Terms of Service

Terms of Service

 

TERMS OF SERVICE – Updated as of November 2019

 

In these Terms of Service, “you” refers to the person accessing or using the website(s) located at http://www.westerniowatoday.com and other online areas operated by Meredith Communications LC (individually and collectively, the “Site“). “Meredith”, “Company” “we”, “us”, etc. refers to the company that operates the Site.

 

1. Acceptance of Terms through Use

 

By using the Site, you agree to be bound by all terms, conditions and notices contained or referenced herein (the “Terms of Service“) and the Privacy Policy Statement (“Privacy Policy“) (published at http://www.westerniowatoday.com/PrivacyPolicy and incorporated here by reference), and all of these terms will govern your use of the Site.  Reference to “MEREDITH ” throughout this document and our Privacy Policy, shall be deemed to refer to all Meredith Communications LC. We reserve the right to change or discontinue any feature of the Site, including but not limited to the Terms of Service, at any time, by posting revisions onto the Site. You agree to be deemed apprised and bound by any changes to these Terms of Service and your continued use of the Site indicates your agreement to the revised terms. You also agree to review this information from time to time as may be required to keep informed of any revisions to the Terms of Service. If you do not agree to the terms of this or any revised policy, please do not register as a user or if you have already registered, deregister as a user and exit the Site immediately.

 

2. Links to Third Party Sites & Services

 

MEREDITH ’s site contains links to and from sites operated by third parties. “MEREDITH ” makes no representations whatsoever about any third party content (including but not limited to opinions, advice, statements, warranties or representations) that you may access from the Site or about any web site from which you may access the Site and/or which may be linked to this Site, including but not limited to by way of streaming content. We provide third party content and links only as a courtesy to our users, and such links and/or content do not imply our endorsement of any linked site/content. The linked sites and content are not under our influence or control, and we are not responsible for any third party content or the contents of any linked site or subsequent links from that site. Our Privacy Policy is only applicable when you are on this Site. Please review the streaming provider’s and the linked site’s use agreements and privacy policies, and if you do not agree to be bound by the terms, we recommend that you terminate your use of that service or your visit to the site. By using the Site, you expressly relieve Company from any and all liability arising from your use of any third party website(s).

 

3. Intellectual Property

 

You acknowledge that all content and materials available on this Site, including the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such content as well as content original to it or its Licensors are protected by national and international copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, patent registration rights, trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary rights and laws and are owned by “MEREDITH ” or our licensors or “MEREDITH ” has obtained the necessary permission of the owner of the intellectual property in such content to use the content on our Site. Unless otherwise indicated, all logos, names, package designs and marks on the Site are trademarks or service marks of, or used under license by, MEREDITH. The use or misuse of any of these materials is strictly prohibited. MEREDITH, our licensors or associates retain exclusive ownership of all data, material and other information regarding your use of the Site. Company does not grant any license to you by virtue of this Agreement of these intellectual property rights, except for the limited right to use the Site in accordance with this Agreement. Any product and/or trade names that are mentioned on the Site or are provided as part of the Services may be trade-marks of their respective owners. Company reserves all rights that are not expressly granted to you in this Agreement. Company’s licensors retain exclusive ownership of all data, material, text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, interactive features and the trade-marks and logos contained therein (“IP“). The IP is owned by or licensed to Company, subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under United States law and international conventions. Content provided by Company is provided to you for your information and personal use only and may not be used, copied, reproduced, modified, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of Company and/or the respective owners.

 

4. Lawful Use/Obligations

 

You agree to use the Site or its contents for lawful purposes and only as expressly permitted in these Terms of Service and for no other purpose. Except where otherwise noted, you may download, print or view individual pages for non-commercial use only, provided you do not delete or change any of the information, including copyright or trade-mark notices. Except as otherwise permitted herein and as we may expressly authorize, you agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from the content or materials on the Site or otherwise in any way exploit any of the content of the Site, in whole or in part. Systematic retrieval of data or other content from the Site to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database or directory in any form whatsoever without our written permission is strictly prohibited. You agree that you will not post or transmit through the Site any form of virus, worm, Trojan horse or other malicious code, or any material which violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, which is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane or otherwise objectionable, which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, damage Company or other parties, or otherwise violate any law, or which, without MEREDITH’s express prior approval, contains advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services. You will not attempt to gain access to secured portions of the Site to which you do not possess access rights. You will not use any automatic or manual process to search or harvest information from the Site. You also agree not to post any material protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights and the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright rests with you. Any conduct by you that in our discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying “MEREDITH” or to interfere in any way with the proper functioning of the Site will not be permitted.

