StoryBlender Terms of Use

Last Updated October 20, 2008

1. Your Acceptance

THIS TERMS OF USE (THIS “AGREEMENT”) CONSTITUTES A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND STORYBLENDER, INC. (“STORYBLENDER”). CONTINUED ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE STORYBLENDER SERVICES, AS DEFINED BELOW, CONSTITUTES ASSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT AS SUCH TERMS MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ASSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MUST CEASE USING THE STORYBLENDER SERVICE IMMEDIATELY AND REMOVE ANY SNS APPS, AS DEFINED BELOW, OR ANY OTHER SOFTWARE OR CONTENT RECEIVED FROM OR THROUGH STORYBLENDER FROM YOUR COMPUTER. YOUR FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THE TERMS AND OBLIGATIONS INCLUDED HEREIN SHALL CONSTITUTE A BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT, WHICH MAY RESULT IN PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR YOU UNDER THE INDEMNITY SET FORTH BELOW AND/OR IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT AND, AT SLIDE'S SOLE DISCRETION, THE DELETION OF ALL CONTENT RELATED THERETO.

Storyblender is the owner and operator of websites located at http://www.storyblender.com and elsewhere on the internet where this Agreement appears, and linked pages or applications, if any (collectively, including all web sites owned by Storyblender, the “Storyblender Site”). Storyblender is also the provider of the services (the “Storyblender Service”) which are available to You though Storyblender, including and application such as the “Blend Studio”, “Greeting blend” created by Storyblender and available through social networking sites (including premium applications for which we impose a charge, “SNS Apps”). The availability of any SNS Apps on a social networking site does not indicate any relationship or affiliation between Storyblender and such social networking site.

2. StoryBlender Website

These terms apply to all users of the StoryBlender Website, including those who are also contributors of video content, information, and other materials, skills or services on the Website, and those who access the site and service via partner sites. The StoryBlender Website may contain links to third party websites that are not owned or controlled by StoryBlender. StoryBlender has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites. In addition, StoryBlender will not, and cannot, censor or edit the content of any third-party site. By using the Website, you expressly relieve StoryBlender from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website. Accordingly, we encourage you to be aware when you leave the StoryBlender Website and to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each other website that you visit

3. Website Access

  1. A. StoryBlender hereby grants you permission to use the Website as set forth in this Terms of Service, provided that: (i) your use of the Website as permitted is solely for your personal, noncommercial use (please contact contact@storyblender.com regarding the terms of a commercial license) ; (ii) you will not copy or distribute any part of the Website in any medium without StoryBlender's prior written authorization; (iii) you will not alter or modify any part of the Website, other than as may be reasonable permitted according to the site’s GUI and its purpose and (iv) you will otherwise comply with the terms and conditions of these Terms of Service. B. In order to access some features of the Website, you will have to create an account. You may never use another user’s account without permission. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you must keep your account password secure. You must notify StoryBlender immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. (Please contact help@storyblender.com to report any problems). Although StoryBlender will not be liable for your losses caused by any unauthorized use of your account, you may be liable for the losses of StoryBlender or others due to such unauthorized use. C. You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," "offline readers," etc., that accesses the Website in a manner that sends more request messages to the StoryBlender servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional on-line web browser. Notwithstanding the foregoing, StoryBlender grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the site for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials. StoryBlender reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases. You agree not to collect or harvest any personally identifiable information, including account names, from the Website, nor to use the communication systems provided by the Website for any commercial solicitation purposes. You agree not to solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Website with respect to their User Submitted Media.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

  1. A. The content on the StoryBlender Website, except all User Submitted Media (as defined below), including without limitation, the text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, characters, sound effects, music, videos, interactive features and the like ("Content") and the trademarks, service marks and logos contained therein ("Marks"), are owned by or licensed to StoryBlender, and is subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under United States and foreign laws and international conventions. B. Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only and may not be used, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcasted, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of the respective owners. StoryBlender reserves all rights not expressly granted in and to the Website and the Content. C. You agree to not engage in the use, copying, or distribution of any of the Content other than expressly permitted herein, including any use, copying, or distribution of User Submitted Media of third parties obtained through the Website for any commercial purposes. D. If you download or print a copy of the Content for personal use, you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein. E. You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security related features of the StoryBlender Website or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on use of the StoryBlender Website or the Content therein.

