Terms Of Service

by using this service, you agree to the following:

1. introduction

Signature Edits is a photography editing & sharing platform that provides free to use, high-definition raw photos. We operate the Signature Edits website at signatureedits.com (the “Site”) and all related websites, and other services that we provide (together, the “Service”) with the goal of empowering and enabling photographers to grow in their craft. Your use of the Service, and our provision of the Service to you, constitutes an agreement by you and Signature Edits to be bound by the terms and conditions in these Terms of Service.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF SERVICE CAREFULLY. BY REGISTERING FOR OR OTHERWISE USING THE SERVICE, YOU ARE TELLING US THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF SERVICE (TOGETHER, THESE “TERMS”). If you don’t agree with anything we propose in these Terms, please don’t (and you don’t have our permission to) use any part of the Service.

THIS PART IS REALLY IMPORTANT: These Terms require that if we get into a dispute with you relating to the Service (or vice versa), unless you live in the United Kingdom or the European Union, the dispute will be resolved by BINDING ARBITRATION. This means that YOU AGREE TO GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO GO TO COURT TO SUE US (OR BE SUED BY US) UNDER THIS CONTRACT (except for some disputes that can be taken to small claims court). Our disputes will be determined by a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR and NOT A JUDGE OR JURY and you cannot start or join a class action lawsuit. Have a very careful read through Section 18 for the actual details regarding our agreement to arbitrate, which we’ve tried to make fair to our users.

2. eligibility

The Service is designed for use by people who are at least 13 years old. If you are not yet 13, then you can’t use the Service. If you are 13 or older, you promise to us that you have never been suspended from the Service, and promise that your use of the Service won’t break any laws or regulations. If you are using the Service on behalf of a company, organization, or other kind of entity, you represent to us that you have authority to bind the organization to these Terms on its behalf.

3. accounts and registration

When you use the Service, you have the opportunity to register an account. If you do, we ask that you give us some information about yourself as part of the registration process, some of which is required in order to register the account. You promise that all the information you provide is accurate and that you will keep it accurate and up-to-date in the future. We also ask you to provide a password to protect the security of your account. You are responsible for keeping your password safe and confidential. Any activity that happens under your account will be your responsibility. If ever you think that your account may no longer be secure, you need to notify us immediately at hello@signatureedits.com. You can also reset your password via shop.signatureedits.com/dashboard

4. limited license to use the service (but not the photos)

Conditioned on your continued compliance with these Terms, we grant you permission to access the Service only for your personal use.

5. license to photos

One of the best features of the Service permits you to search, view, and download photographs that have been uploaded by Signature Edits users (“Photos”). You may download and use Photos from the Service in accordance with, and subject to, the image license. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Signature Edits License, as well as the accompanying FAQs. To be sure you don’t miss it, here’s the crux of the license:

Signature Edits grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Signature Edits for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Signature Edits, but this license does not include the right to compile photos from Signature Edits to replicate a similar or competing service.

This means that Photos on the Service come with a very, very broad copyright license under the Signature Edits License. This is why we say that they are “Free to Use.” Note that the Signature Edits License does not include the right to use:

• Trademarks, logos, or brands that appear in Photos
• People’s images if they are recognizable in the Photos
• Works of art or authorship that appear in Photos

If you download photos with any of these depicted in them, you may need the permission of the brand owner of the brand or work of authorship or individual depending on how you use the Photo. Please see our FAQs for more information and, if you still aren’t sure, you should probably talk to a lawyer who knows about these things.

6. user content

YOU OWN ALL OF YOUR USER CONTENT, INCLUDING ANY PHOTOS THAT YOU UPLOAD TO THE SITE.

