Welcome to the internet site of the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (“TAA”). The effective date of these Terms of Use is April 1, 2012.

Please read these Terms carefully so that you understand the conditions for accessing and using the Site and associated services. TAA may make changes to these Terms from time to time as our Site develops, so check back frequently. Your continued use of the Site and associated services following any posted changes to the Terms constitutes your consent to them. If you do not agree to the Terms, please do not use our Site.

Privacy Policy

By using this site, you consent to our collection and use of personal information as discussed in our Privacy Policy, which is hereby incorporated into these Terms. A copy of the Privacy Policy can be accessed here.

Permitted Use

This site and its related services are intended only for use by those who are 18 years of age or older and of the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which they reside. This Site is intended to provide information for your personal use. TAA grants you a limited, nonexclusive, revocable license to make personal and non-commercial use of the Site. In this context, “personal and non-commercial use” does not include posting, uploading or otherwise publishing the materials to any other site. This license does not include the right to modify, reproduce, copy, or resell any of the content of the Site; to bypass any technical measures used to prevent or restrict access to any portion of the Site; to use any data mining, robots, or similar automated data gathering and extraction tools to access the Site; to violate or attempt to violate the security of the Site; or to interfere with or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site.

You agree to use this Site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You acknowledge that your use of this site is at our sole discretion, and your license to use the site may be terminated by us at any time. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to refuse service to anyone and to block or prevent your future access to and use of this site.

Your Account

Before you can make use of certain services associated with this site, you must be a TAA member. You agree and warrant that all information you provide to us through this site, including but not limited to any contact information and other registration information for your account, is truthful and accurate. You further agree to maintain the accuracy of your account information and to inform us promptly of any changes to your account information, including but not limited to any changes to your email address.

You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account. You agree not to disclose your account password to others, and you agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account. We are neither responsible for nor liable for any loss or other injury that you may incur as a result of someone else using your user account or password, either with or without your knowledge.

Submission of Content and User Activity

From time to time, we may make available on this site services or features that allow users to post or upload materials to the site or to our servers. You understand that all information, communications, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials (“Content”), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not TAA, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available through the site or any associated services.

You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to any Content that you upload, transmit or otherwise make available through the site; that use of the Content you provide does not violate the intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third parties, and that use of the Content you provide will not cause injury to any person or entity. In line with, and without limiting, the foregoing, you specifically agree that you will not (a) provide any Content that is unlawful (according to local, state, federal or international law) or any Content that advocates illegal activity; (b) provide any Content that is defamatory, false or libelous, or that contains unlawful, harmful, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, abusive, profane, pornographic, or obscene material; (c) provide any Content that you do not have a right to provide under law or under a contractual or fiduciary relationship; (d) provide any Content that contains software viruses or other harmful devices; or (e) impersonate any other person or entity or forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content you provide. You agree that you will indemnify TAA for all claims resulting from or related to Content you post or submit.

You grant the following license with respect to any and all Content you post or submit to this site:  you hereby expressly grant to TAA a royalty-free, non-exclusive right and license, perpetual and irrevocable except as provided below, to use, reproduce, publish, edit, translate, perform, transmit, sublicense or otherwise distribute and display the Content and any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained therein for any reason and in any manner it chooses, alone or as a part of other works, in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed, without restriction and without compensation of any kind to you.

We are not obligated to regularly review, monitor, delete, or edit the Content of the site as posted by users. However, we reserve the right to do so at any time in our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, and to edit or delete any posting or submission, with or without notice. We are not responsible or liable for damages of any kind arising from any Content, or from our alteration or deletion of any Content, even when we are advised of the possibility of such damages. In the event you determine, after submission, that you wish your Content to be removed from the TAA Site and you so notify TAA of that request by email to the Managing Director, indicating with specificity the Content to be removed and the URL where it is located and certifying that you are the poster, TAA will make a good faith effort to do so when and where possible with effort reasonably proportionate to the reason for requesting its removal.

