Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Please review our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use below:

Last Updated: August 1, 2023

Studio Esme LLC (“Studio Esme”, “us”, “our” or “we”) cares about your privacy and the security of your information. We want you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose information, including personal information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices regarding our use and disclosure of user information collected on the Switch-Lit website (switch-lit.com and all sub-domains), mobile websites, applications and any other Studio Esme products, services or tools that link to this Privacy Policy (the “Services”).

When you access or use the Services, you are agreeing to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into by reference and subject to the Terms of Service.

As used in this Privacy Policy, the term “Service Providers” means third-party companies that help us deliver or manage our Services (e.g., analytics, hosting, software maintenance, database maintenance and subscription management).

1. Information Collection

We may collect both personal information (such as, your name, address and email) and non-personal information related to you and your use of the Services in the following ways:

A. Information you provide to us directly.

Website Forms and Submissions – You may be asked to provide personal information to us when you fill out online forms, submit works or partial works, fill out online applications or provide feedback on the Services.
Subscriptions – When you subscribe to any newsletters or other publications through the Services, you may be asked to create an account with us and submit personal information to do so.
Surveys – From time to time, Esme may collect personal information via online surveys, polls or other interactive activities on topics related to our programs or the Services. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary.

B. Information collected from your use of the Services.

Cookies and Other Technologies – Information collected automatically may include usage details (e.g., pages viewed on our website or time spent on a page), IP addresses, and information collected through browser cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of the Services. By using the Services with your browser setting adjusted to accept cookies, you consent to our use of cookies on the Services. The cookies we use include, but may not be limited to:
- Google Analytics – Web traffic tracking and analytics. Learn more at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, and to opt out, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
- Google Tag Manager – Web traffic tracking. Learn more at https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/6102821.
Behavioral Targeting/Re-Targeting: We may use a third-party ad network to either display advertising on our Services or to manage our advertising on other sites. Examples of these services include Facebook Pixel and Google Tag Manager. Our ad network may use cookies and Web beacons to collect non-personal information about your activities on our Services and other websites to provide you targeted advertising based upon your interests.
Social Media Widgets: We may include social media features, such as the Facebook “Like” button and widgets, the “Share” this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our Services. These features may collect information, such as your IP address and other data, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third-party or hosted directly on our Services. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

2. How We Use the Information Collected

We may use the information collected from you to:

Communicate with you, including to respond to your inquiries and provide information you request from us.
Send you email newsletters, mailings, and other information about programs, initiatives, and events.
Communicate with you about other products, programs or services that we believe may be of interest to you.
Provide, maintain, and improve the Services, including research and analytics regarding users of the Services and usage patterns.
Administer and protect the Services, including to detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be illegal.
Enforce the legal terms that govern your use of our Services, and/or for the purposes for which you provided the Information.

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we
reasonably determine that we need to use it for another reason that is consistent with the original
purpose(s) and/or as required or permitted by law.

3. How We Share the Information Collected

We do not share or disclose your personal information to any third parties, except as described in this Privacy Policy or as authorized by you.

We may share your information with Service Providers who may use the information to perform services on our behalf, such as website hosting, information technology services, analytics, subscription fulfillment, and data management, and in some cases, so they can provide, improve and communicate with you about their own products and services.

We may share your information with non-profit and for-profit funding or grant partners or other strategic partners when it is related to events, activities, opportunities, products, or services that might be of interest to you. You may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by following the “unsubscribe” instructions at the bottom of each email.

We may share your information as necessary to conform or comply with applicable laws; to respond to requests from public, governmental, and regulatory authorities; to obtain legal remedies or limit our damages; and to protect the rights, safety, or property of our employees, you, or others.

If we merge with or are acquired by another organization or entity or assign all or part of our Services to another organization or entity, we may share and transfer your personal information to the party or parties involved in the transaction as part of that transaction.

We also may share information in an aggregated manner with third parties and such third parties may further share such aggregated non-personally identifiable information further in connection with their own marketing, products, and services.

4. Choice/Opt-out

If you no longer wish to receive email subscription communications from us, you may opt out of receiving these communications by following the “unsubscribe” instructions at the bottom of each email or by changing the settings in your account, as applicable.

From time to time, it may be necessary for us to send out service-related announcements. For example, if one of our Services is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send users an email notice regarding the suspension. Generally, users may not opt out of these communications.

