Forktionary User Policy

1. General Terms

This Agreement applies to all of the websites and applications where it is posted. Those websites and applications are referred to collectively in this Agreement as the “Services.” Additional terms and conditions may apply to some services offered on the Services.

The Web is an evolving medium; we may change the terms of this Agreement from time to time. By continuing to use any of the Services after we post any such changes, you accept this Agreement, as modified. We may change, restrict access to, suspend or discontinue the Services, or any portion of the Services, at any time. Forktionary respects the privacy of our users. Please take a few minutes to review our Privacy Policy.

If you disagree with any material you find on the Services, we recommend that you respond by noting your disagreement in an appropriate forum where there is one (such as recipe comments). We also invite you to bring to our attention any material you believe to be factually inaccurate by contacting us at info@forktionary.com.

The material that appears on the Services is for informational purposes only. Despite our efforts to provide useful and accurate information, errors may appear from time to time. Before you act on information you’ve found on the Services, you should confirm any facts that are important to your decision. Forktionary and its information providers make no warranty as to the reliability, accuracy, timeliness, usefulness or completeness of the information on the Services. Forktionary is not responsible for, and cannot guarantee the performance of, goods and services provided by our advertisers or others to whose sites we link. A link to another website does not constitute an endorsement of that site (nor of any product, service or other material offered on that site) by Forktionary or its licensors.

2. Copyright Infringement (DMCA)

Pursuant to Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2), notifications of claimed copyright infringement must be sent to Forktionary's Designated Agent.

Agent Designated to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement:
Copyright Agent, Forktionary LLC
Email: info@forktionary.com

To be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number and, if available, an e-mail address;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

If you receive a notice of infringement, you may provide counter-notification in writing to the designated agent. To be effective, the counter-notification must be a written communication that includes the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed;
3. A statement from you, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification; and
4. Your name, physical address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of a federal district court for the judicial district in which your physical address is located (or if you are outside the U.S., for any judicial district in which we may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of allegedly infringing material.

3. User-Generated Content

In submitting user-generated content to the Services (including but not limited to recipe comments, photos, or other materials), you agree to the following terms and conditions: For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, you grant Forktionary LLC (“Forktionary”), its joint venture partners, vendors, and content distributors, and the parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees, successors and assigns of all of the foregoing (collectively, the “Forktionary Parties”) a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, fully paid up license to make use of and distribute your user-generated content submitted hereunder, as well your name, voice, likeness and appearance therein (if any) and the personally identifying information you provide on or in connection therewith (collectively, the “Content Submission”), as further described below. You acknowledge and agree that you shall not be entitled to share in any revenue that the Forktionary Parties may or may not earn or generate through their use of your Content Submission.

Forktionary Parties’ Right to Use Your Content Submission. You grant the Forktionary Parties the non-exclusive right to edit in any manner, and to use and distribute and license others to use and distribute, your Content Submission, or any portions, reproductions or versions thereof, on the websites, products and/or services (in any and all media, now known or hereafter invented) of the Forktionary Parties, an unlimited number of times, in perpetuity, throughout the world, with or without charge or cost to end-users or other third parties. You also grant the Forktionary Parties the right to use and distribute, and license others to use and distribute, your Content Submission in the promotion of such websites, products and/or services.

Clearance of Your Content Submission. You represent and warrant that your Content Submission is your original work and that you have secured any and all rights, releases and permissions necessary for the Forktionary Parties’ use and distribution of your Content Submission, including without limitation those related to any people, places, music, video, photographs and/or graphics in your Content Submission (collectively, the “Elements”). You represent and warrant that, to the best of your knowledge, no further permissions or fees are due for the Forktionary Parties’ use and distribution of your Content Submission or any Elements therein. You further represent and warrant that any statements made by you or others in the Content Submission are true to the best of your knowledge and that neither they, nor any Element of your Content Submission, will violate any law or regulation or violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party.

Waiver of Right of Approval. You hereby waive any right of inspection or approval of your Content Submission as used and distributed by the Forktionary Parties.

Release and Waiver; Indemnification. You acknowledge that the Forktionary Parties will rely on the foregoing terms and conditions potentially at substantial cost to them, and you hereby waive the right to assert any claim of any nature whatsoever against any party relating to the exercise of the rights and permissions granted hereunder. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Forktionary Parties from any and all claims arising from their use and distribution of your Content Submission as permitted herein.