 

MEMBER CONDUCT

 

 The Site has many features available for members to enjoy such as bulletin boards, interactive forums, contests, surveys, games and the ability for members to create their own personal profile in where they can publish information such as their interests, photos, recipes etc. We do not control the messages, information or files delivered to the Site, unless otherwise noted therein, and we have no obligation to monitor the Site. Use of the Site is entirely at your own risk. However, we reserve the right at all times to disclose any information arising out of or relating to transmissions through the Site including without limitation as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request, and further reserve the right to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that in our sole discretion are objectionable or in violation of these Terms and Conditions. You should assume that communications on the Site’s public forums are not confidential.

 

You understand that all materials, including without limitation, information, data, text, photographs, graphics, video, and email messages or other kinds of messages (“Member Content”), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of member from whom such Member Content originated. You are entirely responsible for all Member Content that you upload, publish, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available on the Site.

 

You acknowledge that we do not pre-screen Member Content, but that we and our designees have the right, but not the obligation, in their sole discretion to refuse to publish and/or remove any content and or Member Content from the Site.

 

Without limitation, by using the Site you agree not to:

 

• Publish, upload, post, email, or otherwise make available any content, as determined by us, that is harmful, threatening, abusive, stalking, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of another person’s safety, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or unlawful. including without limitation any transmission constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, provincial, national or foreign law;

 

• Post or transmit any information, software or other material which violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material which is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or which are protected by copyright, trade-mark or other proprietary right or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or right holder;

 

• Collect or store any data about other users or third parties without their express written consent;

 

• Publish, upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any illegal solicitation, unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail or spam;

 

• Post or transmit any information, software or other material which contains a virus or other harmful component; or

 

• Any conduct by you that in our sole discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Site will not be permitted. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of the Site, with or without notice and for any reason whatsoever, subject to applicable laws.

 

5. User’s Grant of License

 

 By posting or submitting content to the Site, you grant “MEREDITH” and its worldwide licensees or assignees a perpetual, non-exclusive and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, edit, modify, distribute and promote the content in any form, anywhere and for any purpose. You also warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content you post or submit to the Site and that our public posting and use of your content will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including, but not limited to, any privacy, publicity, copyright, trade-mark, trade secret rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have the appropriate permission from their rightful owner to specifically submit such Content to Company. “MEREDITH” shall retain the right, but not the obligation, to monitor, edit or otherwise change your posting or other content, submitted to the Site, without your permission. You further represent and warrant that you are the age of majority in your province of residence, or possess custodial parental or guardian consent and are fully able and competent to adhere to the terms, conditions, representations and warranties set forth herein; you will abide and comply with these Terms of Service; you will provide accurate information when creating an account; you are solely responsible for your User ID and the activity that occurs while signed in, including any content submissions, such as discussion posts, profile information, links, pictures, and other such content.

 

6. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES:

 

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT ALL MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE (THE “CONTENT”) ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” FOR YOUR USE AND THAT YOU USE THIS SITE AND ANY CONTENT YOU CHOOSE TO DOWNLOAD AT YOUR SOLE RISK. “MEREDITH”AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS DO NOT IN ANY WAY WARRANT, EITHER EXPRESSLY OR BY IMPLICATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR OTHERWISE, OTHER THAN THOSE WARRANTIES WHICH ARE INCAPABLE OF EXCLUSION, RESTRICTION OR MODIFICATION UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. NEITHER COMPANY NOR ITS PARENT OR AFFILIATE COMPANIES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, AGENTS, CONSULTANTS, CONTRACTORS OR LICENSORS, MAKE ANY WARRANTY THAT THE CONTENT OF THE SITE OR ANY SERVICE OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH IT, IS ACCURATE, RELIABLE OR CORRECT; THAT THE SITE OR ANY LINKED SITE, WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION; THAT ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; THAT THE CONTENT IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; OR THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE SUCCESSFUL RESULTS FROM FOLLOWING ANY INSTRUCTIONS, DIRECTIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE SITE.  COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTIES AS TO PRIVACY AND SECURITY OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE PRIVACY POLICY. COMPANY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITE OR SERVICES AT TIMES OR LOCATIONS OF YOUR CHOOSING. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY A COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY. YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL CONSUMER RIGHTS UNDER YOUR LOCAL LAWS THAT THIS CONTRACT CANNOT CHANGE.