Cookies: Whether cookies are placed on your computer or mobile device is something you can
control. Virtually all web browsers allow you to run a scan to see the cookies that are in use,
along with the ability to clear them individually or clear all of them. Please review the privacy
settings on your computer, mobile device, and web browsers to limit or block location tracking,
cookies, and other similar online tracking technologies. To find out more about how to do this
go to www.aboutcookies.org , which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a
wide variety of desktop browsers.
Do Not Track: Some Internet browsers include the ability to transmit “Do Not Track” signals, which is a privacy preference that users can set to opt out of tracking by websites and online services. If we receive a “Do Not Track” signal we will opt-out your web browser from receiving advertising cookies.
Global Privacy Controls: We also recognize Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals. This means that if your browser or browser extension has GPC enabled, our websites will automatically recognize that signal and opt-out your browser from the “sale” of your personal information and from receiving advertising cookies. For more information about GPC, please visit: https://globalprivacycontrol.org/
Email and SMS/Text Messaging: You can opt out of receiving commercial email or text messages by following the instructions contained in any such message or by contacting us directly at editors@switchlit.com

Please note that even if you unsubscribe from marketing or promotional e-mail messages, we may still need to send you account-related communications, such as service announcements, log-in, and registration information.

Account Settings: If you have created an account with Us, you may log into your account online or on your mobile device to review and update your privacy settings.
Additional Privacy Rights: Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, and Virginia have state-specific rights with respect to the use of their information. Please see Section 8 below (Special Information Regarding Individual U.S. State Laws – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, and Virginia) for more information.

5. Blogs and Community Forums

Our Services may offer publicly accessible blogs, community forums or other public areas where users may submit information and content. Our Services may further offer private channels of communication between users of the site for purposes of collaborative works and exchange of ideas. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information from a blog or community forum, contact us as noted above. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so.

Our blogs and community forums also may be managed by a third-party application that may require you to register to post a comment. We do not have access or control of the information posted to such blogs. You will need to contact or login to the third-party application if you want the personally identifiable information that was posted to the comments section removed. To learn how the third-party application uses your information, please review its privacy policy.

Our private channels of communication will require you to register and provide information to create an account with us for use of the Services.

6. Third-Party Links

The Services may include links to other sites operated by third parties. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our Services, we encourage you to read the privacy policy and terms of use of every website you visit.

7. Policy Regarding Children

Switch-Lit’s general audience websites and mobile services are not directed to children under the age of 13 and do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Please contact us if you have concerns regarding the potential collection of your child’s information.

8. Security

We have put in place reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

9. Updating and Deleting Personal Information; Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for our legitimate interests, in accordance with our retention policies, and in accordance with applicable laws.

If you would like to request to review, correct, restrict or delete personal information that you have previously provided to us, object to the processing of personal information, or if you would like to request to receive an electronic copy of your personal information for purposes of transmitting it to another company (to the extent this right to data portability is provided to you by applicable law), you may contact us at the email address below. We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law.

10. Users from Outside the United States

Please be aware that information you provide to Us or that We obtain as a result of your use of the Services may be collected in your country and subsequently transferred to the United States or another country in accordance with applicable law, in which case the information may be made accessible to law enforcement and national security authorities of that jurisdiction under laws applicable in that jurisdiction. Our primary headquarters are in the United States. We have affiliates, vendors, advertisers, customers, and other third parties with which We do business in other countries. If we disclose personal information to an individual or entity outside of the United States, we will seek assurances that any information we may provide to them is adequately safeguarded and in accordance with applicable privacy laws. The privacy and data protection laws in the country to which your information is transferred may not be equivalent to such laws in your country of residence. By using and participating in any Services or providing Us with your information, you consent to the collection, international transfer, storage, and processing of your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

11. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The GDPR is a European regulation concerning the use and processing of personal information. We are committed to processing the information of EU visitors to our Services in compliance with the GDPR. The applicable legal basis for which we process your information for the specific purposes listed above, include the following:

We have a legitimate interest in communicating with you and managing our interactions with you regarding the Services
In specific circumstances, we may need to process your information to comply with an applicable law or regulation. Where we process your information to meet our legal obligations, you will likely not be permitted to object to this processing activity, but you will usually have the right to access or review this information unless it would impede our legal obligations.
We will use reasonable efforts to timely respond to any requests by you to exercise your rights under the GDPR:
You have the right to see and get a copy of information, including an electronic copy that we have about you;
You have the right to ask us to make any corrections to inaccurate or incomplete personal information we have about you;
You can also request that we erase your personal information when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which you provided it;
You may ask us to restrict how we process your personal information to certain limited purposes where erasure is not possible;
In certain circumstances you may be able to request that we send a copy of your personal information to a third party of your choosing; and
You can object to processing of your personal information based on our legitimate interest (or those of a third party) to use it and there is something about your particular situation that causes you to object to such processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us as provided below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority where you believe that your rights have been violated.

