INTRODUCTION AND ELIGIBILITY

These Terms of Use form a legal agreement between you and HPG, LLC, the company behind www.healthstoriesproject.com, and any related sites and/or mobile applications (the “Site”). These Terms of Use govern your use of the Site as both as a non-registered visitor and as a registered member (“Member”) as described below. For purposes of these Terms of Use, HPG, LLC shall also mean its subsidiaries.

THE SITE

BY USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU CHOOSE TO REGISTER AS A MEMBER OF THIS SITE, YOU ALSO AGREE TO THE TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP. When using the Site, you will be subject to any applicable guidelines, rules, and policies that are posted to the Site, even if those guidelines, rules, and policies are not included in the Terms of Use.

CHANGES

These Terms of Use may be changed by HPG, LLC at any time and without prior notice. Changes to these Terms of Use become effective as soon as they are posted on this Site. It is important that you regularly review the Terms of Use to stay informed with regard to any changes. Your continued use of the Site after any changes are posted represents your agreement to the changes to the Terms of Use. These Terms of Use include guidelines for content posted on the Site and notices regarding the Site.

NO MEDICAL ADVICE

HPG, LLC provides this Site to connect people with certain health conditions and/or their caregivers. The Site does not provide medical advice and HPG, LLC is not licensed to provide medical diagnoses, treatments, or other medical services that are provided by doctors, pharmacists, nurses, or other medical professionals. Content appearing on this Site does not constitute medical advice and is not the practice of medicine. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.

SITE USE

YOU MAY NOT USE THIS SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE THAT IS UNLAWFUL OR PROHIBITED BY THESE TERMS OF USE AND/OR ANY APPLICABLE ADDITIONAL TERMS. YOUR ACCESS TO ANY HPG, LLC SITE OR SERVICE MAY BE TERMINATED IMMEDIATELY, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE, IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH ANY PART OF THESE TERMS OF USE OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON.

Eligibility. By using the Site, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to agree to these Terms of Use. Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from registering as Members. By registering as a Member, you represent that you are age 13 or older.

Term. These Terms of Use will remain in effect while you use the Site and/or are a Member. You may deactivate your membership (“Membership”) at any time by notifying team@healthstoriesproject.com and including “DEACTIVATE” in the subject line. HPG, LLC may cancel your Membership at any time for any reason. In the event of deactivation or cancellation, these Terms or Use will remain in effect.

Noncommercial Use by Members. The Site is for the personal use and enjoyment of individual Members only and may not be used by Members in connection with any commercial endeavors. You may not use or copy content from this Site for use with any other product or service and illegal or unauthorized uses of this Site are prohibited.

CONTENT OWNERSHIP AND USE

HPG, LLC’s Property. All graphics, logos, page headers, button icons, scripts and service names are trademarks or trade dress of HPG, LLC. Any trademarks not owned by HPG, LLC that appear on the Site are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by HPG, LLC. All content and compilation thereof on the Site, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, logos, designs, photographs, button icons, images, data compilations, and the Software, is the property of HPG, LLC, its licensors, or its product suppliers, and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. No material, including, but not limited to, the material listed above, should be reproduced or used without our express written permission.

MEMBERSHIP

Registration. While you can view the features of this Site without registering, you must register to use some of the features, including creating a profile, posting content, or communicating with other Members. When you register for this Site you are required to provide certain information and are provided an opportunity to add other, optional information to your profile.

You must provide us with current, complete, and accurate information as requested by the registration form. Updating this information is your responsibility.

You will be asked to choose a user identification (“User Name”) and password. User Names are subject to HPG, LLC’s approval and may not contain misleading or objectionable material. It is your responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your password and account. Additionally, you are responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify HPG, LLC immediately of any unauthorized use of your account. HPG, LLC is not liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge.

Member Notices. If you register as a Member, you agree that HPG, LLC may send notices to you by e-mail at the e-mail address you provide when registering to become a Member (or which you later update using the functionality of the Site). These communications will include notices about your account and information concerning or related to the Site. You agree that any notice, agreements, disclosure, or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.

Health Stories Project Mobile Application

You may have been directed to this Site and these Terms of Use because you have elected to share your health story on behalf of one of our partners through a video or other content you will create.  In some cases, you will receive an email communication from us providing you with information about the mobile application and the video content you may create.  If you have any questions, you may contact the person from whom you received an email communication or you may contact us at team@healthstoriesproject.com.  If you do create video or other content on behalf of one of our , you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to HPG, LLC and such partner, an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide right, without restriction, reservation or right to compensation, unconditional rights and permissions to record, copyright, use, license, publish, post, broadcast, circulate, display, and/or reproduce, in color or otherwise, my name, image, likeness, voice, and photographic (including video) representation of me (collectively, “Images”).  These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to adapt, modify, or use your Images alone or in conjunction with my name or a fictitious name, my biographical and/or relevant personal health information, your statements (or paraphrased versions of your statements) or other statements, comments or conversations, which may be attributed to you, or other materials or advertising copy, all as HPG, LLC or such partner shall reasonably deem fit, for all purposes, including marketing, informational, educational, and promotional purposes, within the United States and/or internationally.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Rights to Content You Post. After you have registered, you will be able to post content on the Site and communicate with other Members. You are solely responsible for the content that you publish or display (“post”) or transmit to other Members via the Site.

You represent and warrant that:

  • You own all right, title, and interest (including all intellectual property rights) in content you post (including, without limitation, all rights to the audio, video, or digital recording, and the performance contained in such content) or, alternatively, you have acquired all necessary rights in such content to enable you to grant the rights in such content described herein;
  • You have already paid, and you will be solely responsible for paying (to the extent any later become due) all royalties, fees, and any other monies owed to any person due to the posting of content to this Site;
  • You are the individual pictured and/or heard in any content posted by you, or, alternatively, you have obtained permission from any and all individuals (including consent from parents or guardians for any individual under the age of eighteen (18)) who appear and/or are heard in any content posted by you to grant the rights described herein;
  • Any content posted by you does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy, or any other legal or moral rights of any third party; and
  • You agree to keep all records necessary to establish that any content posted by you does not violate any of the foregoing representations and warranties and to make such records available upon the request of HPG, LLC.

By posting content to any area of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to HPG, LLC an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to display and distribute such information and content on the Site, and to use such information and content as set forth in our Privacy Policy, or in either non- individually identifiable and/or aggregated form, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You acknowledge that your consideration for the rights you grant under these Terms of Use in and to any content posted by you is, among other things, the tools and functionality provided for your use on the Site and the possibility of HPG LLC review or use of your content. You will not receive any further compensation of any kind for any content posted by you and you will not receive credit on or in association with any content posted by you. HPG, LLC does not control and is not responsible for any notes, messages, discussions, photographs, profiles or other materials posted or delivered to the Site by you or other Members. HPG, LLC is not obligated to and does not regularly review, monitor, delete, or edit postings. However, HPG, LLC reserves the right to do so at any time in its sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, and to delete or edit any posting that is objectionable, offensive, illegal, or in violation of these Terms of Use with or without notice. We encourage you to notify us of inappropriate or illegal content.

You agree that you will not:

  • Post or deliver any unsolicited advertisement, promotional materials, junk e-mail, bulk e-mail (also known as “spam”), chain letters, surveys or contests, or solicit participation in any pyramid schemes, without our express prior written consent. The number of postings by any Member is subject to reasonable limits at the discretion of HPG, LLC.
  • Post or deliver any advertisement or solicitation via the Site to buy or sell any products or services, or engage in commercial activities and/or sales, without our prior written consent.
  • Post or deliver, or provide links to, any postings containing material that could be considered harmful, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, violent, abusive, profane, insulting, threatening, tortuous, harassing, hateful or otherwise objectionable.
  • Post or deliver, or provide links to, any postings containing material that harasses, victimizes, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of medical condition, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, or disability.
  • Post or deliver, or provide links to, any postings containing defamatory, false or libelous material.
  • Post or deliver information that you know is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous.
  • Post or deliver any posting that infringes or violates any intellectual property or other right of any entity or person, including, without limitation, copyrights, patents, trademarks, laws governing trade secrets, rights to privacy, or publicity.
  • Post or deliver any posting to that you do not have a right to make available under law or contractual or fiduciary relationships.
  • Impersonate another person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity, or adopt a false identity if the purpose of doing so is to mislead, deceive, or defraud another.
  • Manipulate identifiers, including by forging headers, in order to disguise the origin of any posting that you deliver.
  • Use this Site in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair or otherwise interfere with the use of the Site or other users’ computer equipment, or cause damage, disruption or limit the functioning of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to this Site, any related website, other accounts, computer system, or networks connected to this Site, through hacking, password mining, or any other means.
  • Obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through this Site, including harvesting or otherwise collecting information about others such as e-mail addresses.
  • You are solely responsible and liable for postings delivered to the Site using your account. We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who violates these provisions, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the Site and terminating the Membership of such violators.

PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

You agree not to disclose to any person or entity individually identifiable information about other Members that you encounter while using this Site (whether posted in the Member Area by a Member or e-mailed to you by a Member) without the express consent of such Member. You may disclose information of a general nature (that could not identify the Member who provided such information or whom such information is about) to third parties outside this Site, subject to the above restriction on non-commercial use.

FEES AND MEMBER DISPUTES

Fees. Access to and use of this Site is currently available without charge. We reserve the right to charge a fee for access to or use of this Site in the future. You will be given prior notice in the event we find it necessary to charge a fee for use of this Site.

Beta Service. HPG, LLC may post, publish, distribute, present for download or otherwise make available Beta versions or portions of its Site or Software (“Beta Service”) for public use. Beta Service may be identified as Beta in the Site. Beta Service is available to the public for testing and evaluating purposes. As a user of Beta Service you are encouraged, but not required, to identify potential errors and improvements (“Feedback”). You hereby grant HPG, LLC the unrestricted right to use your Feedback, including the right to use your Feedback to improve the Site and to create other products and services. There are risks associated with using Beta Service. Beta Service is likely to contain errors, including errors that may cause a loss of data. If you do not wish to accept these risks, please do not use the Beta Service. Furthermore, HPG, LLC is not obligated to correct errors or correct the effects of errors (e.g., recover lost data) or provide any technical support related to use of Beta Service.

Member Disputes. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Members. HPG, LLC reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more Members, you release HPG, LLC (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, parent corporation, joint ventures, and employees) and our partners from 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. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

Disclaimer of Warranties THE SITE AND THE CONTENT AND SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. HPG, LLC DOES NOT MAKE AND DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH REGARD TO THE SITE, THE SITE CONTENT, OR ANY ADVICE OR SERVICES PROVIDED THROUGH THE SITE TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. HPG, LLC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ACCESS TO THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT OR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SITE WILL BE CORRECTED.

THE ADVICE, RECOMMENDATIONS, INFORMATION, AND CONCLUSIONS POSTED OR EMAILED BY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SITE ARE NOT IN ANY WAY VETTED, APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY HPG, LLC AND YOU USE SUCH INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION

Limitation on Liability. In no event shall HPG, LLC, its subsidiaries, affiliates, distributors, suppliers, licensors, agents, partners or others involved in making available the Site and its contents be liable to you or any person or entity whatsoever for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, compensatory, consequential, or punitive damages or any damages whatsoever, including but not limited to: (i) loss of goodwill, profits, business interruption, data or other intangible losses; (ii) your inability to use, unauthorized use of, performance or non-performance of the Site; (iii) unauthorized access to or tampering with your personal information or transmissions; (iv) the provision or failure to provide any service; (v) errors or inaccuracies contained on the Site or any information, software, products, services, and related graphics obtained through the Site; (vi) any transactions entered into through this Site; (vii) any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of e-mail on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or combination thereof, including injury or damage to users and/or Members or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in connection with the Site or any site to which it provides hyperlinks; or (viii) damages otherwise arising out of the use of the Site. The limitations of liability shall apply regardless of the form of action, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, even if HPG, LLC has been advised of the possibility of damages.

 No Warranties or Guarantees for 3rd party content, offers, products or services.

  • Third Party content.Links found on the Site may let you leave our Site and go to websites operated by parties other than HPG, LLC. The linked websites are often not under the control of HPG, LLC and we are not responsible for the contents of any linked website or any link contained in a linked website that are not owned and operated by HPG, LLC, or any changes or updates to such websites. Such links by the website to websites maintained by third parties do not constitute an endorsement, guaranty, or warranty by HPG, LLC, or any of its affiliates, of any third party or their content, nor the existence of a partnership, joint venture, agency, or other relationship between HPG, LLC, or any of its affiliates, and any linked third party or their content. HPC, LLC does not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, product, content and/or information of these and other third parties and/or their websites. You should carefully review their privacy statements and other conditions of use.
  • Third Party offers, products, services.By offering third party products and services on through the Site, HPG, LLC makes no warranties or representations of any kind as to the content or suitability of the subject matter of any website, product or service from any such third party business or individual. HPG, LLC expressly disclaims liability for direct, consequential, or incidental damages arising from the products, services, advertisements, actions, or website content of these and any other third parties, and you waive any claims against HPG, LLC for damages arising from such transactions or your reliance upon statements contained therein. You will not consider HPG, LLC be construed as a party to such transactions, whether or not we may have received some form of revenue or other remuneration in connection with the transaction.

Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless HPG, LLC and its officers, directors, employees, subsidiaries, agents, affiliates and other partners from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, liabilities, costs and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from your breach of any provision of these Terms of Use.

Mediation/Arbitration

Any dispute arising under this these Terms of Use shall be decided by mediation or binding arbitration. Such mediation or arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the Commercial Mediation or Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association in effect at the time of these Terms of Use, with Seattle, Washington, as the designated locale. A demand for mediation shall be filed in writing with the other party and with the American Arbitration Association, and shall be made within a reasonable time after the dispute first arises, and in no event after the date when the institution of legal or equitable proceedings based on such Disputes would be barred by the applicable statute of repose or limitations. If a dispute is not resolved through mediation, then a dispute shall be resolved through arbitration. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding. This agreement to arbitrate shall be specifically enforceable in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, U.S.A.

If any provision of these Terms of Use, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid or for any reason, unenforceable including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, then such provision shall be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that matches, as closely as possible, the original provision, and the other provisions of these Terms of Use shall remain in full force and effect. The failure of either party to insist upon strict performance of any provision of these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

Governing Law and Venue. These Terms of Use shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, U.S.A. as it is applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within such state, without regard to conflict of law principles.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

Claims of Copyright Infringement. HPG, LLC respects the intellectual property rights of others, and requires that the people who use the Site do the same. It is our policy to respond promptly to claims of intellectual property misuse. If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright agent with the following information in writing:

  1. The electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to act on the owner’s behalf;
  2. Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
  4. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
  5. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  6. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

If we receive such a claim, we reserve the right to refuse or delete content as described under these Terms of Use and to terminate a Member’s account.

Our designated agent to receive notification of claimed infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act OF 1998 (“DMCA”) is:

HPG, LLC
Attn: Copyright Infringement
701 Pike Street
Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98101

After receiving a claim of infringement, we will process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions under the DMCA and other applicable intellectual property laws. Upon receipt of notices complying or substantially complying with the DMCA, we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity, and will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is claimed to be infringing. We will take reasonable steps promptly to notify the user that we have removed or disabled access to such material.

Upon receipt of a proper counter notification under the DMCA, we will promptly provide the person who provided the initial notification of claimed infringement with a copy of the counter notification and inform that person that we will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it in 10 business days. Unless our designated agent first receives notice from the person who submitted the initial notification that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the user from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the Site or the Sites, we will replace the removed material and cease disabling access to it.

You may provide us with a counter notification by providing our copyright agent the following information in writing:

  1. Your physical or electronic signature;
  2. 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;
  3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have 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;
  4. Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which we may be found and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the initial notification of infringement.

OTHER TERMS

International Users. This HPG, LLC Site is governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of United States of America. HPG, LLC makes no representation that the Site is governed by or operated in accordance with the laws of other nations. By using this Site and submitting any personal information, visitors from outside of the United States acknowledge that the Site is subject to U.S. law, consent to the transfer of personal data to the U.S., and waive any claims that may arise under their own national laws.

No Agency. There is no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchisor-franchisee relationship between HPG, LLC and any visitor to or Member of the Site.

Assignment. These Terms of Use may be assigned by HPG, LLC in the event of a transfer of control of HPG, LLC without the consent of the Member.

General. HPG, LLC’s failure to act in a particular circumstance does not waive its ability to act with respect to that circumstance or similar circumstances. HPG, LLC is excused for any failure to perform to the extent that its performance is prevented by any reason outside of its control. These Terms of Use compose the entire agreement between you and HPG, LLC and supersede all prior agreements between the parties regarding the subject matter contained herein.

Contact. If you have any questions concerning these Terms of Use, you may send them by e-mail to team@healthstoriesproject.com.

Last updated 11/18/2021