Terms & Conditions

CHANGES:

Verified News Network, LLC (referred to collectively in these Terms and Conditions as “VNN”, “we,” “us,” “our” and other similar pronouns may change these Terms and Conditions on occasion without advance notice to you. Therefore, please review this page periodically. When we change the Terms and Conditions, we will post the Effective Date and notice of such changes on our designated Services. If you do not accept the changes, your only recourse is to stop using the Services and terminate your account(s) or membership(s) immediately. If you continue to use the Services after we change the terms and conditions, you accept all changes.

We may provide additional terms, such as rules for certain activities and Services including, but not without limitation, contests, sweepstakes, subscription email/text clubs and other interactive features and services (“Additional Terms”). To the extent that there is a conflict between these Terms and Conditions and the Additional Terms, the Additional Terms shall govern.

LICENSES:

VNN appreciates all news content that is uploaded by “Official”, “Journalist”, “Affiliate”, “Expert” and “Citizen” registered sources.  We may include it in our network and/or on subsequent newscasts.

By uploading text, photo, video, or any other medium (referred to collectively as “content”, “User Generated Content”, “UGC” and “VNN Content”) to the Verified News Network you allow us to use the content you submitted. By your submission, you also warrant and represent that you own, license, or otherwise lawfully control all of the rights to your UGC, and that our use of your UGC will not infringe or violate the rights of any other person, including but not limited to any right of publicity, right of privacy, confidentiality, or any other contractual or proprietary right.

VNN does not claim ownership of the UGC you submit on, to or through the network, or any material you transmit, distribute, communicate or store on, to or through the network. By your submission, you hereby waive all moral rights, rights of attribution, rights of privacy, and rights of publicity in the UGC you submit. No compensation will be paid with respect to the use of your posting. We are free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication to the network for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information. We are under no obligation to maintain any submission you make and may remove any submission at any time in our sole discretion.

Your submission also grants VNN, its Licensees, and assigns a world-wide, payment and royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable and non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, promote, market, advertise, and display the content, for any purpose including in connection with any program, posting or other use by VNN, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

You expressly release us from any and all claims arising out of the use of the content by VNN, including but not limited to claims for blurring, distortion, or editing.  You also agree to waive any equitable remedies against VNN for its use of the content.

POSTING OF USER GENERATED CONTENT IN PUBLIC AREAS:

If you submit, transmit, distribute, post, communicate or store (collectively, “post” or “posting”) content (including, without limitation, text, photos, audio and/or video content, graphics, news stories, or any other UGC in our Services’ public areas, such as blogs, comment forums, chat rooms, message boards, social networking platforms, or news submission services, you are solely responsible for your own UGC, the consequences of posting such UGC, and your reliance on any UGC found in these areas.

You understand that we may monitor or review UGC in any public area and that we shall not have any liability whatsoever related to the content of such UGC, whether arising under the laws of libel, slander, privacy, copyright, trademark, obscenity, vulgarity, and indecency or otherwise. In cases where you feel threatened or believe someone else is in danger due to UGC, you should contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.

We may also accept the submission of UGC related to breaking news stories or severe weather via email and/or postal mail to Station personnel. Any submission of UGC via email or postal mail is also subject to these Terms and Conditions. You are solely responsible for any UGC that you provide to VNN via any format or delivery mechanism.

USER GENERATED CONTENT REQUIREMENTS:

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove, edit, or refuse to post any UGC, in whole or in part, and to terminate your ability to post UGC at any time, for any reason, and without notice. We also reserve the right to disclose any UGC to a third party as we deem necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request. In consideration of being allowed to post UGC, you agree that the following actions shall constitute a material breach of these Terms and Conditions:

(a) Posting of copyrightable information without either (i) being the copyright owner or (ii) having the express consent of the copyright owner;

(b) Posting information that reveals trade secrets unless you own them or have a license to disclose or use any such secrets;

(c) Using a public area for any purpose in violation of local, state, national, or international laws;

(d) Posting UGC that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others;

(e) Posting UGC that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, libelous, slanderous, hateful, or embarrassing to any other person or entity as determined by VNN in our sole discretion;

(f) Posting advertisements or solicitations of business;

