The Observer

Stories of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle

Terms & Conditions of Use
ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS THROUGH USE

Please read these Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms of Use”) carefully before using wearetheobserver.com (“Site”) or any features of the Site operated by the WV Independent Observer (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “The Observer”).

Your use of the Site binds you to the Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the Terms of Use, do not use this Site. We may terminate your access to the Site or parts thereof at any time and without notice if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you may have breached the Terms of Use.

We reserve the right at our discretion, to update or revise the Terms of Use. Please check the Terms of Use periodically for changes. Your continued use of this Site following the posting of any changes to the Terms of Use constitutes your acceptance of these changes.

YOUR OBLIGATIONS

You agree to use the Site only as permitted in the Terms of Use. You agree that you will not:

  • Use the Site for any unlawful purpose;
  • Use the Site to transmit any message, information, data, text, software or images or other materials (“Documentation”) that is unlawful, harmful, threatening abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, or that may invade another’s right of privacy or publicity.
  • Impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or an entity.
  • Post or transmit any Documentation that you do not have the right to reproduce, display or transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as nondisclosure agreements).
  • Use the Site’s communication features in a manner that adversely affects the availability of the Site’s resources to other users (e.g., use of all caps or flooding or continuous posting of repetitive text).
  • Post or transmit any unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam chain letters, pyramid schemes or any other form of solicitation.
  • Post any inaccurate, false or incomplete information or any information which is not your own.
  • Delete or revise any material posted by any other person or entity.
  • Post or transmit any Documentation that contains a virus or corrupted data.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, to any part or feature thereof, to any other systems or networks connected to the Site, to any of our servers, or to any of the services offered on or through the Site. 
  • Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or any network connected to the Site.
  • Breach the security or bypass the authentication measures on the Site or any network connected to the Site. 
  • Seek to obtain any information about any other user of or visitor to the Site, including information associated with an account not registered to or managed by you. 

OUR RIGHTS TO CONTENT

Content published on our Site, such as but not limited to texts, images, logos, graphics, videos and other materials, (“Content”) is the property of The Observer unless otherwise explicitly noted and agreed by us. This Content is protected by copyright laws. The entire compilation of the Content found on our Site is the exclusive property of The Observer.

Except as expressly authorized by The Observer, you may not sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit, or create derivative works from such materials or content. Notwithstanding the above, you may print or download one copy of the materials or content on this Site on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial use, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Systematic retrieval of data or other content from this Site to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database or directory without written permission from The Observer is prohibited. In addition, use of the content or materials for any purpose not expressly permitted in these Terms of Use is prohibited.

As noted above, reproduction, copying, or redistribution for commercial purposes of any materials or design elements on this Site is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Observer.

USER MATERIALS

We may make available to you the ability to post, upload, transmit, and otherwise submit (“Submit”) comments, messages, recommendations, photos, images, story ideas, essays and other materials (“User Materials”) to us on our Site, for example on or through our social networking platforms or features, Connect With Us page, and other features of our Site. User Materials may be routed through the servers of one or more third parties and the Internet, and may be viewed by The Observer’s staff and on the Site by the public. Our Site, including social networking features, Connect With Us page, and other features, is for public and not private communications.

We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit User Materials at any time and for any or no reason without prior notice.

You retain the copyright and other ownership rights in any User Materials that you submit on or through our Site. However, by Submitting User Materials on or through our Site, you grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable license to use, copy, sublicense, modify, transmit, publicly perform, display, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, and/or adapt your User Materials in any and all media formats, channels or platforms, whether now known or hereafter devised, including our print publication, Site and other applications and services, without payment and without further notice to you or request for consent. You further grant us the right to contact you in connection with your User Materials.

REPRESENTATIONS; INDEMNITY

By Submitting User Materials to our Site, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age, have obtained the rights or clearances to any User Materials you submit on our Site, that there are no restrictions on the use of the User Materials as relates to the potential uses indicated in our Terms of Use, and that the use of your User Materials by us will not violate or infringe upon any copyright, trademark, privacy, reputation, or creative rights of any individual or entity.

You agree that you will indemnify and hold us harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, costs or expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from your breach of any of the above representations, your use of our Site, the User Materials you have Submitted on our Site, or our publication, distribution or use of such User Materials.

WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

While The Observer uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information on this Site, it makes no representation as to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of that information, and you should not rely upon it. All information on the Site is provided “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, SUITABILITY, OR TIMELINESS OF THE SITE OR ANY PART THEREOF. PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES. SO, SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

We do not warrant that the Sites will operate error-free or that the Site and its servers are free of computer viruses and other harmful goods.

In no event shall we, our affiliates, suppliers, or any third parties involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Site be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, incidental and consequential damages, lost profits, or damages resulting from lost data or business interruption) resulting from your access to, use of, reliance on, or inability to use the Site, the materials contained in the Site, or the materials contained in third-party websites linked from the Site, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not we are advised of the possibility of such damages.

WE ALSO ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY, AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT YOU MAY INCUR AS A RESULT OF A VIRUS, WORM, OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE THAT MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR OTHER PROPERTY ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, BROWSING THE SITE, OR YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIALS, DATA, TEXT, IMAGES, VIDEO, OR AUDIO FROM THE SITE.

In no event shall our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action arising from your use or inability to use the Site (whether in contract, tort, including without limitation negligence, or otherwise) exceed the amount paid by you, if any, for accessing the Site.

SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN DAMAGES. SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY THEREFORE NOT APPLY TO YOU. TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT PERMIT ANY OF THESE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

APPLICABLE LAWS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This Site is controlled by The Observer from its offices in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in the United States. By accessing this Site, you expressly agree that the exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or action arising out of relating to these Terms of Use or your use of this Site shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in West Virginia, and you further agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action. These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of West Virginia.

The Observer makes no representation that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and accessing them from territories where their contents may be illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this Site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

You and we agree that in the event of any disputes between us, we will first try to resolve it by talking with each other. If we are unsuccessful in resolving our disputes in this manner within a reasonable time period, we agree that any claims arising in connection with your use of the Site or any part thereof must be brought within one year of the date of the event giving rise to such a claim.

THIRD-PARTY SITES

This Site may provide links to third-party web sites or services (“Third-Party Sites”) that are not owned or controlled by us. These Third-Party Sites may contain information or material that some people may find inappropriate or offensive. These Third-Party Sites are not under the control of The Observer, and you acknowledge that The Observer is not responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, decency, availability, or any other aspect of the content of such Third-Party Sites. The inclusion of such a link does not imply an endorsement of the Third-Party Site by The Observer or any association with its operators.

TERMINATION

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of this Site with or without notice.  If you violate any of these Terms of Use, your permission to use the Site and any content or materials downloadable, printable, or otherwise available from the Site automatically terminates, and you must immediately destroy any copies you have made of the materials.

CHANGES TO TERMS OF US

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms of Use at any time.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us.

These Terms of Use were last updated:  September 8, 2020