4. Community Guidelines

Forktionary wants to encourage an open exchange of information and ideas. But we cannot and do not review every posting made in comments, forums, blogs, and other public posting areas. You can expect these areas to include content, information, and opinions from a variety of individuals and organizations other than Forktionary. We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting. Responsibility for what is posted in comments and other public posting areas on the Services lies with each user – you alone are responsible for material you post. Forktionary does not control the messages, information or other content that you or others may provide through the Services. You may use the Services for lawful purposes only.

By using the Services, you agree not to submit, post or transmit through the Services any material or otherwise engage in any conduct that:

• Violates or infringes the rights of others including, without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, publicity, privacy or other proprietary rights;
• Allows you to gain unauthorized access to the Services, or any account, computer system, or network connected to the Services, by means as hacking, password mining or other illicit means;
• Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, tortuous, or contains explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of sexual acts;
• Victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
• Collects for marketing purposes any email addresses or other personal information that has been posted by other users of the Services.
• Impersonates any person, business or entity, including Forktionary and its employees and agents, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with any person, business or entity, including Forktionary;
• Contains an advertisement or solicitation or encourages others to make a donation;
• Contains viruses or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized use of a computer or computer network;
• Encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense or that gives rise to civil liability or that otherwise encourages others to commit illegal activities or cause injury or property damage to any other person;
• Results in the posting or transmission of any message anonymously or under a false name;
• Permits any person to access, using your account, any features of the Services that may require registration;
• Violates this Agreement, guidelines or any policy posted on the Services, or interferes with the use of the Services by others.

Although Forktionary cannot monitor all postings, you understand that Forktionary shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Services to determine compliance with this Agreement. Forktionary shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to edit, move, delete, or refuse to post any material submitted to or posted on the Services for any reason, including violation of this Agreement.

Forktionary requires you not to use the Services to violate anyone’s copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. By posting or submitting any material to the Services, you are warranting and representing that you own or have the right to post or make such submission, or are making your submission or posting with the express consent of the owner, and that no other party has any right, claim, or interest in the material. You also warrant that all moral rights in any material that you submit to us or post have been waived.

5. Use of Materials

With the exception of any Content Submissions (Forktionary's permitted use of which is discussed above), all other material you submit to any of our public posting areas, whether text or images, becomes the property of Forktionary and may be reproduced, modified and distributed as we see fit, in any medium, for any purpose and in perpetuity.

The materials available through the Services are the property of Forktionary or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through the Services. But you may not otherwise reproduce any of the materials without the prior written consent of the owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on the Services in any form (including by e-mail or other electronic means), without prior written permission from the owner.

6. User Accounts and Security

You must be at least 13 years old to register on the Services. By registering, you warrant that you are at least 13 years old.

To obtain access to certain services, you may be given an opportunity to register. As part of any such registration process, you will select a user name and a password. You agree that the information you supply during that registration process will be accurate and complete. You also agree not to (i) select, register, or attempt to register, or use a user name of another person with the intention of impersonating that person; (ii.Fii) use a user name of anyone else without authorization; (iii) use a user name in violation of the intellectual property rights of any person; or (iv) use a user name that Forktionary considers to be offensive. Forktionary reserves the right to reject or terminate any user name or password that, in its judgment, it deems offensive. You will be responsible for preserving the confidentiality of your password and will notify Forktionary of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your account. You are responsible for all statements made and acts or omissions that occur on your account. If you believe someone has used your password or account without your authorization, you must notify Forktionary immediately at info@forktionary.com.

7. Linking, Framing, and Prohibitions

Linking: We welcome links to the Services. You are free to establish a hypertext link to any of the Services so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of your site by any of the Services or by Forktionary.

No Soliciting: You agree not to use the Services to advertise, or to solicit anyone to buy or sell, products or services, nor to solicit anyone to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval.

No Spamming: From time to time, users post their e-mail addresses in our public posting areas. You may not gather these e-mail addresses for commercial or illegal purposes, such as sending unsolicited or unrequested e-mail or instant messages.

