Terms & Conditions [Privacy Policy, Contest Rules]

SFist LLC is a Delaware limited liability company ("SFist") that owns and/or operates and/or licenses the use of the following Internet sites and social media accounts:
SFist.com
@SFist at Twitter.com/SFist
@SFist at Instagram.com/SFist
@SFistDotCom at Facebook.com/SFist
together with any associated content, including but not limited to email addresses, RSS feeds, and/or third party links and third party content (collectively, the "Websites.")

Agreement between User and SFist

The terms and conditions of use set forth below (the "Agreement") represent a legally binding contract between SFist and all persons who access or attempt to access or otherwise make use of the Websites or any component thereof (the "Users.") SFist's provision of access to the Websites and/or any and all services provided on or via the Websites is expressly subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. Accessing the Websites or otherwise using the Websites constitutes the User's acknowledgement of, notice of, and consent to, each of the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. Users who are not willing to comply with all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement are not authorized to access or use the Websites and must cease immediately. SFist reserves the right to revise the Agreement's terms and conditions from time to time, and may do so by posting such revised terms and conditions to the Websites. The User is responsible to review the Agreement each time the User accesses or uses the Websites.

SFist Service

The "Service" provided by SFist to the User is the granting of a personal limited license permitting the User to access RSS feeds, headlines, text and other information or materials contained on the Websites (collectively, the "Content,") subject to the following:

1. The User shall not modify the Content in any way, except as set forth in subdivision (b) below.
2. Users who use the Content for commercial purposes ("Commercial Users") must strip all images prior to distribution, absent the express written authorization of the copyright holders of such images. For the purpose of this Agreement, Commercial Users shall include but not be limited to owners and operators of websites that generate revenue through advertisements or otherwise.
3. Syndication of the Content is permitted provided that:
   1. The applicable SFist logo and URL appear prominently at the top of each web page that displays the Content.
   2. In the case of web syndication, all hyperlinks embedded in the Content remain intact and active, including but not limited to "More From…" links to a full article in an original publication. No change is made to the format or branding of the Content. No edits or other substantive modifications are made to the Content. No image from any Website is used in print absent prior authorization from the owner of the copyright of the Content to the User.
4. Use of RSS feeds is subject to the following:
   1. The User shall not cause the RSS feeds to be spliced into feeds of, or otherwise redistributed by, Users or third party RSS providers.
   2. The User shall not add advertisements or any promotional content to the RSS feeds.
5. SFist has no obligation to, but nonetheless reserves the rights to, the following:
   1. to object to the User's presentation of the RSS feeds;
   2. to require the User to cease using the RSS feeds at any time;
   3. to terminate distribution of the RSS feeds to the User;
   4. to change the content or format of the RSS feeds without notice to the User;
   5. to create limits on use and storage of User Content (defined below) at any time and without notice to the User;
   6. to otherwise modify, suspend or revoke, or discontinue temporarily or permanently, the Service, Websites or the Content or any part thereof, with or without notice and without incurring any liability to the User or to any third party;
   7. to access, read, preserve and disclose any information as it reasonably believes necessary in order to:
      1. comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request;
      2. enforce this Agreement, and to investigate any actual or potential violations of this Agreement;
      3. detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues;
      4. delete the User's profile and any User Content and/or to prohibit the User from using or accessing the Websites at any time, for any reason or for no reason, with or without notice to the User, including but not limited to the violation of this Agreement;
      5. protect the rights, property and/or safety of SFist, its users and the public, and to assist legal authorities in doing so.

By using the Service, the User consents to SFist's use of User information in accordance with the SFist's Privacy Policy.

Notwithstanding the above, the User agrees that SFist will not be liable for the exercise or failure to exercise any of these rights, and the failure to exercise such rights for any period of time or under any circumstances does not constitute any waiver of SFist's rights to exercise such rights in the future.

SFist reserves the right in its sole discretion from time to time to terminate or revise all or any portions of the Service and Websites, and to terminate or limit one or more Users' access and use thereof.

Users shall not use any spider, robot ("bot"), deep link, page scrape, crawl, index, Internet agent, or other automated device, program, algorithm or technology which performs the same or similar functions, to use, access, copy, acquire, input or store information, generate impressions, search, generate searches or monitor the Websites or any portions.

User Responsibilities and Obligations, Representations and Warranties

The User acknowledges that the User is responsible for the User's own use of the Service and the Websites and in particular agrees and acknowledges the following:

1. The User consents to the public dissemination of all User Content and acknowledges that the User Content, once made public, is permanently public.
2. The User warrants and represents that all User Content does not infringe or otherwise violate the rights of any third party, and that the User owns the User Content or otherwise has express and sufficient copyright, trademark and other rights in and to the User Content to post, upload, display and publish it on the Websites and to grant SFist the non-exclusive license to such User Content described above.
3. The User shall not use the Service or Websites to post, upload, transmit, display, publish or share child pornography, and the User acknowledges that SFist will report such use of the Websites to the appropriate authorities immediately upon discovery.
4. The User shall not use the Service or Websites to post, upload, transmit, display, publish or share any User Content that is obscene, defamatory or invasive of the privacy of any third party, and by submitting User Content the User warrants and represents that the User Content is not obscene, defamatory, invasive of privacy or otherwise illegal.
5. The User shall not use the Service or Websites to post, upload, transmit, display, publish or share any User Content that is physically threatening, graphically violent, intended for any illegal purpose, or otherwise inappropriate for a general audience.
6. The User is solely responsible for the preservation of the User Content, by the creation of backup copies or otherwise, at the User's sole expense.
7. The User shall indemnify and hold harmless SFist, its members, managers, licensors, licensees, and their respective affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, counsel and representatives (collectively, the "SFist Group") from any claims, damages and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from or related to the User's use or attempted use of the Service or Websites, or any actual or alleged breach by the User of this Agreement.

Websites are Not Intended for Children

This website is not directed to or intended for use by children under the age of 13 years. SFist does not request, permit submission by, or knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from any person that is under the age of 13 years.

User Comments and Other User Content

SFist is an ardent advocate of free speech on the Internet and provides an open forum to facilitate User participation in discussions. Users are encouraged to post comments relating to the Content and/or current affairs and other matters of interest to other Users (the "Comments"), and also are invited to post User's name, image and likeness, text, photographs, videos, music and other audiovisual material, notes and hyperlinks (collectively with the Comments, the "User Content").

SFist generally will not curate or restrict the open forum provided via the Websites but does require the User to comply with the following guidelines:

1. The User shall not use the Service or the Websites in any illegal manner or for any illegal purpose, or in any manner that may cause damage, disable, overburden or impair the Service or the Websites.
2. The User shall not defeat or interfere with, nor attempt to defeat or interfere with, any security feature of the Service or the Websites.
3. The User shall restrict its use of the Websites to personal use and shall refrain from posting Comments or other User Content that are commercial or otherwise seek to solicit business from other users, and from using any automated system, software or device to generate and submit unsolicited communications to or via the Service or the Websites.
4. The User shall not alter or modify any Content or component of the Service or the Websites other than User Content posted by that User.
5. The User shall not collect any personally identifiable information, including but not limited to account names or email addresses, from the Service or the Websites.
6. The User shall not post, upload, transmit, share or otherwise make available on the Websites any User Content or other material that contains viruses or any other computer code that may interfere with the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications or other equipment.
7. The User shall not harass, bully, threaten or intimidate any other User of the Service or the Websites, and shall refrain from posting Comments or other User Content that is defamatory or illegal.

SFist reserves the right (but undertakes no obligation) to remove or edit Comments and User Content in its sole and absolute discretion, for any other reason or for no reason, including if and as SFist determines that such Comments or User Content violate one or more of the guidelines, this Agreement or applicable law.

The User is solely responsible for all of the User's User Content and for the consequences of posting, uploading, displaying and publishing the User Content.

By submitting or posting User Content to the Websites, the User grants to SFist the non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, free worldwide license to use, copy, publicly perform, display, transmit, reformat, distribute, redistribute, sublicense, translate, excerpt, create derivative works from or incorporate into other works for any purpose including trade, User Content (and portions thereof) in or through any and all media now or later known, for any purpose, without or without credit or attribution.

If a User believes that another User has infringed the User's copyright, the User shall follow the procedure set forth here.

Image Terms of Use

SFist LLC sites typically display images as part of blog posts written by our editors. The types of images editors are authorized to use on SFist LLC sites include:

• Images licensed from photographic archive vendors
• Images supplied to our editors or released into the public domain by public relations and marketing companies for press purposes
• Reader-submitted images, with the implied representation that the person submitting the image owns the copyright in the image and the right to give it to us for use on our site(s)
• Images published on Flickr or other public photo sites in instances where the photographer has chosen to license their work under the Creative Commons license
• Images commissioned by SFist LLC
• Thumbnail images of 150x150 pixels or less
• Images used to illustrate a newsworthy story under the Fair Use doctrine
• Images where the use is transformative, such as for satire
• Images so widely distributed on the internet that they are deemed to have become part of the public domain

If you think we have published an image or text that infringes your copyright, we will address your concerns; however, if the image falls into one of the categories listed above, we believe that our use of the image is legitimate and we will not remove it from the site.

Please note that we will respond only to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The text of the Act can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Web Site, http://lcWeb.loc.gov/copyright/

To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication (by email with an attached and signed PDF or by fax) that sets forth the items specified below. Please do not send us regular mail, as we may not receive it in a timely fashion. In all cases, if you do not hear a response from us within 10 days of submitting a complaint, please telephone us at (646) 349-3893 to confirm that we received your original complaint. Spam blockers sometimes devour important emails from strangers!

To enable us to address your concerns, please provide the following information:

1. For each allegedly infringing image or piece of text that you wish to have removed from one of our sites, provide the exact permanent URL for the page containing the material.
2. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you: an email address is preferred, as well as a telephone contact number.
3. Provide the following information detailing your claim to ownership of the copyright in the allegedly infringing material:
   • Proof of copyright in the image or text concerned, namely proof of registration of the Image under the DMCA,
     
     OR, absent such registration,
     
     
   • a detailed description of where the photograph was taken, by whom, who or what the subject of the image is, AND
   • Evidence to support your claim that you own the copyright in the image

   We will not comply with requests to remove an image where the complainant cannot prove that they own the copyright in the image in question.

4. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."
5. Sign the document and fax it to:
   (646) 349-3893, Attn: SFist Legal / DMCA Complaints
   
   OR email it to:
   
   legal AT SFist DOT com

Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that any material on our sites is infringing your copyrights.

Indeed, in a recent case a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the Fair Use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys' fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

Please note that a copy of each legal notice we receive will be sent (with your personal information removed) to Chilling Effects for publication.

You can see an example of such a publication at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=861.

We also reserve the right to publish your letter on the site(s).

Third Party Links, Websites and Services

The Websites contain links to websites and content operated by third parties. Such links do not mean or imply that SFist endorses, recommends, sponsors, or otherwise has any affiliation or relationship with any third party, and no affiliation or relationship should be presumed. SFist does not control and is not responsible for any aspect of such websites and content.

Disclaimers

The Content includes postings and other information provided by third parties and other Users who submit material to SFist, comment or otherwise make substantive contributions to the Content.

THE USER ACKNOWLEDGES AND UNDERSTANDS THAT SFist PROVIDES THE SERVICE AND WEBSITES ONLY ON AN AS IS AND AS AVAILABLE BASIS. THE USER USES THE SERVICE AND WEBSITES AT THE USER'S SOLE RISK. SFist DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW IN THE JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE USER IS USING THE SERVICE AND WEBSITES.

IN PARTICULAR, SFist DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE USER, THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, RELIABLE OR ERROR-FREE, THAT THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, THAT THE QUALITY OF ANY OF THE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES WILL MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE USER, THAT ANY ERRORS IN THE COMPONENTS OR CONTENTS OF THE SERVICE OR THE WEBSITES WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE WEBSITES OR THE SERVICE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY SFist OR ANY REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY.

Limitation of Liability

THE USER EXPRESSLY UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES THAT THE SFist GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, REGARDLESS OF ANY NOTICE THEREOF, RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE CONTENT, USER CONTENT, SERVICE OR WEBSITES, PROVIDED THAT, TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS PROHIBITED BY LAW IN THE JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE USER IS USING THE SERVICE, THE MAXIMUM LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY.

General Provisions

This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding of the parties with respect to its subject matter. In the event that any one or more of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. This Agreement shall be deemed to have been made in the State of Delaware and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware applicable to contracts negotiated, executed and performed within said State. The parties shall make a good faith effort to resolve any breach of this Agreement, or any other dispute arising under or in connection with this Agreement, through mediation conducted within thirty (30) days following first assertion of the breach or dispute. If six (6) hours of such mediation does not fully resolve the breach or dispute, or if the parties do not conduct such mediation, the breach or dispute shall be resolved by binding arbitration under the administration and rules of JAMS in New York, New York (www.jamsadr.com). Notwithstanding the foregoing mediation and arbitration provisions, SFist never shall be precluded or delayed from seeking and obtaining temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against infringement or other violation of its claimed intellectual property rights, or other relief that it deems urgently necessary to defend or enforce its rights or this Agreement, in any court(s) of competent jurisdiction.

Mediavine Programmatic Advertising (Ver 1.1)

The Website works with Mediavine to manage third-party interest-based advertising appearing on the Website. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website.

First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on the Website to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The "help" feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at All About Cookies.

Without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the Website content and features. Please note that rejecting cookies does not mean that you will no longer see ads when you visit our Site. In the event you opt-out, you will still see non-personalized advertisements on the Website.

The Website collects the following data using a cookie when serving personalized ads:

• IP Address
• Operating System type
• Operating System version
• Device Type
• Language of the website
• Web browser type
• Email (in hashed form)

Mediavine Partners (companies listed below with whom Mediavine shares data) may also use this data to link to other end user information the partner has independently collected to deliver targeted advertisements. Mediavine Partners may also separately collect data about end users from other sources, such as advertising IDs or pixels, and link that data to data collected from Mediavine publishers in order to provide interest-based advertising across your online experience, including devices, browsers and apps. This data includes usage data, cookie information, device information, information about interactions between users and advertisements and websites, geolocation data, traffic data, and information about a visitor’s referral source to a particular website. Mediavine Partners may also create unique IDs to create audience segments, which are used to provide targeted advertising.

If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit National Advertising Initiative opt out page. You may also visit Digital Advertising Alliance website and Network Advertising Initiative website to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices app to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.

For specific information about Mediavine Partners, the data each collects and their data collection and privacy policies, please visit Mediavine Partners.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or notices of violations to these terms and conditions, please contact the editor of the SFist Site in question, or send an email to questions AT SFist.com, or by mail to SFist LLC, 500 Sansome Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94111.