User Agreement

Effective as of: June 30, 2023

Welcome to a website operated by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California ("Union") and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California ("Foundation") (collectively, "ACLU of Southern California," "we," "our," "us"). Each such website is referred to as an ACLU of Southern California "Site."

The Sites include the Union's website at aclusocal.org, which may host Foundation content, and any other ACLU of Southern California-operated Site that links to this User Agreement. In addition to the Sites, this User Agreement may also apply and govern your use of any mobile application, online service, or platform operated by ACLU of Southern California (together with the Sites, ACLU of Southern California "Digital Services") that link to this User Agreement.

This User Agreement also does not apply to websites that the ACLU of Southern California does not operate where ACLU of Southern California entity has a presence, such as ACLU of Southern California pages on Facebook.

Finally, this is not the User Agreement for the websites of any other "ACLU Organizations," which, along with ACLU of Southern California, include the national organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union, Inc. and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc. (collectively, "National"), and other ACLU local/state/territory affiliated organizations (ACLU "Affiliates"). In all those cases, site-specific terms of use apply, and are posted accordingly.

Please read this User Agreement carefully, including the ACLU of Southern California Privacy Statement.

By using the ACLU of Southern California Site, you agree to follow the rules set forth on these web pages. From time to time, we may revise this User Agreement, including our Privacy Statement, so be sure to check these web pages occasionally. If we do make material changes, we will post a notice on our home page that the User Agreement has been modified and provide a link to the revised User Agreement. When you continue to use the ACLU of Southern California Site after we post a change, it means you agree to the new rules.

The ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU of Southern California Foundation

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (Union) and its affiliated organization, ACLU Foundation of Southern California (Foundation), are separate organizations that are each engaged in the same mission of defending the rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, including First Amendment freedoms, equality, privacy rights, and fundamental fairness. Learn more about the Union and Foundation and the different activities carried out by each organization.

Privacy Statement

Please review our Privacy Statement, which is part of this User Agreement and describes how we handle personal information collected and stewarded by the ACLU of Southern California. You have several choices in relation to your personal information stewarded by the ACLU of Southern California. To learn more, see Your Choices & Rights.

Copyright

Except where otherwise indicated, ACLU of Southern California owns or licenses the copyright in all the materials on the ACLU of Southern California Digital Services, including text, graphics, logos, button icons, audio clips, video clips, photographs, and software, and those rights are protected by United States and international copyright laws and other intellectual property laws ("ACLU of Southern California Content"). To the extent your use of material on our Site does not constitute "fair use" for which you do not need our permission, the following rules apply to use of the material:

Automatically Permitted Distribution

Unless the specific web page from which ACLU of Southern California text material is available indicates you may not do so, you may copy or distribute text materials that appear on the ACLU of Southern California Digital Services, in print or digital format, subject to three limitations:

  1. You may not use the materials for any commercial purpose, including any purpose connected with the sale of goods or services;
  2. You may not make editorial changes to material you attribute to us; and
  3. You may not excerpt, juxtapose, or present attributed material in any way that is misleading as to our original editorial intent, or as to your relationship with us.

You may also copy or distribute ACLU of Southern California Content that is not ACLU of Southern California text materials if and only to the extent that the specific launching page from which that ACLU of Southern California Content is accessible, and/or the ACLU of Southern California Content itself, explicitly indicates that the ACLU of Southern California Content may be distributed in a specified manner, subject to the same three limitations stated above.

All distributed copies, whether of text or non-text materials, must display the following copyright notice:

Copyright [2023] ACLU of Southern California.

Originally posted by the ACLU of Southern California at [complete address of source page].

Distribution Requiring Advance Written Permission

You must obtain written permission in advance if you wish to reproduce ACLU of Southern California Content in any manner not listed in the previous section. You can request this permission by sending us an email at media@aclusocal.org that contains the information listed below:

  • a complete description of the ACLU of Southern California Content requested, such as the URL of the web page that contains the ACLU of Southern California Content, a description of the sections or paragraphs that will be distributed, and, where applicable, the title and date of the ACLU of Southern California Content;
  • a description of the intended audience;
  • a description of the manner of distribution;
  • to any extent applicable, the length, retail price, and approximate size of first printing or circulation that will include the ACLU of Southern California Content;
  • a description of the geographic scope of the distribution and the length of time for which rights are being requested. (Please note that the ACLU of Southern California grants only nonexclusive rights);
  • a reply fax number or email address and a phone number.

