Terms of Service

Welcome

ztudium.com (the “Website”) is an Internet service owned and operated by ztudium Media LLC (“ztudium”). ztudium is dedicated to providing visitors to the Website with a highly interactive and positive experience, while at the same time protecting our rights and the rights of our users. We have developed these Terms and Conditions to govern your use of the Website as well as your use of any other Internet services and channels of ztudium including, but not limited to, our mobile applications (e.g., ztudium Under 30) and social media and other channels (e.g., ztudium various profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube; emails in response to requests for submissions) (“Other Channels”). We, along with our affiliates, partners and advertisers, provide content and services to you via the Website and Other Channels subject to the following conditions. Your use of the Website and/or Other Channels tells us you have read and agreed to these Terms and Conditions. Please read them carefully. These Terms and Conditions are a binding contract between you and ztudium, regarding your use of the Website or Other Channels. If you do not agree with any of these terms, please exit the Website and cease use of any Other Channels.

1. The Website Content

1.1. All of the information, content, services and software displayed on, transmitted through, or used in connection with the Website or Other Channels, including for example, advertising, directories, guides, articles, opinions, reviews, text, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips, video, html, source and object code, software, data, and all other related matters, including without limitation, the selection and arrangement of the aforementioned and the “look and feel” of this website (collectively, the “Content”), are protected under applicable copyrights and other proprietary (including but not limited to intellectual property) rights and are the intellectual property of Ztudium, and its affiliated companies, licensors and suppliers. ztudium actively protects its rights to the Content to the fullest extent of the law. The copying, rearrangement, broadcast, rewriting for broadcast or publication, redistribution, modification, use or publication by you in any medium, directly or indirectly, of any such matters or any part of the Website, including the removal or alteration of advertising, except for limited rights of use granted hereunder, is strictly prohibited. You may not use such material except as provided in these Terms and Conditions.

1.2. The Content includes logotypes, trademarks and service marks (collectively “Marks”) owned by ztudium, and Marks owned by other information providers and third parties. For example, “ztudium” is a registered trademark of ztudium. No Marks may be used in any manner unless approved in advance, in writing by ztudium.

1.3. You may use the Content online and solely for your personal, non-commercial use, and you may download or print a single copy of any portion of the Content for your personal, non-commercial use, provided you do not remove any trademark, copyright or other notice contained in such Content. No other use is permitted unless otherwise expressly permitted by ztudium. You may not, for example, republish the Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the Content in any database, compilation, archive or cache or store the Content in electronic form on your computer or mobile device unless otherwise expressly permitted by ztudium. You may not distribute any of the Content to others, whether or not for payment or other consideration, and you may not modify, copy, frame, reproduce, sell, publish, transmit, display or otherwise use any portion of the Content without securing the prior written consent of ztudium.

1.4. Requests to use the Content for any purpose other than as permitted in this paragraph should be submitted as directed on the Website or Other Channels, as applicable.

1.5. Free access to the content made available to you on the Website is possible due to the paid advertising that appears on the Website. Without this advertising, we would not be able to provide you with this content for free. In exchange for your free access to this content, you agree that you will not, and will not permit any third party to, remove, obstruct, modify or otherwise interfere with the delivery or display of advertisements on the Website.

1.6. You may not frame or utilize framing techniques that involve any trademark, logo, copyrighted material or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of any portion of the Website or Other Channels without our express written consent. You may not alter or modify in any way, the Website or Other Channels including but not limited to using any software to suppress or alter the display of advertising on the pages of the Website or Other Channels. In addition, you agree not to decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the Website or Other Channels, not to insert any code or product or manipulate the content of the Website or Other Channels in any way that affects the user’s experience, and not to use any data mining, robots, cancelbots, Trojan horse, or any data gathering or extraction method in connection with your use of the Website or Other Channels.

1.7. ztudium respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement or are aware of any infringing material placed by any third party on the Website, please contact our designated copyright agent, in writing, either by email at copyrightagent@ztudium.com or by regular mail at ztudium Media LLC, 499 Washington Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07310, USA, Attn: Legal Department, Copyright Agent, DMCA Complaints, and provide the designated copyright agent with the following information consistent with the form required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c)(3):

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to locate the material;
4. Information sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, including address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Please note that attachments cannot be accepted at the e-mail address for security reasons.

Accordingly, any notification of infringement submitted electronically with an attachment will not be received or processed. ztudium will terminate the account of any user that is determined to be a repeat copyright infringer.

2. Membership and Registration

2.1. Certain areas of the Website or Other Channels (as applicable) may require registration or may otherwise ask you to provide information to participate in certain features or access certain content. The decision to provide this information is purely optional, however if you elect not to provide such information, you may not be able to access certain content or features or participate in various areas of the Website or applicable Other Channels. When you register or become a member of the Website or applicable Other Channels or provide information to the Website or applicable Other Channels in any other manner, you agree to provide only true, accurate, current and complete information on all registration pages. Using a name other than your own legal name is prohibited. You agree that ztudium may use the information you provide to us according to the Privacy Policy set forth on the Website.

2.2. If you become a member of the Website or applicable Other Channels, you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password, and agree you will not sell, transfer or assign your membership or any membership rights. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so that others may not access the Website or applicable Other Channels using your name in whole or in part. ztudium reserves the right to terminate membership and deny access to the Website or applicable Other Channels to any person who violates these Terms and Conditions.

3. Other Information
Content Providers:
Non-Staff Contributors, Commenters, Microsoft, Etc.

3.1. The Website and Other Channels may distribute content supplied by other information content providers such as non-staff contributors, commenters, Microsoft, etc. We use these providers to enhance your experience on the Website and Other Channels. ztudium, the Website and Other Channels are not responsible for the statements and opinions expressed by those content providers. Responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such content lies solely with those content providers and is not guaranteed by ztudium. Each of those providers have their own “Terms and Conditions” on their websites. For example, we use Bing to place interactive maps on the Website in connection with our People, Places and Companies features. Bing’s separate Terms of Use are located here: https://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9710837

Pursuant to 47 U.S.C.§ 230, Ztudium is not the publisher of such information and is therefore not liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in such content. Given the volume of information posted by such providers, the Website cannot and does not monitor all of the information posted to the Website or Other Channels and assumes no duty to monitor the Website or Other Channels for inappropriate or inaccurate content. Neither ztudium nor its affiliates or employees shall be liable to any user or anyone else for claims of defamation, libel, slander, infringement, invasion of privacy and publicity rights, obscenity, pornography, fraud or misrepresentation arising from such content. Notwithstanding the foregoing, ztudium reserves the right to remove information provided by other information content providers at any time in its sole discretion.

4. User-Generated Content: Comments and Other Submissions

4.1. The interactive areas of the Website and Other Channels are provided to give users an interesting and stimulating forum to express their opinions and share their ideas and information. To protect your safety, please use your best judgment when submitting information to the Website and Other Channels. We particularly discourage divulging personal phone numbers and addresses or other information that can be used to identify or locate you in public areas of the Website and Other Channels. ztudium reserves the right to delete, move or edit any submission at any time, for any reason or in its discretion, but has no obligation to review or remove any such content.

4.2. By placing material on, or communicating with, the Website or Other Channels (e.g., posting a comment to a Ztudium story; publishing a picture or video on a ztudium Facebook profile; participating in a ztudium Internet conversation by publishing a Tweet which incorporates a hashtag encouraged by or otherwise referencing ztudium; submitting content to Ztudium via email in response to a request for submissions on the Website or Other Channels) you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you provide, that the content is accurate, that it does not violate these Terms and Conditions, and that it will not cause injury to any person or entity. You grant ztudium and its affiliates and related entities a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to (or permit others to) use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works from all information you publish, post, or otherwise provide to us via the Website or Other Channels, in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future. Without limiting the generality of the previous sentence, you authorize ztudium to include the information you provide in a searchable format that may be accessed by users of the Website, other ztudium websites owned or operated by ztudium, and Other Channels. You also grant ztudium and its affiliates and related entities and other parties the right to use your name and any other information about you that you provide in connection with its use and with the reproduction or distribution of such material, and also grant ztudium the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication, content, or materials you send to us for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information. All rights in this paragraph are granted without the need for additional compensation of any sort to you.

4.3. Please note that ztudium does not accept unsolicited materials or ideas for use or publication. ztudium is not responsible for the similarity of any of its content or programming in any media to materials or ideas transmitted to ztudium.

5. Posting Rules

Interactive areas of the Website and Other Channels are intended to encourage public debate. We expect people to differ – judgment and opinion are subjective things – and we encourage freedom of speech and a marketplace of ideas. But by using these areas of the Website and Other Channels, you are participating in a community that is intended for all our users. Therefore, we reserve the right to remove any content posted on the Website or Other Channels at any time for any reason without notice. Decisions as to whether content violates any ztudium posting rule will be made by ztudium in its discretion after we have actual notice of such posting. Without limiting our right to remove content, we have attempted to provide the following guidelines to those posting content on the Website and Other Channels. When using the Website or Other Channels, please do not post material that:

• contains vulgar, profane, abusive or hateful language, epithets or slurs, text or illustrations in poor taste, inflammatory attacks of a personal, racial or religious nature, or expressions of bigotry, racism, discrimination or hate.
• is defamatory, threatening, disparaging, grossly inflammatory, false, misleading, deceptive, fraudulent, inaccurate, unfair, contains gross exaggeration or unsubstantiated claims, violates the privacy rights of any third party, is unreasonably harmful or offensive to any individual or community, contains any actionable statement, or tends to mislead or reflect unfairly on any other person, business or entity.
• violates any right of Ztudium or any third party.
• discriminates on the grounds of race, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation or disability, or refers to such matters in any manner prohibited by law.
• violates any municipal, state or federal law, rule, regulation or ordinance, or attempts to encourage such an evasion or violation.
• unfairly interferes with any third party’s uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Website or Other Channels.
• advertises, promotes or offers to trade any goods or services, except in areas specifically designated for such purpose.
• uploads copyrighted or other proprietary material of any kind on the Website without the express permission of the owner of that material.
• uses or attempts to use another’s account, password, service or system except as expressly permitted by these Terms and Conditions.
• includes images, photos, articles or other content that constitutes, promotes or encourages illegal acts, violation of any right of any individual or entity, violation of any local, state, national or international law, rule, guideline or regulation, or otherwise creates liability.
• uploads or transmits viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files.
• disrupts, interferes with, or otherwise harms or violates the security of the Website, or any services, system resources, accounts, passwords, servers or networks connected to or accessible through the Website, Other Channels or affiliated or linked sites.
• “inflames” any individual or entity (e.g., sends repeated messages related to another user and/or makes derogatory or offensive comments about another individual), or repeats prior posting of the same message under multiple threads or subjects.
• is unrelated to the specific interactive area or the interactive area’s topic.
• disguises the origin of the post.
• collects or stores other users’ personal data.

A violation of certain of posting rules may be referred to law enforcement authorities. ztudium reserves the right to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request.

6. Website Security Rules

6.1. You are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Website or Other Channels, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for you or logging into a server or account which 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 service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Website, overloading, “flooding”, “mailbombing” or “crashing”, or (d) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail, forum, or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. ztudium will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting those who are involved in such violations.

7. Communications With Third Parties Through the Website

7.1. Your dealings or communications through the Website and Other Channels with any party other than ztudium are solely between you and that third party. For example, certain areas of the Website and Other Channels may allow you to conduct transactions or purchase goods or services. In most cases, these transactions will be conducted by our third-party partners and vendors. Under no circumstances will ztudium be liable for any goods, services, resources or content available through such third party dealings or communications, or for any harm related thereto. Please review carefully that third party’s policies and practices and make sure you are comfortable with those policies and practices before you engage in any transaction. Any complaints, concerns or questions you may have relating to materials provided by third parties should be forwarded directly to the third party.

8. Software Available On
This Website

8.1. Any software that is made available to download from the Website or Other Channels (“Software”) is the copyrighted work of ztudium suppliers, unless otherwise indicated. Use of the Software is governed by the terms of the end-user license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with the Software (“License Agreement”). End users shall not install or use any Software that is accompanied by or includes a License Agreement, unless the end user first agrees to the License Agreement terms. Any such Software is not available to users in territories where its distribution is prohibited by law.

9. International Users

9.1. The Website and certain Other Channels are controlled, operated and administered by ztudium from its offices within the United States. ztudium makes no representation that materials or the Content available through the Website or Other Channels are appropriate or available for use outside the United States and access to them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. You may not use the Website or Other Channels, or export the Content in violation of U.S. export laws and regulations. If you access the Website or Other Channels from a location outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws.

10. E-Mail Addresses

10.1. ztudium respects the privacy of its readers. However, ztudium does make available for rental its list of those registrants who have expressly provided us with their permission to receive third party information and offers as part of their user profile. Registrants may change their user profile at any time by visiting the “edit my profile”.

11. Modification

11.1. ztudium shall have the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove terms of this agreement at any time without notice. Changes shall be effective immediately. You agree to review this agreement periodically since subsequent use by you of the Website or Other Channels shall constitute your acceptance of any changes. ztudium shall have the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect of the Website or Other Channels, including, but not limited to, the community areas, content, hours of availability and equipment needed for access to use. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon posting and any subsequent use by you after such posting shall conclusively be deemed to be acceptance by you of such changes, modifications or deletions.

12. Notice of Availability of Filtering Software

12.1. You should know that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. A report detailing some of those protections can be found at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ntiageneral/cipa2003/index.html (Children’s Internet Protection Act: Report on the Effectiveness of Internet Protection Measures and Safety Policies).

13. Disclaimer

13.1. ALL MATERIALS AND SERVICES ON THE WEBSITE, OTHER CHANNELS, AND ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES TO WHICH THE FOREGOING LINKS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” OR “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. ZTUDIUM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AVAILABILITY OR CONTENT OF OTHER SERVICES THAT MAY BE LINKED TO THE WEBSITE OR OTHER CHANNELS. BECAUSE ZTUDIUM HAS NO CONTROL OVER SUCH SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ZTUDIUM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AVAILABILITY OF SUCH EXTERNAL SERVICES, AND THAT ZTUDIUM DOES NOT ENDORSE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY CONTENT, ACCURACY, QUALITY, ADVERTISING, PRODUCTS OR OTHER MATERIALS ON OR AVAILABLE FROM SUCH EXTERNAL SERVICES. YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ZTUDIUM SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS CAUSED OR ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED BY OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT, GOODS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH SUCH EXTERNAL SERVICES.THE CONTENT PUBLISHED ON THE WEBSITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY MADE TO THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE. ZTUDIUM AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE OR OTHER CHANNELS AT ANY TIME INCLUDING CHANGES TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THE WEBSITE OFFERS A SEARCH FEATURE WITHIN THE SITE. ZTUDIUM EXPLICITLY DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENT OR AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OUR SEARCH INDEX OR DIRECTORY. ZTUDIUM ALSO DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COMPLETENESS OR ACCURACY OF ANY DIRECTORY OR SEARCH RESULT. ZTUDIUM AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS AND, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THE SUITABILITY OF THE INFORMATION; THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS OF THE CONTENT, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, TEXT, GRAPHICS, LINKS, OR OTHER ITEMS CONTAINED WITHIN THE WEBSITE OR OTHER CHANNELS, OR THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM ACCESSING AND USING THE WEBSITE OR OTHER CHANNELS AND/OR THE CONTENT CONTAINED THEREIN. ZTUDIUM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING BULLETIN BOARDS OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE USER ASSUMES THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY MAINTENANCE, REPAIR OR CORRECTION OF THE USERS COMPUTER AND OTHER EQUIPMENT.

14. Indemnity / Limitation of Liability

14.1. AS A CONDITION OF USE OF THIS WEBSITE AND ANY OTHER CHANNELS, YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY, DEFEND AND HOLD HARMLESS, ZTUDIUM AND ITS SUPPLIERS, EACH OF THEIR PARENT AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES, AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE PARTNERS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, CONTRACTORS AND AGENTS, FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CLAIMS FOR DEFAMATION, TRADE DISPARAGEMENT, PRIVACY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT) AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COURT COSTS) ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO ANY ALLEGATION REGARDING: (A) YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER CHANNELS; (B) ZTUDIUM USE OF ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE, AS LONG AS OUR USE IS NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS AGREEMENT; (C) INFORMATION OR MATERIAL POSTED OR TRANSMITTED THROUGH YOUR MEMBERSHIP ACCOUNT, EVEN IF NOT POSTED BY YOU; AND, (D) ANY VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BY YOU. If you are dissatisfied with any ztudium material, or with any of ztudium terms and conditions, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Website or Other Channels, as applicable.

14.2. Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall ztudium, or its affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the Content, unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data, the Content or any errors or omissions in the Content, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. You specifically acknowledge and agree that ztudium is not liable for any conduct of any user.

15. General

15.1. These Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to include all other notices, policies, disclaimers, and other terms contained on the Website and Other Channels; provided, however, that in the event of a conflict between such other terms and the terms of these Terms and Conditions, the terms of these Terms and Conditions shall control.