Terms and Conditions

 

GENERAL TERMS OF USE

 

These General Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of this website and any other website or online service that we operate that links to these Terms (the “Site”). These Terms are a legal contract between you and Penguin Group (USA) LLC (“Penguin,” “we,” or “us”), so it is important that you review them carefully before using the Site. By using the Site, you agree to be bound by and comply with these Terms. Additional terms and conditions may apply to the purchase of products, services and for other uses of the Site. By using the Site to purchase products, services and for other uses, you agree to such additional terms and conditions.

 

CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF USE

 

We reserve the right to update and modify these Terms of Use in our sole discretion at any time. We will post notice of any modifications to these Terms of Use on this page. Continuing to use the Site after changes are posted means that you accept the changes.

 

PRIVACY

 

Our Privacy Policy also governs your use of the Site. By using the Site, you indicate that you understand and consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in our Privacy Policy.

 

COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS

 

When you access or use the Site, you are required to comply with all applicable laws and any other conditions or restrictions in any written or online notice from Penguin (including these Terms). As a condition of your access to and use of the Site, you agree that you will not use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. The Site is offered for your personal use only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors, except those that are specifically approved by Penguin. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree not to:

 

- Impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;

 

- Interfere with any other users’ rights to privacy and publicity, including by harvesting or collecting information from or about users;

 

- Obtain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to other computer systems, materials, information or any services available on or through the Site;

 

- Circumvent, reverse engineer, decrypt, or otherwise alter or interfere (or attempt, encourage, or support anyone else’s attempt to do any of the foregoing) with the Site or its services or any software on the Site;

 

- Upload or otherwise transmit any communication, software, or materials that contain a virus or is otherwise harmful to Penguin’s or its users’ computers or systems; or

 

- Access the Site through any automated means, including “robots” and “spiders.”

 

USER CONTENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

 

The Site may allow users to post content and communicate with others. These communications may include information, requests, creative works, pictures, photographs, letters, documents, demos, ideas, suggestions, reviews, concepts, methods, systems, designs, plans, techniques or other materials submitted, posted, uploaded, sent or otherwise transmitted to us (collectively, “User Content”). Penguin is not responsible for User Content that is submitted or posted to the Site, including materials posted on boards, forums, blogs, or other public areas.

 

By submitting any User Content, you consent to the following rules:

 

You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for the User Content that you post. You may not post User Content that violates any law, or that otherwise may be objectionable or inappropriate. In particular, you may not submit, add, transmit, post, or provide content to, on, or through the Site that:

 

- Infringes on the copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of any third party;

 

- Is false, misleading, libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive, hateful, or sexually-explicit;

 

- Violates a third party’s right to privacy or publicity;

 

- Degrades others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference, disability, or other classification;

 

- Contains epithets or other language or material intended to intimidate or to incite violence; or

 

- Violates any applicable local, state, national, or international law, or advocates illegal activity.

 

You understand and agree that you may only post User Content that you own, or that you otherwise have the right to post. In addition, you must obtain all necessary permission from any individuals identified in or implicated by your submission (including those shown in photographic content), and, in the case of minors, also from their parents or legal guardians, as appropriate.

 

Penguin is not responsible for any User Content and has no duty to monitor the User Content posted on the Site. Nevertheless, Penguin and its designees have the right, in their sole discretion, to refuse or remove any User Content that violates these Terms, is otherwise objectionable, or for any other reason.

 

User Content may not contain any commercial material. You may not solicit funds, promote commercial entities or otherwise engage in commercial activity through User Content. You use and/or rely on any information contained in User Content submitted by other users at your own risk. Penguin is not in any manner endorsing the User Content that users post and cannot, and will not, vouch for its reliability.

 

You grant to Penguin a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable right and license (A) to display the User Content on the Site, and (B) to use, display, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, perform, make, sell and export such User Content, in whole and in part, on the Site or in any formats and through any media, as we see fit, and you shall have no claims against Penguin for such use or non-use. Although Penguin may maintain copies of your User Content, we are not required to do so and we may delete or destroy any such User Content at any time. You understand that whether or not such User Content is published, we and our service providers do not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any submissions. Unless specifically requested, please do not send us any confidential or proprietary information or material.

 

Penguin does not accept the submission of unsolicited manuscripts via this Site and does not accept responsibility for any such submissions.

 

ELIGIBILITY, REGISTRATION, AND EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

 

You may be asked to register for certain activities in connection with the Site, such as requesting galleys, reading excerpts, writing reviews, earning and redeeming points, voting, commenting, participating in discussions, and entering sweepstakes and contests. When you register, you agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about yourself as requested or directed on the Site and to promptly update this information to maintain its accuracy. Penguin has the right to suspend or terminate any account or other registration and to refuse any and all current or future use of the Site if it suspects that such information is inaccurate or incomplete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any password and username that you are given or select in connection with the Site, and you are responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account.

