1. Agreement and Definitions.
The PsyBlog Network is the interactive online service operated by PsyBlog.com on the Internet, consisting of free information services and content provided by PsyBlog, affiliates of PsyBlog and other third parties.
“Member” means each person who establishes an account (“Account”) for access to and use of any of the websites contained within the PsyBlog Network (known herein as “the PsyBlog Network”).
This Agreement, which includes the Privacy Policy of PsyBlog and Community Guidelines for each specific community website, sets forth the terms and conditions that apply to use of the PsyBlog Network by Member. By using the PsyBlog Network (other than to read this Agreement for the first time), Member agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions hereof.
Members are responsible for all use of their own Account, the integrity, confidentiality and security of their Account, and for ensuring that all use of their Account complies with the provisions of this Agreement.
2. Member Conduct.
(A) Member shall use the PsyBlog Network for lawful purposes only. Member shall not post or transmit through the PsyBlog Network any material: (i) which violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others; (ii) which is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, libelous, obscene, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, racist, obscene, profane or otherwise objectionable; (iii) which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law; (iv) which, without PsyBlog’s express prior approval, contains advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services; (v) or which advertises or performs any commercial solicitation, including, but not limited to, the solicitation of users to become Members of other online communities or websites that are competitive with the PsyBlog Network. Any conduct by a Member that, in PsyBlog’s sole discretion, violates these Terms, restricts or inhibits any other Member from using or enjoying the PsyBlog Network or any of its services will not be permitted. A Member’s account may be terminated at any time, without notice.
(B) The PsyBlog Network contains copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information, including, but not limited to, text, software, photos, video, graphics, music and sound, and the entire contents of the PsyBlog Network are copyrighted as a collective work under the United States copyright laws. PsyBlog owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such content, as well as in the content original to it. Member may not publish, modify, or participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit any of the content, in whole or in part. Member may download copyrighted material for Member’s personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express permission of PsyBlog and the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. Member acknowledges that it does not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.
(C) Member shall not upload, post or otherwise make available on the PsyBlog Network any material protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark or other proprietary right and the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright rests with Member. Member shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. By submitting material to any public area of the PsyBlog Network, Member automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such material has expressly granted PsyBlog the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material. Member also permits any other Member to access, view, store or reproduce the material for that Member’s personal use. Member hereby grants PsyBlog the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any material made available on the PsyBlog Network by Member.
(D) Members are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Site, including, without limitation: (i) accessing data not intended for such User or logging into a server or account which the User is not authorized to access; (ii) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (iii) attempting to interfere with service to any User, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, “flooding”, “mailbombing” or “crashing”; (iv) sending unsolicited e-mail, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services; (v) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability.
(E) Member shall not conduct any type of research on the PsyBlog Network, or to fulfill a set of educational requirements for an educational institution. Research prohibited includes: (i) naturalistic study of behaviors, members, or users of this website; or (ii) empirical, qualitative, or quantitative research of either scientific or non-scientific inquiry, for the purpose of publication, either publicly (for instance, in a peer-reviewed journal) or privately (for instance, a Master’s thesis or college research paper). Personal research for one’s own use is allowed.
(F) The foregoing provisions may be supplemented or superceded by specific provisions known as the “Blog Guidelines” for any of the PsyBlog Network’s online blogs. When in conflict, the blog guidelines provisions will take precedence over this Section.
3. Representations and Warranties.
3.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least 21 years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless PsyBlog and PsyBlog.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. PsyBlog reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.
3.2 Neither PsyBlog nor PsyBlog.com represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the PsyBlog Network by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.
4. Monitoring.
PsyBlog shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the PsyBlog Network, including chat rooms and forums, to determine compliance with this Agreement and any operating rules established by PsyBlog and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. PsyBlog shall have the right, but not the obligation, and at its sole discretion, to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the PsyBlog Network. Without limiting the foregoing, PsyBlog shall have the right, but not the obligation, to remove any material that PsyBlog, in its sole discretion, finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or otherwise objectionable.
5. Indemnification.
Member agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PsyBlog, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of the use of the PsyBlog Network by Member or Member’s Account.
6. Termination.
Either PsyBlog or Member may terminate this Agreement at any time. Without limiting the foregoing, Psych Central shall have the right to immediately terminate Member’s Account in the event of any conduct by Member which PsyBlog, in his sole discretion, considers to be unacceptable, or in the event of any breach by Member of this Agreement. The provisions of Sections 2(B), 2(C), 2(D), 5, 6, and 7 shall survive termination of this Agreement.
If Member would like to terminate their Psych Central membership, they may do so by contacting us.
7. Trademarks.
PsyBlog, the PsyBlog Network, and each of their logos are trademarks of PsyBlog. All rights reserved. All other trademarks appearing on the PsyBlog.com are the property of their respective owners.
8. Third Party Content.
PsyBlog is a distributor and a publisher of content supplied by himself, third parties, and Members. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, Members or any other user of the PsyBlog Network, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of PsyBlog. Neither PsyBlog nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. (Refer to Section 6 above for the complete provisions governing limitation of liabilities and disclaimers of warranty.)
In many instances, the content available through the PsyBlog Network represents the opinions and judgments of the respective information provider, Member, or other user not under contract with PsyBlog. PsyBlog neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the PsyBlog Network by anyone other than authorized PsyBlog employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. Under no circumstances will PsyBlog be liable for any loss or damage caused by a Member’s reliance on information obtained through the PsyBlog Network. It is the responsibility of Member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the PsyBlog Network. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
PsyBlog shall have the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the PsyBlog Network, including, but not limited to, content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use.
9. Changed Terms.
PsyBlogshall have the right at any time to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to Member’s use of the PsyBlog Network, or any part thereof, or to impose new conditions. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on the PsyBlog Network, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means by which Member obtains notice thereof. Any use of the PsyBlog Network by Member after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by Member of such changes, modifications or additions.
10. Miscellaneous.
This Agreement, in addition to the Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, constitutes the entire agreement of the parties, and supersedes all previous written or oral agreements between the parties with respect to such subject matter. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import.