No Framing: Without the prior written permission of Forktionary, you may not frame, or make it appear that a third-party site is presenting or endorsing, any of the content of the Services, or incorporate any intellectual property of the Services, Forktionary or any of their licensors into another website or other service.

Trademarks: We do not want anyone to be confused as to which materials and services are provided by Forktionary and which are not. You may not use any trademark or service mark appearing on the Services without the prior written consent of the owner of the mark.

Accuracy of Information: Forktionary works to ensure that information we post is timely and accurate. But information and recipes may change over time. If you are looking for specific information (such as nutritional or allergy data), be sure you are not looking at an out-of-date report.

8. Recipe Disclaimer

Forktionary offers recipes and information dealing in the preparation of food and may allow recipe submissions by various sources, including users. Forktionary in no way provides any warranty, implied or otherwise, towards the content of recipes submitted by any user, visitor, or other entity. As such, it is your responsibility to determine the value and quality of any recipe or instructions provided for food preparation and to determine the nutritional value, if any, and safety of the preparation instructions. Recipes taken from Forktionary.com and prepared are done so “at your own risk”. Forktionary is not responsible for any damage, medically or otherwise, resulting in the preparation of food using the instructions or recipes provided on Forktionary.com. You must take care to check the instructions provided and determine their value and any possible medical condition that may arise from the consumption of the ingredients listed in recipes on Forktionary.com.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties and Liability

YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES, AND THE INHERENT HAZARDS AND UNCERTAINTIES OF ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION, THERE MAY BE DELAYS, OMISSIONS, INACCURACIES OR OTHER PROBLEMS WITH SUCH INFORMATION. IF YOU RELY ON ANY SERVICE OR ANY MATERIAL AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ANY MATERIAL AND/OR DATA DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICES.

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, AND AS AVAILABLE. FORKTIONARY LLC AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES, NOR DO THEY GUARANTEE THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL FORKTIONARY LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THE LIABILITY OF FORKTIONARY LLC AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW.) YOU AGREE THAT THE LIABILITY OF FORKTIONARY LLC AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, IF ANY, ARISING OUT OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL CLAIM IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, YOU PAID TO FORKTIONARY LLC FOR THE USE OF THE SERVICES.

10. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Forktionary LLC, its affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and suppliers, from and against any and all losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any violation of this Agreement or any activity related to your account (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing any Service using your account.

11. Dispute Resolution

We endeavor to resolve customer concerns as quickly as possible. Please contact Forktionary at info@forktionary.com.

In the unlikely event that you’re not satisfied with customer service’s solution, and you and Forktionary are unable to resolve a dispute through the Informal Dispute Resolution Procedures below, we each agree to resolve the dispute through binding arbitration or small claims court instead of in courts of general jurisdiction. Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, allows for more limited discovery than in court, and is subject to very limited review by courts. Any arbitration under this Agreement will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted.

12. Arbitration Agreement

(1) Claims Subject to Arbitration: To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Forktionary LLC and you agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims between us, except for claims arising from bodily injury or that pertain to enforcing, protecting, or the validity of your or our intellectual property rights. This Arbitration Agreement is intended to be broadly interpreted. It includes, but is not limited to:

• claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of the relationship between us;
• claims that arose before this or any prior Agreement;
• claims for mental or emotional distress or injury not arising out of physical bodily injury;
• claims that are currently the subject of purported class action litigation in which you are not a member of a certified class; and
• claims that may arise after the termination of this Agreement.

(2) Mandatory Pre-Arbitration Notice and Informal Dispute Resolution: A party who intends to initiate arbitration or file a claim in small claims court must first send to the other a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). A Notice from you to Forktionary must be emailed to info@forktionary.com (“Notice Address”). Any Notice must include (i) the claimant’s name, address, and email address; (ii) a description of the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; (iii) any relevant facts regarding your use of the Services; (iv) a description of the nature and basis of the specific relief sought; and (v) a personally signed statement from the claimant verifying the accuracy of the contents of the Notice.

After receipt of a completed Notice, the parties shall engage in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute for a period of 60 days. After receipt of the completed Notice, the recipient may request an individualized telephone or video settlement conference and both parties will personally attend. If we and you do not reach an agreement to resolve the issues identified in the Notice within 60 days after the completed Notice is received, you or we may commence an arbitration proceeding or a small claims court proceeding.

