Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Last Updated February 2, 2018

Welcome to the ESME: Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere website (“ESME Site” or “Site”), which is operated by FlowerHen, LLC. Please read these Terms of Use carefully, which together with the Site’s Privacy Statement (collectively, “Terms”), govern your use of the ESME Site. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Site. We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will take reasonable steps to notify you of any changes to these Terms in a manner commensurate with the nature of the changes. We encourage you to review these Terms periodically. Your continued use of the Site after modified Terms have been posted constitutes your agreement to the modified Terms.

Public Areas / Member Areas

Anyone can visit the public areas of the ESME Site (such as Resources, Time Out, etc.).

If you are a self-identified mom at least eighteen years old you may register and become a member (“Member”) by creating an account with a user name and password (“Account”). You must be a Member to participate in certain activities such as submitting content (e.g., to blogs, forums, and groups), rating resources, liking and sharing articles, viewing archives, and nominating a resource organization.

A Member may also create a Sister profile by completing a brief bio and survey. As a Sister, you may participate in the Sister area of the ESME Site and connect with other Sisters by exchanging Sister Mail and sending occasional “shout outs” to other Sisters. If you complete the survey, the ESME Site will suggest five Sister matches based on your bio. From time to time, the ESME Site may suggest additional matches (for example, if a Sister provides further survey answers). A Sister may block Sister Mail from another Sister at any time. Please follow the suggestions for Sister safety posted on the ESME Site.

Registration; Accounts

If you create a Member Account:

1. you are responsible for maintaining the security of your Account and the confidentiality of your user name and password;
2. you may not transfer your Account or give another person access to it;
3. you are responsible for all activities in connection with your Account and ensuring all information you submit in connection with your Account or otherwise on the Site is true, accurate and complete and updating your Account information to keep it true, accurate, and complete;
4. you will immediately notify the Site (at contact.us@esme.com) of any unauthorized use of your user name or password or other actual or suspected breach of security related to your Account;
5. you are responsible for your interactions with other Members/Sisters; and
6. you agree to take all necessary precautions in all interactions with others, particularly if you choose to communicate outside of the Site or to meet in person.

If, at any time, you feel threatened or believe someone else is in danger, consider contacting your local law enforcement agency immediately. FlowerHen: (i) does not screen Members or verify statements of Members; (ii) makes no representations or warranties regarding the conduct of Members, including the compatibility of suggested matches of Sisters; (iii) is not responsible for the consequences of Members’ communications on the Site; and (iv) is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage arising from the conduct of any Member or other user of the Site

Site Content

The Site and its contents (“Site Content”) are protected by United States and international copyright. Except as stated otherwise in these Terms or on the Site, you may not copy, distribute, transmit, modify, publicly display or perform or otherwise exploit Site Content (including any programs, code, and software contained therein), in whole or in part, in any manner unless FlowerHen (or the other copyright owner) authorizes in writing in advance. You may download one copy of materials on the Site solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you do not remove or alter any copyright notice or other proprietary information relating to the materials (including author attribution or copyright or trademark notice).

Not Professional Advice

The Site Content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice (whether medical, financial, legal or otherwise). Always seek the advice of a professional with any questions you may have regarding such matters.

User Content and License

Subject to these Terms, the ESME Site may contain functionality that allows you to upload and share text, video, music, photographs, artwork and other materials (including, as applicable, your profile information, user name, and other information that you choose to share on the Site) (collectively, “User Content”). When you submit User Content to the Site, you grant us a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense the rights) to reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, and publicly display and perform the User Content, in whole or in part, in any media now known or later developed in connection with the Site and promotion of the Site, including the right to use your name and likeness and the names and likenesses of others included in your User Content and to identify User Content with our description and additional information.

You agree to upload only User Content that you have created yourself or that you have all necessary rights to upload and license to FlowerHen as described in these Terms. You consent (or, as applicable, have obtained necessary third parties’ consent) to the public disclosure of any personally-identifiable information (such as name, email address or web site URL) that you include in User Content uploaded to the Site. You are strictly prohibited from uploading personally-identifiable information, images, or other content of others without their express prior consent and you should carefully consider any privacy and confidentiality concerns before any disclosure.

