Terms of Use

1. Introduction and Terms of Use

Welcome to the Internet site (“Site”) of the Michigan Catholic Conference (“MCC”). The Site is operated by MCC and/or its affiliates. There are no fees to access and use the Site. HOWEVER, PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE (“TOU”) CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SITE. THESE TOU GOVERN YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE. YOU ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO ALL OTHER TERMS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CONTAINED WITHIN THE SITE AND/OR REFERENCED IN THESE TOU. Your use of the Site signifies that you have read and understand these TOU, and that you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree to be bound by these TOU, you should not access or use the Site.

MCC reserves the right to change these TOU or its policies relating to the Site and/or Privacy Policy (referenced below) at any time in its sole discretion. MCC shall notify you of such changes by posting the changes on the Site. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Site and all such changes. Continued use of the Site after any such changes have been posted shall constitute your agreement to such changes.

2. Privacy Policy

The Privacy Policy contained on the Site is incorporated in these TOU by reference, but these TOU shall govern any conflict or inconsistency with the Privacy Policy.

3. Content, License and Restrictions on Use

All audio and visual information, images, photographs, video, text, documents, products and other materials contained or displayed in, or made available through, the Site (the “Content”) are owned by MCC, its affiliates and/or its third party licensors.

You are hereby granted a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to, solely for your own personal use and benefit: (a) access, view, download, store, print, copy, use, analyze, reformat, distribute and display Content; and (b) use the tools and software on the Site. You may not, except as expressly authorized in these TOU: (a) remove or destroy any proprietary rights marks or legends on or in the Site or any Content; (b) reproduce, modify, enhance, adapt, translate, distribute, or create derivative works of the Site or any Content; (c) transfer, assign, sublicense, rent, lease or sell the Site or Content; (d) decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer the Site; and/or (e) “frame” or “mirror” any Content contained on, or accessible through, the Site on any other server or Internet-based device.

Except for the license granted above, you have no right, title or interest in or to the Site or any Content. MCC, its affiliates and/or third party licensors have and retain all proprietary rights, title and interests, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Site and Content. All rights not expressly granted by MCC to you are retained by MCC, and you may not use the Site and/or any Content in any manner or for any purpose not expressly authorized by these TOU.

4. Trademarks and Logos

“Michigan Catholic Conference” and all other marks and logos used in association with the Site and/or Content (“Marks”) are trademarks of MCC, its affiliates or third parties. You may not display, copy, redistribute or use any of the Marks in any manner, except as permitted by law.

5. Links to Other Sites

Please exercise discretion while browsing the Internet and using the Site. You should be aware that when you are on the Site, you could be directed to other sites that are beyond MCC’s control. MCC provides any such links to you only as a matter of convenience. These other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data, solicit personal information, or contain information that you may find inappropriate or offensive. Unless expressly stated on the Site, MCC is not affiliated with, and MCC does not endorse or sponsor, any sites on the Internet that are linked through or to the Site. MCC makes no representations or warranties concerning the content of sites linked through or to the Site, or their information gathering, use or dissemination practices. In no event shall MCC be responsible for the accuracy, relevancy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of material contained in sites linked through or to the Site, and in no event shall MCC be responsible or liable for any content, products, or other materials on or available from or through such sites.

6. Prohibited Activities

You agree to abide by all applicable local, state, and federal laws, regulations, statutes, rules and ordinances, in connection with your use of the Site and Content. Without limiting the foregoing, you shall not use the Site or Content to: (a) send unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of duplicative or unsolicited messages, whether commercial or otherwise; (b) harvest, collect, gather or assemble information or data regarding other users, including e-mail addresses; (c) transmit through or post on the Site unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, bigoted, hateful, racially offensive, tortuous, defamatory, threatening, harmful, invasive of another’s privacy, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature or which is harmful to minors in any way; (d) transmit any material that may infringe the intellectual property rights or other rights of third parties, including trademark, trade secret, copyright or right of publicity; (e) transmit any material that contains software viruses or other harmful or deleterious computer code, files or programs such as Trojan horses, worms, time bombs or cancelbots; (f) interfere with or disrupt servers or networks connected to the Site or violate the regulations, policies or procedures of such networks; (g) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site or computer systems or networks connected to the Site through password mining or any other means; (h) harass or interfere with another user’s use and enjoyment of the Site; or (i) advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them.

7. Forums and Public Communication

“Forum” means a chat area, message board, e-mail function or other user-generated content area contained in or offered through the Site. Forums may provide the opportunity for you to communicate with other users, advertisers, promoters, sponsors and/or other third parties, and to post and exchange information, ideas and opinions (“Postings”). If you make any Postings on the Site, you represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights in and to such Postings and all material they contain, and that such Postings do not and will not infringe any proprietary or other rights of third parties or violate any term of these TOU. Any claim lodged with or damage resulting to MCC from your breach of this representation and warranty will be covered by your indemnification obligations, below.

