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AuthorAdvance Terms of Use

This statement of Terms of use governs the interactions between AuthorAdvance and its users, as well as the interactions between its users and each other. By viewing or using AuthorAdvance, you acknowledge that you have read these terms, and agree to this statement.

Privacy

The privacy of every user on AuthorAdvance is very important to us. In order to describe in detail how we collect and use content and information contributed by our users, we have created a Privacy Policy document. Please read this document carefully and refer back to it when necessary.

Safety & Security

We are committed to making AuthorAdvance a safe environment for our users. While we will take all reasonable steps to protect your safety, we cannot guarantee it. When you use AuthorAdvance, you agree to help protect yourself and others by adhering to the following:

Personal Information

You may share personal information (such as your real name and contact information) with other users on this site. However, when you do, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk, and agree not to hold AuthorAdvance responsible for any consequences that result.

Registration and password

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and you will be responsible for all usage of your user account and/or user name, whether that use is authorized or not authorized by you. You agree to immediately notify the site administrator(s) of any unauthorized use of your user account, user name or password.

Conduct

By using AuthorAdvance, you agree to the following rules of conduct:

1. You agree not to harass, bully, intimidate, threaten or coerce any other users, either through explicit or implied action.
2. While you may keep your personal information and identity private, you agree not to impersonate or otherwise assert that you are any individual other than yourself. You also agree not to claim that you represent or are affiliated with any company that you do not actually represent or are affiliated with.
3. You agree not to solicit the login information of other users.
4. You agree not to use automated computer programs (including but not limited to spiders and screen scraping software) on this site for any purpose whatsoever.
5. You agree not to engage in any other actions that may compromise the safety and physical well-being of any AuthorAdvance member.
6. You agree not to use AuthorAdvance for any purpose that is unlawful, misleading, malicious or discriminatory.

Posting and Sharing Content

AuthorAdvance is an open community where users post content to share with others. Whenever you post an item on AuthorAdvance, you must adhere to the following provisions:

General

When you post any content (including but not limited to listings, articles, blogs, forum posts and comments) on AuthorAdvance, you are prohibited from posting the following:

1. Libelous or intentionally false information directed at any party, including non-users.
2. Pornography or depictions of nudity.
3. Hate speech, or threatening speech directed at any individual user or group.
4. Commercial postings (including spam) and advertising unless specifically allowed by the AuthorAdvance administrator(s).
5. Computer viruses or other malicious code.

By posting any item on AuthorAdvance, you also agree to the following:

1. You agree to take all possible steps to ensure that when you post content, your content is appropriate to the section(s) of the site in which it appears.
2. You agree not to post any item to which you do not explicitly own the copyright or which is not in the public domain. You may, however, post brief quotes from copyrighted works as long as the posting can be considered "fair use" under applicable laws and the work is properly attributed.
3. You understand that posting an article, story, poem, or other work on AuthorAdvance may be considered as "having been published" by any other market or entity with which you may subsequently seek publication for that item.
4. AuthorAdvance reserves the right to unpublish or delete any item at any time.

Listings

Listings are a special content type which may be contributed to by any registered user on AuthorAdvance. When you contribute a listing to, or edit a listing on, AuthorAdvance, the following provisions apply:

1. You agree to post only factual information within the body of a listing, leaving all opinion and conjecture to related comments, blogs, forum and group posts.
2. You agree not to post copyrighted content (such as quotes from an agency web site) unless the use of that content can be considered "fair use" and the content is properly attributed.
3. You agree not to remove any information contained in a listing unless you have conformation that that information is not longer current or no longer applies.
4. You agree that any information you post within a listing may be changed by any other user, including the site administrator(s) at any time.
5. You agree to waive all claims of copyright to any content you post within the body of a listing.

Articles and Blogs

Articles and Blogs posted by users on AuthorAdvance receive special consideration regarding copyright and ownership. When you post an Article or Blog on AuthorAdvance, the following provisions apply:

1. You retain full ownership and copyright to any Article or Blog content you create.
2. By posting an Article or Blog on AuthorAdvance, you grant AuthorAdvance the right to display that item, without restriction, on the AuthorAdvance website. You also grant AuthorAdvance the right to preview or post that item, in whole or in part, in related communications, such as newsletters and RSS feeds, for as long as the item remains on the site.
3. You may remove an Article or Blog item from the site at any time, at which point, all rights to that item claimed by AuthorAdvance will cease.
4. AuthorAdvance reserves the right to perform limited edits (such as masking profanity, adjusting spacing, etc.) to Articles and Blogs that appear on the site. Should we edit an item, we will take all possible precautions to preserve as much of the content and intent of the item as possible.

Groups

When you create or participate in a group on AuthorAdvance, the following provisions apply:

1. You agree not to exclude any user from membership in a group based on their race or sexual orientation.
2. You agree not to operate a group on a for-profit basis, or to charge admission or membership dues for any group. You may, however, restrict membership of a group to those who have paid for an offline membership (such as an offline writers’ group) as long as the offline portion of the membership is significant enough to warrant doing so.
3. You agree to adhere to all other provisions in the Terms of Use, regardless of whether the group in question is public or private.

Termination

AuthorAdvance reserves the right to bar access to, and suspend the account of, any user for any violation of these Terms of Use at any time. Such suspensions will be made at the discretion of the site administrator(s) and may be enacted without prior warning or explanation. We will, however, endeavor to make such suspensions as infrequent as possible, and attempt to deal with violations through other means whenever we deem it is warranted and constructive to do so.

Amendments

These Terms of Use may be changed or amended at any time. It is up to the user to keep up with those changes and be familiar with the information contained herein.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless AuthorAdvance and the site administrator(s) representatives, subsidiaries, affiliates, related parties, officers, directors, employees, agents, independent contractors, advertisers, partners, and co-branders, from any claim or demand, including reasonable legal fees, that may be filed by any third party, arising out of your conduct or connection with this web site or service, your provision of content, your violation of these Terms of use, or any other violation by you of the rights of another person or party.

Applicable Laws

By using AuthorAdvance, you agree that these Terms of Use and any dispute arising out of your use of this web site or products or services provided will be governed by and construed in accordance with local laws applicable in the state of Illinois in the United States of America, notwithstanding any differences between the said applicable legislation and legislation in force at your location. By registering for a user account on this web site, or by using this web site and the services it provides, you accept that jurisdiction is granted to the courts of Illinois and the United States, and that any disputes will be heard by the said courts.

Miscellaneous information

(i) In the event that any provision of these Terms of use is deemed to conflict with legislation by a court with jurisdiction over the parties, the said provision will be interpreted to reflect the original intentions of the parties in accordance with applicable law, and the remainder of these Terms of Use will remain valid and applicable; (ii) The failure of either party to assert any right under these Terms of Use will not be considered to be a waiver of that party's right, and the said right will remain in full force and effect; (iii) You agree that any claim or cause in respect of this web site or its services must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause arose, or the said claim or cause will be forever barred, without regard to any contrary legislation; (iv) The site editor may assign the site editor's rights and obligations under these Terms of use; in this event, the site editor will be relieved of any further obligation.