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Terms of Service

Last Updated: August 17, 2022

These Terms of Service and any additional terms that may be disclosed to you for the services you select (“Terms”) is an agreement between you and The Poetry Foundation (“TPF”, “us”, “our” or “we”) for your use of the TPF website (www.poetryfoundation.org and all sub-domains), mobile websites, applications and any other TPF products, services or tools that link to these Terms (“Services”). Any TPF owned services linked to other terms of service are governed by that service’s terms.

By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and are legally bound by these Terms, which expressly incorporate by reference TPF’s Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Services. We reserve the right to modify or amend these Terms from time to time without prior notice. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of changes to these Terms will mean you accept those changes.

  1. Intellectual Property

All of the content featured or displayed on or through the Services, including without limitation text, graphics, photographs, still images, moving images, videos, sound, illustrations, and software (collectively, “Content”), is owned by TPF, its licensors, vendors, agents, and/or content providers, as applicable. All elements of the Services, including without limitation the general design and the Content, are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to intellectual property rights. TPF reserves the right to track the usage of Content.

You may access copyrighted material available on the Services for your personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, downloading, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of any Content, in whole or in part, is permitted without the express permission of TPF and/or the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.

In using Content in accordance with this Agreement, you may not (a) state or imply that TPF is endorsing you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide, or (b) represent that you or your organization has a relationship with TPF or any of the events, products or services that TPF provides unless that relationship is the subject of a written agreement between you and TPF.

You will not access any Content from the Services through any technology or means other than the web pages for the Services, the Embeddable Player (as defined below), the Widgets (as defined below) or such other explicitly authorized means as the TPF may designate.

All trademarks, service marks and trade names of TPF or third-parties used in the Services (including, but not limited to, “The Poetry Foundation”, “POETRY” magazine; the Pegasus logo, and the POETRY grid logo (collectively, the “Marks”)) are trademarks or registered trademarks of TPF or its licensors, vendors or content providers, as applicable. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute or modify the Marks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the Services, without TPF’s prior written consent. The use of the Marks on any other website or network computer environment is not allowed.

  1. Embeddable Player and Widgets

To the extent that TPF makes available to you through the Services (or otherwise) an embeddable player for viewing video and playing audio Content from the Services (the “Embeddable Player”) and/or widgets to obtain access to Content from the Services (“Widgets”), you agree as a condition to accessing and using such items that:

  • You will not alter or modify any part of the Embeddable Player, the Widgets or any of their related technologies.
  • You will include a prominent link back to the applicable website or Service on the pages containing the Embeddable Player and/or Widgets, and you may not modify, build upon or block any portion of the Embeddable Player and/or Widgets in any way.
  • You will not use the Embeddable Player and/or Widgets for any commercial use, without the prior written authorization of TPF. Prohibited commercial uses include any of the following actions taken without TPF’s prior written approval: (a) sale of access to the Services or their related services (such as the Embeddable Player and Widgets) on another website; and (b) use of the Services or their related services (such as the Embeddable Player and Widgets), for the primary purpose of gaining advertising or subscription revenue.
  1. User Submissions

The Services may now or in the future permit the submission and posting or linking of media, text, audio and video recordings, photos, survey responses, commentary or any other content submitted by you and other users (“User Submissions”). You understand that whether or not such User Submissions are published, TPF does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any User Submissions.

By submitting User Submissions through the Services, you hereby grant TPF and its affiliates and partner organizations a worldwide, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable license, with the right to grant and authorize sublicenses, to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, display and publicly perform the User Submissions in connection with the Services or by TPF for any purpose, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Services (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels now known or hereafter discovered. You grant TPF and its affiliates and partner organizations the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such User Submission if they choose. You also agree to irrevocably waive any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to your User Submissions. You also hereby grant to each user of the Services a non-exclusive license to access your User Submissions through the Services, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform such User Submissions as permitted by the functionality of the Services and these Terms.

You are solely responsible for your own User Submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them. In connection with User Submissions, you represent and warrant that: (a) you own, or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions in the User Submissions, to authorize TPF to use the User Submissions and grant the rights in this section; and (b) your User Submissions and the use of your User Submissions by TPF, its affiliates, partner organizations and successors, does not and will not (i) infringe or violate the rights of any third party (including any intellectual property rights), (ii) slander, defame or libel, or invade the right of privacy, publicity or other property rights of any person, or (iii) violate any applicable law or regulation.

