Terms of Use

© Copyright 2016, Bill of Rights Institute.
All Rights Reserved.

Updated December 2020

Welcome to a website brought to you by the Bill of Rights Institute (“Institute”).  The following Terms (the “Terms”) govern the use of the website (the “Institute Site”).  By using the Institute Site, you agree to Institute’s Privacy Statement and these Terms.  If you do not agree to any part of the Privacy Statement or to these Terms, please do not use the Institute Site.

The Institute Site is intended for use exclusively by persons 18 years of age or older, and those who possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into these Terms.  By accessing or in any way using the Institute Site, you affirm that you are 18 years of age or older or have consent by your legal parents or guardians and have the authority to enter into the Terms. You affirm that you are 13 years of age or older as the Institute Site is not intended for children under 13. If you are under the age of 13, do not use the Institute Site. You affirm that you are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction. And you agree to abide by and comply with these Terms.

The Institute Site Content

Unless otherwise attributed, all materials provided by Institute contained in the Institute Site (“Institute Content”) are the copyrighted or trademarked property of Institute. Institute Content may be accessed, downloaded, printed, or transmitted for non-commercial use. You may create derivative works from the Institute Content (“Derivative Works”), however any derivative works created therefrom, remain the intellectual property of the Institute. To the extent the Derivative Works contain independently copyrightable elements using the Institute Content, by using the Institute Content to create such works you hereby grant to the Institute a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to  create, reproduce, distribute, perform, prepare derivative works based on, adapt, translate, enhance, improve, alter, modify, publish, display, sell, transfer, exhibit and use the Derivative Works.

The Institute makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Institute Content, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of accuracy, ownership, or non-infringement. In no event will the Institute be liable on any legal claims, including negligence, or be otherwise responsible to you or any third-parties for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, or other damages, or other losses, costs, or expenses arising out of your use of the Institute Content or Derivative Works.

The trademarks used in the Institute Site are owned by Institute or their respective trademark owners.  The names of actual companies and products mentioned may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Nothing on the Institute Site should be construed to grant implicitly, by estoppel, or otherwise a right or license to use Institute’s trade names, trademarks, or services marks without the express prior consent of Institute. You may not use any of the previously mentioned or other trademarks displayed anywhere on the Institute Site or in any Institute Content.  All rights are reserved.

Rules of Conduct

While using the Institute Site you agree to comply with all applicable laws.  You also agree to respect other users of the Institute Site.
Furthermore, you will not to use the Institute Site to:

• Upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available or send through, including linking to, the Institute Site anything that:
  • Is unlawful, threatening, harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar, harmful, tortious, defamatory, libelous, false, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful racially, ethnically, or otherwise, or in any other way objectionable;
  • You do not have the legal or contractual right to make available pursuant to any law, or under any contractual or fiduciary relationship (such as inside information, proprietary information, and confidential information, learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); or
  • Infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary or property rights of any party.
• Upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any material or communications that may be deemed, within the meaning of applicable law, to be electioneering communications, intervention in a political or electoral campaign, or lobbying;
• Harm minors in any way;
• Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
• Post any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation unauthorized by the law or Institute;
• Post any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
• Interfere with or disrupt the Institute Site or servers or networks connected to the site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Institute Site;
• Launch any automated system, including without limitation, “robots,” “spiders,” or “offline readers” that accesses the website in a manner that sends more request messages to the Institute Site’s servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional online web browser;
  • Notwithstanding the foregoing, Institute grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the site for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials.  Institute reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.
• Violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law, intentionally or unintentionally; or
• Collect or store personal data about users.

Institute reserves the right to remove any and all content, including but not limited to:  Institute Content, user-submitted content, and/or any other content related to the Institute Site at any time without prior notice. Further, Institute reserves the right to deny access to any user at any time without any prior notice for violation of these Terms. Content you submit, including but not limited to remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, or comments, that violates these Terms, in the sole discretion of the Institute, may be removed.

