AOL Newsroom Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions govern your access and use of the web sites, services, applications, Content and Trademarks offered on or through the AOL Newsroom (“AOL Newsroom”).
 
BY ACCESSING OR USING THE AOL NEWSROOM, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR AGREEMENT ELECTRONICALLY TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (the “Terms” or “Agreement”). If you do not agree, do not access and use the AOL Newsroom.

1. The following definitions apply:

•    “Content” means information, data, news clips, software, photos, audio, video, graphics, media files in any form (whether by streaming or downloadable and other materials provided by or through the AOL Newsroom;
•    “Editorial Products” means the print, audio, video, Internet, satellite, broadcast, cablecast, microwave, web cast, or other news information distribution systems directly owned and operated by you.
•     “Trademark(s)” means all trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos, domain names, along with any other distinctive brand features of AOL LLC, its parent, affiliates and subsidiaries; and
•    “We” or “us” means AOL LLC and its parent, affiliates and subsidiaries;
•    “You” or “your” means the company, entity or individual who is accessing or using the AOL Newsroom or is acquiring the license to use any Content or Trademarks under this Agreement.

2.    We offer AOL Newsroom for news reporting and editorial purposes only. You may not use AOL Newsroom for advertising, promotion, commercial or any other use.

3.    You represent and warrant to us that (a) you are legally capable of entering into agreements, (b) you will abide by all applicable laws and regulations, (c) you will abide by the terms of this Agreement and (d) if you are using the AOL Newsroom on behalf of a company or other entity, you confirm that you have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement on behalf of such organization and the provisions of this Agreement shall apply to all use of the Content by such organization.

4.    We may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the AOL Newsroom at any time, without prior notice and without any liability to you.

5.    We may modify the terms of this Agreement at any time and such changes shall be effective upon our posting of the new Terms. You are responsible for checking this Agreement periodically for changes. Each time you access AOL Newsroom, you reaffirm your acceptance to the then-current version of this Agreement.

6.    The AOL Newsroom contains Content, trademarks and other materials that are protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, international treaties, laws and other proprietary rights. You agree that you will not take any action to interfere with our or the respective third party’s ownership rights in such material. Except for the limited licenses granted to you, all ownership rights in the AOL Newsroom, including without limitation the Content and Trademarks, are reserved by us and the respective owners of the intellectual property rights.

7.    Provided that you are in compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited license to transmit, distributed, publicly perform and display in the United States the Content on your Editorial Products solely for editorial use by you. You may not store in any temporary or permanent electronic database any Content which is not incorporated into your Editorial Product.

You may not use any Content for promoting on, or advertising of, any product or service other than the Editorial Product into which the Content is incorporated. You may not modify or distort any Content. This license is non-transferable, and may not be resold, traded or otherwise transferred unless expressly authorized by us in writing. You may not use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools on the AOL Newsroom, or frame any portion of the AOL Newsroom.

8.    Provided that you are in compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, nontransferable, nonsublicenseable, nonexclusive license during the term of this Agreement to display the Trademarks specifically made available only on the AOL Newsroom (and no other AOL property) solely for editorial purposes in connection with your Editorial Products.  

You expressly agree that you will not:

•    display any Trademark in any manner that implies a relationship or affiliation with, sponsorship, or endorsement by us;
•    use any Trademark to disparage us and/or its affiliates or any of its products or services;
•    display a Trademark on Editorial Products that contain or display adult content or promotes illegal activities, gambling, or the sale of tobacco or alcohol to persons under twenty-one (21) years of age;
•    display a Trademark as the most prominent element on any page of your Editorial Products;
•    display a Trademark in a manner that is misleading, defamatory, infringing, libelous, disparaging or obscene as determined by us at our sole discretion;
•    display a Trademark on your Editorial Product in a manner that violates any law or regulation; or
•    remove, distort or alter any element of a Trademark (this includes squeezing, stretching, inverting, discoloring, etc.).

You understand and agree that we have the sole discretion to determine whether your use of our Trademarks is in accordance with the above restrictions.