The Services are owned and operated in the United States. Your use of the Services will result in the collection, storage, and processing of your information in the United States and in any country to which we may transfer your information in the course of our business operations. If you are visiting this site from a country other than the United States, your information will cross an international boundary. The level of protection for your information in the United States may not be the same as the level of protection in your country.

12. Notice to California Residents.

If you are an individual and a California resident, and the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) applies to our processing of your Personal Information as a business under the CPRA, this section provides additional information to you. This section does not apply to any matters exempted from the CPRA during any period of exemption. If you have a disability and need information on how to access this Privacy Policy in an alternative format, please contact us at the email or postal address listed herein. You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your CPRA rights.

12.1. Categories of Personal Information:

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Personal Information does not include information that is publicly available. We collect the following categories of Personal Information listed in the CPRA, and may have collected any or all of this information in the preceding 12 months: (a) identifiers such as name, postal address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number and passport number; (b) categories described in Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e), such as telephone number, insurance policy number, education, employment, bank, credit card number or other financial information and medical information; (c) characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as race, national origin, age over 40, disabilities, sex, marital status and military status; (d) commercial information, including records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies; (e) biometric information; (f) internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an internet web site, application, or advertisement; (g) geolocation data; (h) audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information; (i) professional or employment-related information; (j) education information, defined as information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information (as defined in 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99); and (k) inferences drawn from any of the information identified above to create a profile about a person reflecting the person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

12.2. Sources and Use of Personal Information.

We collect Personal Information from the sources listed in Section 1. We use Personal Information for the business and commercial purposes listed in Section 2.

12.3. Right to Know.

To the extent permitted by law, you have the right to request that Studio Esme LLC disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request as described below, we will disclose to you: (a) categories of your Personal Information we collected; (b) categories of sources of your Personal Information; (c) business or commercial purposes for collecting your Personal Information; (d) categories of third parties with whom we shared your Personal Information; and (e) specific pieces of your Personal Information we collected. Please contact us at the contact information provided herein if you would like to access the Personal Information that we have collected online from you, correct factual errors in such information, request to have this information deleted, request that we not use any of your information to profile your behavior, economic situation, health, interests, location or movements, performance at work, personal preferences or reliability, or to request that we no longer maintain such information.

12.4. Request to Delete.

You have the right to request that Esme delete Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request as described below, we will delete your Personal Information from our records, unless an exception applies under applicable law. For example, we may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to: (a) complete the transaction for which we collected the Personal Information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you; (b) detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities; (c) debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality; (d) protect our legal interests, to defend our rights in a case of potential, threatened, or actual litigation, and to enforce our rights; (e) comply with a legal obligation and (f) fulfill internal and lawful uses that are compatible with the context in which you provided the information.

12.5. Exercising Your Rights to Know and Delete.

To exercise the rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us at the email address or postal address herein. Only you, or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. You may only exercise your Right to Know right twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must (a) provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative and (b) describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

12.6. Disclosure and Sale of Personal Information.

We may disclose Personal Information for business purposes and/or to the third parties as set forth elsewhere herein. We do not sell Personal Information to third parties for monetary compensation. The use of certain cookies placed by third parties on our site or the sharing of Personal Information in other transactions we engage in with third parties not involving monetary consideration may be considered a “sale” under CPRA. If you wish to opt-out of having your Personal Information sold to third parties, please contact us at the email address or postal address listed herein. We will not authorize third party cookies for your device unless you consent in our cookie preference tool. If you consent and wish to later withdraw your consent, please use the cookie preference tool to disable these third party cookies in order to fully exercise your CPRA opt-out rights. The cookie preference tool is device and browser specific. If you delete or clear cookies or change devices or browsers, you will need to reset your cookie preferences using the tool. You may use an authorized agent to submit an opt-out request, provided the agent has your signed permission.

12.7. Notice of Financial Incentives.

We may offer you a program, benefit or other offering related to the collection of Personal Information, which may be considered a financial incentive under CPRA. If you wish to withdraw from the benefit, please contact us at the email or postal address listed herein. We will not reduce the value of any incentive you previously received from us if you do so, or discriminate against you if you exercise any of your CPRA rights after signing up for the benefit. Each financial incentive related to submission and use of Personal Information is based upon our reasonable but sole determination of the estimated value of such information, which takes into consideration, without limitation, estimates regarding the anticipated revenue generated from such information, the anticipated expenses which might be incurred in the collection, storage, and use of such information in the operation of our business, and other relevant factors related to the estimated value of such information to our business, as permitted under the CPRA. You will be notified of the Personal Information you are required to submit at the time you sign up for the incentive.