 

As a registered user, you may be given access to content that is not available without registering on the Site (“Exclusive Content”) such as advance reading copies of digital galleys. You will employ your best efforts to safeguard this Exclusive Content and protect it from unauthorized use or access, exercising a reasonable degree of care. You will immediately notify Penguin of any unauthorized use of or access to Exclusive Content.

 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

 

All content, information, materials, text, images, audio, video, computer code and software appearing on this Site other than User Content (collectively, the “Website Content”) is the property of Penguin or third parties.

 

Copyright. The Website Content is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. All copyrights in the Site are owned by Penguin or its third-party licensors to the full extent permitted under the United States Copyright Act and all international copyright laws. Unless expressly permitted in writing, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, transmit, or in any way exploit any part of the Website Content except that you may make use of the content for educational and non-commercial purposes only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices posted along with the Website Content. To obtain written consent to use a copyrighted work, please contact the Penguin Group (USA) Permissions department at permissions@us.penguingroup.com, or apply online at http://us.penguingroup.com/permissions. Copying or downloading these materials for anything other than your personal use is a violation of these Terms of Use and may be a violation of copyright laws.

 

Trade and Service Marks. All rights in product names, the Penguin name, trade names, logos, service marks, trade dress, slogans, product packaging, and designs of Penguin products or services, whether or not appearing in large print or with the trademark symbol, belong exclusively to Penguin or its licensors and are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution, or confusing or misleading uses under national and international trademark and copyright laws. The use or misuse of these trademarks or any materials, except as permitted herein, is expressly prohibited, and nothing stated or implied on the Site confers on you any license or right under any patent or trademark of Penguin, its affiliates, or any third party. To obtain written permission to use the trade and service mark rights of Penguin, please contact copyright@us.penguingroup.com.

 

THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

 

This Site may contain third-party owned content and advertisements (“Third-Party Content”) and links to other websites (“Linked Sites”). Penguin does not endorse, sponsor, recommend, or otherwise accept responsibility for any Third-Party Content or Linked Sites. You acknowledge that Third-Party Content and Linked Sites are not under the control of Penguin, and Penguin is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of the Third-Party Content or Linked Sites. You should always review the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any other website that you access through a link from any Penguin site.

 

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

 

YOUR USE OF THIS SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE OPERATION OF THIS SITE OR THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, GOODS OR SERVICES APPEARING OR OFFERED ON THIS SITE, ALL OF WHICH ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.”

 

WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING (1) THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE; (2) THE WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF ANY THIRD-PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR PROPRIETARY RIGHTS; (3) THE WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE TRANSMISSION OR DELIVERY OF THE SITE; (4) THE WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CORRECTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF DATA MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SITE OR OTHERWISE BY PENGUIN; AND (5) THE WARRANTIES OTHERWISE RELATING TO PERFORMANCE, NONPERFORMANCE, OR OTHER ACTS OR OMISSIONS BY PENGUIN OR ANY THIRD PARTY. FURTHER, THERE IS NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OF ANY OTHER PERSON.

 

PENGUIN MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, (1) THAT THE SITE OR ANY EMAIL WE SEND YOU IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR OTHER PROPERTY ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR BROWSING ON THE SITE OR YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIALS, DATA, TEXT, IMAGES, VIDEO, OR AUDIO FROM THE SITE; OR (2) THAT THE SITE, WEBSITE CONTENT, FUNCTIONS OR MATERIALS CONTAINED THEREIN WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, UP-TO-DATE, OR UNINTERRUPTED. PENGUIN DOES NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSE, SUPPORT, SANCTION, ENCOURAGE OR AGREE WITH ANY WEBSITE CONTENT OR ANY SUBMITTED MATERIALS, AND WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH USER CONTENT, INCLUDING LINKS TO OR CONTENT CONTAINED ON THIRD PARTY WEB SITES.

 

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

 

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WILL PENGUIN, ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE SITE BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES INCLUDING DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS, USE, MISUSE, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR ANY LINKED SITES, OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, OR LINE OR SYSTEM FAILURE. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU HAVE A DISPUTE WITH ANOTHER USER RELATED TO, ARISING FROM, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH USE OF THE SITE, YOU RELEASE PENGUIN FROM ANY CLAIMS, DEMANDS, AND DAMAGES OF EVERY KIND AND NATURE ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH SUCH A DISPUTE.

 

THESE LIMITATIONS APPLY WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER BASIS, EVEN IF PENGUIN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, PENGUIN’S LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

 

WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, PENGUIN DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.

 

IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO STOP USING THE SITE.