5. Third-Party Media

In order to allow you to create rich media files, StoryBlender operates in affiliation with a number of companies that own various, high-quality media Items. Except for the items that are provided to you free of charge, all the items (“videos, photos, fonts, images, animated characters, sound effects, music”) at StoryBlender are sold to your StoryBlender account therein.
If you want to purchase it for your personal use, you can visit its original site and purchase it through the provided link on Storyblender site.
Any Inquiries & affiliation about items should be directed to contact@storyblender.com

6. User Submitted Media

  1. A. The StoryBlender Website may now or in the future permit the submission of videos, photos, blends and other forms of media, or other communications submitted by you and other users ("User Submitted Media") and the hosting, sharing, editing remixing, and/or publishing of such User Submitted Media. You understand that whether or not such User Submitted Media are published, StoryBlender DOES NOT GUARANTEE ANY CONFIDENTIALITY with respect to any submissions.
  2. B. You shall be solely responsible for your own User Submitted Media and the consequences of posting or publishing them. In connection with User Submitted Media, you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that: (i) you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights or other proprietary rights to use and authorize StoryBlender, and other users of the StoryBlender Website to include and use your submitted data. in the manner contemplated by the Website and these Terms of Service; and (ii) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the User Submitted Media to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of the User Submitted Media in the manner contemplated by the Website and these Terms of Service.
  3. C. You retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submitted Media.
  4. D. By submitting the User Submitted Media to StoryBlender, you hereby grant StoryBlender and any of its affiliates a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable and transferable license to (i) host, cache, store, archive, index, crawl, create algorithms based on, modify or transcode the User Submitted Media to appropriate media formats, standards or mediums as part of the StoryBlender Website; (ii) to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, modify, remix, excerpt, adapt or transcode the User Submitted Media to appropriate media formats, standards or mediums as part of the StoryBlender Website and perform the User Submitted Media in connection with the StoryBlender Website and StoryBlender's (and its successor's) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the StoryBlender Website (and derivative works thereof), or in connection with any distribution or syndication arrangement thereof with third parties or third-party sites, in any media formats and through any media channels; (iii) to use User Submitted Media for and in connection with advertising, promotional or commercial purposes, including without limitation, the right to publicly display, perform, reproduce and distribute the User Submitted Media in any media format or medium and through any media channels; (iv) StoryBlender reserves and has the right to sell, license and/or display any advertising, attribution, links, promotional and/or distribution rights in connection with User Submitted Media, and StoryBlender will be entitled to retain any and all revenue generated from any sales or licenses of such advertising, attribution, links, or promotional or distribution rights, or StoryBlender’s sole decision and under its full discretion to distribute revenue among users who have submitted User Submitted Media (all according to criteria determined by StoryBlender at its full discretion).
  5. E. By submitting User Submitted Media to the StoryBlender Website you also hereby grant (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly granted) other users of the StoryBlender Website, and others (all of which are not using the site for commercial purposes), a non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, publicly perform, distribute display and create derivative work based on your User Submitted Media for non-commercial purposes pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0" license located at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ (the "Creative Commons BY-NC-SA License"). Insofar as StoryBlender holds any rights to User Submitted Media pursuant to Section 5D of this Agreement, StoryBlender also grants the rights stated in this paragraph to such persons or entities pursuant to the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.
  6. Should you use the “Remake Tree” to create derivative work based wholly or partially on the User Submitted Media created by other users of StoryBlender products and services, you agree to share ownership (and any resulting benefits) of the resulting media with the person or persons who own the media on which your media is derived.
  7. F. The foregoing license granted by you may not be revoked by you following your submission of media to the StoryBlender Website.
  8. G. You further agree that you will not: (i) submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant StoryBlender all of the license rights granted herein; (ii) publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage StoryBlender or any third party; (iii) submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate; (iv) post advertisements or solicitations of business: (v) impersonate another person.
  9. H. StoryBlender does not endorse any User Submitted Media or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and StoryBlender expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with User Submitted Media. StoryBlender does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on its Website, and StoryBlender will remove all Content and User Submitted Media if properly notified that such Content or User Submitted Media infringes on another's intellectual property rights. StoryBlender reserves the right to remove Content and User Submitted Media without prior notice. StoryBlender will also terminate a User's access to its Website, if they are determined to be a repeat infringer. A repeat infringer is a User who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice and/or has had a User Submitted Media removed from the Website more than twice. StoryBlender also reserves the right to decide whether Content or a User Submitted Media is appropriate and complies with these Terms of Service for violations other than copyright infringement and violations of intellectual property law, such as, but not limited to, pornography, obscene or defamatory material, or excessive length. StoryBlender may remove such User Submitted Media and/or terminate a User's access for uploading such material in violation of these Terms of Service at any time, without prior notice and at its sole discretion.
  10. I.In particular, if you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any User Submitted Media or other content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing our Legal Counsel with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C 512(c)(3) for further detail):
    1. (i) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
    2. (ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
    3. (iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
    4. (iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail;
    5. (v) 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;
    6. (vi) A statement that the information in the notification 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.
    7. StoryBlender's General Counsel designated to receive notifications of claimed infringement is: StoryBlender, Attn: 611 Mission St. FL 2. San Francisco. CA 94105, email: help@storyblender.com For clarity, only DMCA notices should go to the General Counsel; any other feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications should be directed to StoryBlender customer service via email to help@storyblender.com. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section 5(I), your DMCA notice may not be valid
  11. J. You understand that when using the StoryBlender Website, you will be exposed to User Submitted Media from a variety of sources, and that StoryBlender is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User Submitted Media. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Submitted Media that are inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against StoryBlender with respect thereto, and agree to indemnify and hold StoryBlender, its Owners/Operators, affiliates, and/or licensors, harmless to the fullest extent allowed by law regarding all matters related to your use of the site..
  12. K. StoryBlender permits you to link to materials on the Website for personal, non-commercial purposes. In addition, StoryBlender provides an "Embeddable Player" feature, which you may incorporate into your own personal, non-commercial websites for use in accessing the materials on the StoryBlender Website. In addition StoryBlender may provide now or in the future, the ability to access its content or User Submitted Media in a programmatic manner using API and Webservices. Use of the Embeddable Player, API, and Webservices is provided so long as any links back to the StoryBlender website are not disabled. StoryBlender reserves the right to discontinue any aspect of the StoryBlender Website, including streaming of content to the embeddable player, and calls to the API or webservices at any time.

