Terms of Service

Welcome to Venuology, a web-based program sponsored by the American Federation of Musicians ("AFM"). Please carefully review our Terms of Service before you begin using the site. Thank you.

A. Your Acceptance

By using and/or visiting this Website ("Venuology" or "Website"), you signify your agreement to (1) these terms and conditions (the "Terms of Service"), (2) Venuology’s Privacy Policy, incorporated here by reference, and (3) Venuology’s Community Guidelines, also incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree to any of these terms, the Privacy Policy, or Community Guidelines, you are not authorized to use Venuology.

Although we may attempt to notify you when major changes are made to these Terms of Service, you should periodically review the most up-to-date version. Venuology may, in its sole discretion, modify these Terms of Service at any time. By continuing to use this website following our posting of such changes, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, as modified. Venuology provides users with access to a rich array of educational resources, including personalized content. We hope you find our sites useful. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Website or any related sites, or any part of them, at any time, for any reason without prior notice to you. You agree that we shall not be liable for any such modification, suspension, or discontinuance. Your registration information, as well as other personally identifiable information that you provide us about yourself on our sites, is subject to our Privacy Policy.

B. General Use of the Website -- Permissions and Restrictions

Venuology hereby grants you permission to access and use the Website as set forth in these Terms of Service, provided that:

1. You do not collect any personally identifiable information of others, including user names or profile pictures, from the Website.

2. You do not use the Website for any commercial purposes without the prior written authorization of Venuology. You agree not to transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited advertising, promotional information, bulk e-mail, chain letters, contests, pyramid schemes, surveys or other solicitation. You agree not to solicit through the Website, for commercial purposes, any users of the Website.

3. You do not use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers," that accesses the Website in a manner that sends more request messages to Venuology servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional web browser. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Venuology grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders or other automated software to copy materials from the site for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the site materials. Venuology reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.

4. Venuology makes some of the Site Content (the "Feed Content") available via Real Simple Syndication and Atom feeds (the "Feeds"). You may access and use the Feeds in order to display Feed Content on your personal computer, website, or blog, provided that (a) your use of the Feeds is for personal, non-commercial purposes only, (b) your display of the Feed Content links back to the relevant pages on the Website and attributes Venuology as the source of the Feed Content, (c) your use or display of the Feed Content does not suggest that Venuology promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, web sites, products or services, (d) you do not redistribute the Feed Content, and (e) your use of the Feeds does not overburden Venuology's systems. Venuology reserves all rights in the Feed Content and may terminate the Feeds at any time.

5. You do not access, retrieve or index the Website to construct or populate a searchable database of venues or venue reviews.

6. You do not transmit or otherwise make available any content containing any "virus," "worm," "trojan horse," or any other computer code, file, or program designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

7. You do not alter or modify any part of the Website’s software code.

8. You do not circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Website or our sites or servers (or networks connected to our Website).

9. You do not harass, threaten, embarrass, or cause distress, unwanted attention, or discomfort to a person or entity on or through the Website or its communication systems.

10. You do not transmit or otherwise make available on or through the Website any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable, as solely determined by Venuology.

11. Venuology reserves the right to change or discontinue any aspect of the Website at any time, for any reason, and without notice to you.

12. Venuology reserves the right to suspend or terminate a user's access to the Website, without prior notice and at Venuology’s sole discretion.

13. You agree not to post any content that impersonates any person or other entity, or any content that misrepresents any affiliation with a person or entity.

14. You do not to post any content that may be a conflict of interest, such as trading reviews with business owners or soliciting shill reviews.

15. You do not post knowingly any information that is factually incorrect, or irrelevant to the area posted in.

16. You do not post any information intended to "keyword spam", or otherwise manipulate search engine results.

17. This list of permissions and restrictions, along with the other terms discussed below, is not intended to be complete, but merely illustrative. We reserve the right in our sole and final judgment to determine whether your conduct violates conduct requirements for the Website.

C. Venuology Registered User Accounts

In order to have access to some capabilities of the Website, such as, for example, posting reviews or adding venues, you have to become a Registered User, which will also create a user account. As a Registered User, you agree to be bound by the following terms:

1. When creating or modifying your account, you must provide current and valid email address. We reserve the right to disallow use of any user name that we deem offensive or inappropriate. You will be responsible for preserving the confidentiality of your password and for all actions of persons accessing the Website through any username/password assigned to you. You must notify Venuology immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. You may never use another’s account without permission.

2. As a Registered User you may submit reviews of musical venues, add information about venues, participate in discussion forums, send private messages or contribute other material (collectively, "User Content") to the Website. Venuology reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to delete, move, condense, or edit such User Content for any reason and without prior notice. Venuology also reserves the right to suspend or terminate a Registered User's access for posting User Content.

3. You are solely responsible for your own User Content and the consequences of posting or publishing it. You affirm, represent, and/or warrant that: you own, or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Venuology to use, all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to all User Content you submit to enable inclusion and use of such User Content in the manner contemplated by the Website and these Terms of Service.