 

INDEMNIFICATION

 

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Penguin, its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, directors, officers, employees, service providers, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to any violation of these Terms of Use by you or arising out of your use of this Site (including, without limitation, your User Content).

 

Penguin’s service providers are third party beneficiaries to your agreement with Penguin under these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

 

LINKS TO THE SITE

 

You may create a hyperlink to this Site provided you do so in a fair and legal manner and do not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, and provided further that the link:

 

- Does not portray Penguin, this Site, or any of service offered on this Site in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise offensive matter;

 

- Does not suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part;

 

- Does not use any of, Penguin’s or its affiliates’ or licensees’ trademarks, trade names, brands, logos, or other intellectual property; and

 

- Does not frame any portion or pages of this Site on any other website.

 

- We reserve the right to revoke linking permission without notice.

 

APPLICABLE LAW; JURISDICTION

 

The Site is operated in the United States. These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and the State of New York, as applicable. When New York State law applies, it shall be such law as applicable to agreements negotiated, executed and performed entirely within the State of New York. By using this Site, you waive any claims that may arise under the laws of other states, countries or territories.

 

If you and Penguin do not resolve any dispute by informal negotiation, any other effort to resolve the dispute will be conducted exclusively by binding arbitration before a neutral arbitrator as described in this section. The arbitrator’s decision will be final except for a limited right of appeal under the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act. Any court with jurisdiction over the parties may enforce the arbitrator’s award.

 

Any arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, or other applicable AAA rules. You and Penguin agree to commence arbitration only in New York County, New York State, U.S. You may request a telephonic or in-person hearing by following the AAA rules. In a dispute involving $10,000 or less, any hearing will be telephonic unless the arbitrator finds good cause to hold an in-person hearing instead. The arbitrator may award the same damages to you individually as a court could. The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only to you individually, and only to the extent required to satisfy your individual claim.

 

To the extent permitted by law, any claim or dispute under these Terms must be filed within one year in an arbitration proceeding. The one-year period begins when the claim or notice of dispute first could be filed. If a claim or dispute is not filed within one year, it is permanently barred.

 

In the event of an arbitration, neither you nor we will have the right to litigate that claim in court or have a jury trial on the claim, or to engage in pre-arbitration discovery except as provided in the code or procedures of the AAA, as applicable. Further, you will not have the right to participate in a representative capacity or as a member of any class of claimants pertaining to any claim subject to arbitration. The arbitrator’s decision will be final and binding. Other rights that you would have if you went to court may also not be available in arbitration.

 

If any other provision of this section is found to be illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be severed, with the remainder of this section remaining in full force and effect. If arbitration is found to be illegal or unenforceable, the state courts of the State of New York in and for New York County and if the jurisdictional prerequisites exist, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and no other court or tribunal, shall have sole and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any suit, action, proceeding, claim, controversy or dispute you have with Penguin in connection with the Site; in such event, you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the said courts, and venue therein.

 

NOTICE OF INFRINGEMENT

 

Penguin prohibits the posting of any information or materials that violate or infringe the copyright or intellectual property of any person or entity. If you believe in good faith that your work has been copied and made available on this Site in a manner that would constitute copyright infringement or that your intellectual property rights have otherwise been violated, please provide the following information in writing to our designated DMCA Copyright Agent:

 

- An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

 

- A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;

 

- A description of where the alleged infringing material is located on the Site; Your name, address, telephone number, and email address, so that Penguin may contact you if necessary;

 

- A statement that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the owner of the exclusive right, its agent, or the law;

 

- A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.

 

Penguin’s designated DMCA Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:

 

By mail:

 

Copyright Agent

Attn: Legal/DMCA Complaints

Penguin Group (USA) LLC

375 Hudson Street, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10014

 

Phone:

(800) 631-8571

 

Fax:

(212) 366-2867

 

Email:

copyright@us.penguingroup.com

 

If you believe that a user of this Site is a repeat infringer, please contact Penguin’s DMCA Copyright Agent, as described above, and provide enough information for us to verify that the individual is a repeat infringer.

 

TERMINATION

 

Penguin may terminate this agreement for any reason at any time. Penguin reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to and use of the Site, with or without prior notice. The obligations that you have to us under these Terms will continue even after we suspend or terminate your access to the Site.

 

NO WAIVER

 

The failure of Penguin to enforce any provisions of the Terms or respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive our right to enforce subsequently any terms or conditions of the Terms or to act with respect to similar breaches.

 

INTEGRATION AND SEVERABILITY

 

Unless otherwise specified herein, the Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Penguin and govern your use of the Site. If any provision of these Terms is held to be unlawful or unenforceable in whole or in part, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention of the parties, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

 

LAST UPDATED: June 5, 2013