Trademarks and Copyrights

The trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on this Site are owned by TAA and third parties, and this Site’s trade dress is owned by TAA. All trademarks not owned by TAA are the property of their respective owners and, where used by TAA, are used with permission. Nothing contained on this Site may be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any right or license to use any trademark.

All content on the Site, including without limitation text, photographs, graphics, layout, and design, is owned by TAA, or TAA has been granted permission to use the content. Nothing contained on this Site may be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any right or license to use any copyrighted material on the Site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may download a single copy of the content on the Site for your personal, noncommercial use, provided all copyright and other proprietary notices are kept intact and provided that you do not modify the content in any manner.

Advertising and Links

TAA may provide, or advertisers may post, links to other internet sites or resources. Because TAA has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that TAA is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources.

If you link to this Site, we require that you follow these guidelines:  The link to this Site must not damage, dilute, or tarnish TAA or the good will associated with our intellectual property, nor may the link create the false impression that your website is sponsored by, endorsed by, affiliated and/or associated with TAA. Under no circumstances may you “frame” this Site or alter its intellectual property content in any way.

Your dealings and communications with any advertiser or other third party found on or through the Site are solely between you and that third party. Please carefully review the third party’s policies and practices and make sure you are comfortable with them before you engage in any transaction. Any complaints, concerns, or questions you may have related to materials provided by or dealings with third parties should be forwarded directly to the third party.

Disclaimer of Warranties; Indemnification

This Site, its content, and any associated services are provided by TAA on an “as is” or “as available” basis. TAA makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of this Site, to the information, content, materials, or products included on this Site, or to the functionality, of any services associated therewith. To the fullest extent permissible by applicable law, TAA disclaims all implied warranties, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

By using the TAA Site, you acknowledge that your use of the site is at your own risk. TAA will not be liable for damages of any kind arising from or otherwise related to your use of the site, including without limitation direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages, even if TAA has been advised of or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

Certain state laws do not allow limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. if these laws apply to you, some or all of the above disclaimers, exclusions, or limitation may not apply to you, and you may have additional rights.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless TAA, its agents, distributors, and affiliates, and their officers, directors, and employees, from and against any claims, demands, damages, costs, and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees, arising from or related to your use of the Site or your breach of any provision of these Terms or any warranty hereunder.

You agree that if you are dissatisfied with the Site, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Site.

Copyright Infringement Claims

TAA respects the intellectual property rights of third parties, and complies with the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) regarding such rights. TAA reserves the right to remove access to infringing material posted to its site. Such actions do not affect or modify any other rights TAA may have under law or contract.

To be effective, the Notification must be in writing and contain the following information:

• 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 copyrighted 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 the service provider to locate the material;
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
• 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;
• 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.

Upon receipt of the written Notification containing the information outlined above, TAA will:

• Remove or disable access to the material that is alleged to be infringing;
• Forward the written notification to such alleged infringer;
• Take reasonable steps to promptly notify the alleged infringer that it has removed or disabled access to the material.

A Counter Notification will be effective if in writing, provided to the Designated Agent, and including substantially the following:

• A physical or electronic signature of the alleged infringer;
• Identification of the material that has been 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;
• A statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled;
• The alleged infringer’s name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the alleged infringer consents to jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located or, if outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which TAA may be found, and that the alleged infringer will accept service of process from the person who provided notification or the agent of such person.

Upon receipt of a Counter Notification containing the information outlined above, TAA will:

• promptly provide the complaining party with a copy of the Counter Notification;
• inform the complaining party that it will replace the removed material within ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days following the receipt of the Counter Notification, provided TAA’s Designated Agent has not received notice from the complaining party that an action has been filed seeking a court order to restrain alleged infringer from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on TAA’s network or system.

This process only relates to reporting a claim of copyright infringement. Messages related to other matters will not receive a response through this process.

Send notifications to [email protected] or TAA, PO Box 367, Fountain City, WI 54629.

Contact Us

If you have a question regarding Site policy, please contact us by mail at Textbook & Academic Authors Association, PO Box 337, Cochrane, Wisconsin 54622, by telephone at (507) 459-1363, or by email at [email protected].