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IMVU Terms of Service
Index:
Introduction
A. For Teenagers
B. For Parents
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service Basic Summary:
1. TERMS
2. ELIGIBILITY
3. BEHAVIOR
3.a DEVELOPER BEHAVIOR
4. IMVU CONTENT
4.a DEVELOPER CONTENT POLICY
4.b PRODUCT FLAGGING POLICY
5. PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
6. HONESTY
7. COPYRIGHTS
8. PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS
9. CONTENT RIGHTS
10. SAFETY TIPS
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service A More Detailed Summary:
1. Eligibility
2. Acceptance of Terms
3. Content
4. Copyright -- Notification of Claims of Infringement
5. Privacy and Information Disclosure
6. Conduct
7. No Spam Policy
8. Limitations of service
9. Termination of service
10. Dealings with organizations and individuals
11. Proprietary rights
11.a Fan Site rules
12. Disclaimer of Warranties
13. General Disclaimers
14. Limitations of Liability
15. Indemnity
16. General information
17. Violations of Terms and Liquidated Damages
18. Feedback
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Introduction:
IMVU is a place where people come to make new friends, hang out, interact, and communicate in a safe, non-threatening environment. The rules governing your behavior on IMVU are simple. They are based on treating other people with courtesy and respect, and abiding by the "Golden Rule" -- to act toward others in a way that you would expect them to behave toward you, your friends, or members of your family.
A summary of our "Terms and Conditions of Service" is provided below for your review. The most important points are highlighted in the first section entitled "A Basic Summary". If you should have any specific questions regarding these, further details may be found in the section that follows entitled "A More Detailed Summary". You are responsible for knowing the information on both.
What if someone else is abusive to me?
If someone is abusive to you we do provide a number of ways to report this and bring it to our attention. This includes attempts by others to solicit personal information from or about you. Important: if someone is abusive to you, do not abuse them back. Just report the incident and move on. For users who violate our terms of service, we reserve the right to terminate their IMVU account and confiscate their credits and items without warning. Find out how to report abuse.
A. For Teenagers:
The "Basic Summary" section is a guideline that will help to explain some of the more detailed points found in the pages that follow (IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service) which you also need to read and understand.
If you are not yet 18 years old, please have your parents or legal guardian review the "Basic Summary" and "Terms and Conditions of Service" with you, discuss any questions you might have, and give you their permission to register and use the program with both your and their full understanding of the rules. By registering and using IMVU, you are telling us that you and your parents have joined in this agreement.
If you do not understand or agree with any part of the rules outlined in the "Basic Summary" or "Terms and Conditions of Service", do not use the program! If you have any questions or concerns regarding what is written here, please let us know! Do not use the program until these questions and concerns have been answered to your satisfaction, and you agree to abide by the Guidelines and Terms and Conditions of Service. Specific questions about IMVU's Terms of Service may be addressed to: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
B. For Parents:
Parents are advised to exercise supervision over their teen's on-line activities. If you have not joined in your teen's agreement to these Terms and Conditions of Service, please do so. If you have any further questions you may contact us at: ParentConcern@imvu.com
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 13 and believe that he or she is using the site please contact us at ParentConcern@imvu.com
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service -- BASIC SUMMARY:
Please review the following points in our "Basic Summary" of IMVU's "Terms and Conditions of Service". If you have a specific question regarding any of these, more detail is provided in the next section entitled "Terms and Conditions of Service -- A More Detailed Summary". If after reading both sections, your question has still not been answered, please feel free to contact us at: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
1. TERMS: You understand that your use of IMVU is entirely at your own risk and comes without warranties or guarantees of any kind. You are using IMVU on an "as is" basis, which essentially means that "what you see is what you get". By using the program, you are telling us that you have both the authority to use it, and that you agree to abide by all of its terms and conditions.