Information You Post to the ACLU of Southern California Site

To the extent you voluntarily post material to the ACLU of Southern California Site for display on the ACLU of Southern California Site itself, you automatically grant to ACLU of Southern California an irrevocable, perpetual worldwide license for the ACLU of Southern California to display such material on the ACLU of Southern California Site, except to the extent we have indicated otherwise on the portion of the ACLU of Southern California Site that permits you to post such information (e.g., if a particular blog or forum on the ACLU of Southern California Site posts any specific terms of use that applies to that particular blog or forum). Additionally, unless otherwise explicitly agreed upon in writing by you and ACLU of Southern California, by posting any material to the ACLU of Southern California Site for display on the ACLU of Southern California Site, you are representing, warranting, and covenanting to the ACLU of Southern California that those materials are original to you or you have obtained permissions, releases, rights, or licenses, if any are required (including where use of that material does not constitute "fair use"), that you assume full responsibility for the posting of such material vis-à-vis third parties, including but not limited to making any payments to third parties with respect to displaying such third party material. By posting material for display on a portion of the ACLU of Southern California Site that contains specific terms of use applicable to that portion of the ACLU of Southern California Site, you agree you have read, understand, agree to, and accept such specific terms of use.

Trademarks (Including Logos)

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of Southern California logos, and any other trademarks on the ACLU of Southern California Site (collectively "ACLU of Southern California Trademarks") are trademarks of ACLU of Southern California in the United States and other countries unless it is explicitly stated on the ACLU of Southern California Site where a trademark appears that the trademark is the trademark of a third party (or it is obvious from the context that it is the trademark of a third party; e.g., where we include on the ACLU of Southern California Site the name or logo of a coalition partner) ("Third-Party Trademarks"). To the extent your use of ACLU of Southern California Trademarks does not constitute "fair use" for which you do not need our permission, the following rules apply to use of the material:

You may not use the ACLU of Southern California Trademarks for any product or service that does not belong to the ACLU of Southern California, nor in any manner that is likely to cause confusion about whether we are the source, affiliated with, sponsor of, or endorser of any product service, event or organization. Further, you will not use ACLU Trademarks in connection with any content that makes direct or indirect reference to, features or otherwise depicts any candidate for elective office. In addition, you may not use the ACLU of Southern California Trademarks in any manner that illegally disparages or discredits us.

Your ability to use a Third-Party Trademark that appears on the ACLU of Southern California Site is limited to the manner, if any, in which the ACLU of Southern California Site explicitly states on the page on which such Third-Party Trademark appears that such use in such manner is authorized by the third-party owner of that Third-Party Trademark (unless your use is permissible under the law [e.g., it is "fair use"] or the owner of such Third-Party Trademark has specifically granted you the right to such use in such manner).

Frames and Metatags

You may not frame the content of the ACLU of Southern California Site. You may not use metatags or any other "hidden text" that incorporates ACLU of Southern California Trademarks or our name without our express written consent.

Links to Other Websites

The ACLU of Southern California Site contains links to other websites that we think may be of interest to you. We are not responsible for and have no control over these other sites or their content. Remember that when you link to another site, that other site is governed by its own user agreement and privacy statement, which you should be sure to read.

Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

ALTHOUGH WE TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO PREVENT THE INTRODUCTION OF VIRUSES, WORMS, "TROJAN HORSES," OR OTHER DESTRUCTIVE MATERIALS TO THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SITE, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SITE OR MATERIALS THAT MAY BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SITE ARE FREE FROM SUCH DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR HARM ATTRIBUTABLE TO SUCH FEATURES.

WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, LOSS, OR INJURY BASED ON ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS. OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SITE, NOR FOR ANY CLAIM, LOSS. OR INJURY THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SITE OR YOUR BREACH OF ANY PROVISION OF THIS USER AGREEMENT.

Termination

We reserve the right to terminate the ACLU of Southern California Site and this User Agreement at any time without notice for any reason, including, in the case of the User Agreement, for your violation of any of its provisions. The Limitation of Liability and Governing Law Sections of this User Agreement survive any such termination.

Governing Law

This User Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Southern California applicable to contracts made and performed there without regard to its conflicts of law principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State of Southern California and County of Los Angeles County and waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.