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to this page along with a notice at the end of the Privacy Policy of the last date that any changes were made. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of any changes will mean you accept those changes.

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Last Updated: August 1, 2023

These Terms of Service and any additional terms that may be disclosed to you for the services you select (“Terms”) is an agreement between you and Studio Esme LLC (“Esme”, “us”, “our” or “we”) for your use of the Switch-Lit website (https://switch-lit.com/ and all sub-domains), mobile websites, applications and any other Esme products, services or tools that link to these Terms (“Services”). Any Esme-owned services linked to other terms of service are governed by that
service’s terms.

By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and are legally bound by these Terms, which expressly incorporate by reference Esme’s Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Services. We reserve the right to modify or amend these Terms from time to time without prior notice. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of changes to these Terms will mean you accept those changes.

1. Intellectual Property

All of the content featured or displayed on or through the Services, including without limitation text, graphics, photographs, still images, moving images, videos, sound, illustrations, and software (collectively, “Content”), is owned by Esme, its licensors, vendors, agents, and/or content providers, as applicable. All elements of the Services, including without limitation the general design and the Content, are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to intellectual property rights. Esme reserves the right to track the usage of Content.

You may access copyrighted material available on the Services for your personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, downloading, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of any Content, in whole or in part, is permitted without the express permission of Esme and/or the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.

In using Content in accordance with this Agreement, you may not (a) state or imply that Esme is endorsing you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide, or (b) represent that you or your organization has a relationship with Esme or any of the events, products or services that Esme provides unless that relationship is the subject of a written agreement between you and Esme.

You will not access any Content from the Services through any technology or means other than the web pages for the Services, the Widgets (as defined below) or such other explicitly authorized means as the Esme may designate.

All trademarks, service marks and trade names of Esme or third-parties used in the Services (including, but not limited to, “Esme”, “Studio Esme”, “Switch-Lit”, “S-L”, and “S•L” (collectively, the “Marks”) are trademarks or registered trademarks of Esme or its licensors, vendors or content providers, as applicable. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute or modify the Marks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the Services, without Esme’s prior written consent. The use of the Marks on any other website or network computer environment is not allowed.

2. User Submissions

The Services may now or in the future permit the submission and posting or linking of media, text, audio and video recordings, photos, survey responses, commentary or any other content submitted by you and other users (“User Submissions”). You understand that whether or not such User Submissions are published, Esme does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any User Submissions.

By submitting User Submissions through the Services, you hereby grant Esme and its affiliates and partner organizations a worldwide, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable license, with the right to grant and authorize sublicenses, to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, display and publicly perform the User Submissions in connection with the Services or by Esme for any purpose, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Services (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels now known or hereafter discovered. You grant Esme and its affiliates and partner organizations the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such User Submission if they choose. You also agree to irrevocably waive any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to your User Submissions. You also hereby grant to each user of the Services a non-exclusive license to access your User Submissions through the Services, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform such User Submissions as permitted by the functionality of the Services and these Terms.

You are solely responsible for your own User Submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them. In connection with User Submissions, you represent and warrant that: (a) you own, or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions in the User Submissions, to authorize Esme to use the User Submissions and grant the rights in this section; and (b) your User Submissions and the use of your User Submissions by Esme, its affiliates, partner organizations and successors, does not and will not (i) infringe or violate the rights of any third party (including any intellectual property rights), (ii) slander, defame or libel, or invade the right of privacy, publicity or other property rights of any person, or (iii) violate any applicable law or regulation.

3. Copyright Infringement

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide Esme’s Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. §512:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
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 permit us to locate the material;
Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;
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
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.

For copyright inquiries under the DMCA please contact: editors@switch-lit.com

4. Services – Creating a User Account

Some of the Services may require or allow you to create/receive a password and account designation. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any such password, account, and information displayed in the account profile. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. If you allow third parties to access the Services through your username and password, you will defend and indemnify Esme and its employees, agents, affiliates, partner organizations, successors and assigns from and against any liability, costs or damages arising out of claims or suits based upon or relating to such access and use. You agree to immediately notify Esme of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security related to the Services of which you are aware.

5. Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of the Services, you will not use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms or is otherwise prohibited under applicable law. You may not use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Services or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Services. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any Services.

You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Sites or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Services or the Content therein.

You agree that you will not use any bot, crawler, harvester, indexer, robot, spider, scraper or any other automated means to access, compile, read or gather content from the Services automatically.

Additionally, you agree that you will not: (a) take any action that, in our sole discretion, imposes, or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (b) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the website or any activities conducted on the Services; or (c) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Services.

6. Links

Links to Third Party Websites: From time to time, the Services may contain links to other websites that are not owned, operated or controlled by Esme. All such links are provided solely as a convenience to you. If you use these links, you will leave the Services (or website) containing the link. We are not responsible for any content, materials or other information located on or accessible from any other website, including, but not limited to, any content that violates restrictions applicable to Esme. We also are not responsible for any products or services that you buy from third party websites or any donations made through those websites.

Esme does not endorse, guarantee or make any representations or warranties regarding any other websites, or any content, materials or other information located or accessible from any other websites, or the products or services that you may obtain from using any other websites or how any donations you make through such websites will be used. If you decide to access any other websites linked to or from the Services, you do so entirely at your own risk. Links to Esme Services. By creating a link to any portion of the Services, you agree to be bound by the following terms. Your compliance with these terms, as the same may be revised from time to time in Esme’s sole discretion, is a prerequisite to your continued right to link to the Services:

You may not insert any intermediate page, splash page or other content between the link and the applicable page from the Services or create a frame around the information provided from the Services or present it in any way other than it is presented on the Services;
The posting of a link to the Services is not an endorsement by Esme of you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide, and, when linking to the Services, you may not state or imply that Esme (or any of its affiliates or partner organizations) is endorsing you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide;
You shall not use any portion of the Content of the Services to carry on propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Section 4945(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code;
Esme assumes no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any Content of any other website that is linked to the Services; and
Esme reserves the right to terminate any links to the Services as it deems necessary, with or without cause or warning. If Esme chooses to exercise this right, you will be required to remove your link to the Services immediately.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. ESME NOR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, TRUSTEES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, LICENSORS OR ASSIGNEES (COLLECITVELY, THE “REPRESENTATIVES”) WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE SERVICES, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE, OR
MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL ESME OR THE REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOST PROFITS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER AND/OR DEVICE OR TECHNOLOGY FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OR FOR ANY FORM OF DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES BASED ON ANY CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY ALLEGED FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, OR DELAY IN SERVICE, OPERATION, OR TRANSMISSION OF THE SERVICES, OR ANY ALLEGED COMPUTER VIRUS PERTAINING TO OR ON THE SERVICES. YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES WHEREVER SUCH ALLEGATIONS ARE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR, OR NEGLIGENCE UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS UPON WHICH LIABILITY IS CLAIMED. IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW ALL OR ANY PART OF THE ABOVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO APPLY TO YOU, THE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

Esme and the Representatives disclaim any and all liability of any kind for any unauthorized access to or use of your personally identifiable information. By accessing the Services, you acknowledge and agree to Esme’s disclaimer of any such liability. If you do not agree, you should not access or use the Services.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Esme and the Representatives from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities and costs of every nature incurred by any of them in connection with any claim, damage or loss related to or arising out of: your use of the Services, any assistance or services provided by us or the Representatives to you, any alleged unauthorized use of the Services by you, or any breach or alleged breach by you of these Terms. You agree to cooperate fully in the defense of any of the foregoing. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to control exclusively the defense of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and you will not settle any matter without our prior written consent. Your obligation to indemnify, defend and hold harmless shall be limited to the extent that you are afforded sovereign immunity under applicable federal, state or local laws. In such cases where your obligation to indemnify may be limited due to the requirements of federal, state or local laws, you shall be responsible for the ordinary negligent acts and omissions of your agents and employees causing harm to persons not a party to these Terms.

9. Release

In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users of the Services, you release Esme and the Representatives from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

10. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

Unless otherwise noted, the Services are controlled and operated from the Esme’s offices in the State of Oregon. By accessing the Services, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement which is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Oregon, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles. All activity occurring in connection with the site (including, but not limited to, accessing pages, downloading materials,
etc.) is presumed to occur in the State of Oregon.

In connection with any suit, action or proceeding arising from or relating to these Terms, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts within the State of Oregon.

