Terms of Service

Effective Date: 9-28-09

Welcome

Welcome to TheState.com, a news, information and communication service available on the Internet's World Wide Web. The service combines much of The State newspaper with additional material available only on TheState.com. Both The State and TheState.com are affiliates of The McClatchy Company.

Your agreement with TheState.com

You understand and agree that, by visiting TheState.com and its affiliated sites, you are accepting, without modification, these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with any portion of these Terms of Service, your only option is to discontinue use of TheState.com. In agreeing with this Terms of Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age or otherwise capable of entering into and performing legal agreements. If you are under eighteen (18) then you may only use TheState.com with the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

This Terms of Service includes TheState.com's Privacy Policy, located here: TheState.com Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into this Terms of Service by reference and together with the Terms of Service governs your visit to TheState.com. The Privacy Policy explains TheState.com's position on information gathering and how it intends to use and share any information it collects. Read the Privacy Policy carefully as you are agreeing to it when you agree to this Terms of Service.

Revisions to Terms of Service

This Terms of Service is subject to revision from time to time by TheState.com and your continued use of TheState.com means you agree to, without modification, the revised Terms of Service. If you are a registered member of TheState.com, you will be notified of material revisions to this Terms of Service via an e-mail message to the e-mail address that you provided at registration or that you have since updated. If you are not a registered member of TheState.com, then you can review revisions to this Terms of Service by regularly checking this page. Material revisions to this Terms of Service will be indicated by an updated effective date at the top left corner of this page and by a notice posted on the homepage of TheState.com. Whether or not you are a registered member of TheState.com, it is your responsibility to remain apprised of any revisions to these Terms of Service and to remain in compliance therewith. Should you object to any such revisions to these Terms of Service or become dissatisfied with TheState.com in any way, your only recourse is to immediately terminate your membership and discontinue use of TheState.com. Otherwise, continuing to use the membership service and continuing to visit TheState.com after the effective date means that you agree to be bound by any and all revisions.

Cost

From time to time, and at TheState.com's sole discretion, there may be certain content available via subscription or surcharge, and such content will be clearly marked. Because this is an advertising-supported service, we encourage you to patronize the advertisers that help to make this service possible. Note that currently most news articles remain available for 30 days in the pages of TheState.com. The State's electronic archives may carry a fee per full-text article downloaded.

Registration

Access to some or all of the content, services and features on TheState.com may require users to register and become Members of TheState.com. In most cases, a print subscription is not necessary to become a Member; however access to certain special content, offers, services and features on TheState.com may require users to both subscribe to The State and to register and become Members of TheState.com. If you are a Member of TheState.com, you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account whether or not you expressly authorize such activities. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others may not access TheState.com using your username or account in whole or in part. TheState.com may terminate membership and deny access to TheState.com to any person for any reason in its sole discretion. Additionally and without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, TheState.com may terminate membership and deny access to TheState.com to any person who, in TheState.com's sole discretion, violates this Terms of Service. Such termination or denial of access shall be in addition to any remedies available to TheState.com and The State in law and equity.

Your use of TheState.com

Material published on TheState.com, including articles, photos, graphics, bulletin board postings, audio and video clips, trademarks, service marks, and other content ("Content"), is copyrighted by The State, or by other information providers who have licensed their content for use on TheState.com. Additionally, the entire Content of TheState.com is protected by copyright as a collective work owned by The State. You may not reproduce, republish or redistribute Content or any portions thereof, including, without limitation, Content provided by licensors and others, including member-submitted content, without the written consent of the copyright owner.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Terms of Service, TheState.com grants you permission to access TheState.com and view the Content solely for your personal, non-commercial use. In addition to viewing Content online, you may electronically store a reasonable portion of TheState.com Content for your personal, non-commercial use by making a single electronic copy on your computer's hard drive, or a single copy on a disk or other media or a single copy in printed form. You agree, however, that you will not store or archive a significant portion of the Content or create a database using the Content.