You acknowledge that MCC does not screen, edit or review Postings in the normal course of its operations prior to the appearance of those Postings on the Site. Furthermore, Postings do not necessarily reflect the views of MCC or any its employees, officers, directors, agents, suppliers, contractors or affiliated entities. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, MCC disclaims all responsibility and liability for Postings and for any losses or expenses resulting from their use and/or appearance on the Site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, MCC reserves the right to monitor all Postings and to remove without liability any Postings that it considers, in its sole discretion, to be offensive, violate any applicable law, violate the right of any third party, or otherwise violate the terms of these TOU.

When participating in a Forum, never assume that people are who they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated with. Information obtained in a Forum may not be reliable, and it is not a good idea to make any decisions or take any actions based on information you cannot confirm. MCC cannot be responsible for the content or accuracy of any information, and shall not be responsible for any decisions made or actions taken based on such information.

8. Submissions

By uploading or providing any Postings, suggestions, information, ideas, feedback, recommendations or other information and/or materials (collectively, “Submissions”) to any Forum or to MCC directly, you automatically grant (or warrant that the owner of such materials expressly grants) MCC and its affiliates a perpetual, royalty-free, paid-up, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and display, create derivative works from and distribute such Submissions, and/or incorporate such Submissions into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the world. In addition, you warrant that all so-called “moral rights” in those materials have been waived.

9. Indemnification

You shall indemnify, defend and hold MCC, its licensors and information providers, and each such party’s parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, attorneys, and agents, harmless from and against any and all claims, actions, proceedings, costs, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees and costs) arising out of or in connection with (a) your use of the Site and/or Content; and/or (b) your breach of these TOU and/or violation of any applicable law or right of a third party.

10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND OR NATURE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER MCC, ITS LICENSORS NOR ANY INFORMATION PROVIDERS MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR GUARANTY AS TO THE RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SITE AND/OR CONTENT, OR THAT THE USE OF THE SITE WILL BE SECURE, TIMELY, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR OPERATE IN COMBINATION WITH ANY OTHER HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM OR DATA.

ALL OTHER CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BY MCC, ITS LICENSORS, AND INFORMATION PROVIDERS. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties such that the above exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION OR THEORY OF RECOVERY, IN NO EVENT SHALL MCC, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR INFORMATION PROVIDERS BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE TOU, YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND/OR CONTENT, YOUR RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION, DATA, ADVICE AND/OR MATERIALS CONTAINED IN OR MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SITE AND/OR CONTENT; AND/OR THE ACTIONS OR OMISSIONS OF MCC, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER MCC IS AWARE OF THEIR POSSIBILITY.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND THE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY ARE ESSENTIAL TO ALLOW MCC TO PROVIDE THE SITE AND CONTENT SET FORTH HEREIN. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BUT FOR THESE PROVISIONS, MCC WOULD NOT MAKE THE SITE AND/OR CONTENT AVAILABLE TO YOU.

11. Third Party Interaction

Because MCC is not and cannot be a party in your communications, interactions and/or transactions with advertisers, sponsors, third-party content providers, other users or other third parties on or through the Site, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more such third parties, you acknowledge that your sole and exclusive remedies are against such third parties. You expressly covenant not to sue MCC in association with such disputes, and hereby release MCC, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, and employees from any and all claims, demands, suits, expenses, fees (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, penalties, fines and damages 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.

12. Jurisdictional Issues

MCC makes no representation that Content, materials or information on the Site is appropriate or available for use in any particular location. Those who choose to access the Site do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

13. Governing Law and Venue

In order to ensure consistency in the interpretation and enforcement of these TOU and MCC’s rights in the Site, Content and other proprietary materials, these TOU will be governed exclusively by Michigan law and controlling United States federal law, without regard to the choice or conflicts of law provisions of any jurisdiction. You expressly agree that any litigation arising between the parties related, in any way, to these TOU, the Site, the Content and/or any and all disputes, actions, claims, or causes of action related thereto shall be initiated and maintained only in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and/or Circuit Court of the County Ingham, Michigan. You expressly consent and irrevocably submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of such courts.

14. General Provisions

If any provision of these TOU is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, then such provision shall be modified to the extent necessary to be valid and enforceable, and all other provisions of these TOU shall remain in full force and effect.

The failure of MCC to enforce any right or provision in these TOU shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by MCC in writing. No waiver shall be implied from a failure of either party to exercise a right or remedy. In addition, no waiver of a party’s right or remedy will effect the other provisions of these TOU.