6. Warranty Disclaimer

YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE STORYBLENDER WEBSITE SHALL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, STORYBLENDER, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE AND YOUR USE THEREOF. STORYBLENDER MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS SITE'S CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY SITES LINKED TO THIS SITE AND ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (I) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT, (II) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF OUR WEBSITE, (III) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (IV) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM OUR WEBSITE, (IV) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH OUR WEBSITE BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (V) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONSIN 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 STORYBLENDER WEBSITE. STORYBLENDER DOES NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE STORYBLENDER WEBSITE OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE OR FEATURED IN ANY BANNER OR OTHER ADVERTISING, AND STORYBLENDER 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 USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

7. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL STORYBLENDER, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM ANY (I) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT, (II) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF OUR WEBSITE, (III) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (IV) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM OUR WEBSITE, (IV) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE, WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH OUR WEBSITE BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (V) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE STORYBLENDER WEBSITE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER ORNOT THE COMPANY IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION.

YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT STORYBLENDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR USER SUBMITTED MEDIA 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 Website is controlled and offered by StoryBlender from its facilities in the United States of America. StoryBlender makes no representations that the StoryBlender Website is appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use the StoryBlender Website from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are responsible for compliance with local law.

8. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless StoryBlender, its parent corporation, 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 StoryBlender Website; (ii) your violation of any term of these Terms of Service; (iii) your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or (iv) any claim that one of your User Submitted Media caused damage to a third party. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive these Terms of Service and your use of the StoryBlender Website.

9. Ability to Accept Terms of Service

You affirm that you are either more than 18 years of age, or an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms of Service, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Service. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as the StoryBlender Website is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the StoryBlender Website—there are lots of other great web sites for you. Talk to your parents about what sites are appropriate for you.

10. Assignment

These Terms of Service, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by StoryBlender without restriction.

11. General

You agree that: (i) the StoryBlender Website shall be deemed solely based in California; and (ii) the StoryBlender Website shall be deemed a passive website that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over StoryBlender, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than California. These Terms of Service shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of California, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Any claim or dispute between you and StoryBlender that arises in whole or in part from the StoryBlender Website shall be decided exclusively by a court of competent jurisdiction located in California. These Terms of Service, together with the Privacy Notice at http://www.StoryBlender.com /privacy and any other legal notices published by StoryBlender on the Website, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and StoryBlender concerning the StoryBlender Website. If any provision of these Terms of Service is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Service, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this these Terms of Service shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and StoryBlender's failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. StoryBlender reserves the right to amend these Terms of Service at any time and without notice, and it is your responsibility to review these Terms of Service for any changes. Your use of the StoryBlender Website following any amendment of these Terms of Service will signify your assent to and acceptance of its revised terms.

YOU AND STORYBLENDER AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE STORYBLENDER WEBSITE MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.