These rules also apply to your use of TheState.com:

1. You will not in any way infringe or misappropriate any of the intellectual property in and to the Content accessible through TheState.com. This means you agree not to copy, modify, publish, transmit, create derivative works from, transfer, sell or display the Content, including logos, trademarks or service marks, or otherwise violate the proprietary rights of TheState.com or others except as expressly permitted herein.
2. You will not reuse, republish or otherwise distribute the Content or any modified or altered versions of it, whether over the Internet or otherwise, and whether or not for payment, without the express written permission of The State or a third-party copyright holder, except that in some cases you may use individual stories that appear on TheState.com as specifically designated by the functionality of TheState.com (e.g., e-mail a story to a friend or purchase the rights to reproduce a story for other use). In such cases we communicate such rights to you directly in the applicable portion of the Content.
3. You will cooperate promptly and completely with any reasonable request by The State related to an investigation of infringement of copyright or other proprietary right.

To obtain permission to reuse or republish The State copyrighted material in printed formats, please visit http://www.copyright.com and enter "The State" in the "Get Permission/Find Title" search box. For high-quality photo reprints, please visit our high quality reprints partner.

The State cannot grant permission to reuse or republish material from other information providers, such as the Associated Press or New York Times News Service. Please contact them directly.

Member-submitted content

Members and other users of TheState.com may be able, as dictated by the functionality of TheState.com, to submit or to otherwise make available messages, e-mails, photographs, videos and other content for display on TheState.com ("Member Content"). You are solely responsible for Member Content, and TheState.com acts as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of Member Content. Member Content must conform to the guidelines below. Without limiting any of its rights in law and equity, TheState.com reserves the right to remove any Member Content for any reason in its sole discretion including any Member Content that it believes may violate these Terms of Service, or any copyright or third-party rights.

By submitting or otherwise making available any Member Content to TheState.com, you automatically grant The State and TheState.com a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), license to use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, distribute, transfer or sell any such content, for any purpose, including commercial purposes and in connection with advertising for the sole benefit of TheState.com (collectively, "use"), in any type of media or in any form now known or later developed, without any payment to you. In addition, you automatically waive and give up any claim that any use of such content violates any of your rights, including privacy rights, publicity rights, moral rights or any other right, including the right to approve the way TheState.com uses such content. You also grant The State and TheState.com the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you provide, submit, or otherwise make available to TheState.com or to The State for any purpose whatsoever, including, without limitation, commercial purposes. By submitting Member Content, you automatically warrant and represent to The State and TheState.com that you are the owner of all intellectual property rights in and to the Member Content or that you otherwise have all sufficient rights to grant the license above. By submitting Member Content, you further warrant and represent that the Member Content infringes no third-party right of privacy, right of publicity, or any other third-party right or proprietary interest.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA")

TheState.com respects the copyrights of others and expects its users to do the same. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office site at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, TheState.com will respond expeditiously to notices of alleged copyright infringement that are duly reported to our Designated Copyright Agent identified in the notice below. We will disable and/or terminate the accounts of Users who are repeat infringers.

If you believe that TheState.com or any user of TheState.com has infringed your copyright, please notify our Copyright Agent and provide the following information.

1. An identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
2. An identification of the material on TheState.com that you claim is infringing or is subject to infringing activity that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, with enough detail (including without limitation the URL of the material) to allow us to locate the material on our site.
3. Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
4. A 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.
5. A statement by you declaring that the above information in your Notice is accurate, made under penalty of perjury, and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright interest involved.
6. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

The Copyright Agent for TheState.com is Karole Morgan-Prager, General Counsel, who can be reached at 2100 Q Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, or at kmorgan-prager@mcclatchy.com or at 916-321-1828. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section, your DMCA notice may not be valid.