  1. Copyright Infringement

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide TPF’s Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. §512:

  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • Identification of the copyright 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;
  • 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 us to locate the material;
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;
  • A statement that the complaining party has 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; and
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

For copyright inquiries under the DMCA please contact:

Copyright Agent

The Poetry Foundation

61 W. Superior St.

Chicago, IL 60654

[email protected]

  1. Services – Creating a User Account

Some of the Services may require or allow you to create/receive a password and account designation. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any such password, account, and information displayed in the account profile. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. If you allow third parties to access the Services through your username and password, you will defend and indemnify TPF and its employees, agents, affiliates, partner organizations, successors and assigns from and against any liability, costs or damages arising out of claims or suits based upon or relating to such access and use. You agree to immediately notify TPF of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security related to the Services of which you are aware.

  1. Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of the Services, you will not use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms or is otherwise prohibited under applicable law. You may not use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Services or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Services. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any Services.

You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Sites or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Services or the Content therein.

You agree that you will not use any bot, crawler, harvester, indexer, robot, spider, scraper or any other automated means to access, compile, read or gather content from the Services automatically.

Additionally, you agree that you will not: (a) take any action that, in our sole discretion, imposes, or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (b) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the website or any activities conducted on the Services; or (c) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Services.

  1. Links

Links to Third Party Websites. From time to time, the Services may contain links to other websites that are not owned, operated or controlled by TPF. All such links are provided solely as a convenience to you. If you use these links, you will leave the Services (or website) containing the link. We are not responsible for any content, materials or other information located on or accessible from any other website, including, but not limited to, any content that violates restrictions applicable to TPF. We also are not responsible for any products or services that you buy from third party websites or any donations made through those websites.

TPF does not endorse, guarantee or make any representations or warranties regarding any other websites, or any content, materials or other information located or accessible from any other websites, or the products or services that you may obtain from using any other websites or how any donations you make through such websites will be used. If you decide to access any other websites linked to or from the Services, you do so entirely at your own risk.

Links to TPF Services. By creating a link to any portion of the Services, you agree to be bound by the following terms. Your compliance with these terms, as the same may be revised from time to time in TPF’s sole discretion, is a prerequisite to your continued right to link to the Services:

  • You may not insert any intermediate page, splash page or other content between the link and the applicable page from the Services or create a frame around the information provided from the Services or present it in any way other than it is presented on the Services;
  • The posting of a link to the Services is not an endorsement by TPF of you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide, and, when linking to the Services, you may not state or imply that TPF (or any of its affiliates or partner organizations) is endorsing you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide;
  • You shall not use any portion of the Content of the Services to carry on propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Section 4945(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code;
  • TPF assumes no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any Content of any other website that is linked to the Services; and
  • TPF reserves the right to terminate any links to the Services as it deems necessary, with or without cause or warning. If TPF chooses to exercise this right, you will be required to remove your link to the Services immediately.
  1. Mobile Applications

If you download a mobile application for a Service (“App”), TPF grants you a personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable license to use for non-commercial purposes one (1) copy of the App for each Service on a single device that you own or control for use in connection with your account. The App includes all upgrades, modifications, functionality and enhancements thereof, as well as any related files and materials furnished or available in connection with the App. We do not warrant that the App will function properly on your device or is otherwise compatible with it. You are prohibited from making any copies of the App or modifying, disassembling, decompiling, or reverse engineering the App, subject only to applicable law. If there is any third party software or other intellectual property embodied in the App, such material is subject to the rights, title and interest of such third parties and any unauthorized use or copying is prohibited and subject to the terms of the respective third party’s end user license agreement. Third parties reserve all rights not granted in these Terms.

If the App that you access and use is an Apple application, the Apple application may only be accessed and used on a device owned or controlled by you and using the Apple iPhone OS. If you download the App and any associated mobile software from Apple’s iTunes Store or App Store (“App Store Version”), you agree as follows: These Terms are between you and TPF, and not Apple. As such Apple has no responsibility for the App Store Version and the content thereof. Apple has no obligation to maintain or provide support services for the App Store Version. If the App Store Version does not comply with any applicable warranty described in these Terms, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) to you to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the App Store Version. You agree to comply with the App Store or iTunes Store Terms of Service (available at http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html), including without limitation the LICENSED APPLICATION END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT therein (“Apple Terms”). You understand that TPF and not Apple is responsible for addressing any claims in connection with the App Store Version. Any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to warranty (if any) will be governed by these Terms. You agree that TPF and not Apple is responsible for addressing your or any third party claims relating to the App Store Version including but not limited to (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the App Store Version fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection or similar legislation. All such claims will be governed by these Terms and any laws or regulations applicable to the Services or content provide by TPF hereunder. In the event of any third party claim that the App Store Version or your possession and use of the App Store Version infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights, TPF and not Apple will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement and discharge of any such intellectual property claim. You represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You agree that notwithstanding anything contained in these Terms to the contrary, Apple and Apple’s subsidiaries are third party beneficiaries of these Terms and that by agreeing to these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms as it applies to the App Store Version against you as a third party beneficiary.