When you submit User Content, you warrant, represent, and covenant that:

1. you have the right to submit it;
2. you have obtained all rights and consents necessary to grant licenses in these Terms, including to any third-party material included in User Content and from any individual depicted in User Content;
3. your User Content does not and will not violate these Terms or any third party’s right of publicity or privacy, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or any other proprietary, personal, or other right of any kind; and
4. your User Content does not contain any material furnished to you in confidence.

Release

You irrevocably release (on behalf of yourself and your successors, heirs, family members, and executors) FlowerHen (and its directors, officers, members, managers, employees, and representatives) from any claim, known or unknown, of any nature that you have or may ever have based on any cause of action arising out of FlowerHen’s use of your User Content (including rights of publicity or privacy, copyright, trademark, moral rights, false light, defamation, false advertising, or intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress). If you are a resident of California, you hereby irrevocably waive to the full extent permissible under applicable law, California Civil Code Section 1542 that states: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor." If you reside in any other jurisdiction that places similar restrictions on a general release, you similarly waive rights under applicable law to the extent permissible.

No Endorsement; No Obligation to Display User Content

FlowerHen does not endorse any User Content. We have no obligation to display or otherwise use any User Content or to pre-screen, display or remove User Content, but reserve the right to do so at any time. We are not responsible for any delay or failure to remove User Content that does not comply with these Terms. We reserve the right to restrict you from submitting User Content or from participating in the Site’s interactive features for any reason, including repeated submissions of User Content that do not comply with these Terms.

Guidelines for Users

FlowerHen has established guidelines for participating on the Site. If you violate any guidelines or Term, we may suspend or terminate your access to the Site. You may not post, transmit, or otherwise make available through the Site any User Content or other material that:

1. is or may be: (i) threatening, harassing, abusive, degrading, hateful or intimidating; (ii) defamatory or libelous; (iii) unlawful, fraudulent or tortious; (iv) obscene, indecent, pornographic or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate; (v) infringing of any copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or privacy or other right of any person; or (vi) spam, advertising, solicitations, chain letters, junk mail, pyramid schemes, or other unsolicited commercial communication;
2. includes any virus, worm, Trojan horse, Easter egg, time bomb, spyware, or other harmful element that may interfere with or disrupt operation of the Site in any way or harm any software, hardware, or other equipment;
3. display any personally identifiable information of another individual, without the prior written consent of that individual;
4. impersonates any person or entity, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity or express or engage in any “phishing,” “trolling,” or similar activities;
5. interfere with or disrupt the ESME Site or the servers or networks used to make the Site available;
6. restrict or inhibit any other person from using the ESME Site (including by hacking or defacing any portion of the Site);
7. frame or mirror any part of the Site;
8. use any robot, spider, search, or other manual or automatic process or device to retrieve, index, "scrape," "data mine" or in any way gather the Site Content or reproduce or circumvent the navigational presentation of the ESME Site, Site Content, User Content or other materials relating to the Site without FlowerHen’s express prior written consent; or
9. remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notice on the Site or any Site Content.

Honor Code

Members agree to the ESME Honor Code posted on the ESME Site in connection with all activities on the Site.

Reporting Violations or Concerns

If you have reason to believe that any User Content or activity on the Site violates these Terms or is otherwise inappropriate, please contact us at contact.us@esme.com.

Notice and Procedure For Making Claims Of Copyright Infringement

If you believe that any material posted on the ESME Site infringes your copyright, then you may request the removal of those materials from the Site in accordance with the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), and the procedures described below.

A notice of infringing material that complies with the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) ("Notice") must be sent to the agent we have designated with the Copyright Office:

Marika Lindholm

FlowerHen LLC

1759 Glenview Rd

Glenview, IL 60025

copyright@esme.com

Notice

To comply with the Copyright Act, your Notice must be in writing and must include all of the following (or other information that may be required by the Copyright Act): (1) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of those works; (2) 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; (3) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted; (4) a statement that you have 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; (5) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury, and that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; and (6) a physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Counter Notice

When we receive a Notice that complies with the Copyright Act, we may remove the identified material and make a good-faith effort to inform the user who posted the allegedly infringing material (the "alleged infringer") of the Notice and subsequent removal. The alleged infringer may then provide us with a counter notice ("Counter Notice") that the initial infringement notice was erroneous. The Counter Notice must be in writing and must include all of the following (or other information that may be required by the Copyright Act): (1) identification of the material removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled; (2) a statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed or access to it disabled as a result of error; (3) the alleged infringer’s name, address, and telephone number; (4) a statement of consent to jurisdiction in federal district court and that the alleged infringer consents to service of process from the complaining party or its agent; and (5) a physical or electronic signature of the alleged infringer.

