In this Terms and Conditions of Use Agreement (“Agreement”, “Terms of Use, or “Terms”), “ATUS”, “we”, “us”, or “our” refers to Audio-Technica U.S., Inc. and its affiliates. ATUS provides certain services and access to our Creator Community (or the “Community”) to you subject to the following terms and conditions.
PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU CONTINUE. BY ACCESSING THE CREATOR COMMUNITY OR USING ANY OF ITS FEATURES, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE AND ARE DEEMED TO HAVE ACCEPTED THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
- Introduction
Welcome to our Creator Community!
Thank you for using our ATUS Creator Community and the products, services and features we make available to you as part of the Community.
Our Creator Community allows you to discover, connect, and share content with creators around the world who use ATUS products. Being part of this Community will allow you to inspire others across the globe and build relationships with us and original content creators large and small. As an ATUS creator, you will stay up-to-date with ATUS happenings with our quarterly newsletter. Creators will also receive official ATUS swag, an official ATUS Creator e-logo to let your audience know you are a member of a group of creators who value high-quality audio that helps your content stand out. Other benefits include exclusive discounts, offers and more!
- Terms
Your use of and involvement in our Creator Community is subject to these terms, the Creator Community Guidelines, and our policies, including the Creator Community Privacy Policy, which may be updated from time to time.
Age Requirements
You must be at least 13 years old to join the Creator Community; however, if you are under 18, you represent that you have your parent or guardian’s permission to be a part of our Creator Community. Please have your parent or guardian read this Agreement with you, if applicable.
If you are a parent or legal guardian of a user under the age of 18, by allowing your child to be part of the Community, you are subject to the terms of this Agreement and responsible for your child’s activity within the Community.
Businesses
If you are engaging in the Community on behalf of a company or organization, you represent that you have the authority to act on behalf of that entity, and that such entity accepts this Agreement.
Your Engagement in the Community
The content within the Creator Community may include videos, audio (for example music and vocal memorandums and other sounds), graphics, photos, text (such as comments and scripts), branding (including trade names, trademark, service marks, or logos), interactive features, software, metrics, and other materials, whether provided by you, ATUS, other ATUS Creators, or a third-party (collectively, “Content”).
Content is the responsibility of the person or entity that provides it within the Community. ATUS is under no obligation to host or serve Content. If you see any Content you believe does not comply with this Agreement, including by violation the Community Guidelines or the law, you can report it to us by contacting the following email address: legal@atus.com.
In order to foster a true sense of community, we may use free online platforms, including but not limited to Facebook Groups and Discord, for creators to share their Content with others within the Community, engage with one another, and promote their Content. Use of third-party platforms will be subject to their terms of use, which may expressly overrise some of these Terms, so please be sure to read any policies of third-party platforms that are utilized as part of the Community.
- Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy explains how we treat your personal information that we collect and how we protect your privacy when you engage in the Community.
ATUS may collect your information that is voluntarily provided by you or with your permission. For example, we may ask you for information, such as your phone number and e-mail address, when you apply to be apart of our Creator Community. When you provide information to ATUS in connection with your access to or use of the Community, you agree to provide only true, accurate, current, and complete information.
In addition to these Terms of Use, your personally identifiable information obtained by us from this Site is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
- Permissions and Restrictions
You may access and engage within our Creator Community as made available to you, as long as you comply with this Agreement and applicable law. You may post, share, view or listen to Content for your personal, non-commercial use.
The following restrictions apply to your use of our Creator Community. You are not allowed to:
a) Access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify, or otherwise use any part of the Creator Community or any Content therein except: (i) as expressly authorized by us; or (ii) with prior written permission from ATUS and, if applicable, the respective rights holders;
b) Circumvent, disable, fraudulently engage with, or otherwise interfere with any part of the Community (or attempt to do any of these things), including security-related features or features that (i) prevent or restrict the copying or other use of Content or (ii) limit the use of the Community or Content;
c) Access the Creator Community using any automated means (such as robots, botnets or scrapers) except (i) in the case of public search engines, or (ii) with prior written permission from ATUS;
d) Collect or harvest any information that might identify a person (for example, usernames or faces), unless permitted by that person or with our express written permission;
e) Use the Community to distribute unsolicited promotional or commercial content or other unwanted or mass solicitations;
f) Cause or encourage any inaccurate measurements of genuine user engagement within the Community;
g) Misuse any reporting, flagging, complaint, dispute, or appeals process, including by making groundless or frivolous reports;
h) Run contests within or through the Community that do not comply with this Agreement, our Privacy Policy, or Community Guidelines;
i) Use the Community to view or listen to Content other than for personal, non-commercial use;
j) Use the Community to (i) sell any advertising, sponsorships, or promotions placed on, around, or within the Community or Content, other than those allowed with our prior written permission; or (ii) sell advertising, sponsorships, or promotions on any page or any website or application that only contains Content from the Community or where Content from the Community is the primary basis for such sales (for example, selling ads on a webpage where ATUS Content is the main draw for users visiting the webpage).