Disclaimer of Warranties

You agree that your use of the Institute Site shall be at your sole risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Institute, its affiliates, members, officers, directors, employees, and agents, disclaim all warranties, express or implied, in connection with the website and your use thereof.  Institute makes no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of content of the Institute Site or the content of any sites linked to by the Institute Site and assumes no liability or responsibility for any:

• Errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies of content;
• Personal injury or property damage, of any nature whatsoever, resulting from your access to and use of the Institute Site;
• Any unauthorized access to or use of Institute’s secure servers and/or any and all personal information and/or financial information stored therein;
• Any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the Institute Site;
• Any bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or the like which may be transmitted to or through the Institute Site by any third party; and/or
• Any errors or omissions in any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Institute Site.

Institute does not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any product or service advertised or offered by a third party through the website, through any hyperlinked website, or featured in any banner or other advertising, and Institute will not be a party to or in any way be responsible for monitoring any transaction between you and third-party providers of products or services. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you should always use your best judgment and exercise caution where appropriate.

Limitation of Liability

Neither Institute nor any of its affiliates, directors, members, officers, employees, or consultants are responsible or liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages whatsoever arising under any contract, negligence, strict liability, or other theory arising from or in any way relating to Institute, the Institute Site, materials contained therein, or any content or service linked therein and/or that result from: (a) the use of, or inability to use, the Institute Site or Institute Content; or (b) the actions or conduct, whether online or offline, of any person or entity, even if Institute has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Under no circumstance will Institute its affiliates, directors, members, officers, employees, or consultants be responsible or liable for any failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from an act of force majeure or causes beyond Institute’s reasonable control.

The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply to the extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction.

You specifically acknowledge that Institute will not be liable for user submissions or the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of any third party and that the risk of harm or damage from the foregoing rests entirely with you.

The Institute Site is controlled and offered by Institute from its facilities in the United States of America.  Institute makes no representations that the Institute Site is appropriate or available for use in other locations.  Those who access or use the Institute Site from other jurisdictions do so at their own risk, according to their own volition, and are responsible for compliance with local law.

Certain state laws may not allow Institute to limit or exclude liability for incidental or consequential damages.  If you live in a state whose laws in some cases prohibit limitation or exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, some or all of the above limitation arguably may not apply to you. But, in any event, Institute’s liability to you for any and all losses, damages, injuries, and claims of any kind will not be greater than the amount you paid to access the Institute Site.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Institute, its affiliates, related parties, officers, directors, members, employees, trustees, agents, independent contractors, advertisers, partners, and co-branders from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees, that may be made by any third party, that is due to or arising out of your conduct or connection with the Institute Site or service, your submission of content, your violation of any applicable law or these Terms, or any other violation of the rights of another person or party.

Submitting Content to the Site

Any content submitted to the Institute Site, including but not limited to remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, or comments, becomes and remains property of Institute, even if this agreement is later terminated.  Any and all such submitted content is subject to these Terms.

If any portion of the content posted by any visitor is found by Institute to be in violation of any the policies of the Institute Site, including these Terms, at any time, Institute reserves the right to modify or remove such content or delete such submissions at any time without prior notice.

Your Representations and Warranties: By submitting content to Institute servers, you represent and warrant that all such submitted content complies with all applicable laws and website policies, including these Terms.  Furthermore, by submitting content, you represent and warrant that you own the copyright and all applicable intellectual property rights in all submitted content and have all necessary permissions from any persons or places depicted therein to upload the content and to grant to Institute an irrevocable license to use the submitted content according to Institute’s sole discretion, including but not limited to use in connection with third-party websites such as Facebook.com, YouTube.com, or any other website Institute deems appropriate. You warrant that Institute does not need to treat any such submitted content as confidential or proprietary, and you agree that you cannot and will not sue Institute for using or republishing in any manner any content or ideas you submit to Institute.

Your Grant of Rights/License to Institute: By submitting content to the Institute Site you grant Institute (and its successors, assigns, licensees, agents, and affiliates) a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Institute Site to modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, create derivative works from, transfer, and sell such content in any format either now known or hereafter created, and to use any information identifying the author provided in connection with that content, wholly in accordance with Institute’s sole discretion. You expressly grant Institute the right to repost any such submitted content in any modified or unmodified form, without any further authorization from you, to other websites or media Institute deems appropriate, including but not limited to, Facebook.com and YouTube.com.