Except as set forth in this section, nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to grant to you any right, title or interest in our Trademarks. All use by you of our Trademarks (including any goodwill associated therewith) shall inure to our benefit.  At no time during or after the Term shall you challenge or assist others to challenge our Trademarks (except to the extent such restriction is prohibited by law) or the registration thereof by AOL or its parent, nor shall you attempt to register any Trademarks (including domain names) that are confusingly similar in any way (including but not limited to, sound, appearance and spelling) to those of AOL.

9.    Certain areas within the AOL Newsroom may include additional usage guidelines and rules that will supplement these Terms, which you agree will be binding on you.

10.    You agree to transact business with us using electronic communications, electronic records and electronic signatures rather than using paper documents. You agree that we may send you notices electronically by the notices on the AOL Newsroom or on the relevant web page of the applicable service.  

11.    You may use the AOL Newsroom for lawful purposes only. You may not use the AOL Newsroom or any Content or Trademarks or otherwise engage in any conduct that: violates or infringes the rights of others including, without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, publicity or other proprietary rights, is unlawful, impersonates any person, business or entity, including AOL and its employees and agents, encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, or that gives rise to civil liability, or violates these Terms.
You may not use the AOL Newsroom in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our servers or networks. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any services, user accounts, computer systems or networks, through hacking, password mining or any other means. We may take any legal and technical remedies to prevent the violation of this provision and to enforce these.

12.    We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on AOL.COM in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please click here for instructions on how to contact us to report possible copyright infringement.
 
13.    You agree to fully comply with all import and export laws, regulations, rules and orders of the United States, or any foreign government agency or authority, and that you will not directly or indirectly export, re-export, transfer and/or release the software, related technology, or any product thereof, for any proscribed end-use, or to any proscribed country, entity or person (wherever located), without proper authorization from the U.S. and/or foreign government.

14.    We provide the AOL Newsroom (the “AOL Services”) "as is", "with all faults" and "as available." You use the AOL Newsroom is at your own risk. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM IMPLIED WARRANTIES THAT THE AOL NEWSROOM IS MERCHANTABLE, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NEED, OR NON-INFRINGING. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE AOL NEWSROOM WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, IS ERROR-FREE, RELIABLE, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE ANY RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE AOL NEWSROOM. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY AN AOL REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY.

15.     WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF, INABILITY TO USE, OR RELIANCE UPON THE AOL NEWSROOM. THESE EXCLUSIONS APPLY TO ANY CLAIMS FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF WE KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOU AGREE AND UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE NOT OBTAINED RELEASE FOR ANY PERSON WHO MAY APPEAR ON CONTENT.

16.    Upon a request by us, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless us and our parent and other affiliated companies, and our respective employees, contractors, officers, directors, and agents from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including attorney's fees that arise from your use or misuse of the AOL Services. 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.
 
17.    We make no representation that the AOL Newsroom is appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, and accessing it from territories where the Content is illegal is prohibited. If you choose to access the AOL Newsroom from a location outside the U.S., you do so on your own initiative and you are responsible for compliance with local laws.

18.    You agree that the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia govern this contract and any claim or dispute that you may have against us, without regard to Virginia’s conflict of laws rules, and that the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall have no applicability. You further agree that any disputes or claims that you may have against us will be resolved by a court located in the Commonwealth of Virginia and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ARE: (1) WAIVING CLAIMS THAT YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE AGAINST US BASED ON THE LAWS OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS, INCLUDING YOUR OWN; (2) IRREVOCABLY CONSENTING TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF, AND VENUE IN, STATE OR FEDERAL COURTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA OVER ANY DISPUTES OR CLAIMS YOU HAVE WITH US; AND (3) SUBMITTING YOURSELF TO THE PERSONAL JURISDICTION OF COURTS LOCATED IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESOLVING ANY SUCH DISPUTES OR CLAIMS.

19.    This Agreement constitute the entire agreement between you and us and supersede all previous written or oral agreements. If any part of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. Your right to use the AOL Network and any Content or Trademark automatically terminates if you violate these Terms. We also reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of AOL Newsroom, for any reason, with or without notice.

Last Updated: 1-31-08