- Copyright, Trademark, and Reservation
Engaging within, accessing, or otherwise using the Community does not give you ownership of or rights to any aspect of our Creator Community, including Creator names or any other Content posted by others or ATUS.
The Community and all Content in any form posted within the Community, including all designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, audio, information, applications, and other files, and their selection and arrangement are the exclusive property of ATUS, its licensors, or other third parties and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Community members and/or visitors may not modify, transmit, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content, in whole or in part without the express written permission of the owner or licensor of such Content.
All ATUS logos are proprietary trademarks and may not be used in connection with any product or material that is not provided by ATUS or authorized by ATUS, or in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among others, or in any manner that disparages or discredits ATUS.
All other trademarks displayed within the Community are the trademarks of their respective owners and may only be used with the permission of the owner. The display of the trademarks of third parties constitutes neither: (i) an endorsement or recommendation of those third parties; nor (ii) an endorsement of ATUS by those third parties.
- Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement
If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible within the Community in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright agent the following information:
- A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
- Identification of the URL or other specific location where the material you claim is infringing is located;
- Your name, address, telephone number, email address, and statement that you are an authorized person to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright;
- A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- An affidavit submitted by you, sworn to, and made under the penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are an authorized agent to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
Pursuant to Section 512 of the Copyright Revision Act, as amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, ATUS designates the following individual as its agent for receipt of notifications of claimed copyright infringement:
AUDIO-TECHNICA U.S., INC.
1221 Commerce Dr.
Stow, OH 44224
Attention: Copyright Notice
By Email: legal@atus.com
- Changes to the Community
ATUS is constantly changing and improving our Creator Community. We may also need to alter or discontinue the Community, or any part of it, in order to make performance or security improvements, change functionality and features, make changes to comply with law, or prevent illegal activities on or abuse of our systems. These changes may affect all members of the Community, some members or even an individual member. Whenever reasonably possible, we will provide notice when we discontinue or make material changes to our Community that will have an adverse impact on engagement within the Community. However, you understand and agree that there will be times when we make such changes without notice, such as where we feel we need to take action to improve the security and operability of our Community, prevent abuse, or comply with legal requirements.
- Your Content and Conduct
Uploading Content
If you are approved as a creator within the Community, you may be able to upload Content within the Community. You may use your Content to promote your business or artistic endeavors. If you choose to share Content with the Community, you must not submit to the Community any Content that does not comply with this Agreement (including our Community Guidelines) or the law. For example, the Content you submit must not include third-party intellectual property (such as copyrighted material) unless you have permission from that party or are otherwise legally entitled to do so. You are legally responsible for the Content you share within the Community. We may use automated systems that analyze your Content to help detect infringement and abuse, such as spam, malware, and illegal content.
Rights You Grant
You retain ownership rights in your Content. However, we do require you to grant certain rights to ATUS and other creators within the Community, as described below.
By providing Content within the Community, you grant to ATUS a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use that Content (including to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works, display and perform it) in connection with the Community and our (and our successors’ and affiliates’) business, including for the purpose of promoting and redistributing part or all of our Creator Community.
You also grant each other creator within the Community a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to access your Content through the Community, and to use that Content, including to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works, display, and perform it, only within the Community. For clarity, this license does not grant any rights or permissions for a creator to make use of your Content independent of the Community.
The licenses granted by you continue for a commercially reasonable period of time after you remove or delete your Content from the Community. You understand and agree, however, that ATUS may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of your Content that have been removed or deleted.
Removing Your Content
You may remove your Content from the Community at any time. You must remove your Content if you no longer have the rights required by these terms.
If we reasonably believe that any Content is in breach of this Agreement or may cause harm to ATUS, our creators, users, or third parties, we may remove or take down that Content in our discretion. We will notify you with the reason for our action unless we reasonably believe that to do so: (i) would breach the law or the direction of a legal enforcement authority or would otherwise risk legal liability for ATUS or our affiliates; (ii) would compromise an investigation or the integrity or operation of the Community; or (iii) would cause harm to any creator, other third party, ATUS or our affiliates.
Terminations and Suspensions by ATUS
ATUS may suspend your access to all or part of the Community if (i) you materially or repeatedly breach this Agreement; (ii) we are required to do so to comply with a legal requirement or a court order; or (iii) we believe there has been conduct that creates (or could create) liability or harm to any user, other third party, ATUS or our affiliates.
ATUS may terminate your access to all or part of the Community is ATUS believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Community to you is no longer commercially viable.
We will notify you with the reason for termination or suspension by ATUS unless we reasonably believe that to do so: (i) would violate the law or the direction of a legal enforcement authority, or would otherwise risk legal liability for ATUS or our affiliates; (ii) would compromise an investigation or the integrity or operation of the Community; or (iii) would cause harm to any creator, other third party, ATUS or our affiliates. Where ATUS is terminating your access for Community changes, where reasonably possible, you will be provided with sufficient time to export your Content from the Community.
If you believe that your access to the Community has been terminated in error, please contact us at legal@atus.com.
