TERMS OF USE
Last Updated on October 30, 2007
Thank you for visiting ZUDACOMICS.COM ("Site"), a website operated by DC Comics, a Time Warner company ("DC", "us" or "we"). To assist you in enjoying the many features of the Site, here are our terms and conditions for use ("Terms of Use").
It is important to us that you, and our other visitors, have the best possible time while using our Site, and that when you use the Site you are fully aware of our respective legal rights and obligations. For that reason, we have created these Terms of Use as the legally binding terms to govern your use of the Site. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using the Site, because they affect your legal rights and obligations.
The Site is offered and made available only to users 14 years of age or older. If you are not yet 14 years old, please discontinue using the Site immediately. By using or attempting to use the Site, you certify that you are at least 14 years of age.
Your Acceptance of the Terms of Use
If you do not agree with any of these Terms of Use, please do not use the Site, because by using the Site you will be deemed to have irrevocably agreed to these terms.
Areas of the Site may be subject to additional terms and conditions, which you should read carefully before making any use of those areas. Any such terms will not vary or replace these Terms of Use regarding any use of the Site, unless otherwise expressly stated.
Notification Regarding Updates
Please note that we may, at any time and from time to time, modify these Terms of Use. We will post or display notices of material changes on the Site, but you should also visit this page regularly to review the current Terms of Use. Once we post or display a change notice on the Site, the changes become effective immediately, and your continued use of the Site will be deemed as irrevocable acceptance of such changes.
Privacy Policy
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy, we provide you with a Privacy Policy explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used at the Site. The Privacy Policy is a part of these Terms of Use.
Your Registration
To access some areas or functionality of the Site, you may be asked to provide registration details and we may require you to have a unique user name/login and password combination. Any information you provide to us must be correct, current and complete. If we believe any information is not correct, current or complete, we have the right to refuse you access to the Site, or any of its areas or functionality, and to terminate or suspend your account.
Your user name and password are personal to you and you may not allow any others to use your user name or password under any circumstances. We are not liable for any harm caused or related to anyone else's use of your user name or password (whether through theft or your disclosure). You agree to immediately notify us if you become aware of any unauthorized use of your user name or password. DC will be entitled to monitor your password and, at its discretion, require you to change it.
Your Use of Material
The contents of the Site, including all Site software, design, text, images, photographs, illustrations, audio and video material, artwork, graphic material, databases, proprietary information and all copyrightable or otherwise legally protectible elements of the Site, including the selection, sequence and 'look and feel' and arrangement of items, and all trademarks, service marks and trade names (individually and/or collectively, "Material"), as between you and DC, are the property of DC and are legally protected under U.S. Federal and State laws, as well as applicable foreign laws, regulations and treaties.
Your right to make use of the Site and any Material or other content appearing on it is subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use. Modification or use of the Material or any other content on the Site for any purpose not permitted by these Terms of Use may be a violation of our intellectual property rights and is prohibited. The Material and all other content on the Site may not otherwise be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, distributed or used in any way unless specifically authorized by DC. Any unauthorized or prohibited use of any Material may subject you to civil liability, criminal prosecution, or both, under applicable federal, state and local laws. Any authorization to copy Material granted by DC in any part of the Site for any reason is subject to your keeping intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Also, decompiling, reverse engineering, disassembling or otherwise reducing the code used in any software on the Site into a readable form in order to examine the construction of such software and/or to copy or create other products based (in whole or in part) on such software, is prohibited.
How To Contact Us
The Site is controlled and operated by DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. The phone number is 212-636-5997. Please forward any comments or complaints to dconline@dccomics.com.
Claims of Infringement
We require users to respect our copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights. We likewise respect the intellectual property of others. On notice, we will act expeditiously to remove content from the Site that infringes the copyright rights of others and will disable the access to the Site and its services of anyone who uses them repeatedly to infringe the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that any content appearing on the Site infringes your copyright rights, we want to hear from you. Please forward the following information in writing to the Copyright Agent at the address listed below.