• At a High Level. The Service lets you upload and post your Photos, as well as written text, images, web links, location information, and other content (“User Content”). Any User Content that you make available on the Service will belong to you or your licensors. We will not claim any ownership in your User Content–it is completely, 100%, yours.
• Limited License to Us. You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to host, store, transfer, display, adapt, perform, reproduce, modify, translate, and distribute your User Content (in whole or in part) in any media formats and through any media channels (now known or hereafter developed). You understand that we will not pay you for any use of your Photos and that your Photos will be made available to the public for their use without providing you attribution or compensation.
• Authority. When you upload Photos to the Service, in addition to the license that you grant us to post the Photos publicly and permit other Signature Edits users to download and use them, you also authorize us under your copyrights to enforce any violations of the sublicenses we grant in the Photos to others. In other words, if an Signature Edits user misuses one of your Photos downloaded from the Service, you authorize us to enforce your copyrights in the Photos on your behalf. If you are interested in learning more about this, please see our FAQs.
• Representations and Warranties. You are solely responsible for your User Content and any consequences that occur because you’ve uploaded or posted the User Content on the Service. Each time you upload or post publish User Content, you represent and warrant to us that:
  • You are the creator and owner of the User Content or have all necessary rights from other people or companies to use, and permit other users to use, your User Content on the Service as envisioned in this Section 6; and
  • Your User Content (including as used by you, us, or other users of the Service) does not and will not infringe or misappropriate any third party right, including copyright and other intellectual property rights, privacy rights, rights of publicity, or moral rights, or slander, defame, or libel anyone. In other words, your User Content must be your original work and you must have the permission of any third parties that have rights in the User Content before you upload or post the User Content to the Service.
• Disclaimer. There is no reasonable way for us to monitor all of the User Content that gets uploaded to or posted on the Service, and we are under no obligation to you or the other users to monitor, edit, or control the User Content that you and other users upload or post to the Service. This means that we are not responsible for any User Content on the Service and you agree not to make any claims against us on account of User Content. That said, we may at any time remove, edit, screen, or block any User Content from the Service (without notifying you first) for any reason, including if we think the User Content violates these Terms or is otherwise objectionable. When you use the Service, you will be exposed to the User Content of other users, some of which may be offensive, inaccurate, or indecent. We may investigate claims alleging that User Content violates these Terms and, in those cases, we alone will decide what actions to take (if any) regarding the User Content in question.

7. digital millenium copyright act

If you think that materials uploaded to or posted on the Service infringe any of your copyrights, you may contact us at hello@signatureedits.com

Any notice that alleges materials hosted by or distributed through the Service infringe intellectual property rights must include:

• an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other right that is alleged to be infringed;
• a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
• a description of the material that you claim is infringing and where it is located on the Service; your address, telephone number, and email address;
• a statement from you that you have a good faith belief that the use of the materials on the Service of which you are complaining is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
• a statement by you that the information in your notice is accurate and that, under penalty of perjury, you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.

We will terminate (without notice) the accounts of users that we find are “repeat infringers,” which is a user who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice or has had infringing User Content removed from the Service more than twice.

8. prohibited conduct

BY USING THE SERVICE YOU AGREE NOT TO:

• Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws or regulations;
• Violate or encourage others to violate third party rights, including the infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property rights;
• Upload, post, or publish any User Content that is unlawful, defamatory, libelous, objectionable, profane, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate;
• Interfere with the security features of the Service (e.g., don’t disable or circumvent features that limit your use or copying of any User Content or reverse engineer the Service to discover the Source Code of the Service);
• Interfere with our operation of the Service or another user’s use of the Service (this means don’t upload or spread any viruses, adware, or spyware, don’t make unsolicited offers or promotions, don’t collect other people’s personal information, and don’t interfere with the networks or equipment that we use to provide the Service);
• Perform fraudulent activities, such as impersonating another person or lying about your date of birth;
• Sell copies of Photos without first significantly or meaningfully updating, modifying, or otherwise incorporating new creative elements into the Photos beyond simple retouches, resizing, or other minimal changes so long as they are not done by automated means (i.e., selling unaltered, slightly altered, or altered by automatic script copies of the Photos), including selling them as prints or printed on physical goods;
• Except and solely to the extent such a restriction is impermissible under applicable law, you may not: (a) reproduce, distribute, publicly display, or publicly perform the Service; (b) make modifications to the Service; or (c) interfere with or circumvent any feature of the Service, including any security or access control mechanism;
• Copy the look and feel of the Site or access, download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, or use any Photos to create a similar or competitive service or to contribute the Photos to an existing similar or competitive service;
• Transfer your rights to use the Service or to view, access, or use any Materials; or
• Attempt to do, or assist anyone else to do, any of these things.