2. ELIGIBILITY: You must be 13 years of age or older to register or to use the program. If you are greater than 13 but not yet 18, your use of the program implies that you have your parent's or guardian's permission to do so. (Please refer to the section above entitled "For Teenagers")
3. BEHAVIOR: While using IMVU, it is your responsibility to act and behave in a manner that is respectful, courteous, and sensitive to the members of the IMVU community and to society at large. This means that you are not allowed to create names, post images, or use language that is nasty, insulting, sexually explicit, racist, disrespectful, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate. (For more information on this, please see the section below entitled "Terms and Conditions of Service -- A More Detailed Summary". )
If you create, post, or use any such prohibited content we have the right to delete it from the program without telling you or providing compensation, and to freeze or close your account.
If you engage in illegal activities, IMVU has the right to notify local, state or federal authorites.
3.a - Developer Behavior
Although we recognize many IMVU developers are teens, we expect all Developers to make a substantial effort to conduct themselves professionally whenever referencing IMVU. This applies to spaces wtihin the IMVU community and without. More importantly, Professional Developers must recognize that their actions and content are visible and have an effect on the community and the IMVU brand.
If a Professional Developer performs any of the actions below, IMVU reserves the right to remove all of that person's Developer privileges and even to remove that account from IMVU entirely.
1 - Any violation of the IMVU Terms of Service.
2 - Verified Copyright Violation In Accordance With the DMCA.
3 - Verified Trademark violation.
4 - Repeatedly submitting access pass or unsuitable for IMVU content to the general audience catalog area.
5 - Verified non-competitive or abusive behavior on IMVU forums or Catalog.
6 - Verified non-competitive or abusive behavior toward other IMVU community members on any website.
If you are already an IMVU Developer and want to learn more about the Professional Developer program, click here.
4. IMVU CONTENT: Just about everything you see on IMVU has been created by you, the IMVU user and developer community. It is therefore up to you to govern your own behavior when creating avatar names, avatar profiles, profile snapshots or photos, avatar customizations, avatar actions, catalog content or when communicating in the chat windows, forums, or message boards.
While we believe that the creation of a 3D chat environment allows for a much richer interpersonal IM experience, IMVU is equally dedicated to maintaining high standards of respect, decency, and courtesy in order to make that experience as friendly and safe as possible. To this end, in addition to those things mentioned in the "Behavior" section above, the following content is not allowed on IMVU:
* Anything that exploits children or minors, or anything beyond a first name that reveals personally identifying information about anyone under the age of eighteen.
* Anything that spreads personal information about another individual (including libel, slander, defamation, harassment, or for any other mean-spirited, malicious or illegal purpose).
* Anything which may be considered to be grossly offensive to the online community, including but not limited to blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred and profanity (bad language).
* Anything that promotes or provides instructional information about illegal activities.
* Anything depicting cruelty to animals.
* Any copyrighted material that is used without the express permission of the owner.
* Any Trademarked logo that is used without the express permission of the owner.
You acknowledge that while IMVU does not actively pre-screen or approve content, it does reserve the right to examine any content submitted to it at any time. IMVU also maintains the absolute right (but not the obligation) to refuse, delete, or remove any content, or to move any content from "public" to "private" status for any reason or no reason, at any time, with or without notice.
You also acknowledge that, if you are a Developer, you will not, under any circumstances attempt to bypass the derivation chain of any product you may derive from.
4.a - Developer Content Policy
To learn more about IMVU's Developer content policy, click here.
4.b Product flagging policy
To learn more about IMVU's product flagging policy, click here.
5. PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY: You understand that at any time IMVU may supervise chat rooms, catalog submissions, forums postings, and filter content, but that we do not have a duty to do this. You understand that bad people can use chat functions and that chat rooms can be dangerous places if you do not use caution and good sense. You agree not to give out any personal information including your password, your real name, your phone number, e-mail address, instant messenger screen name, real world location, real age or other contact information, and not to ask for personal information from other IMVU users.
NOTE: No one from IMVU will ever ask you for your password, so do not EVER give it out!
6. HONESTY: The same rules that govern your behavior in society apply to IMVU as well: If you steal anything -- including avatars, credits, personal inventory, or catalog items from other IMVU users or from IMVU, or if you cheat on any of our games, use any hacking scripting or editing programs in the program, violate the Terms of Service, or break the law, we can freeze or terminate your account, and if appropriate, report you to the Police.