Online conduct

TheState.com encourages a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect. Any action by a user that infringes on another user's right to use and enjoy TheState.com is prohibited. TheState.com reserves the right, but does not assume any obligation, to monitor your online conduct to enforce these Terms of Use. Specifically, you may not:

1. Provide any information that is false, misleading or inaccurate.
2. Use any portion of TheState.com for any unlawful purpose or otherwise fail to comply with all applicable domestic and international laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations.
3. Use any portion of TheState.com for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available Member Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party.
4. Use any portion of TheState.com for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available Member Content that is harmful to minors in any way, harassing, harmful, threatening, abusive, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.
5. Use any portion of TheState.com for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available junk mail, commercial advertisements, or any other form of commercial solicitation.
6. Attempt to interfere with any other person's use of TheState.com.
7. Misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person.
8. Hold yourself out as sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with The State or TheState.com.
9. Attempt to modify, translate, adapt, edit, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any software programs used by The State or TheState.com in connection with TheState.com.
10. Use or launch any automated means including spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers and the like, to download or copy data or content from TheState.com.
11. Distribute any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs that are designed or intended to: (i) disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of TheState.com, any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment used in connection therewith; or (ii) damage or obtain unauthorized access to any data or other information of any third party.
12. Take any action that: (i) imposes or may impose, in TheState.com's sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on its infrastructure; (ii) interferes or attempts to interfere with the proper working of TheState.com; or (iii) disrupts or diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of TheState.com.
13. To register a complaint about another user's conduct, please e-mail online@thestate.com, or write to Customer Service, TheState.com, 1401 Shop Road Columbia SC 29201-4843.

Disclaimer

While TheState.com strives for accuracy, it does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information or database on our service. Nor does TheState.com warrant or guarantee that any files available for downloading will be free of defects. Neither The State nor any of its information providers will be liable in any way to you or to other parties for delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in material published in TheState.com.

The content, services, and features of TheState.com are subject to change without notice. The inclusion of any content, services, and features on TheState.com at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time.

While we take reasonable steps to ensure that no viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other destructive properties are present, the entire risk as to the quality and performance of TheState.com and the accuracy and completeness of any information is with you.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed on TheState.com forums, comment sections, blogs, and any other area where user-generated Content is displayed, represent the individual's own views and are not necessarily those of TheState.com. TheState.com does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice and opinions made by anyone other than authorized TheState.com spokespersons.

Any investment decisions or other actions that users take based on information available on TheState.com should first be reviewed by a competent financial adviser or other professional. THE TheState.com SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OR PRODUCT ON OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ANY LINK TO ANOTHER WEB SITE OR RESOURCE). In no event will TheState.com be liable for (i) any incidental, consequential, or indirect damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of programs or information, and the like) arising out of the use of or inability to use TheState.com, or any information or services provided on TheState.com, even if TheState.com has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or (ii) any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies published on TheState.com.

SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless TheState.com, its affiliates, employees, officers, directors, and agents from and against any and all liability, loss, claims, damages, costs and/or actions (including attorney's fees) based on or arising from any breach by you of your obligations under these Terms of Service. We reserve the right to defend any such claim, and you agree to provide us with such reasonable cooperation and information as we may request.

Jurisdiction

This agreement between TheState.com and its users will be governed and interpreted under the laws of the state of SC. Courts located in Richland County, SC have jurisdiction in any dispute arising from these Terms of Service. In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is found to be in conflict with the law, such provision shall be restated to reflect the original intent, and all other terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect.

Arbitration

Any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or TheState.com, excluding legal action taken by The State to obtain an injunction relating to its intellectual property, shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Columbia, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof.

Termination

Notwithstanding any provision of this Terms of Service, TheState.com reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to terminate any or all of the TheState.com service and/or your license to use the TheState.com service, or to block or prevent future access to and use of TheState.com.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms of Service shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Service and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Offices

The State, 1401 Shop Road Columbia SC 29201-4843, 803-771-6161.

Questions and comments about TheState.com

We hope you enjoy using TheState.com. Questions and comments about the content of TheState.com may be sent by e-mail to online@thestate.com. We try to read all comments sent to us and try to respond to as many as possible. Technical questions regarding your software, your configuration or your connection should be directed to your Internet access provider. TheState.com cannot address questions except those specifically about content and services we provide.