9. termination of your account

If you breach any of these Terms, your permission to use the Service will terminate automatically.

Additionally, we may terminate your account on the Service or suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time (with or without notice) without liability to you.

We may update, modify, or even discontinue the Service at any time without notice to you.

10. modifying these terms

We may, at times, make changes to these Terms on 7 days’ notice. If and when we do, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you of the changes. We may provide these notices through a pop-up banner, by sending an email to an email address associated with your account on the Service, or in some other way, and we will let you know when the new version of these Terms will go into effect. If you don’t accept the new Terms that we are proposing, we may cancel your account immediately and terminate your access to the Service. If we have any disputes regarding the Service, they will be resolved in accordance with the version of these Terms that was in effect when the dispute arose.

11. ownership of the service

Signature Edits owns and operates the Service. All of the software, visual interfaces, graphics, designs, information, compilation of Photos, and all other elements of the Service (the “Materials”) that we provide are protected by intellectual property and other laws. We or our licensors own all of the Materials contained in the Service and you cannot use the Materials except as you are specifically permitted under these Terms.

12. indemnity

You are responsible for your use of the Service. You agree to defend and indemnify us, including our directors, officers, employees, consultants, affiliates, and agents, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs) arising out of or in any way connected with (i) your access to or use of the Service; (ii) your violation of these Terms or any law or regulation; (iii) your violation of anyone’s rights, including intellectual property rights; or (iv) any disputes between you and a third party. If you do have to defend us, we will have the right to assume exclusive control of the matter (without limiting your indemnification responsibilities) and, if that happens, you will cooperate with our defense of the claim.

13. disclaimer; no warranties

WE PROVIDE THE SERVICE, AND ALL CONTENT THAT’S AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, TITLE, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF THE COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR FREE OF ERRORS OR HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT WE WILL FIX ANY ERRORS OR HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 16 BELOW, YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND ASSUME ALL RISK FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO THE SERVICE, YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER SERVICE USERS, AND ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE AND USE, ACCESS, DOWNLOAD, OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN MATERIALS OR CONTENT THROUGH THE SERVICE AND ANY ASSOCIATED SITES OR SERVICES AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY (INCLUDING YOUR MOBILE DEVICE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE) OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF THE CONTENT.

THE LAW IN SOME PLACES PROHIBITS A DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT MAY VARY DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU RESIDE. WE DO NOT EXCLUDE OR LIMIT IN ANY WAY OUR LIABILITY TO YOU WHERE IT WOULD BE UNLAWFUL TO DO SO. IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE EUROPEAN UNION, THIS INCLUDES LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY OUR NEGLIGENCE OR THE NEGLIGENCE OF OUR EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR SUBCONTRACTORS; FOR FRAUD OR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION; OR FOR OUR OBLIGATION TO PERFORM THE SERVICE WITH REASONABLE CARE AND SKILL OR FAILURE TO PERFORM THE SERVICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOUT US OR THE SERVICE.

14. limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT ON THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THE DAMAGES.

EXCEPT AS EXPLICITLY PROVIDED IN SECTION 16, OUR MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY IS LIMITED TO US$100.

THE LAW IN SOME PLACES DOES NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

EACH PROVISION OF THESE TERMS THAT PROVIDES FOR A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES, OR EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES IS TO ALLOCATE THE RISKS UNDER THESE TERMS BETWEEN THE YOU AND US. THIS ALLOCATION IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES. EACH OF THESE PROVISIONS IS SEVERABLE AND INDEPENDENT OF ALL OTHER PROVISIONS OF THESE TERMS. THE LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION 16 WILL APPLY EVEN IF ANY LIMITED REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