(g) After receiving a warning, continuing to disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, or posting/sending comments that are not related to the topic being discussed (unless it is clear the discussion is free-form);

(h) Posting surveys, contests, chain letters or pyramid schemes;

(i) Impersonating another person or allowing any other person or entity to use your identification for posting or viewing comments; and

(j) Uploading or distributing files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer, operating system or electronic device.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT:

If you believe that your material has been posted on our network and is accessible in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you must notify us according to the DMCA Designated Agent notification instructions in our Copyright Complaint Procedures. If you are the subject of a DMCA “take down” request, your appeal process is also provided in our Copyright Complaint Procedures.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:

All text, images, photographs, graphics, logos, trade, product or program names, titles, packaging, user interfaces, audio and/or video content and any other content provided on or through the network by VNN and its Licensees, and advertisers, sponsors or promotional partners (collectively, “Advertisers”), including the selection, coordination, and arrangement of any such content are owned by or licensed to VNN, Licensees, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and/or our third-party licensors.

VNN is protected under U.S. and/or international copyright, trademark, patent, or other relevant intellectual property laws. Nothing stated or implied on the network confers on you any additional license or right under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of VNN or any third party unless explicitly provided in these Terms and Conditions.

Unless such use is expressly prohibited by VNN, you may view, reproduce, transmit, link, cache VNN Content for your own personal and non-commercial use, including posting on your personal Facebook page or other personal social networking platforms, provided you do not delete, change or obscure any of the VNN Content (including any copyright, trademark or proprietary notices), and do not misrepresent that VNN Content is your own.

You may not (and you may not permit or encourage anyone else to) make derivative works, publicly perform, reproduce, distribute, transmit or link to VNN Content in or on any other third party website, digital service or via any vehicle in any manner that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or origin of VNN Content, or is misleading, disparaging, harmful, or a detriment to VNN in our sole discretion. Except where permitted by law or expressly authorized by VNN, VNN Content may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, linked, cached or otherwise used for any commercial purposes unless you have the prior written permission of VNN. You may only use our Services and our VNN Content as expressly permitted in these Terms and Conditions and for no other purpose. We may revoke permission to use VNN Content at any time and for any reason. VNN, Licensees, Advertisers and Operational Service Providers retain exclusive rights in any VNN Content that are not expressly provided in these Terms and Conditions.

Requests for permission to use VNN Content for commercial purposes should be emailed to [email protected]

Additionally, you cannot imitate, dilute or conduct confusing, misleading, or disparaging uses of any VNN Content trademark under U.S. and/or international laws, whether for commercial or non-commercial use.

PROHIBITED USES GENERALLY:

You are required to comply with all applicable law in connection with your use of the network. We may provide additional requirements in Additional Terms or posted on the network. As a condition of your use of the network, you represent and warrant that you will not use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms and conditions. You further agree not to:

(a) Use any incomplete, false or inaccurate biographical information or other information, or impersonating any person or otherwise misrepresent your relationship or affiliation for purposes of using the network, or for registering for any activity, feature, and/or promotion;

(b) Delete or revise any material, VNN Content or other information on this network;

(c) Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on VNN’s infrastructure or operating systems;

(d) Use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the network or any activity being conducted on the network;

(e) Harvest or otherwise collect information about users, including but not limited to, email addresses, IP addresses, unique device IDs, usage, transaction or search history using systematic, electronic methods, or any other means to create or compile (directly or indirectly) a profile, compilation, database or directory without prior written permission from VNN;

(f) Use or attempt to use any engine, software, tool, agent or other device or mechanism (including without limitation browsers, spiders, robots, avatars or intelligent agents) to navigate or search the Services other than the search engine and search agents available from VNN and other than generally available third-party web browsers (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, or Google Chrome);

(g) Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software comprising or in any way making up a part of the network;

(h) Link to the network or VNN Content, frame the network, exhibit or display the network in association or connection with an unauthorized logo, name, or mark; or do anything that could falsely suggest a relationship between VNN, Licensees, Affiliates and any non-affiliated third party, or do anything that could potentially deprive us of revenue or user activity (including but not limited to revenue or activity generated from promotions, advertising, or sale of Products);

(i) Engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the network, or which, in our sole judgment, exposes us or any of our users, Operational Service Providers, or Advertisers to any liability or detriment of any type.