7. COPYRIGHTS: Any IMVU user may become a developer once they have registered their name. The developer toolkit is free to download, easy to use, and allows you to design, paint, or texture your own items and submit them to the catalog. The understanding is that the items you submit are your own unique creations, and have not been copied, plagiarized, or poached from other sources. While IMVU does not actively pre-screen or police the items submitted by independent developers to the catalog, we do take copyright violations VERY seriously, and we will act expeditiously in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to investigate and pursue copyright violations.
IMVU encourages all of its developers to act within the spirit of the DMCA, not just the letter of the law. Official IMVU policy guidelines for DMCA compliance are posted here: http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_info.php?section=Info&topic=copyrightinfo
7.a TRADEMARKS: As with copyright infringement, IMVU takes Trademark and/or Servicemark violations very seriously. Violating someone's Trademark rights is against both the IMVU TOS and US law and may result in punitive measures such as revoking of Developer privelages and disabling your account, etc. Developers should also be aware that, as well as punitive measures taken by IMVU, they can be vulnerable to legal action taken by the party whose Trademark has been violated. This can include legal liability and court costs. IMVU's Trademark policies are posted here: http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_info.php?section=Info&topic=copyrightinfo
8. PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS: When you purchase IMVU products (including credits, credit bundles, avatar name, try-it passes, etc) choose carefully as we do not refund if you change your mind. However, if the products are faulty we will meet our obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act. If you have encountered any problems with a purchase, or believe that you have been incorrectly billed click here to report billing problem.
Please note that your account may be disabled without warning or notice at any time by IMVU. We will do this when there is suspicion of, a report of, or confirmation of any of the following events:
-- Any kind of payment fraud (Credit Card, Paypal, cancelled check, etc).
-- Any unauthorized use of your IMVU account requiring IMVU to refund purchases made.
-- Any time your IMVU account is used for purchases that subsequently require a refund, reversal, or chargeback, without prior warning or notice given to IMVU.
-- Any other type of abuse which IMVU deems is substantial enough to warrant disabling your account.
If your IMVU account has been disabled due to one of the above events and you feel a reasonable misunderstanding has occurred, you may use our automated BILLING HELP REQUEST FORM to send us a detailed explanation of what took place.
(To find the BILLING HELP REQUEST FORM, click on the HELP tab located in the right upper corner of any IMVU web-page, then click on the "STILL NEED HELP" section).
9. CONTENT RIGHTS: By using the program, you are giving IMVU permission to use your character, information, and submissions however we choose (including elsewhere in our Service, in our advertising, or in any future media such as web sites, television programs, motion pictures, games, or merchandising), for as long as we want without compensation to you.
10. SAFETY TIPS: To learn more about safety at IMVU, click here.
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IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service -- A MORE DETAILED SUMMARY:
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.
This Agreement describes in more detail the terms and conditions of your registration and use of the IMVU program. It may be modified by IMVU at any time and without prior notice, such modifications to be effective upon posting by IMVU on the Web site. This Agreement includes IMVU's acceptable use policy for content posted on the web site, IMVU's Privacy Policy, and any notices regarding the Web site.
If you do not understand and accept the provisions outlined here, do not use the program. Your use of IMVU constitutes your acceptance of this Agreement and all of IMVU's rules and restrictions related to its Services, as they may change from time to time.
1. Eligibility
You must be 13 years of age or over to register as a member of IMVU or to use the program. If you are greater than 13 but not yet 18, your use of the program implies that you have your parents or guardians permission to do so. (Please refer to the section above entitled "For Teenagers"). Use of the program is void where prohibited. By using the program, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement and to abide by all of its terms and conditions.
2. Acceptance of Terms
By using IMVU in any way, you are agreeing to comply with IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service. Should you object to any term or condition of these Terms, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications the Terms and Conditions of Service, or should you become dissatisfied with IMVU in any way, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue your use of IMVU. You may do so at any time and for any reason by simply following the instructions on the your Accounts page entitled "Delete your IMVU account". You also understand that IMVU may terminate your membership for any reason, at any time. If IMVU terminates your account because you have breached this Agreement, you will not be entitled to any refund, reimbursement, or remuneration. Even after membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect.
