicitation:

• You may not use the Services or any information provided through the Services for the transmission of advertising or promotional materials, including junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of unsolicited or unwelcome solicitation.

3. Disruption:

• You may not use the Services in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Services, or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Services; including by (a) uploading or otherwise disseminating any virus, adware, spyware, worm or other malicious code, or (b) interfering with or disrupting any network, equipment, or server connected to or used to provide any of the Services, or violating any regulation, policy, or procedure of any network, equipment, or server.

4. Harming others:

• You may not post or transmit Content on or through the Services that is harmful, offensive, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, defamatory, hateful or otherwise discriminatory, false or misleading, or incites an illegal act;
• You may not intimidate or harass another through the Services; and,
• You may not post or transmit any personally identifiable information about persons under 13 years of age on or through the Services.

5. Impersonation or unauthorized access:

• You may not impersonate another person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity when using the Services;
• You may not use or attempt to use another’s account or personal information; and,
• You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, or the computer systems or networks connected to the Services, through hacking password mining or any other means.

9. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CREATIVE COMMONS OFFERS THE SERVICES (INCLUDING ALL CONTENT AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES) AS-IS AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE SERVICES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. CREATIVE COMMONS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL BE ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT OR THAT ANY SERVERS USED BY CC ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. CREATIVE COMMONS DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION REGARDING USE OF THE CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES IN TERMS OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL CREATIVE COMMONS, ITS EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF REVENUE OR INCOME, LOST PROFITS, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES SUFFERED OR INCURRED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY THAT ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES (OR THE TERMINATION THEREOF FOR ANY REASON), EVEN IF ANY THE PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE CREATIVE COMMONS PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE WHATSOEVER IN ANY MANNER FOR ANY CONTENT POSTED ON OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES (INCLUDING CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT RELATING TO THAT CONTENT), FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, OR FOR THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES.

11. Indemnification.

To the extent authorized by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Creative Commons, its employees, officers, directors, affiliates, and agents from and against any and all claims, losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys fees, resulting directly or indirectly from or arising out of (a) your violation of the Terms, (b) your use of any of the Services, and/or (c) the Content you make available on any of the Services.

12. Privacy Policy.

Creative Commons is committed to responsibly handling the information and data we collect through our Services in compliance with our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Master Terms. Please review the Privacy Policy so you are aware of how we collect and use your personal information.

13. Trademark Policy.

CC’s name, logos, icons, and other trademarks may only be used in accordance with our Trademark Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Master Terms. Please review the Trademark Policy so you understand how CC’s trademarks may be used.

14. Copyright Complaints.

Creative Commons respects copyright, and we prohibit users of the Services from submitting, uploading, posting, or otherwise transmitting any Content on the Services that violates another person’s proprietary rights. Creative Commons complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

To report allegedly infringing Content hosted on a website owned or controlled by CC, send a Notice of Infringing Materials as set out in CC’s DMCA Notice & Takedown Procedure.

15. Termination.

By Creative Commons: Creative Commons may modify, suspend, or terminate the operation of, or access to, all or any portion of the Services at any time for any reason. Additionally, your individual access to, and use of, the Services may be terminated by Creative Commons at any time and for any reason.

By you: If you wish to terminate this agreement, you may immediately stop accessing or using the Services at any time.

Automatic upon breach: Your right to access and use the Services terminates automatically upon your breach of any of the Terms. For the avoidance of doubt, termination of the Terms does not require you to remove or delete any reference to previously-applied CC legal tools from your own Content.

Survival: The disclaimer of warranties, the limitation of liability, and the jurisdiction and applicable law provisions will survive any termination. The license grants applicable to Your Content are not impacted by the termination of the Terms and shall continue in effect subject to the terms of the applicable license. Your warranties and indemnification obligations will survive for one year after termination.

15. Miscellaneous Terms.

Choice of law: The Terms are governed by and construed by the laws of the State of California in the United States, not including its choice of law rules.

Dispute resolution: The parties agree that any disputes between Creative Commons and you concerning these Terms, and/or any of the Services may only brought in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the Northern District of California, and you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of such court.

• If you are an authorized agent of a government or intergovernmental entity using the Services in your official capacity, including an authorized agent of the federal, state or local government in the United States, and you are legally restricted from accepting the controlling law, jurisdiction, or venue clauses above, then those clauses do not apply to you. For any such U.S. federal government entities, these Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the United States of America (without reference to conflict of laws) and, in the absence of federal law and to the extent permitted under federal law, the laws of the State of California (excluding its choice of law rules).

No waiver: Either party’s failure to insist on or enforce strict performance of any of the Terms will not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

Severability: If any part of the Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any law or regulation or final determination of a competent court or tribunal, that provision will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

No agency relationship: The parties agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Creative Commons as a result of the Terms or from your use of any of the Services.

Integration: These Master Terms and any applicable Additional Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Creative Commons relating to this subject matter and supersede any and all prior communications and/or agreements between you and Creative Commons relating to access and use of the Services.

Note about Reusing these Terms of Use. The Creative Commons Terms of Use are dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication. You are free to use and adapt these Master Terms and any applicable Additional Terms for your own purposes. However, please keep in mind that these Terms may not be completely suitable for your situation. Creative Commons strongly encourages you to seek the advice of your own attorney before repurposing these Terms on your own site.