The following terms and conditions govern all use of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) blog and all content available at or through the website hosting the blog (taken together, the Blog). The Blog is hosted by IAR. The Blog is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, IAR’s Privacy Policy) and procedures that may be published from time to time on this Site by IAR (collectively, the “Agreement”).
Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Blog. By accessing or using any part of the Blog, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, then you may not access the Blog. If these terms and conditions are considered an offer by IAR, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms. The Blog is available only to individuals who are at least 13 years old.
1. Responsibility of Contributors. If you comment on the Blog, post material to the Blog, post links on the Blog, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the Blog (any such material, “Content”), you are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from that Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer software. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:
○ the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights of any third party;
○ if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
○ you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
○ the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
○ the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
○ the Content is not obscene, libelous or defamatory (more info on what that means), hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party; and
○ you have, in the case of Content that includes computer code, accurately categorized and/or described the type, nature, uses and effects of the materials, whether requested to do so by IAR or otherwise.
By posting Content for inclusion on the IAR Blog, you grant IAR a world-wide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purposes of displaying, distributing and promoting the Blog.
Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, IAR has the right (though not the obligation) to, in IAR’s sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in IAR’s reasonable opinion, violates any IAR policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Blog to any individual or entity for any reason, in IAR’s sole discretion.
2. Responsibility of Website Visitors. IAR has not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer software, posted to the Blog, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material’s content, use or effects. By operating the Blog, IAR does not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. The Blog may contain content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Blog may also contain material that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. IAR disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by visitors of the Blog, or from any downloading by those visitors of content there posted.
3. Copyright Infringement and DMCA Policy. As IAR asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or linked to on the Blog violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify IAR in accordance with IAR’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy. IAR will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. In the case of a visitor who may infringe or repeatedly infringes the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of IAR or others, IAR may, in its discretion, terminate or deny access to and use of the Blog.
4. Changes. IAR reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. It is your responsibility to check this Agreement periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Blog following the posting of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. IAR may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features, which new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
5. Termination. IAR may terminate your access to the Blog at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. All provisions of this Agreement, which by their nature should survive termination, shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
6. Limitation of Liability. In no event will IAR, or its suppliers or licensors, be liable with respect to any subject matter of this Agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages; (ii) the cost of procurement or substitute products or services; (iii) or for interruption of use or loss or corruption of data. IAR shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.
7. General Representation and Warranty. You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Blog will be in strict accordance with the IAR Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside) and (ii) your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.
8. Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless IAR, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the Blog, including but not limited to out of your violation of this Agreement.
9. Miscellaneous. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between IAR and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and they may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of IAR, or by the posting by IAR of a revised version. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, any access to or use of the Blog will be governed by the laws of the state of Illinois, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to any of the same will be the state and federal courts located in Sangamon County, Illinois. Except for claims for injunctive or equitable relief or claims regarding intellectual property rights (which may be brought in any competent court without the posting of a bond), any dispute arising under this Agreement shall be finally settled in accordance with the Comprehensive Arbitration Rules of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service, Inc. (“JAMS”) by three arbitrators appointed in accordance with such Rules. The arbitration shall take place in Springfield, Illinois in the English language and the arbitral decision may be enforced in any court. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding to enforce this Agreement shall be entitled to costs and attorneys’ fees. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. A Waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. You may assign your rights under this Agreement to any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms and conditions; IAR may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.