3. Content: Just about everything you see on IMVU has been created by its members, users, and developer community. It is therefore up each member of the IMVU community to govern their own behavior when creating avatar names, avatar profiles, profile snapshots or photos, avatar customizations, avatar actions, catalog content or when communicating in the chat windows, forums, or message boards. It is very important to understand that IMVU does not actively pre-screen or police items submitted by independent developers to the catalog, nor does it pre-screen or police community chat, Chat Now, or website submissions. All postings, messages, texts, files, images, photos, video, sounds, or other such content posted on, transmitted through, or linked from IMVU are therefore the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated. In other words, if you contribute content to IMVU, you are entirely responsible for all the content that you post, email, submit, or otherwise make available to the program in any shape or form.
IMVU is an open-access community site, which is to say that it does not preemptively screen new registrants, nor does it seek to limit access to new members except where prohibited by law, by age, or by the conditions set forth in this Terms of Service. You realize that by using IMVU, you risk coming into contact with people who may misrepresent themselves, or who may act abusively or inappropriately. You also realize that by using IMVU you risk being exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. If, while using IMVU, you encounter links to other websites which are completely independent of IMVU, IMVU makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site. Your linking to any other websites is at your own risk.
You understand that your use of IMVU is entirely at your own risk and comes without warranties or guarantees of any kind. You are using IMVU on an "as is" basis, which essentially means that "what you see is what you get". You agree that under no circumstances will IMVU be liable in any way for any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed or otherwise made available through the program. You acknowledge that while IMVU does not actively pre-screen or approve content, it does reserve the right to examine any content submitted to it at any time. IMVU also maintains the absolute right (but not the obligation) to refuse, delete, or remove any content, or to move any content from "public" to "private" status for any reason or no reason, at any time, with or without notice.
3.a Developer submissions: If, as a Developer, you purposefully submit multiple copies of the same product, not only will all copies of that product will be disabled but this act will be considered a violation of IMVU's Terms of Service.
4. Copyright -- Notification of Claims of Infringement
If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, you may file a DMCA takedown notice. To learn more about DMCA takedown notices and IMVU's DMCA policies, click here or, click the 'Copyright(DMCA)' link at the bottom of every IMVU webpage.
5. Privacy and Information Disclosure
You understand that at any time IMVU may supervise chat rooms, catalog submissions, forums postings, and filter content, but that we do not have a duty to do this. You understand that bad people can use chat functions and that chat rooms can be dangerous places if you do not use caution and good sense. You agree not to give out any personal information including your password, your last name, your phone number, e-mail address, instant messenger screen name or other contact information, and not to ask for personal information from other IMVU users.
NOTE: No one from IMVU will ever ask you for your password, so do not EVER give it out!
Your use of IMVU signifies acknowledgement of and agreement to our Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that IMVU may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your content, as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce these Terms; respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third-parties; respond to claims that contact information (e.g. phone number, street address) of a third-party has been posted or transmitted without their consent or as a form of harassment; protect the rights, property, or personal safety of IMVU, its users or the general public.
6. Conduct
You are expected to use IMVU in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations. While using IMVU, it is your responsibility to act and behave in a manner that is respectful, courteous, and sensitive to the members of the IMVU community and to society at large. You agree not to post, email, submit, or otherwise make available content:
1. that is disrespectful, discourteous, and insensitive to any member of the IMVU community.
2. that claims another IMVU member has committed copyright theft. If you know about a copyright violation, you agree to contact the copyright holder and ask them to submit a DMCA notice to IMVU. To learn more about DMCA takedown notices and IMVU's DMCA policies, click here or, click the 'Copyright(DMCA)' link at the bottom of every IMVU webpage.
3. that exposes anyone in the "general audience" section of the program to content deemed to be 'mature' or 'adult' in nature, or belonging to the 'adult section' of the program (examples of this might include sexually explicit language, suggestive behavior, naked photos or images, etc.; messages or content that promote drugs, drug use, or drug-related paraphernalia; messages or content that promote, encourage, or solicit sexually promiscuous behavior). A good rule of thumb is: "if it's something you would not see on prime-time public TV, then it probably does not belong in the 'General Audience' section of the program". Another way to think about is "If it is something you would not want your 13 year old brother or sister seeing, hearing, saying, buying, or wearing in the real world, then it does not belong in the 'General Audience' section of the program ";
4. that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
5. that impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an IMVU employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
6. that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or harms minors in any way;
7. that includes personal or identifying information about another person.
