Last modified: May 2, 2023
We appreciate your use of our websites, software offerings, and professional services (collectively, “Services”).
The Services described in the terms of this document (“Terms”) are provided by the Participatory Culture Foundation (“PCF”), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
By using our Services, you are agreeing to these Terms. Please read them carefully because they explain your rights and responsibilities when you use our Services.
Services offered by PCF include, but are not limited to: Amara, Amara.org, Amara On Demand, Amara Community, Amara Plus, Amara Pro, and Amara Enterprise.
Account registration. Some of our Services require you to register an account in order to access additional features. For example, an Amara.org account is required to add or edit captions using the service.
Conditions of Use. Follow PCF’s Conditions of Use. Do not abuse our Services; for instance, do not access them in a way that interferes with or degrades the experience of other users. We may cease providing our Services to you if you do not comply with these Terms or policies.
Content not owned by PCF. Our Services may display content that is not PCF’s. This content, which could include text, video, images, or other media, is the sole responsibility of the entity that makes it available. You may not use this content without permission from the owner, unless you are otherwise permitted by law.
PCF’s Logos and branding. These Terms do not allow you to use the logos or branding presented in our Services.
General Terms for 3rd party API Providers Our services use 3rd party API providers to enhance functionality. By using features that utilize 3rd party API providers, you agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the respective API provider.
Submission of content. You may contribute content when interacting with our Services, including but not limited to captions, translations, subtitles, video URLs, comments, and so on (each a “Submission”). Unless your Submission is made under a separate agreement with PCF, in which case that agreement will govern, then, for all Submissions, you agree to the following:
PCF’s Privacy Policy describes how we handle information that we receive from you in connection with our Services.
For more information on how to report claims of copyright or trademark infringement, please see Reporting Copyright or Trademark Infringement.
Team spaces. Some Services include a team space (“Team”) which is provisioned on Amara.org. Teams come in a variety of configurations, for instance some allow you to toggle Team privacy or visibility, control user access and roles within the Team, and manage editing rights to content on the Team.
Not all Teams include all of the above capabilities; some have certain limitations. For example: limits to the number of users who can be members of the Team, a limit to the number of languages that content can be captioned or translated into, limits to content visibility or privacy, and so on. Unless your Team is under a separate agreement with PCF, you agree to stay within the limitations for the type of Team you have been provisioned. New capabilities, above and beyond your Team’s current limitations, added during a monthly billing cycle will incur that full month’s charge and become due on the next billing cycle.
Volunteer Teams. Community Teams and Community Enterprise Teams (collectively, “Volunteer Teams”) are intended for use by communities of volunteer contributors that create captions and/or subtitles. PCF, at their sole discretion, reserves the right to suspend or terminate Volunteer Teams that utilize employees, vendors, contractors, or other professionals to create captions or subtitles.
Team privacy. If you have enabled a Team privacy setting, PCF will limit distribution of your content based on your selection. By authorizing access to your content to any third party, you grant each such individual the right to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under these Terms.
Professional Services. PCF offers a variety of professional services (“Professional Services”) which may include translations, captions, subtitles, and other such technical tasks.
Delivery and changes to Work Product. PCF warrants that Professional Services will be performed in a timely, diligent and professional manner, and will be no less than in accordance with industry professional standards. In the event you are displeased with Work Product, PCF shall make its best efforts to correct the problem in a mutually acceptable manner. These warranties are exclusive and in lieu of all other warranties, whether express or implied. All change requests to the Work Product must be made within 30 days of delivery.
Guidelines. Unless your Professional Services are provided under a separate agreement with PCF, PCF shall follow the Amara On Demand Guidelines when creating and delivering Work Product.
Payment terms for Teams. Subscription payments for Teams are collected in advance of usage and are nonrefundable. If you decide to cancel your Team subscription, you will retain access to your Team through the end of your current paid billing cycle.
Payment terms for Professional Services. Due to the nature of the Professional Services, fees must be prepaid. Work cannot begin until receipt of full payment. You may purchase credits (“Service Credits”) that can be redeemed for Professional Services. In the event your payment exceeds the cost of Professional Services to be rendered, excess funds will automatically be converted to Service Credits. Professional Services and Service Credits are both nonrefundable.
Donation of unused Service Credits. Unused Service Credits that are older than 365 days can no longer be redeemed for Professional Services. At PCFF’s discretion, unused Service Credits may be donated to a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of PCFF’s choice. However, Service Credits will not be donated to PCF or any PCF subsidiary.
These Terms will continue to apply until ended by either you or PCF. You can choose to end them at any time for any reason by discontinuing your use of our Services and, if applicable, deleting your account.
We may suspend or terminate your access to our Services at any time for any reason, including, but not limited to, if we reasonably believe: (i) you have violated these Terms, our Acceptable Use Policy, or other relevant policy; (ii) you create risk or possible legal exposure for us; or (iii) our provision of the Services to you is no longer commercially viable.
In all such cases, these Terms shall terminate, except for the following sections, which shall continue to apply: Indemnification, Disclaimer; Limitation of Liability, Miscellaneous.
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PCF, its contractors, contributors, licensors, and partners; and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of the foregoing ("Indemnified Parties") from and against any and all third party claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of or related to your use of our Services (including, but not limited to, from your Submissions or from your violation of any these Terms).
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PCF AND THE INDEMNIFIED PARTIES HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICES ARE FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGING. YOU BEAR THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO USING THE SERVICES FOR YOUR PURPOSES AND AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE RISK THAT YOUR HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR CONTENT IS DELETED OR CORRUPTED, THAT SOMEONE ELSE GAINS UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION, OR THAT ANOTHER USER MISUSES OR MISAPPROPRIATES YOUR SUBMISSION. THIS LIMITATION WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THIS DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW, PCF AND THE INDEMNIFIED PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT AND INDIRECT DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, AND COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY (CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE) UPON WHICH SUCH CLAIM IS BASED. THE COLLECTIVE LIABILITY OF PCF AND THE INDEMNIFIED PARTIES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED $500 (FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and PCF concerning our Services and supersede any prior versions of these Terms. The Services and these Terms are governed by the laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA, excluding its conflict of law provisions. All claims and disputes arising out of the Services or these Terms shall be brought exclusively in the courts of Suffolk, Massachusetts, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts. If any portion of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. In the event of a conflict between a translated version of these Terms and the English language version, the English language version shall control. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and relevant additional terms, the additional terms shall control.
We may update these Terms from time to time to address a new feature of the Services or to clarify a provision. The updated Terms will be posted online. If the changes are substantive, we will announce the update through PCF’s usual channels for such announcements such as our blog. Your continued use of our Services after the effective date of such changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
Participatory Culture Foundation
Attn: Legal Notices
PO Box 55071
#20335
Boston, MA 02205-5071
USA
About these Terms of Service: This text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license. It is based on the Mozilla Foundation’s terms of use.