15. general

These Terms, along with the Privacy Policy and the other policies that are incorporated into these Terms, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding your use of the Service. Except for our right to update these Terms under Section 12 above, these Terms can only be amended by a written agreement signed by both you and us. You are not allowed to assign or transfer these Terms, or transfer your account on the Service, to any other person or company without our consent, including any transfer that you want to make in connection with a corporate acquisition. We may assign these Terms with or without notice to you. Any delay or failure to enforce any rights under, or require your compliance with, these Terms will not affect our right to enforce the rights or require your compliance at a later time. If we waive any breach by you of these Terms, we will not be waiving any subsequent breach or your obligation to comply with any terms that you breached. We’ve included paragraph and section headings for ease of reference, but these headings do not affect the interpretation of these Terms. In the event that any part of these Terms is determined by a judge or arbitrator to be unenforceable, the unenforceable part will be given effect as much as possible and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect. When these Terms are terminated, any provision that by its nature should survive (or that specifically states that it will survive) will survive the termination, including the following: Sections 2, 5, 6, and 8 through 21.

16. governing law, dispute resolution and arbitration

• Generally. In the interest in resolving disputes between you and us in the most efficient and cost effective way, you and we agree to resolve any and all disputes arising in connection with these Terms or your use of the Service by binding arbitration. Arbitration is less formal than a lawsuit in court. It uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, may allow for limited discovery (i.e., pre-trial fact finding) than in court, and usually is not appealable in court. Arbitrators can award the same damages and relief that a court can award. Our agreement to arbitrate claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of these Terms, includes all claims, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, and regardless of whether the claims arise during or after the termination of these Terms. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT, BY ENTERING INTO THESE TERMS, YOU AND Signature Edits ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
• Arbitrator. Any arbitration between us will be held under the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, “AAA Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as modified by these Terms, and will be administered by the AAA. If you would like a copy of the AAA Rules, they are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879.
• Notice and Process. If one of us intends to seek an arbitration, then they must first send a written notice of the dispute to the other party, by certified mail or Federal Express (signature required), or, if we don’t have a physical address on file for you, by email (“Notice”). Our address for Notice is: Signature Edits, 3153 Camptown Court, Haymarket VA 92618. Any Notice must (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute, and (b) describe the specific relief requested (“Demand”). You and we agree to use good faith efforts to resolve any claim directly, but if we don’t reach a resolution within 30 days after the Notice is received, you or we may start arbitration proceedings. During the arbitration proceeding, the amount of any settlement offers by you or us will not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator makes a final decision and award (if any). If our dispute is resolved through arbitration in your favor, we will pay you the greater of: (i) the amount awarded by the arbitrator (if any), (ii) the last written settlement offered by us to settle the dispute prior to the arbitrator’s award, and (iii) $1,000.
• Fees. If you commence arbitration under these Terms, we will reimburse you for your payment of the filing fee if your claim is for $10,000 or less. Otherwise, the payment of filing fees will be decided by the AAA Rules. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, you can choose whether the arbitration is conducted (i) solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, (ii) via telephone, with no in-person hearings, or (iii) by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules in the county (or parish) of your billing address. If your claim is for more than $10,000, the arbitration hearings will take place at a location that we agree upon in Los Angeles County, California. If the arbitrator rules that the substance of your claim or the relief you seek in the Demand is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all fees will be governed by the AAA Rules and you agree to reimburse us for any amounts we previously paid but for which you are obligated to pay under the AAA Rules. The arbitrator will issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the decision and award (if any) are based. The arbitrator may make rulings and resolve disputes regarding the payment of fees or expenses at any time during the proceeding and upon request from either party made within 14 days of the arbitrator’s ruling on the merits.
• No Class Actions. YOU AND WE EACH 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 OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Unless you and we agree otherwise, the arbitrator cannot consolidate more than one person’s claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.
• Modifications. If we make any future changes to this arbitration agreement (other than a change to our address for Notice), you can reject the changes by sending us written notice (to our address for Notice) within 30 days of the change. If you do so, your account on the Service will immediately terminate and this arbitration agreement, as in effect immediately prior to the amendments you rejected, will survive termination.
• Enforceability. If Section 16 is found to be unenforceable, or if the entirety of the arbitration agreement in this Section 16.a is found to be unenforceable, then this Section 16.a will be null and void and, if this happens, you and we agree to submit any disputes arising in connection with these Terms or your use of the Service in the exclusive jurisdiction described in Section 16.b

20. contact information

The Service is offered by Signature Edits. You may reach us by emailing us at hello@signatureedits.com