8. that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, misinformative, or constitutes "bait and switch";
9. that depicts cruelty to animals
10. that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships.
11. that constitutes or contains "affiliate marketing," "link referral code," "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or unsolicited commercial advertisement.
12. that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if (1) posted in areas of the IMVU sites which are not designated for such purposes; or (2) emailed to IMVU users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.
13. that includes links to commercial services or web sites, except as allowed by IMVU.
14. that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items, the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law.
15. that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
16. that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or
17. that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the program.
Additionally, you agree not to:
18. contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
19. "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
20. collect personal data about other users without IMVU's written permission OR for commercial or unlawful purposes;
21. use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service - exception is made for internet search engines (e.g. Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file;
22. post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content, or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
23. attempt to gain unauthorized access to IMVU's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the program or the IMVU website.
24. engages in commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes
25. Hijack IMVU users away from IMVU websites by any means including but not limited to hijacking visitors to your avatar home page and automatically sending them to any other page. Hijacking via home page messages is also foridden.
26. Developers and Professional Developers agree further that their Developing privelages are a right granted to them by IMVU and can be taken away at any time for any TOS violation including non-competitive or abusive behavior toward other IMVU community members on *any* website.
27. Accuse another IMVU member of theft IMPLICITLY or EXPLICITLY through any means of communication in IMVU including but not limited to homepages, messages on homepages, product descriptions, product titles and chats.
As clarification, an example of an *IMPLICIT* accusation is: creating a product with a name like "Legal version of XXXXX" when there is another product in the catalog called "XXXXX" implies that the original "XXXXX" version is illegal. We consider that to be an accusation and therefore against our TOS.
If you create, post, or use any such prohibited content we have the right to delete it from the program without telling you or providing compensation, and to freeze or close your account.
If, while using IMVU, you become exposed to any prohibited or offensive content such as (but not limited to) those items listed above, you further waive your right to any damages (from any party) related to such exposure. IMVU reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the program and terminating the membership of such violators.
7. No Spam Policy
You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other members to buy or sell any non-IMVU related products or services through the program. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. Although IMVU cannot monitor the conduct of its members off the web site, it is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from IMVU in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, IMVU reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a member may send to other members in any 24-hour period to a number which IMVU deems appropriate in its sole discretion.
You should be aware that sending unsolicited email advertisements to IMVU email addresses or through IMVU computer systems is not only a violation of these Terms, but also of certain federal and state laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030 et seq.), Section 502 of the California Penal Code and Section 17538.45 of the California Business and Professions Code. Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.
8. Limitations of service
You acknowledge that IMVU may establish limits concerning use of its program and services, including the maximum number of days that content will be retained by IMVU, the maximum number and size of postings, email messages, or other content that may be transmitted or stored by IMVU, and the frequency with which you may access IMVU. You agree that IMVU has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any content maintained or transmitted by IMVU. You acknowledge that IMVU reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue its services (or any part thereof) with or without notice, and that IMVU shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of its program or service.
9. Termination of service
You agree that IMVU, in its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, if IMVU believes that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the Terms. Further, you agree that IMVU shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to its program or services. Furthermore, you agree not to attempt to use IMVU after said termination. These Terms and Conditions of Service shall apply even after the termination of your account..
10. Dealings with organizations and individuals
Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You agree that IMVU shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between participants on this site, or between users and any third party, you understand and agree that IMVU is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release IMVU, its officers, employees, agents and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and / or our service.
If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 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."
11. Proprietary rights
IMVU is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. Content displayed on or through IMVU is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to copyrights laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of IMVU or its collective work is prohibited.
You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service, and agree to abide by any and all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the IMVU service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service. IMVU is a registered mark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Although IMVU does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting content to any public area of IMVU or its services, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to IMVU an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing.