11. Electronic Communications; Binding and Entire Agreement

You agree that (a) these Terms constitute an agreement “signed by you” under applicable law; (b) any notices or other communication regarding your use of the Services may be provided to you electronically (by posting on the website, by email, and other electronic formats) and will be considered received upon posting or other distribution. These Terms (including the Privacy Policy) constitute the entire agreement between you and Esme and supersede all other agreements, oral or written, concerning its subject matter. You consent to the use of the English language in these Terms and all documents or notices relating to them and your use of the Services.

12. Severability

If any of these Terms is determined to be invalid, void or unenforceable for any reason, then the unenforceable provision will be deemed amended in a manner that will most nearly carry out the intent of the provision to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law or deleted if amendment is not possible, and the remaining Terms will be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

13. No Waiver

Esme’s failure to enforce these Terms in every instance in which they might apply is not a waiver of any of Esme’s rights, and Esme reserves its right to take all legal steps available to enforce these Terms. Termination will result in cancellation of all rights of access and use of Services.

14. Termination of Services and Survival

We reserve the right to terminate any of the Services at any time without notice for any reason, including without limitation for misuse of the Services in any way or inappropriate, unlawful, or unsafe behavior, as determined in our sole discretion. The Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Release and Applicable Law and Jurisdiction provisions of these Terms and Conditions shall survive any such termination. If these Terms expire or are terminated for any reason, the provisions which by their nature should continue after termination, such as, Intellectual Property Rights, Applicable Law and Jurisdiction and Severability.

15. Dispute Resolution Agreement

15.1. Arbitration of disputes:

You and Studio Esme agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims that arise out of or relate in any way to the Services or these Terms. This agreement to arbitrate (“Dispute Resolution Agreement”) is intended to be broadly interpreted and includes, for example:

Claims brought under any legal theory;
Claims that may arise after the termination of your use of the Services; and
Claims brought by or against you, your respective affiliates, agents, predecessors,
successors, heirs and assigns.

This Dispute Resolution Agreement does not preclude any party from seeking an individualized preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order until a claim is arbitrated, or from bringing an individualized action in small claims court, in any court that has jurisdiction; provided that, as limited below, the arbitrator will have exclusive jurisdiction to finally resolve claims not within the jurisdiction of a small claims court. Nor does this Dispute Resolution Agreement bar any party from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies.

You and Studio Esme agree that, by entering into this arbitration agreement, all parties are waiving their respective rights to a trial by jury or to participate in a class or representative action. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Dispute Resolution Agreement. With respect to all disputes or claims that arise out of or relate in any way to the Services or these Terms, this Dispute Resolution Agreement supersedes any contrary terms regarding dispute resolution in any other agreement between the parties.

15.2 Notice of disputes:

If any party intends to seek arbitration of a dispute, that party must
provide the other party with notice in writing (“Notice of Dispute”). This Notice of Dispute to
Studio Esme must be sent to the following address:

2131 NW Glisan Street, #1
Portland, OR 97210

Studio Esme will send notice to you at the e-mail addresses associated with your account. Customer and Advertiser each agree to receive notice at those addresses. Notice of Dispute to Studio Esme must provide, as applicable, (a) your name and mailing address, (b) the email address you uses to log into your account, (c) a description of the dispute, and (d) a statement of the relief requested. If the parties are unable or unwilling to resolve the dispute within 60 days after the Notice of Dispute is submitted, the dispute will be resolved by arbitration upon one party sending the other party or parties and the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) a demand for arbitration. For the avoidance of doubt, no arbitration demand may be submitted until at least 60 days after submission of the Notice of Dispute. Unless the parties agree otherwise, your demand for arbitration must be sent to Studio Esme’s Notice Address and entitled “Demand for Arbitration.”

15.3 Arbitration procedures:

The arbitration will be governed by the AAA’s Commercial Arbitration Rules ("AAA Rules"), and will be administered by the AAA. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the Expedited Procedures of the AAA Rules will apply to any claim of $75,000 or less. The AAA Rules are available online at adr.org or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879. If the AAA is unavailable, the parties will agree to another arbitration provider or the court will appoint a substitute. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any evidentiary submissions made in arbitration will be maintained as confidential in the absence of good cause for its disclosure. The arbitrator’s award will be maintained as confidential only to the extent necessary to protect either party’s trade secrets or proprietary business information or to comply with a legal requirement mandating confidentiality. Unless the parties agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of your principal residence.

15.4. No class or representative arbitration:

The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim without affecting other Studio Esme users or other customers or advertisers. YOU AND STUDIO ESME AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this subsection’s limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court.

Contact

If you have questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us at: editors@switch-lit.com