4. You retain all of your ownership rights in your User Content. However, by submitting User Content to Venuology, you hereby grant the AFM a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable, perpetual, and transferable license to use, reproduce, store, distribute, prepare derivative works of and display your User Content (and your user name) in any medium in connection with the activities and operations of the Venuology Website, the AFM, its affiliated entities and successors. You also hereby grant each user of Venuology a non-exclusive license to access your User Content through the Website, and to use, reproduce, and distribute such User Content for such user's personal, non-commercial purposes. You understand and agree that the AFM may retain, reproduce, distribute and otherwise use for any purpose allowed under the Privacy Policy, copies of User Content that have been removed from the Website. The above licenses granted by you are perpetual and irrevocable.

5. AFM does not endorse, authorize or ratify any User Content, or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and the AFM expressly disclaims all liability in connection with User Content. AFM does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on its Website, and AFM reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to remove any content from the Website if notified that such content infringes on another's intellectual property rights.

D. Your Use of Content on the Site

In addition to the restrictions above, the following restrictions and conditions apply specifically to your use of content on Venuology.

1. The content on the Website (other than your User Content), including without limitation, the text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, interactive features and the like (collectively, "Venuology Content") is owned by or licensed by the AFM. Similarly, the trademarks, service marks and logos contained on the Website are owned or licensed by the AFM ("Venuology Marks"). Except as otherwise provided in these Terms of Service, Venuology Content and Venuology Marks may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any purpose whatsoever without the prior written consent of the AFM. The AFM reserves all rights not expressly granted in and to Venuology Content and Venuology Marks.

2. The Website is made available for your personal, non-commercial use only. As part of such use, you may:

  • print, download or display Venuology content on your computer.
  • post excerpts (i.e. not entire pages) of Venuology Content, as long as it is properly attributed and used for non-commercial purposes.
  • use and post the Venuology Marks, provided they are being used for a purpose that supports the success of the Venuology Website (i.e. linking to the Website) and not modified beyond resizing the logo or other reasonable modifications.
  • forward Website materials to others for personal, non-commercial uses that are reasonably related to the Website’s purposes, as long such use is with with proper attribution.

3. You understand that when using Venuology, you will be exposed to Venuology Content, User Content, and other third-party content from a variety of sources, and that the AFM makes no warranty about the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such Venuology Content, User Content, or other third-party content. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against the AFM with respect thereto.

4. The Website may contain links to third party websites that are not owned or controlled by the AFM. The AFM has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Website and to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each other website that you visit.

E. Digital Millennium Copyright Act

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any Venuology Content or User Content infringes upon your copyright, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing the AFM’s Copyright Agent with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C 512(c)(3) for further detail):

The AFM's designated Copyright Agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement is: [contact information here]. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the above requirements, your DMCA notice may not be valid.

For clarity, only DMCA notices should go to the Copyright Agent. Please use the Contact Us form for any other feedback, comments, requests for technical support, or other communications with Venuology.

F. Warranty Disclaimer

THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS." YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF VENUOLOGY SHALL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS, AS WELL AS ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY, THE "VENUOLOGY PARTIES"), DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE AND YOUR USE THEREOF. THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE SITE'S CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY SITES LINKED TO THIS SITE. NOR DO THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES GUARANTEE THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE ERROR FREE, OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES DO NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE PROVIDED, ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH VENUOLOGY OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE OR FEATURED IN ANY BANNER OR OTHER ADVERTISING.

G. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE FORESEEABLE, RELATING TO THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY (I) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT, (II) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF OUR WEBSITE, (III) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (IV) INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM OUR WEBSITE, (V) BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE, WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH OUR WEBSITE BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (VI) ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA VENUOLOGY, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR USER CONTENT OR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY AND THAT THE RISK OF HARM OR DAMAGE FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. TO THE EXTENT THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OF THE PROVISIONS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT MAY NOT APPLY. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS THE VENUOLOGY PARTIES AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, OF WHATEVER NATURE, THAT ARISE OUT OF YOUR USE OF AND ACCESS TO VENUOLOGY OR YOUR VIOLATION OF ANY OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICE. THIS INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATION WILL SURVIVE THESE TERMS OF SERVICE AND YOUR USE OF VENUOLOGY.

H. Ability to Accept Terms of Service

You affirm that you are either more than 18 years of age, or an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms of Service, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Service. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as Venuology is not intended for children under 13.

I. Miscellaneous

These Terms of Service shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of Washington, D.C., without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Any claim or dispute between you and the AFM that arises in whole or in part from Venuology shall be decided exclusively by a court of competent jurisdiction located in Washington, D.C. These Terms of Service, together with the Privacy Policy and any other legal notices published on the Website, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and the AFM concerning Venuology and supersedes prior agreements, if any, between you and the AFM relating to any matter dealt with in these Terms of Service. If any provision of these Terms of Service is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Service, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this these Terms of Service shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and the AFM's failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms of Service, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by the AFM without restriction. This Agreement and the rights and obligations created hereunder shall be binding upon and inure solely to the benefits of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns, and nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended or should be construed to confer upon any other person any right, remedy or claim under or by virtue of this Agreement.

You and the AFM agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to Venuology must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

These terms of use are made effective as of July 1, 2009.