(a) your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
(b) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
(c) the exact URL or a description of each place where alleged infringing material is located;
(d) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use has not been authorized by you, your agent or the law;
(e) your electronic or physical signature or the electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on your behalf; and
(f) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
Copyright Agent
DC Comics
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212-636-5997
Fax: 212-636-5595
Email: dconline@dccomics.com
DC seeks to preserve any and all exemptions from liability that may be available under the copyright law, but does not necessarily stipulate that it is a service provider as defined in USC section 512(c) or elsewhere.
Disclaimer of Warranties
YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE AND ALL THE MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, SERVICES AND OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, DC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. DC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED ON THE SITE WILL BE AVAILABLE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT DC'S WEB SITES OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THEM AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. DC DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIAL, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, SERVICES OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITE OR ANY SITES LINKED TO THE SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. DC MAKES NO WARRANTIES THAT YOUR USE OF THE MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, SERVICE OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITE WILL NOT INFRINGE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS, AND DC ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMMISSIONS IN SUCH MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, SERVICE OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITE. IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE IMPLIED WARRANTIES TO APPLY TO YOU, THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Limitation of Liability
DC DOES NOT ACCEPT ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE (DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHERWISE) RESULTING FROM ANY USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR THE MATERIAL, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, SERVICES OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITE, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS UPON WHICH LIABILITY IS CLAIMED AND EVEN IF DC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE. WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOU (AND NOT DC) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION IN THE EVENT THAT ANY SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE OCCURS. IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW ALL OR ANY PART OF THE ABOVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO APPLY TO YOU, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Forums
The Site may, from time to time, include functionality such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, community pages or other forums ("Forums"). Considering the real-time nature of Forums, it is impossible for us to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the contents of the Forums. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of DC.
Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. Under no circumstances will DC be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from use of, or the inability to use, the Forums. You specifically acknowledge and agree that DC will not be liable to you for any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any other user.
Although we do not and cannot review the messages posted and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to remove or modify any message without notice or liability at any time in our sole discretion. Any use of the Forums will be at your own risk and will be subject to the disclaimers and limitations of liability set forth above.
Submissions, Postings and Emails
DC is interested in hearing from you regarding your questions or comments about the Site. However, except for Invited Submissions (as defined below), DC does not accept unsolicited submissions of any kind (e.g., scripts, treatments, concepts or any other materials), in any format, by any means of transmission (including email). Any such submissions will either be returned to the sender without being reviewed, or deleted/discarded without being reviewed. Therefore, please do not send unsolicited submissions of any kind to DC.
From time to time, areas on the Site may expressly request submissions of content from you ("Invited Submissions"). Where this is the case, please carefully read any specific rules or other terms and conditions which appear elsewhere on the Site to govern those submissions ("Additional Terms"), because the Additional Terms will affect your legal rights. If no Additional Terms govern those submissions, then these Terms of Use will apply in full to any Invited Submissions you make.
In any event, any material you send to us will not be treated as confidential.
Rules of Conduct
Please act responsibly when using the Site. You may only use the Site and its contents for lawful purposes and in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations, and you are prohibited from storing, distributing or transmitting any unlawful material through the Site. You may not collect or store personal information regarding other users. You recognize that storing, distributing or transmitting unlawful material could expose you to criminal and/or civil liability. You agree that if a third party claims that material you have contributed to the Site is unlawful, you will bear the burden of establishing that it is lawful. You understand and agree that all materials publicly posted (other than by DC) or privately transmitted on or through the Site are the sole responsibility of the sender, not DC, and that you are responsible for all material you upload, post or otherwise transmit to or through the Site.