Upon receipt of a Counter Notice, we will notify you of the Counter Notice and restore the material within 10 to 14 business days of receipt of the Counter Notice, unless you inform us that you have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing party from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the Site.

Links to Third-Party Web Sites

The ESME Site may contain links to web sites or resources controlled by third parties or embed services operated by third parties (“Third-Party Sites/Services”). Your use of Third-Party Sites/Services is governed by those sites’ terms of use and privacy statements. FlowerHen expressly disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy, content or availability of information found through Third Party Sites/Services. We are not responsible for Third-Party Sites and by providing links, we make no representations, warranties, guarantees, or endorsement about the content, services or products or the accuracy, reliability or security of any information made available through Third-Party Sites/Services. You agree that your use of third party sites/services is at your own risk and is subject to the privacy and other terms applicable to them.

Trademarks

“Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere,” “ESME,” “FlowerHen,” and all related trademarks, service marks, logos, and other indicia of source belong to FlowerHen (collectively, “ESME Marks”). You may use our ESME Marks only with our prior written consent.

Indemnity

You will indemnify FlowerHen (and its directors, officers, members, managers, employees, contractors, licensors, licensees, and representatives) against any liabilities, losses, damages, and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your use of the Site or breach of the Terms; (b) any allegation that your User Content infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property or violates other rights of any third party or any law; or (c) your activities in connection with the Site or any services related to the Site. An indemnified party may, at its expense, assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which it is entitled to indemnification, and you agree to provide cooperation it reasonably requests.

No Warranties and Disclaimer of Liability

THE ESME SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” YOU USE AND RELY ON THE SITE SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. USER CONTENT EXPRESSES THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ITS AUTHORS WHO ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR USER CONTENT. FLOWERHEN MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF THE SITE OR ANY SITE CONTENT, INCLUDING USER CONTENT, AND FLOWERHEN SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES ABOUT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF ANY CONTENT AND OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE (EVEN IF THE PURPOSE HAS BEEN DISCLOSED). ALTHOUGH WE INTEND TO TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO PREVENT ANY HARMFUL ELEMENT ON THE SITE, WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR SITE CONTENT ARE FREE FROM, AND WE ARE LIABLE FOR HARM CAUSED BY, SUCH ELEMENTS.

FLOWERHEN (AND ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, AND REPRESENTATIVES) ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM OF ANY NATURE BASED ON LOSS, PERSONAL INJURY, OR DEATH BECAUSE OF YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE ESME SITE. FLOWERHEN WILL BE LIABLE ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ACTUAL DAMAGES INCURRED BY YOU, NOT TO EXCEED $1,000 IN THE AGGREGATE. ANY CLAIM RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE MUST BE BROUGHT WITHIN ONE YEAR OF THE DATE OF THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL FLOWERHEN (OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, OR REPRESENTATIVES) BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR SIMILAR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SITE IN ANY MANNER REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR THESE DAMAGES, SO THESE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

General

These Terms: (A) together with any guidelines or rules separately displayed on the Site, contains the entire agreement regarding your use of the Site and supersede any other oral or written agreement regarding its subject matter; and (B) may be modified only as described in these Terms or otherwise with our prior consent. We may terminate your access to the Site at any time, in our sole discretion, if we believe you have violated these Terms or for other reasons that we determine in good faith are necessary or appropriate. All of these Terms that by their nature should survive, will survive any termination of your account or these Terms. FlowerHen’s failure or delay in exercising or any right will not be considered a waiver and any waiver of a default under these Terms will not be deemed a waiver of any other default. If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable for any reason, then that provision will be deleted and the remaining provisions will be enforceable to fullest extent permitted by law (unless doing so would deprive either party of a material benefit of this Agreement). Any dispute arising under these Terms is governed by the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and performed in the state. You irrevocably: (i) agree to bring any claim relating to these Terms or your use of the Site exclusively in the state and federal courts located in the State and County of New York; and (ii) waive any objection to the venue of those courts based on an inconvenient forum or other reasons. The term “including” is illustrative and means “including, but not limited to.” You may not assign your rights or delegate your obligation under these terms, and any attempt to do so will be null and void.