Blog Catalog

August 9, 2010

BlogCatalog.com is a social networking service that allows Members to submit their blogs and create unique personal profiles online in order to find and communicate with other bloggers. The services offered by BlogCatalog.com ("BlogCatalog.com" or "we") include the BlogCatalog.com website (the "BlogCatalog Website"), the BlogCatalog.com Discussion service, and any other features, content, or applications offered from time to time by BlogCatalog.com in connection with the BlogCatalog Website. The BlogCatalog Services are hosted in the U.S.

This Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement") sets forth the legally binding terms for your use of the BlogCatalog Services. By using the BlogCatalog Services, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, whether you are a "Visitor" (which means that you simply browse the BlogCatalog Website) or you are a "Member" (which means that you have registered with BlogCatalog.com). The term "User" refers to a Visitor or a Member. You are only authorized to use the BlogCatalog Services (regardless of whether your access or use is intended) if you agree to abide by all applicable laws and to this Agreement.

Read this Agreement carefully and save it. If you do not agree with it, you should leave the BlogCatalog Website and discontinue use of the BlogCatalog Services immediately. If you wish to become a Member, communicate with other Members and make use of the BlogCatalog Services, you must read this Agreement and indicate your acceptance during the Registration process.

This Agreement includes BlogCatalog.com's policy for acceptable use of the BlogCatalog Services and Content posted on the BlogCatalog Website, your rights, obligations and restrictions regarding your use of the BlogCatalog Services and BlogCatalog.com's Privacy Policy.

BlogCatalog.com may modify this Agreement from time to time and such modification shall be effective upon posting by BlogCatalog.com on the BlogCatalog Website. You agree to be bound to any changes to this Agreement when you use the BlogCatalog Services after any such modification is posted. It is therefore important that you review this Agreement regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.

Please choose carefully the information you post on BlogCatalog.com and that you provide to other Users. Your BlogCatalog.com profile may not include the following items: telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, and any photographs containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter. Despite this prohibition, information provided by other BlogCatalog.com Members (for instance, in their Profile) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive or sexually explicit material, products or services, and BlogCatalog.com assumes no responsibility or liability for this material. If you become aware of misuse of the BlogCatalog Services by any person, please contact BlogCatalog and report the offense.

BlogCatalog.com reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, refuse to post or remove any posting by you, or to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of the BlogCatalog Services at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice, and without liability. 

BlogCatalog expressly reserves the right to remove your profile and/or restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to any part of BlogCatalog Services if BlogCatalog determines, in its sole discretion, that you pose a threat to BlogCatalog and/or its Users.

1. Eligibility. Use of and Membership in the BlogCatalog Services is void where prohibited.

   By using the BlogCatalog Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the BlogCatalog Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 14 years of age.

2. Term. This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the BlogCatalog Services or are a Member. You may terminate your Membership at any time, for any reason.  BlogCatalog.com may terminate your Membership at any time, without warning. Even after Membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect.

3. Fees. You acknowledge that BlogCatalog.com reserves the right to charge for the BlogCatalog Services and to change its fees from time to time in its discretion. If BlogCatalog.com terminates your Membership because you have breached the Agreement, you shall not be entitled to the refund of any unused portion of subscription fees.

4. Password. When you sign up to become a Member, you will also be asked to choose a password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You agree not to use the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to notify BlogCatalog.com immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account or access to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.

5. Non-commercial Use by Members. The BlogCatalog Services are for the personal use of Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by BlogCatalog.com. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the BlogCatalog Services, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or unauthorized framing of or linking to the BlogCatalog Website is prohibited. Commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation may be removed from Member profiles and Blog Listing pages without notice and may result in termination of Membership privileges. Appropriate legal action will be taken for any illegal or unauthorized use of the BlogCatalog Services.

1. Proprietary Rights in Content on BlogCatalog.com.

   BlogCatalog  does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service, you grant BlogCatalog the following worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable:

1. With respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of BlogCatalog, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purposes of providing and promoting the specific BlogCatalog  to which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Service and will terminate at the time you remove or BlogCatalog removes such Content from the Service.
2. With respect to photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service other than BlogCatalog, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Service and will terminate at the time you remove or BlogCatalog removes such Content from the Service.
3. With respect to Content other than photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service, the perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed.

7. Content Posted.

1. BlogCatalog.com may delete any Content that in the sole judgment of BlogCatalog.com violates this Agreement or which may be offensive, illegal or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person.

   BlogCatalog.com assumes no responsibility for monitoring the BlogCatalog Services for inappropriate Content or conduct. If at any time BlogCatalog.com chooses, in its sole discretion, to monitor the BlogCatalog Services, BlogCatalog.com nonetheless assumes no responsibility for the Content, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate Content, and no responsibility for the conduct of the User submitting any such Content.

2. You are solely responsible for the Content that you post on or through any of the BlogCatalog Services, and any material or information that you transmit to other Members and for your interactions with other Users. BlogCatalog.com does not endorse and has no control over the Content. Content is not necessarily reviewed by BlogCatalog.com prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of BlogCatalog.com. BlogCatalog.com makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Content or to the accuracy and reliability of the Content or any material or information that you transmit to other Members.

8. Content/Activity Prohibited. The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on or through the BlogCatalog Services. BlogCatalog.com reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in BlogCatalog.com's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the BlogCatalog Services and terminating the Membership of such violators.

   Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to Content that, in the sole discretion of BlogCatalog.com:

1. is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
2. harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
3. exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;
4. contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;
5. solicits personal information from anyone under 18;
6. provides any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs or email addresses;
7. promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;
8. promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;
9. involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, "spimming," or "spamming";
10. contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
11. furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
12. solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other Users;
13. involves commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;
14. includes a photograph of another person that you have posted without that person's consent; or
15. for band and filmmaker profiles, uses sexually suggestive imagery or any other unfair, misleading or deceptive Content intended to draw traffic to the profile.

The following is a partial list of the kind of activity that is illegal or prohibited on the BlogCatalog Website and through your use of the BlogCatalog Services. BlogCatalog.com reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in BlogCatalog.com's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, reporting you to law enforcement authorities. Prohibited activity includes, but is not limited to:

16. criminal or tortious activity, including child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;
17. advertising to, or solicitation of, any Member to buy or sell any products or services through the BlogCatalog Services. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the BlogCatalog Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent
18. covering or obscuring the banner advertisements on your personal profile page, or any BlogCatalog.com page via HTML/CSS or any other means;
19. any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to add friends or send comments or messages;
20. interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on the BlogCatalog Services or the networks or services connected to the BlogCatalog Services;
21. attempting to impersonate another Member or person;
22. using the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or disclosing your password to any third party or permitting any third party to access your account;
23. using any information obtained from the BlogCatalog Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person;
24. displaying an advertisement on your profile, or accepting payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for your performing any commercial activity on or through the BlogCatalog Services on behalf of that person, such as placing commercial content on your profile, posting blogs or bulletins with a commercial purpose, selecting a profile with a commercial purpose as one of your "Top 8" friends, or sending private messages with a commercial purpose; or
25. using the BlogCatalog Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

8. Copyright Policy. You may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information belonging to others without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. It is the policy of BlogCatalog.com to terminate Membership privileges of any Member who repeatedly infringes the copyright rights of others upon receipt of proper notification to BlogCatalog.com by the copyright owner or the copyright owner's legal agent. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on the BlogCatalog Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Copyright Agent with the following information: (i) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the BlogCatalog Services; (iv) your address, telephone number, and email address; (v) a written 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; (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. BlogCatalog.com's Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:  email: webmaster[at]blogcatalog.com.
9. Member Disputes. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other BlogCatalog.com Members. BlogCatalog.com reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members.
10. Disclaimers. BlogCatalog.com is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate Content posted on the BlogCatalog Website or in connection with the BlogCatalog Services, whether caused by Users of the BlogCatalog Services or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the BlogCatalog Services. Profiles created and posted by Members on the BlogCatalog Website may contain links to other websites. BlogCatalog.com is not responsible for the Content, accuracy or opinions expressed on such websites, and such websites are in no way investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by BlogCatalog.com. Inclusion of any linked website on the BlogCatalog Services does not imply approval or endorsement of the linked website by BlogCatalog.com. When you access these third-party sites, you do so at your own risk. BlogCatalog.com takes no responsibility for third party advertisements which are posted on this BlogCatalog Website or through the BlogCatalog Services, nor does it take any responsibility for the goods or services provided by its advertisers. BlogCatalog.com is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the BlogCatalog Services. BlogCatalog.com assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any User or Member communication. BlogCatalog.com is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the BlogCatalog Services or combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Users or to any person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading materials in connection with the BlogCatalog Services. Under no circumstances shall BlogCatalog.com be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from use of the BlogCatalog Services, attendance at a BlogCatalog.com event, from any Content posted on or through the BlogCatalog Services, or from the conduct of any Users of the BlogCatalog Services, whether online or offline. The BlogCatalog Services are provided "AS-IS" and as available and BlogCatalog.com expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. BlogCatalog.com cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the BlogCatalog Services.
11. Limitation on Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLOGCATALOG.COM BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF BLOGCATALOG.COM HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, BLOGCATALOG.COM'S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO BLOGCATALOG.COM FOR THE BLOGCATALOG SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.
12. U.S. Export Controls. Software available in connection with the BlogCatalog Services (the "Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the BlogCatalog Services or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws. Downloading or using the Software is at your sole risk.
13. Disputes. If there is any dispute about or involving the BlogCatalog Services, you agree that the dispute shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas, USA, without regard to conflict of law provisions and you agree to exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue in the state and federal courts of the United States located in the State of California, City of Los Angeles. Either BlogCatalog.com or you may demand that any dispute between BlogCatalog.com and you about or involving the BlogCatalog Services must be settled by arbitration utilizing the dispute resolution procedures of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in San Antonio, Texas, USA, provided that the foregoing shall not prevent BlogCatalog.com from seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction.
14. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold BlogCatalog.com, its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the BlogCatalog Services in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any Content that you post on the BlogCatalog Website or through the BlogCatalog Services causes BlogCatalog.com to be liable to another.
15. Other. This Agreement is accepted upon your use of the BlogCatalog Website or any of the BlogCatalog Services and is further affirmed by you becoming a Member. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and BlogCatalog.com regarding the use of the BlogCatalog Services. The failure of BlogCatalog.com to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.   This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from this Agreement and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
16. Privacy Policy. If you choose to enter personal information into your BlogCatalog profile certain information may be displayed to publicly. If you choose to make comments on BlogCatalog, these comments will be displayed publicly along with your avatar, screen name, and a link back to your profile. BlogCatalog also enables site developers to apply badges and access to APIs to collect and display certain information off of the BlogCatalog site. This is includes developers that have recently added interest-based advertising programs, which allows them the ability to track site visitation and then customize advertising content based on that visitation.
    • Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.
    • Google's use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
    • Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

Please contact us at: webmaster[at]blogcatalog.com with any questions regarding this Agreement.