We at DC require that you do not post emails or submit to or publish through Forums or otherwise make available on the Site any content, or act in a way, which in our opinion:
(a) libels, defames, invades privacy, stalks or is obscene, pornographic, racist, abusive, harassing, threatening or offensive;
(b) seeks to exploit or harm children by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable details or otherwise;
(c) infringes any intellectual property or other right of any entity or person, including violating anyone's copyrights or trademarks or their rights of publicity;
(d) violates any law, regulation (including laws regarding the transmission of technical data or software exported from the United States ), treaty or judicial or governmental order, or violate or infringe upon any intellectual property rights, rights of publicity or privacy or any other rights of ours or of any other person, firm or enterprise;
(e) you do not have the right to transmit under any contractual or other relationship (e.g., inside information, proprietary or confidential information received in the context of an employment or a non-disclosure agreement);
(f) advocates or promotes illegal activity;
(g) impersonates or misrepresents your connection to any other entity or person or otherwise manipulates headers or identifiers to disguise the origin of the content;
(h) advertises any commercial endeavor (e.g., offering for sale products or services) or otherwise engages in any commercial activity (e.g., conducting raffles or contests, displaying sponsorship banners, and/or soliciting goods or services) except as specifically authorized on the Site;
(i) solicits funds, advertisers or sponsors;
(j) includes programs which contain viruses, worms and/or 'Trojan horses' or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications;
(k) disrupts the normal flow of dialogue, causes a screen to scroll faster than other users are able to type, or otherwise act in a way which affects the ability of other people to engage in real time activities via the Site;
(l) copies any other pages or images on the Site except with appropriate authority;
(m) includes MP3 format files;
(n) amounts to a 'pyramid' or similar scheme;
(o) amounts to 'data warehousing' (i.e., using any web space made available to you as storage for large files which are only linked from other sites). You must provide a reasonable amount of content to accompany such material in order that at least some of the traffic to your site comes directly via us;
(p) disobeys any policy or regulation established from time to time regarding use of the Site or any networks connected to the Site; or
(q) contains links to other sites that contain the kind of content which falls within the descriptions set forth in (a) through (p) above.
In addition, you are prohibited from removing any sponsorship banners or other material inserted by DC anywhere on the Site (e.g., on any web space made available for your use).
System Abuse
Without limitation, you agree not to send, create or reply to so called "mailbombs" (i.e., emailing copies of a single message to many users, or sending large or multiple files or messages to a single user with malicious intent) or engage in "spamming" (i.e., unsolicited emailing for business or other purposes) or undertake any other activity which may adversely effect the operation or enjoyment of the Site by any other person.
You may not reproduce, sell, resell or otherwise exploit any resource, or access to any resource, contained on the Site.
You are prohibited from using any services or facilities provided in connection with the Site to compromise security or tamper with system resources and/or accounts. The use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security (e.g., password guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing tools) is strictly prohibited. If you become involved in any violation of system security, DC reserves the right to release your details to system administrators at other sites in order to assist them in resolving security incidents.
Investigations
DC reserves the right to investigate suspected violations of these Terms of Use, including any violation arising from any submission, posting or emails you make or send to any Forum. DC may seek to gather information from the user who is suspected of violating these Terms of Use, and from any other user. DC may suspend any users whose conduct or postings are under investigation and may remove such material from its servers as it deems appropriate and without notice. If DC believes, in its sole discretion, that a violation of these Terms of Use has occurred, it may edit or modify any submission, posting or emails, remove the material permanently, cancel postings, warn users, suspend users and passwords, terminate accounts or take other corrective action it deems appropriate. DC will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing DC to disclose the identity of anyone posting any emails, or publishing or otherwise making available any materials, that are believed to violate these Terms of Use. BY ACCEPTING THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS DC FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY DC DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND/OR FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER DC OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
Service
In order to use the Site, you must obtain access to the World Wide Web and pay any service fee associated with that access. You will need to provide all equipment necessary to connect to the Site on the World Wide Web (including a computer, modem and/or other access devices).
