INTRODUCTION. These are the Terms of Use for the site at WritingPartners.net (the “WritingPartners Site”). The WritingPartners Site is operated by Paul Allison, 116 Pinehurst Avenue, K43, New York, NY 10033. 917-612-3006
CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS. Please bear with us while we define some terms. Then, we can use these defined terms without having to repeat long descriptions, and that will help us go through all the things that we need to say to protect ourselves. Sometimes we'll say something more than once, in a couple of different ways, because it's really important to us. Please bear with that, too. (And pay attention.)
- “WritingPartners Affiliates” means people who or companies that are formally affiliated with Paul Allison or people who or companies that help Paul Allison to operate the WritingPartners Platform even if they have no formal affiliation with WritingPartners.
- “WritingPartners Platform” means the writing platform provided on the WritingPartners Site through which Users can upload User-Created Content and invite other Users to give them feedback on their own User-Created Content. The WritingPartners Platform also offers a set of GPT’s referred to as “Writing Partners” that will enable students to get feedback from AI. Students can save the feedback from teachers, peers, and AI in the context of their writing Comments are linked to and appear next to sentences and paragraphs to which they refer.
- “Comments” are comments that one User makes on the WritingPartners Platform about User-Created Content uploaded by another User.
- “Schools” and“School Districts” are schools and school districts that have signed agreements with WritingPartners Affiliates that permit them to offer the WritingPartners Platform to their Students and Teachers.
- “Students” are students who upload User-Created Content to the WritingPartners Platform.
- “Teachers” are teachers who upload User-Created Content or other materials to the WritingPartners Platform and/or give feedback to Students on User-Created Content that the Students have uploaded.
- “User-Created Content” means content that a User creates or uploads to the WritingPartners Platform.
- “Users” means Students and Teachers who use the WritingPartners Platform.
- “WritingPartners Content” means the protocols, descriptions and prompt sets that appear in the WritingPartners Platform.
BASIC CONDITIONS. These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and WritingPartners Affiliates. These Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect as long as you use the WritingPartners Site, and even after you stop using the WritingPartners Site under some circumstances that are explained below.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- You do not own any content on the WritingPartners Site other than User-Created Content that you create (but see below about what constitutes Inappropriate User-Created Content).
- You grant Paul Allison and all WritingPartner Affiliates a non-exclusive license to reproduce all User-Created Content that you create and upload to the WritingPartners Platform, display it, and perform it (if it includes audio or video elements) on the WritingPartners Platform; distribute copies of it to Users; modify and adapt it, which includes adding other elements, including, without limitation, Comments, to it; and display the modified or adapted version on the WritingPartners Platform.
- You yourself may not do any of the things listed in the preceding paragraph with User-Created Content that was created by someone else.
UPLOADING OF USER-CREATED CONTENT TO THE WRITINGPARTNERS PLATFORM
- You are solely responsible for all User-Created Content that you create or upload to the WritingPartners Platform.
- You may not upload any Inappropriate User-Created Content, which is defined below. You will be liable for any damages and costs that we or any WritingPartner Affiliate may incur, including attorneys’ fees, as a result of your uploading any Inappropriate User-Created Content, whether or not anyone actually sues us. This may sound harsh, but we can't possibly check all the User-Created Content that gets uploaded, and we actually don't want to, because then we may be legally responsible for that User-Created Content.
NO SCREENING OF USER-CREATED CONTENT
- PAUL ALLISON AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DO NOT SCREEN OR REVIEW ANY USER-CREATED CONTENT BEFORE IT IS UPLOADED TO THE WRITINGPARTNERS PLATFORM.
- If someone complains about User-Created Content that you uploaded, and it appears to Paul Allison, acting reasonably and in good faith, that such User-Created Content is Inappropriate User-Created Content, then Paul Allison, acting directly or through a WritingPartner Affiliate, has the right, but not the obligation, to remove such User-Created Content and to take other action described in the Termination section of these Terms of Use.
INAPPROPRIATE USER-CREATED CONTENT
- Inappropriate User-Created Content means User-Created Content, or links to User-Created Content or other material, that:
- Comprises or includes content that you do not have the right to use. Content that you do not have the right to include in User-Create Content that you create includes most if not all newspaper articles, videos created by others, and photos taken by others, no matter where you found them. There are law firms that do nothing but scour the Internet for sites where unauthorized photos and other kinds of content appear and threaten to sue the owners and operators of those sites for copyright infringement. Uploading a music video or just a soundtrack also violates the owner of the copyright in that video or soundtrack and also puts us at risk of an infringement suit. If you find a photo on a royalty-free photo site, you are still advised not to include it in any User-Created Content, because the royalty-free photo sites do not guarantee that they have the right to license their photos to users.