11.a Fan Sites
IMVU is proud to have the one of the greatest online communities in the world. Some elements of this community include websites that are not owned, operated or influenced by IMVU inc. Rather, these external sites are operated by IMVU's loyal fan base and are called Fan Sites. Even more, IMVU encourages its fan base to create Fan Sites as every one of them contributes to a better community.
Fan Sites must ask permission to use the IMVU logo and/or name as well as any other legally protected art that IMVU owns. This includes but is not limited to the Credits logo, the Access Pass logo, the Try It pass logo, the Gold Pass logo, and all products found in the IMVU catalog including Avatars. IMVU reserves the right to refuse this permission to anyone for any reason.
Only products found in the General Audience section of the IMVU catalog are suitable for display on all Fan Sites. If a Fan Site wishes to display Restricted content on its Site, it may do so only if, like IMVU, it has age verification in place.
It follows that if a Fan Site wishes to display content from the Restricted section of the IMVU catalog, people may only be able to access this content after paying for access with a Credit Card or by verifying their age through an age verification service.
Unsuitable for IMVU content is never OK on any site associated with IMVU, the IMVU brand, the IMVU community and the IMVU avatars. To learn more, please see our Access Pass / Unsuitable for IMVU content polciy.
Failure for Fan Sites to abide by the TOS will result in punitive action from IMVU that may include but is not limited to deleting all avatar accounts associated with the Fan Site as well as legal action against the owners of the Fan Site. What's more, Fan Sites are legally liable for all violations of local laws including displaying inappropriate content to minors.
12. Disclaimer of Warranties
YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" OR "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE IMVU SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.
13. General Disclaimers:
IMVU is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate content posted on the Web site or in connection with its program or services, whether caused by users of the Web site, IMVU members, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized by IMVU.
IMVU is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Web site or Member of the Service.
IMVU assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, user or member communications.
IMVU is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site 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 Web and/or in connection with the Service.
Under no circumstances will IMVU be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from anyone's use of the Web site or the Service, any content posted on the Web site or transmitted to members, or any interactions between users of the Web site, whether online or offline.
The Web site and the Service are provided "AS-IS" and IMVU expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement.
IMVU cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the Web site and/or the Service. The service may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by users from IMVU or through or from the service shall create any warranty not expressly stated herein.
14. Limitations of Liability
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL IMVU BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF IMVU HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM
USE OR MISUSE OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED
BY LAW. In some jurisdiction, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.
15. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold IMVU, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of content you submit, post or make available through IMVU, your use of the IMVU, your violation of these Terms of Service, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.
16. General information
The Terms of Service constitute the entire agreement between you and IMVU and govern your use of the IMVU program and services, superceding any prior agreements between you and IMVU. The Terms of Service and the relationship between you and IMVU shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and IMVU agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of San Francisco, California. The failure of IMVU to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Service is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Service remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of IMVU or the Terms of Service must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
17. Violations of Terms and Liquidated Damages
Please report any violations of the Terms of Service by flagging the posting(s) for review, or by emailing to ServiceTerms@imvu.com. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.
You understand and agree that, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then you will be liable to pay IMVU liquidated damages as follows:
a. If you post a message that (1) impersonates any person or entity; (2) falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; or (3) that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent, you agree that IMVU in its sole discretion may disclose identifying information about you to the victim, and that should IMVU bring a claim against you in court, that you will pay IMVU one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such message.
b. If IMVU establishes limits on the frequency with which you may access its service, or terminates your access to or use of its service, you agree to pay IMVU one hundred dollars ($100) for each message posted in excess of such limits or for each day on which you access IMVU in excess of such limits, whichever is higher.
c. If you send unsolicited email advertisements to IMVU email addresses or through IMVU computer systems, you agree to pay IMVU twenty five dollars ($25) for each such email.
d. If you post messages in violation of these Terms of Use, other than as described above, you agree to pay IMVU one hundred dollars ($100) for each such message. In its sole discretion, IMVU may elect to issue a warning before assessing damages.
Otherwise, you agree to pay IMVU's actual damages, to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated.