DC reserves the right to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, all or any part of the Site and/or any software, facilities and services on the Site, with or without notice, and/or to establish general guidelines and limitations on use.
Local Regulations
DC makes no representation that Materials or other content on the Site are appropriate or available for use outside the United States, its territories and possessions. If you choose to access the Site from other locations you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk. You are responsible for complying with any applicable local laws. You specifically agree to comply with all applicable laws concerning the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.
Indemnity
You will indemnify and hold harmless DC , its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and its and their employees, agents, officers, directors, representatives, licensees, successors, heirs and assigns, from and against any and all claims, losses and expenses (including counsel fees and costs) that any of them may suffer or incur as a result of your breach of any of the foregoing provisions, representations or warranties, and/or from your placement or transmission of any content onto DC's servers, and/or from any and all use of your account. DC will have the sole and exclusive right to undertake the defense and/or settlement of any such claim.
Our Use of Content
DC will consider anything you provide to DC and/or contribute to the Site as available for our use free of any obligations to you, except where we have expressly solicited Invited Submissions and those submissions are expressly governed by Additional Terms appearing elsewhere on the Site (see "Submissions, Postings and Emails" above), in which event those Additional Terms will determine how we will treat your Invited Submissions.
Except for Invited Submissions governed by Additional Terms, by posting or uploading any content to the Site and/or providing any communication or material to DC ("User Content"), you automatically and irrevocably: (a) grant and assign to DC any and all rights in the User Content throughout the world, including all copyright, together with all consents (if any) necessary to enable its reproduction, distribution, modification, publishing and/or other exploitation by DC and/or by any person authorized by DC, by any means and in all media now known or hereafter devised without payment or other reference to you or any other person, and to advertise and promote such exploitation, for the full period of all such rights (together with any extensions and renewals) and insofar as possible in perpetuity; (b) waive all moral rights in the User Content which may be available to you in any part of the world and confirm that no such rights have been asserted; (c) appoint DC as your agent with full power to enter into any document and/or do any act DC may consider appropriate to confirm the grant and assignment, consent and waiver set forth above; (d) warrant that you are the owner of the User Content and entitled to enter into these Terms of Use; and (e) confirm that no such User Content will be subject to any obligation, of confidentiality or otherwise, to you or any other person and that DC will not be liable for any use or disclosure of such User Content.
Third-Party Sites
From time to time, you may communicate with, receive communications from, be re-directed to, interact with, or participate in or use the services or obtain goods and services of or from, third parties (collectively, "Advertisers") such as our advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners as a result of your use of the Site. All such communication, interaction and participation is strictly and solely between you and such Advertisers and we will not be responsible or liable to you in any way in connection with these activities or transactions (including, without limitation, any representations, warranties, covenants, contracts or other terms or conditions that may exist between you and the Advertiser or any goods or services you may purchase or obtain from any Advertiser).
In addition, the Site may link you to other sites on the Internet. These sites may contain information or material that some people may find inappropriate or offensive. These other sites are not under the control of DC, and you acknowledge that (whether or not such sites are affiliated in any way with DC) DC is not responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, decency or any other aspect of the content of such sites. The inclusion of such a link does not imply endorsement of any site by DC or any association with its operators.
Jurisdictional Issues, Miscellaneous Provisions
The Materials and all other content on the Site are presented solely for the purpose of providing entertainment and information and promoting programs and products available in the United States, its territories and possessions. The Site is controlled and operated by DC from its offices within the State of New York, United States of America.
These Terms of Use will be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, as they are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within New York. Any action you, any third party or DC may bring to enforce these Terms of Use or in connection with any matters related to the Site will be brought only in either the State or Federal Courts located in New York County, New York, and you expressly consent to the jurisdiction of said courts.
If any provision of these Terms of Use will be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision will be deemed severable for this Terms of Use and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. These Terms of Use (including the Privacy Policy) are the entire agreement between the parties relating to the matters contained herein.