 

7. Limitation of Liability

 

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL MEREDITH, SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, AGENTS, CONSULTANTS, CONTRACTORS OR LICENSORS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN LAW OR IN EQUITY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR FROM INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE SITE OR FROM ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF RECORD, AND THE RISK OF ANY INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER BASIS INCLUDING ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD PARTIES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. OUR LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

 

8. Indemnification

 

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold “MEREDITH: , its affiliates, subsidiaries and each of their respective employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, consultants and licensees harmless from and against any and all liabilities, claims, damages, costs or debt and expenses, including attorney’s fees, that arise from (i) your use or misuse of the Site, including without limitation your violation of the Terms of Service herein; (ii) your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or (iii) any claim that any Content submitted by you causes damage to a third party. . We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive these Terms of Service and your use of the Site.

 

9. Monitoring Content

 

“MEREDITH” shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Site, including chat rooms and forums, to determine compliance with this Agreement and any operating rules established by “MEREDITH” and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. “MEREDITH” shall have the right in its sole discretion to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the Site without your permission. Without limiting the foregoing, “MEREDITH ” shall have the right to remove any material that it, in our sole discretion, finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or otherwise offensive or objectionable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, “MEREDITH” is not responsible for the content that you or any user posts on any forum on the Site and your reliance on any such content is solely at your own risk.

 

10. Local Laws

 

By choosing to access the Site from any location other than Iowa, you accept full responsibility for compliance with all local and federal laws that are applicable. “MEREDITH” makes no representation that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in locations outside such Province, and accessing them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited.

 

11. Security and Privacy and Non-Confidentiality

 

The services and information provided are protected using industry standard security precautions. It is up to you to fully understand the risks and threats of using the public Internet, and to be sufficiently aware of those risks to adequately protect your confidential information. “MEREDITH” provides information regarding Security and Privacy at  http://www.westerniowatoday.com/PrivacyPolicy. This document is provided as a guideline only, and it is up to the user to remain current and exercise care when using the Internet. You should seek professional advice on protecting your privacy and evaluating the security of the information systems you are using.

 

For contractual purposes, you (a) consent to receive communications from Company and/or its agents in an electronic form; and (b) agree that all Terms of Service, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that Company provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications would satisfy if it were in writing. The foregoing does not affect your non-waivable rights. You acknowledge and agree that your name, birth date, gender, phone number and email address (the “Information”) submitted in connection with your completion of a Club Membership will be maintained by the Company and/or its contractors or agents in its member database, and will be primarily used to send you offers for deals or promotions and contests (the “Purposes”) in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You consent to Company and/or its contractors or agents using your Information for the Purposes. You may withdraw this consent at any time. Any communications between you and Company, such as email or other correspondence, in which you offer suggestions, comments or ideas for improving or modifying the Site will be deemed to be non-confidential and non-proprietary and you agree that such information, with the exception of the Information, may be used by Company without any limitation whatsoever. You grant to Company and its affiliates a royalty-free license to use any such comments, suggestions or ideas in any manner or media, globally, forever, without any obligation to you. This includes the right to use any ideas you submit (including ideas about our Site or advertising campaigns) in any manner that Company chooses, without any obligation to you.

 

12. Choice of Law

 

These Terms of Service shall be construed in accordance with the laws of Iowa and the Federal laws of United States applicable therein, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. You expressly agree that any claim or action arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or your use of the Site (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be filed only in the courts of Iowa or the Federal Court of the United States, if applicable, and you further agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

 

13. Integration and Severability

 

These Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy at  http://www.westerniowatoday.com/PrivacyPolicy and any other legal noticed published by Company on the Site shall constitute the entire agreement between “MEREDITH” and you with respect to the subject-matter herein and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals between us with respect to the Site. If any provision of these Terms of Service agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, that portion will be construed consistent with applicable law and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import.

 

14. Unauthorized Use and Termination

 

You agree to use the Site only for authorized and legal activities. “MEREDITH” reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of the Site, with or without notice and for any reason whatsoever.

 

15. Privacy and Disclosure

 

You have read and accept the terms of our Privacy Policy located at http://www.westerniowatoday.com/PrivacyPolicy.