Compliance with this section is a condition precedent to initiating arbitration. Any applicable limitations period and any filing fee deadlines shall be tolled while the parties engage in the informal dispute resolution procedures.

(3) Arbitration Procedure: The arbitration will be governed by applicable rules of National Arbitration & Mediation (“NAM”) (“NAM Rules”)), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement, and will be administered by NAM. The NAM Rules are available online at www.NAMADR.org.

All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except as to issues relating to the scope and enforceability of the Arbitration Agreement, which are for a court of competent jurisdiction to decide.

Unless we and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of your billing address and you and a Forktionary representative will be required to attend in person. The arbitrator’s decision is binding only between you and Forktionary and will not have any preclusive effect in another arbitration or proceeding that involves a different party.

(4) Arbitration Fees: The payment of arbitration fees will be governed by the applicable NAM Rules. If the arbitrator finds that the arbitration fees will be prohibitive for you as compared to litigation, we will pay as much of your filing, arbitrator, and hearing fees in the arbitration as the arbitrator deems necessary to prevent the arbitration from being cost-prohibitive, unless the arbitrator determines that your claim(s) were frivolous or brought for an improper purpose.

(5) Confidentiality: Upon either party’s request, the arbitrator will issue an order requiring that confidential information of either party disclosed during the arbitration may not be used or disclosed except in connection with the arbitration or a proceeding to enforce the arbitration award.

(6) Requirement of Individualized Relief: The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AND WE AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR OUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING. If any of these prohibitions are found to be unenforceable with respect to a particular claim or request for relief, then such a claim or request for relief shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, after all other arbitrable claims and requests for relief are arbitrated.

(7) Opt Out of Future Changes: Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, if Forktionary makes any future change to this Arbitration Agreement (other than a change to the Notice Address), you may reject any such change by sending Forktionary an email to info@forktionary.com within 30 days of the posting of the amended arbitration agreement that provides: (i) your full legal name, (ii) your complete mailing address, and (iii) a statement, personally signed by you, that you wish to reject the change to the Arbitration Agreement. This is not an opt out of arbitration altogether.

(8) Mass Filing: If, at any time, 25 or more claimants submit Notices or seek to file demands for arbitration raising similar claims by the same or coordinated counsel, you and we agree that these claims are a "Mass Filing" and the NAM's Mass Filing Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures shall apply. To ensure the efficient resolution of such disputes, you and we agree that the adjudication of a Mass Filing might be delayed and subject to a staged process. Any applicable limitations period shall be tolled from the time the informal dispute resolution procedures are initiated until your claim is resolved, withdrawn, or opted out of arbitration.

(9) Severability: If any portion of this Arbitration Agreement is found to be void, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable, then that portion shall be deemed to be severable and, if possible, superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that matches the intent of the original provision as closely as possible. The remainder of this Arbitration Agreement shall continue to be enforceable.

13. Class Action and Jury Trial Waiver

You and Forktionary LLC agree that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, each party may bring claims (whether in court or in arbitration) against the other only in an individual capacity, and not participate as a plaintiff, claimant, or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, private attorney general, or representative proceeding. You and Forktionary waive any right to a jury trial.

14. Other Legal Terms

Governing Law and Venue: These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute that is not subject to arbitration shall be brought in the appropriate state or federal court located in New York County, New York; and we and you each irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts.

Time Limitation for Claims: To the extent permitted by applicable law, any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating in any way to the Service or your use of the Service, these Terms, or the relationship between us, must be commenced within one year of the relevant events. A dispute is commenced if it is filed in an arbitration or, if the dispute is non-arbitrable, a court of competent jurisdiction, during the one-year period. The one-year period is tolled for 60 days following receipt of a notice of dispute.

Geographic Restrictions: Forktionary is based in the United States and makes no claims that the Services or any of its content is accessible, appropriate or available for use outside of the United States. Access to the website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the website from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Choice of Law: This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any conflict of law principles. Any arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16).

Severability: In the event that any portion of this Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the enforceability or validity of any other portion of this Agreement.

Survival: Any provision herein which by its nature contemplates your continued observance following termination of this Agreement will survive termination of this Agreement.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY ALL OF THE FOREGOING TERMS, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES.