Terms of Service

LexPublica Terms of Service

Welcome to LexPublica! These terms of service set out the agreement ("Agreement") for your use of the LexPublica service. The LexPublica service provides legal information free of charge, and enables users to participate in the LexPublica community and to make contributions to LexPublica content (if users choose to do so).

This Agreement is legally binding, so please read it carefully. Here are some key points you need to know, right off the top:

A. 8.5x14 Media Corp. is the owner of LexPublica, and provides LexPublica as an information service. Neither 8.5x14 Media Corp. nor LexPublica is a law firm. We don't provide legal advice and we're not a substitute for the advice of a lawyer. If you need legal help for your specific circumstances, you should consult a lawyer.

B. LexPublica is provided to you "as is", without any promises about the quality of the content or its suitability for your needs, and you use LexPublica at your own risk. This agreement contains more detailed provisions on this topic, and also contains provisions that significantly limit 8.5x14's liability to you: see in particular "Limitations on liability".

C. If you choose to submit content such as feedback or questions, that does not form part of LexPublica's core content (i.e. contract templates and legal information), you agree to license the submission under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

D. If you choose to participate in creating contract templates and legal information in LexPublica, you must sign a separate Contributor Agreement, which provides that you assign to LexPublica joint ownership in the copyright to your contributions.

E. In turn, LexPublica permits you to use all of its content (including your contributions, the contributions of other participants, and the submissions of users) under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. For background on why we chose to handle ownership and licensing of contributions in this manner, please see our FAQs.

F. If you don't agree with this Agreement, don't use or participate in LexPublica.

Here are the more detailed provisions of this Agreement:

1. Parties.
(a) This Agreement is between you and 8.5x14 Media Corp. ("8.5x14"), the owner and provider of LexPublica.
(b) 8.5x14 Media Corp. is a British Columbia corporation, with an office at suite 206, 375 Water St., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6B 5C6. "8.5x14", "we", "us" and "our" all refer to 8.5x14 Media Corp..
(c) You affirm that you

(1) are over the age of majority in your jurisdiction, or
(2) have the express consent of a parent or guardian,

and are fully able and competent to enter into this Agreement. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as LexPublica is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use LexPublica.

2. Not legal advice. Neither 8.5x14 nor LexPublica is a law firm. We do not provide legal advice and we are not a substitute for the advice of a lawyer. If you need legal help for your specific circumstances, you should consult a lawyer.

3. Description of Content and Service. The "Content" means the contract templates and legal information made available by the Service. The "Service" consists of (a) a website where the Content is made available by 8.5x14 as self-help information; and (b) an online community where users may interact with each other and may participate in creating the Content.

4. Permission to use Service. You may use the Service free of charge as long as you comply with this Agreement.

5. Permission to use Content. You may use and adapt the Content free of charge on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Here is the human-readable summary of that licence:

You should read the full text of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, as that text sets out the terms that govern your use of the Content. Note that the licence includes significant limitations on 8.5x14's liability to you: see sections 5 and 6.

6. Attribution for Content. You may use or adapt the Content for your own use, free of charge, on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. If do you so, you must include an attribution to LexPublica in accordance with the LexPublica Attribution Policy.

7. Submissions. If you submit feedback, comments, questions, ideas or suggestions (a "Submission") using the Service, you acknowledge that the Submission is not confidential and you hereby grant 8.5x14 a licence to use the Submission on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

8. Privacy. 8.5x14 respects your privacy and handles your personal information in accordance with the LexPublica Privacy Policy.

9. Participation in creating Content. If you choose to participate in creating Content, you must register for an account and you must agree to, and sign, the LexPublica Contributor Agreement.

10. Registered users. In order to access some features on the Service, you must register for an account. As a registered user, you must provide accurate and complete information and keep this information updated. We reserve the right to refuse registration of, or cancel a user account, in our absolute discretion. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and for keeping your account password confidential and secure. You must notify us immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account.

11. Inactive accounts. 8.5x14 may delete and purge a user account, and all content associated with it, following any prolonged period of inactivity as determined by 8.5x14 in its absolute discretion.

12. User conduct. You must conduct yourself in accordance with the User Conduct Policy and the Community Standards. In general, this means you must treat others well, you must not disrupt the Service, and you must not make Submissions that violate the law or other people's rights. If 8.5x14 determines, in its absolute discretion, that you have breached the User Conduct Policy, the Community Standards or any other part of this Agreement, we may:
(a) limit or suspend any or all of your privileges on the Service, including your account privileges if you are a registered user;
(b) terminate your account (if you are a registered user); and
(c) otherwise restrict your access to the Service.

LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TWO PROVISIONS SIGNIFICANTLY LIMIT YOUR RIGHTS

13. No representations or warranties. 8.5x14 provides the Service "as is" and "as available". 8.5x14 makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Service – express, implied, statutory or otherwise – including without limitation warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, uninterrupted access, the absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not discoverable.

14. No liability. Except to the extent required by applicable law and then only to that extent, in no event will 8.5x14 be liable to you on any legal theory for any damages – including without limitation direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages – arising out of this Agreement or the use of the Service, even if 8.5x14 has been advised of the possibility of such damages. If for some reason 8.5x14 does become liable to you, the total damages are limited to the higher of (a) $100 and (b) the minimum damages required by applicable law.

15. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify 8.5x14, its employees, officers, directors, affiliates and agents (the "8.5x14 Parties") from and against any and all loss, expenses, damages, and costs, including without limitation reasonable legal fees, resulting, whether directly or indirectly, from your violation of this Agreement. You also agree to indemnify the 8.5x14 Parties from and against any and all claims brought by third parties arising out of your use of any of the Service and the Content, and arising out of your Submissions.

16. Operation of the Service. 8.5x14 may, at any time:
(a) modify, suspend or terminate the operation of or access to the Service, or any portion of the Service, for any reason;
(b) modify or change the Service, or any portion of the Service, for any reason;
(c) interrupt the operation of the Service, or any portion of the Service, for any reason;
all as 8.5x14 deems appropriate in its sole discretion.

17. Trade-marks. 8.5x14, LEXPUBLICA and the LEXPUBLICA logo are trade-marks of 8.5x14. You may only use these trade-marks in accordance with the LexPublica Trade-Mark Policy.

18. Copyright infringement. 8.5x14 respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you are, or are acting on behalf of, a copyright owner and believe that any content on the Service infringes upon your copyrights, please see the LexPublica Copyright Infringement Policy.

19. LexPublica attribution for adaptation of this Agreement. You may adapt this Agreement for your own use, free of charge, on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. If do you so, you must include the following attribution (including the web link) to LexPublica at the end of your document:

This document is based on the LexPublica Terms of Service (http://lexpubli.ca/legal/terms-of-service), licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

20. Termination. This Agreement will be in effect until terminated by either you or 8.5x14 as follows:
(a) 8.5x14 may terminate this Agreement (and terminate your account, if you are a registered user) if 8.5x14 determines, in its absolute discretion, that you have breached this Agreement.
(b) You may terminate this Agreement at any time and for any reason.
(c) Sections 13 (no representations or warranties), 14 (no liability) and 23 (governing law and jurisdiction) will survive any termination.
(d) Section 15 (indemnity) will survive any termination for one year.
(e) The rights granted in section 5 to use and adapt the Content, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, will continue in effect subject to the terms of that licence.

21. Amendments. 8.5x14 may amend this Agreement from time to time for any reason. When making an amendment, 8.5x14 will post a notice on the LexPublica home page. If do not agree with the amendment, you must cease to use the Service. If you continue to use the Service after 10 days from the day of the notice, you are deemed to have accepted the amendment. Nothing else may amend this Agreement.

22. Integration. This Agreement, which includes the following documents:
(a) the Privacy Policy,
(b) the Attribution Policy,
(c) the Trade-Mark Policy,
(d) the User Conduct Policy,
(e) the Community Standards,
(f) the Copyright Infringement Policy, and
(g) the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License in the manner set out in sections 5 (Permission to use Content) and 7 (Submissions),
is the entire agreement between you and 8.5x14 relating to its subject matter. If there is a Contributor Agreement between you and 8.5x14, that agreement operates independently of this Agreement.

23. Governing law and jurisdiction. This Agreement is governed by the laws in effect in British Columbia, without regard to its conflict of law rules or principles. 8.5x14 and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of British Columbia.

Creative Commons Attribution: Some of the provisions in this Agreement are based on the Creative Commons Terms of Use.