  1. Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TPF NOR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, TRUSTEES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, LICENSORS OR ASSIGNEES (COLLECITVELY, THE “REPRESENTATIVES”) WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE SERVICES, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE, OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL TPF OR THE REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOST PROFITS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER AND/OR DEVICE OR TECHNOLOGY FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OR FOR ANY FORM OF DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES BASED ON ANY CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY ALLEGED FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, OR DELAY IN SERVICE, OPERATION, OR TRANSMISSION OF THE SERVICES, OR ANY ALLEGED COMPUTER VIRUS PERTAINING TO OR ON THE SERVICES. YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES WHEREVER SUCH ALLEGATIONS ARE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR, OR NEGLIGENCE UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS UPON WHICH LIABILITY IS CLAIMED. IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW ALL OR ANY PART OF THE ABOVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO APPLY TO YOU, THE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

TPF and the Representatives disclaim any and all liability of any kind for any unauthorized access to or use of your personally identifiable information. By accessing the Services, you acknowledge and agree to TPF’s disclaimer of any such liability. If you do not agree, you should not access or use the Services.

  1. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the TPF and the Representatives from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities and costs of every nature incurred by any of them in connection with any claim, damage or loss related to or arising out of: your use of the Services, any assistance or services provided by us or the Representatives to you, any alleged unauthorized use of the Services by you, or any breach or alleged breach by you of these Terms. You agree to cooperate fully in the defense of any of the foregoing. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to control exclusively the defense of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and you will not settle any matter without our prior written consent. Your obligation to indemnify, defend and hold harmless shall be limited to the extent that you are afforded sovereign immunity under applicable federal, state or local laws. In such cases where your obligation to indemnify may be limited due to the requirements of federal, state or local laws, you shall be responsible for the ordinary negligent acts and omissions of your agents and employees causing harm to persons not a party to these Terms.

  1. Release

In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users of the Services, you release TPF and the Representatives from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

  1. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

Unless otherwise noted, the Services are controlled and operated from the TPF’s offices in the State of Illinois. By accessing the Services, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement which is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles. All activity occurring in connection with the site (including, but not limited to, accessing pages, downloading materials, etc.) is presumed to occur in the State of Illinois.

In connection with any suit, action or proceeding arising from or relating to these Terms, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts within the State of Illinois, Cook County.

  1. Electronic Communications; Binding and Entire Agreement

You agree that (a) these Terms constitute an agreement “signed by you” under applicable law; (b) any notices or other communication regarding your use of the Services may be provided to you electronically (by posting on the website, by email, and other electronic formats) and will be considered received upon posting or other distribution. These Terms (including the Privacy Policy) constitute the entire agreement between you and TPF and supersede all other agreements, oral or written, concerning its subject matter. You consent to the use of the English language in these Terms and all documents or notices relating to them and your use of the Services.

  1. Severability

If any of these Terms is determined to be invalid, void or unenforceable for any reason, then the unenforceable provision will be deemed amended in a manner that will most nearly carry out the intent of the provision to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law or deleted if amendment is not possible, and the remaining Terms will be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

  1. No Waiver

TPF’s failure to enforce these Terms in every instance in which they might apply is not a waiver of any of TPF’s rights, and TPF reserves its right to take all legal steps available to enforce these Terms. Termination will result in cancellation of all rights of access and use of Services.

  1. Termination of Services and Survival

We reserve the right to terminate any of the Services at any time without notice for any reason, including without limitation for misuse of the Services in any way or inappropriate, unlawful, or unsafe behavior, as determined in our sole discretion. The Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Release and Applicable Law and Jurisdiction provisions of these Terms and Conditions shall survive any such termination. If these Terms expire or are terminated for any reason, the provisions which by their nature should continue after termination, such as, Intellectual Property Rights, Applicable Law and Jurisdiction and Severability.

  1. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us at:

The Poetry Foundation
61 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60654
[email protected]

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