- Defames another person who is identifiable from User-Created Content that you created and uploaded.
- Very generally speaking, to defame someone is to say something that is not true about that person, in a way that enables the listener or reader to identify that person, to someone else, that causes harm to the person's reputation. (To libel someone is to defame someone in writing.)
- Certain kinds of statements are defamation per se according to the applicable law, which means that if you say one of these things about someone and it is not true, the person does not even have to prove that the person suffered financial damages: he or she will be presumed to have suffered financial damage.
- This means that if you are going to upload User-Created Content in which you criticize someone or accuse them of violating the law, for example, or acting badly, you need to be very careful about how you identify that person. Even if you don't give a person’s name, they may still be identifiable from your description of them, of you, your family, your classmates or friends, your parents, your neighborhood, your church or synagogue, or even just your own name If the person sues Paul Allison or WritingPartner Affiliate, you will be liable for any money that Paul Allison and the WritingPartner Affiliate has to pay to defend against the claim, even if what you said was true. This is not legal advice. If you have any doubt about what you can and cannot say, you should consult a lawyer who specializes in defamation.
- Violates the right of privacy of someone who is identifiable from User-Created Content.
- Very generally speaking, this means publishing private or intimate facts about someone who is identifiable from your User-Created Content, that cause that person embarrassment, such as publicizing the fact that someone has herpes or that someone is undergoing a transition to another gender.
- Another way to violate someone's right to privacy is to present facts in a false light or to show a photo of a person along with a story about someone else in a way that makes it look like the person in the photo was the subject of the story.
- If the person sues Paul Allison or WritingPartner Affiliates, you will be liable for any money that Paul Allison has to pay to defend against the claim, even if what you said was true. This is not legal advice. If you have any doubt about what you can and cannot say, you should consult a lawyer who specializes in privacy law.
- Is patently offensive in some other way, such as content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual; harasses or advocates harassment of another person; involves the transmission of "junk mail", "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming"; is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive; is threatening, or obscene; contains restricted or password only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page); exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, solicits personal information from anyone under 18; provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, or providing or creating computer viruses; solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users; or facilitates or constitutes part of commercial activities and/or sales such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes.
- Attacks another User personally. This would include, for example, a Comment such as, You are clearly a racist, or another personal insults that has nothing to do with whether the author of the User-Created Content at issue can write clearly.
REPORTING INAPPROPRIATE USER-CREATED CONTENT. If you see what you think is Inappropriate User-Created Content, click on the Report button to report it to the administrator at info@writingpartners.net
INTERACTION AND DISPUTES BETWEEN USERS; RELEASE
- You may not use any information obtained through the WritingPartners Platform (a) to harass, abuse, stalk, or otherwise harm another person; (b) to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any User without that User's express prior written consent or engage in any other commercial activity; or (c ) for any other purpose other than soliciting feedback on User-Created Content for the purpose of improving your writing or giving feedback on User-Created Content uploaded by another User to help that User improve their writing.
- You are solely responsible for your communication and interaction with any other User, online or offline. If there is a dispute between you and any other User, even though Paul Allison or a WritingParnters Affiliate may step in, WritingPartners is under no obligation to become involved.
- You hereby release WritingPartners, its parent, subsidiaries and affiliates, and their officers, employees, agents, and successors in interest from claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequen-tial) of every kind or nature, including death, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and/or the WritingPartners Platform or the WritingPartners Site. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."
OTHER LIMITATIONS ON USE OF THE WRITINGPARTNERS PLATFORM. You may not:
- Reupload, display, perform, or distribute copies of any WritingPartners Content, or any User-Created Content that you did not create, for any commercial purpose.
- Circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the WritingPartners Platform or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any WritingPartners Site Content or enforce limitations on use of the WritingPartners Platform.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. To represent and warrant means that you promise that something is true now and that it will continue to be true. For example, if I represent and warrant that my User-Created Content won’t infringe anyone’s copyright, I’m saying that this is true now and it will be true going forward. In addition to any representations and warranties elsewhere in these Terms of Use:
- With respect to any User-Created Content that you upload to the WritingPartners Site, you represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary license, right, and/or permission to reproduce, display, perform, distribute copies of, create derivative works (adaptations) of, or otherwise use that User-Created Content in the way that the WritingPartners Site contemplates.
