aecKnowledge Terms of Service

Effective as of January 1, 2013

1. Description of Site; Your Agreement to Our Terms and Modifications

aecKnowledge Inc. is a California corporation that owns and operates the aecKnowledge.com website, and other properties ("aecKnowledge" or "we" or "us"). Before using the aecKnowledge website or any video, audio, applications, features or functionality available on or through the website (collectively, the "Site"), you agree to be bound by these terms, including the privacy policy, and you agree to follow the guidelines and policies that we may post on the Site or provide you from time to time.

aecKnowledge.com is a knowledge sharing application and community enabling professionals throughout the architecture, engineering, construction, urban planning and related industries and firms to connect and collaborate and share professional learnings and experiences. You and other members of aecKnowledge and users of our Site have access to articles, video files, resources, discussions, questions and answers, and applications that are intended to share knowledge, information and experiences with other professionals. Many of these resources are contributed by people from a variety of backgrounds and represent a diversity of perspectives, experience and approaches to issues that may be of interest to you.

In addition to being a knowledge center where content is contributed by leaders in the fields of architecture, engineering, construction, urban planning and related industries, the Site is also a platform for you to comment and share your ideas with others. In return for our display of your content for any period of time, you agree to grant the license to aecKnowledge described in Section 3 hereof.

The Site is for general research and informational purposes only. We publish video, audio, articles, discussions and/or other content from current and past contributors. The information on the Site represents the opinions and perspectives of a variety of contributors and users of the Site since its inception. You should assume that we have not independently verified the accuracy, thoroughness, or relevance of the content available on the Site. All of the content and information appearing on the Site is subject to the disclaimers set forth below in Section 8.

We reserve the right from time to time to temporarily or permanently modify or discontinue, and restrict or block access to, the Site (or any part thereof) without notice and for any reason. We may temporarily or permanently modify or remove any part or all of your content from the Site at any time without any notice to you. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, discontinuance or removal and any such action by us will not affect aecKnowledge's license to your content as stated herein.

You agree that from time to time we may, at our sole discretion, modify, add or remove any or all parts of these Terms and the Privacy Policy. We will provide notice to you of any material changes in the Terms by posting notice to the Site. Your continued use of the Site after our notice to you of a change in the Terms means that you have agreed to the amended Terms.

2. Posting User Generated Content on the Site; Representations and Warranties

You have the ability to interact with the Site and other users by posting comments, engaging in project discussions, participating in the forums, uploading photos, and a variety of other ways (all such submissions or postings collectively referred to as "User Generated Content"). By submitting or posting any User Generated Content on the Site, you warrant and represent that:

  1. you own all rights in your User Generated Content and the performance contained in your User Generated Content or, alternatively, you have acquired all necessary rights in your User Generated Content to enable you to grant to aecKnowledge the rights in your User Generated Content described herein and for us to exercise the rights with respect to such User Generated Content that you grant herein;
  2. you are the individual pictured, depicted, and/or heard in your User Generated Content, or, alternatively, you have obtained permission (and, if applicable, publicity rights) from each person (including consent from parents or guardians for any individual under the age of eighteen (18)) who appears and/or is heard in your User Generated Content to grant the rights to aecKnowledge described herein;
  3. you will make such permissions available to aecKnowledge upon request;
  4. your User Generated Content is not defamatory in nature, does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy, rights to publicity or any other legal or moral rights of any third party;
  5. you will not Post any information or material which may constitute or encourage conduct that is a criminal offense, tort, or civil wrong or otherwise violates any applicable law.

3. User Generated Content; Ownership and License Rights

You retain ownership of your copyrights and other intellectual property and proprietary rights in any User Generated Content you post to the Site, subject to the non-exclusive rights that you grant to us as described in these Terms. These Terms do not prevent you from granting similar rights to others.

You hereby grant aecKnowledge a worldwide, royalty-free, freely transferable, freely sublicensable (through unlimited levels of sublicense), non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, transmit, distribute, publicly perform and display (including in each case by means of a digital audio & video transmission), and create derivative works of the User Generated Content, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. You also hereby waive any moral rights you may have in such User Generated Content under the laws of any jurisdiction.

Our Site is protected by intellectual property laws and you agree to respect them. aecKnowledge grants you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive license, under the rights aecKnowledge has in the content on the Site, to privately display and perform the Site on your computer for your own personal, noncommercial purposes. aecKnowledge reserves all other rights in the content on the Site.

4. Prohibited Actions

You agree not to post or submit to the Site any content or any other materials that is or could appear to be:

  1. untrue, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive to another person's privacy or protected data, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
  2. infringing or alleged to be infringing upon a third party's rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights of any party;
  3. of a type that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
  4. unsolicited, undisclosed or unauthorized advertising;
  5. software viruses or any other computer code designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware;
  6. data or information obtained through unauthorized access; or
  7. in violation of any applicable local, state, national or international law, regulation, or statute.

5. Termination or Cancellation

You agree that we may, at any time and at our sole discretion, with or without cause or any notice to you, terminate these Terms, your access to the Site, and/or your Account, or suspend or block your access to the Site.

6. Dealings with Merchants; Links

The Site may contain advertisements, offers, or other links to other websites and resources of third parties that we do not control. You acknowledge and agree that aecKnowledge is not responsible or liable for the availability or accuracy of such sites or resources, or the content, advertising, or products or services available from such sites or resources.

7. Indemnification

As a condition of your access to and use of the Site, you agree to hold aecKnowledge and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees and agents harmless from, and indemnify them for, all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to attorneys' fees, relating to any claim arising out of or related to your access to and use of the Site.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties; Exclusion of Damages; Limitation of Liability

THE SITE MAY CONTAIN ADVICE, OPINIONS, INSTRUCTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM AECKNOWLEDGE AND VARIOUS CONTENT PROVIDERS. THIS CONTENT IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. YOU USE THE SITE AND CONTENT AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, AECKNOWLEDGE MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR THE INFORMATION OR CONTENT INCLUDED ON THE SITE.

YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER AECKNOWLEDGE NOR ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS WILL BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PRIVACY, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL. ALL DEMANDS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF THE SITE SHALL NOT EXCEED $100.

9. Trademarks and Copyrights

The trademarks "aecKnowledge", "kTalks", "Request for Knowledge", "rfKnowledge", "rfK", "kQueries", "kWiki", "kAlliance", "kResources", and "Where Minds Converge" and all other trademarks used in the Site are owned or used under license by aecKnowledge and its affiliated organizations. You may not use any trademarks displayed on this Site or in any Site content. All rights are reserved.

10. Notices and Feedback

You may send us any notice or feedback by email to notices@aecKnowledge.com and/or mailing it to: aecKnowledge Inc., 142 Almonte Boulevard, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3558.

11. Additional Terms

These Terms (including terms incorporated into them, e.g., the Privacy Policy) comprise the entire agreement between you and aecKnowledge with respect to the use of the Site. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, U.S.A. You and aecKnowledge agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within San Francisco County, California.