- Disclaimer
OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT OR AS REQUIRED BY LAW, THE CREATOR COMMUNITY IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ATUS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE COMMUNITY. FOR EXAMPLE, WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES ABOUT: (A) THE CONTENT PROVIDED THROUGH THE COMMUNITY; (B) THE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF THE COMMUNITY, OR ITS ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, OR ABILITY TO MEET YOUR NEEDS; OR (C) THAT ANY CONTENT YOU SUBMIT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
- Limitation of Liability
EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ATUS, ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, GOODWILL, OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS; LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA; INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS; PUNITIVE DAMAGES CAUSE BY:
- ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY;
- PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM USE OF THE COMMUNITY;
- ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE COMMUNITY;
- ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF THE COMMUNITY;
- ANY VIRUSES OR MALICIOUS CODE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE COMMUNITY BY ANY CREATOR OR THIRD PARTY;
- ANY CONTENT WHETHER SUBMITTED BY A CREATOR OR ATUS, INLCUDING YOUR USE OF CONTENT; AND/OR
- THE REMOVAL OR UNAVILABILITY OF ANY CONTENT.
THIS PROVISION APPLIES TO ANY CLAIM, REGARDLES OF WHETHER THE CLAIM ASSERTED IS BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.
YOU AND ATUS AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE COMMUNITY MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.
- Indemnification
To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless ATUS, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from: (i) your use of and access to the Community; (ii) your violation of any term of this Agreement; (iii) your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or (iv) any claim that your Content caused damage to a third party. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive this Agreement and your involvement in the Community.
- Third-Party Links
The Community may contain links to third-party websites and online services that are not owned or controlled by ATUS. ATUS has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, such websites and online services. Be aware when you leave the Community – we suggest you read the terms and privacy policy of each third-party website and online service that you visit.
- Governing Jurisdiction
This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and the laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to any principals of conflicts of law. Any and all services and rights of use hereunder are considered performed in the United States of America and you agree that any action at law or in equity that arises out of or relates to ATUS or these Terms of Use will be filed only in the state or federal courts located in Ohio, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action.
The Community may be accessed from the United States and from other countries around the world. Although each of these jurisdictions have laws that may differ from those of the United States, by accessing the Community, if you are located outside of the United States, you agree that all matters relating to access to, or use of, the Community, or any other hyperlinked website, shall be governed by the federal laws of the United States without regard to any principals of conflicts of law. For clarity, these Terms of Use and your use of our Creator Community are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio.
- Compliance with Laws and International Use
You assume all knowledge of applicable laws and are responsible for compliance with any such laws. You may not use the Community in any way that violates applicable state, federal, or international laws, regulations, or other government requirements. Such laws may include but are not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the California Consumer Privacy Act. Please see our Privacy Policy for information regarding your data privacy rights under those laws.
ATUS reserves the right to use any information available by virtue of your use of the Site (including, for example, reverse IP address inquiry) in order to comply with any law, to enforce this Agreement or our Privacy Policy, or to protect the rights, property or safety of all Community creators. We reserve the right without obligation to review the Content within the Community, and other information posted to the Community to determine compliance with our Agreement and operating rules established by us or our affiliates, and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request.
Furthermore, we make no representation that Content on within the Community is appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, and accessing Content from territories where such Content is illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access the Community from other locations outside of the United States do so on their own initiative and at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with those local laws and regulations.
The Content provided within the Community is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Accordingly, those persons who choose to access the Community from other locations do so on their own initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
- Miscellaneous Terms
We may modify this Agreement, for example, to reflect changes to the Community or for legal, regulatory, or security reasons. ATUS will provide reasonable advance notice of any material modifications to this Agreement and the opportunity to review them, except that modifications addressing newly available features of the Community or modifications made for legal reasons may be effective immediately without notice. Modifications to this Agreement will only apply going forward. If you do not agree to the modified terms, you should remove any Content you have uploaded and discontinue your engagement in and use of the Community.
These Terms of Use in conjunction with our Privacy Policy constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between us, superseding any prior agreements and understandings, and govern your use of and engagement within our Creator Community. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate services, third-party content or third-party software. Our failure to enforce or exercise any right or provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable for any reason, the other provisions (and any partially enforceable provisions) shall not be affected thereby and shall remain valid and in full force and effect. You agree that these Terms of Use may be assigned by ATUS, in our sole discretion, to a third party in the event of a merger or acquisition or change of control. The section titles and headings in these Terms of Use are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.
No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employee-employer relationship is intended or created by these Terms of Use.
By submitting information to ATUS through the Community, an application to join the Community, or otherwise, you are making an inquiry as to services and/or features offered by ATUS and give ATUS permission to contact you through email, fax, telephone, mobile phone, or any means, even if your phone number or mobile number is on a “Do Not Call” list.
Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by and for us.
YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.
ATUS will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly respond and resolve any problem or question.
© Copyright 2022, AUDIO-TECHNICA U.S., INC. All Rights Reserved.