You also are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the network, including, without limitation:

(A) Accessing data not intended for you or logging into a server or account that you are not authorized to access;

(B) Attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization;

(C) Attempting to interfere with the service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, by way of submitting a virus to, or overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mailbombing,” or “crashing” the Service;

(D) Sending unsolicited e-mail, texts, IM, or any other communications to a computer or a wireless device, including promotions and/or advertising of Products, an entity or an individual person; or

(E) Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail, mobile message, or posting.

Violations of any system, network, or security measures related to the network may result in civil and/or criminal liability. VNN will investigate occurrences that may involve such violations and will involve and cooperate with governmental agencies and law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.

ADVERTISERS:

The inclusion of Advertisers’ statements, messages, offers, advice, or promotional materials on or through the network is not an endorsement by VNN or any Stations in favor of same. Your correspondence and business dealings directly with, or participation in the promotions of Advertisers found on or through the network, including payment and delivery of your purchase of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and the Advertiser. You understand, acknowledge and agree that VNN and Licensees are not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as a result of any such dealings or due to the presence of Advertisers on the Service.

Advertisers on VNN may offer various goods and services for sale (collectively, “Products”), or direct or link to other websites that sell Products. We have no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any Products you may obtain from or through other websites or web pages, even if you were directed or linked to such a website or page through VNN. If a Product offered directly by VNN is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information, we reserve the right to refuse or cancel orders placed for that Product, whether or not the order has been confirmed and even if your credit or debt card account has been charged (in which event we will issue a credit to your account for your order).

The creation or transmission of confirmation for an order does not mean final acceptance of your order, nor does it create a binding confirmation of an offer to sell any Product. We reserve the right to accept or decline your order for any reason up until the time the Product is actually shipped to you. We may also, without prior notice, limit or reduce the quantity you ordered of any Product and we will notify you if we change your order. Products directly sold by our Services are prohibited from commercial resale. We do not knowingly accept orders from dealers, exporters, wholesalers, distributors, resellers or other similar persons or companies, and reserve the right to refuse, cancel or seek the return of any Products that are purchased in violation of the foregoing restrictions.

MINORS:

Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from participating in activities that require registration and the collection of Personal Information. Parents and legal guardians may register for the activity on behalf of their child, under the parent or legal guardian’s own name and Personal Information. Persons between the ages of 13 and 18 years may not participate in most activities on this Service, unless designated otherwise.

The parents or legal guardians of minor children shall be solely responsible for (a) the online content and activities of such minor; (b) monitoring such minor’s access to and use of the Services; and (c) the consequences of any use of the Services by such minor. Any false or fraudulent registration or entry from any person will disqualify the person from the receipt of any contest or sweepstakes prize or other benefit.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITIES:

Except as specifically set forth in these Terms and Services, the network, including any content, software and functions available on or accessed through or sent from the services are provided “as is.” We make no representation or warranty of any kind whatsoever to you or any other person relating in any way to our services, including any part thereof, or any website or other content or service that may be accessible directly or indirectly through our services. We disclaim to the maximum extent permitted by law, any and all such representations and warranties. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all (a) warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose; (b) warranties against infringement of any third party intellectual property, proprietary or privacy rights; (c) warranties relating to delays, interruptions, errors, or omissions in the services, or any part thereof; (d) warranties relating to the transmission or delivery of the services; and (e) warranties otherwise relating to performance, nonperformance, or other acts or omissions by us or any third party. Further, and without limiting the generality of any of the foregoing, there is no warranty that any of the services will meet your needs or requirements, or the needs or requirements of any other person. You understand, acknowledge, and agree that the use of our services is at your own risk. Your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using or accessing the services.

Our services may contain technical inaccuracies, typographical errors, and out of date information. We make no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the network, or that any such inaccuracies, errors or such information will be fixed. Neither VNN, Licensees, nor any Operational Service Provider, involved in creating, producing or delivering the content on our behalf, shall be liable in any manner whatsoever for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, special, compensatory, exemplary or punitive damages arising out of your access, use or inability to use these services or any website or online service linked to these services, or any errors or omissions in the content thereof.