- This means that when you upload any User-Created Content, you are promising that (i) you created that User-Created Content yourself; (ii) if that User-Created Content contains any content created or owned by anyone else, you have permission from that person or company to upload, display, play, and distribute copies of that User-Created Content to, on or through the WritingPartners Platform; and (iii) if that User-Created Content includes any name or photo, voice, or footage of any person, you have permission to upload, display, play and distribute copies of that name, photo, voice or footage as part of that User-Created Content on the WritingPartners Platform.
- You also represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into and abide by these Terms of Use; all information in any User-Created Content that you upload will be accurate and complete; you will not upload any User-Created Content that you do not have the legal right to upload; no uploading by you of any User-Created Content will violate the privacy rights of any person; and no User-Created Content that you upload to the WritingPartners Platform will defame any person, violate any person's right of publicity, or infringe or violate any other right of any other person or entity.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE AND THE WRITINGPARTNERS PLATFORM ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU AS IS. PAUL ALLISON EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR ACCURACY OF ANY USER-CREATED CONTENT ON THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE. PAUL ALLISON ALSO DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND RELATING TO THE RESULTS OF YOUR USE OF OR INTERACTION WITH THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY THAT THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE WILL OPERATE CONTINUOUSLY OR ERROR-FREE ON YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM OR THAT ANY USER-CREATED CONTENT ON THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, so some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.
INDEMNITY. We mentioned paying our legal fees earlier where we talked about not uploading Inappropriate User-Created Content, but here the context is a little broader. You will indemnify and hold harmless Paul Allison, all WritingPartner Affiliates, WritingPartner’s parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and other partners and employees from any loss, liability, claim, demand, fees, and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees made by any third party (which means anyone other than you or Paul Allison) due to or arising out of your use of the WritingPartners Platform, including, without limitation, any claim arising from your breach of these Terms of Use, your breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, your sharing of any personally identifying information from the WritingPartners Platform with any third party, and your uploading of User-Created Content that you do not have the right to upload. This obligation will survive termination of this Agreement, which means that even after you stop using the WritingPartners Site, you will still be bound.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PAUL ALLISON, ANY WRITINGPARTNERS AFFILIATE, OR ANY OF ITS OR THEIR SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, PARTNERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS (“RELATED PARTIES”) BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF PAUL ALLISON OR SUCH RELATED PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES) RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE, YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE; THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE WRITINGPARTNERS SITE, OR SOMETHING ELSE. THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In some jurisdictions, limitations of liability are not permitted, so some of the foregoing limitations may not apply to you.
CONSENT TO COLLECTION AND USE OF DATA. Our privacy policy, which you can read here, explains what personally identifying information is collected through the WritingPartners Platform, how it is used, and who has access to it.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION POLICY. If you believe that any content that you own has been uploaded to the WritingPartners Platform without your permission, please provide our Copyright Agent with the following information: an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the WritingPartners Site; your address, telephone number, and e-mail address; a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. Our Copyright Agent can be reached as follows: Paul Allison 917-612-3006 allisonpr@gmail.com.
GOVERNING LAW, JURISDICTION, AND TIME LIMIT ON CLAIMS. You agree that: (i) the WritingPartners Site will be deemed solely based in New York State; and (ii) the WritingPartners Site will be deemed a passive website that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over Paul Allison or any WritingPartner Affiliate, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than New York. If you have any dispute with us or any WritingPartner Affiliate, the dispute will be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You hereby submit to personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts of White Plains, New York. Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, you agree that any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the WritingPartners Platform or the Terms of Use must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose, or it will be forever barred.
TERMINATION. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate the access of any User, remove User-Created Content, assist law enforcement in the prosecution of criminal liability, demand that you remove User-Created Content from the WritingPartners Platform, and/or assert a civil or criminal legal action on account of User-Created Content or use of the WritingPartners Platform, that we reasonably believe is or might be in violation of these Terms of Use, including but not limited to, a complaint made to us that you have violated a third party's intellectual property rights.
ADDITIONAL TERMS. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Use will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If a court of competent jurisdiction holds any provision of the Terms of Use invalid, the court should try to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.
CHANGES TO TERMS. If we change these Terms of Use, we will notify you by an announcement that will show up the next time you use the WritingPartners Platform.
These Terms of Use were last updated on May 30, 2024