DMCA Notice and Takedown

As required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512(c)(2), if you believe that any material on the Institute Site infringes your copyright, you must send a notice of claimed infringement to Institute’s Designated Agent at the following address:

Bill of Rights Institute
c/o General Counsel
1310 North Courthouse Road, Suite 620
Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: 703.894.1776
Fax:  703.894.1791
Email: acushing@billofrightsinstitute.org

Written Notice:  To be effective, Section 512(c)(3)(A) of Title 17 of the United States Code requires that your notification of claimed infringement be a written communication provided to Institute and that it include each of the following elements:

• A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
• Information to contact you, including your name, address, telephone number and, if available, your email address.
• A description of each work claimed to have been infringed, including any relevant information about the infringing activity.
• A description of the infringing activity or of the work that is claimed to be infringing and information about the location on the Institute Site (or, if the infringing information is located on another website linked to through the Institute Site, information about the location of the link or reference on the Institute Site) where the alleged infringement is occurring that is reasonably sufficient to allow us to locate the infringing material.
• 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, under the penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice of claimed infringement is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Institute does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on the Institute Site and Institute will remove the infringing content if properly notified of infringement.  As stated above, Institute reserves the right to remove any and all content and user submissions without prior notice.

Counter-Notice: If you believe that your submitted content that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the content in your submission, you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to Institute’s Designated Agent:

• A physical or electronic signature.
• Identification of the material that has 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, telephone number, email address, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court in Arlington, Virginia, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

If a counter-notice is received by Institute’s Designated Agent, Institute may provide the person who submitted the original DMCA Notice against the organization or individual accused of infringing on the copyrighted works a copy of the counter-notice informing that person that he or she may replace the removed content or that Institute will cease disabling it in ten (10) business days.  Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider, the removed content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at Institute’s sole discretion.

Links to Other Sites

The Institute Site may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by other parties. You agree not to hold Institute responsible for the content or operation of any and all such third party websites. A hyperlink from the Institute Site to another website, or from another website to the Institute Site, does not imply or mean that Institute endorses the content on that website or the operator or operations of that site. You are solely responsible for determining the extent to which you may or should use any content located at any other websites to which you might link from the Institute Site. Additionally, any link to a third-party site submitted or posted by you must not in any way represent that you have received the endorsement, sponsorship or support of Institute or Institute’s respective employees, agents, or directors.

Termination

Institute or you may terminate this agreement at any time. You may terminate this agreement by destroying: (a) all materials obtained from all the Institute Site and (b) all related documentation and all copies and installations.  Institute may terminate this agreement immediately without notice if, in its sole judgment, you breach any term or condition of these Terms. Upon termination, you must destroy all such materials.

Modification of the Terms

Although we may attempt to notify you when material changes are made to our Privacy Statement or these Terms, you should periodically review the most updated versions. Institute may, in Institute’s sole discretion, modify, or revise the Privacy Statement and these Terms at any time, and you agree to be bound by such modifications or revisions. Your continued use of the Institute Site indicates your acceptance of the Privacy Statement, these Terms, and any changes to the Privacy Statement and Terms.

Miscellaneous

This is the entire agreement between the parties relating to the use of the Institute Site.

These Terms for the Institute Site are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America, excluding Virginia’s conflicts of law rules.  Through use of the Institute Site, you expressly agree that the exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or action arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Institute Site shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

You may not transfer or assign any rights and licenses granted in these Terms, however, any such rights and licenses may be transferred or assigned by Institute without restriction.
You and Institute agree that any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to the website must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues.  Otherwise, such claim or cause of action is permanently barred.

If any part of these Terms is unlawful, void, or otherwise unenforceable, that part will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.  Any possible evidence of the use of the Institute Site for illegal purposes will be provided to law enforcement authorities.

If you need to contact Institute, please email us at or contact us by mail at:

Bill of Rights Institute
c/o Website Queries
1310 North Courthouse Road, Suite 620
Arlington, VA 22201