We reserve the right to delete, suspend, terminate or alter the content of this network in any way, at any time, for any reason, without prior notification, and we will not be liable in any way for any possible consequences of such changes. These limitations apply whether the alleged liability is based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other basis, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damage. Our liability shall be limited to the extent permitted by law. In the event that you incur any damages arising out of your use of the services, you understand, acknowledge and agree that any claimed damages are not irreparable and are not sufficient to entitle you to an injunction or any other equitable relief.

Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. This means that some of the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you.

INDEMNIFICATION:

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless VNN, Licensees, Subsidiaries, VNN Affiliates, Advertisers, Operational Service Providers and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives and agents, and successors and assigns from and against any claims, actions, governmental investigations or inquiries, lawsuits, proceedings, costs, expenses, demands, or obligations of any kind including, without limitation, reasonable attorney and accounting fees (collectively, “Claims” or individually, a “Claim”) arising out of or in connection with your use or misuse of the network, including without limitation, any UGC, your violation of these Terms and Conditions, or your violation of any rights of another person. We will provide notice to you promptly of any such Claim and will assist you, if requested and at your expense, in defending any such Claim. You may not settle any Claim covered by this Indemnification Section without VNN’s prior written approval. We retain the right to take exclusive control and defense of any Claim subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate fully with us in asserting any available defenses.

CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM:

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Oklahoma. You expressly agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts in Oklahoma in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of our Services.

SEVERABILITY AND INTEGRATION:

These Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement by and among you, VNN, Licensees and govern your use of this network, superseding any prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic). If any portion of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.

NO WAIVER:

Our failure to exercise or enforce any provision of these Terms and Conditions or respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive our right to exercise or enforce subsequently any terms or conditions of these Terms and Conditions or to act with respect to similar breaches.

NO PROFESSIONAL ADVICE:

Any information supplied by any employee or agent of VNN, Licensees, whether by telephone, e-mail, letter, facsimile or other form of communication, is intended solely as general guidance on the use of the Services, and does not constitute a waiver or modification of any of the terms in these Terms and Conditions, or any legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice. Individual situations and state laws vary and users are encouraged to obtain appropriate advice from qualified professionals in their applicable jurisdictions.

TERMINATION:

VNN reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your membership or account, and/or disable your access to all or part of the network, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. These Terms and Conditions will survive termination, whether you voluntarily close your account or cancel your membership or whether we terminate your membership, account and/or disable access to our Services for any reason.

MISCELLANEOUS:

(a) You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and us as a result of these Terms and Conditions or your use of the network.

(b) If we are required by state or federal law to notify you regarding changes to these Terms and Conditions or for other events, you hereby acknowledge and agree that such notices will be effective upon our posting the required information on the network or by delivery to you via email, if you have provided accurate contact information. You further acknowledge and agree that if you have not provided accurate contact information, we are not responsible for failure to notify you.

(c) By registering a user account with VNN, you acknowledge you will be signed up for VNN’s mailing list and will be sent news updates and information via email. We do not share or sell your email information with anyone. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” option available in every email or by emailing [email protected].

(d) By subscribing to VNN informational mobile alerts, you certify that you are over 13 years of age or have parental consent, are the account holder or have the account holder’s permission, and agree to receive ongoing SMS messages from VNN. Up to 7 messages are typically delivered per week based on subscription preferences. Service is available on select carriers. In addition to any entry, submission, donation or other fee of which you are notified, your carrier’s message and data rates may apply. No purchase is necessary. VNN will not be liable for any delays in the receipt of any SMS messages as delivery is subject to effective transmission from your network operator. SMS messages are provided on an as is basis. Data obtained from you in connection with SMS service may include your cell phone number, carrier’s name, and date, time and content of message. Such information may be used by VNN to contact you and to provide services you request. SMS messages will be delivered to the phone number the consumer provides for opt-in. You can cancel your alert subscription at any time by replying STOP to any text alert. For more information reply HELP to any text alert or email [email protected]

Effective Date: 29 May 2021