18. Feedback
We welcome your feedback on this document in our feedback forum. Please contact us with any questions regarding this agreement. . Specific questions about IMVU's Terms & Conditions of Service may be addressed to: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
Index:
Introduction
A. For Teenagers
B. For Parents
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service Basic Summary:
1. TERMS
2. ELIGIBILITY
3. BEHAVIOR
3.a DEVELOPER BEHAVIOR
4. IMVU CONTENT
4.a DEVELOPER CONTENT POLICY
4.b PRODUCT FLAGGING POLICY
5. PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
6. HONESTY
7. COPYRIGHTS
8. PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS
9. CONTENT RIGHTS
10. SAFETY TIPS
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service A More Detailed Summary:
1. Eligibility
2. Acceptance of Terms
3. Content
4. Copyright -- Notification of Claims of Infringement
5. Privacy and Information Disclosure
6. Conduct
7. No Spam Policy
8. Limitations of service
9. Termination of service
10. Dealings with organizations and individuals
11. Proprietary rights
11.a Fan Site rules
12. Disclaimer of Warranties
13. General Disclaimers
14. Limitations of Liability
15. Indemnity
16. General information
17. Violations of Terms and Liquidated Damages
18. Feedback
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Introduction:
IMVU is a place where people come to make new friends, hang out, interact, and communicate in a safe, non-threatening environment. The rules governing your behavior on IMVU are simple. They are based on treating other people with courtesy and respect, and abiding by the "Golden Rule" -- to act toward others in a way that you would expect them to behave toward you, your friends, or members of your family.
A summary of our "Terms and Conditions of Service" is provided below for your review. The most important points are highlighted in the first section entitled "A Basic Summary". If you should have any specific questions regarding these, further details may be found in the section that follows entitled "A More Detailed Summary". You are responsible for knowing the information on both.
What if someone else is abusive to me?
If someone is abusive to you we do provide a number of ways to report this and bring it to our attention. This includes attempts by others to solicit personal information from or about you. Important: if someone is abusive to you, do not abuse them back. Just report the incident and move on. For users who violate our terms of service, we reserve the right to terminate their IMVU account and confiscate their credits and items without warning. Find out how to report abuse.
A. For Teenagers:
The "Basic Summary" section is a guideline that will help to explain some of the more detailed points found in the pages that follow (IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service) which you also need to read and understand.
If you are not yet 18 years old, please have your parents or legal guardian review the "Basic Summary" and "Terms and Conditions of Service" with you, discuss any questions you might have, and give you their permission to register and use the program with both your and their full understanding of the rules. By registering and using IMVU, you are telling us that you and your parents have joined in this agreement.
If you do not understand or agree with any part of the rules outlined in the "Basic Summary" or "Terms and Conditions of Service", do not use the program! If you have any questions or concerns regarding what is written here, please let us know! Do not use the program until these questions and concerns have been answered to your satisfaction, and you agree to abide by the Guidelines and Terms and Conditions of Service. Specific questions about IMVU's Terms of Service may be addressed to: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
B. For Parents:
Parents are advised to exercise supervision over their teen's on-line activities. If you have not joined in your teen's agreement to these Terms and Conditions of Service, please do so. If you have any further questions you may contact us at: ParentConcern@imvu.com
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 13 and believe that he or she is using the site please contact us at ParentConcern@imvu.com
IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service -- BASIC SUMMARY:
Please review the following points in our "Basic Summary" of IMVU's "Terms and Conditions of Service". If you have a specific question regarding any of these, more detail is provided in the next section entitled "Terms and Conditions of Service -- A More Detailed Summary". If after reading both sections, your question has still not been answered, please feel free to contact us at: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
1. TERMS: You understand that your use of IMVU is entirely at your own risk and comes without warranties or guarantees of any kind. You are using IMVU on an "as is" basis, which essentially means that "what you see is what you get". By using the program, you are telling us that you have both the authority to use it, and that you agree to abide by all of its terms and conditions.
2. ELIGIBILITY: You must be 13 years of age or older to register or to use the program. If you are greater than 13 but not yet 18, your use of the program implies that you have your parent's or guardian's permission to do so. (Please refer to the section above entitled "For Teenagers")
3. BEHAVIOR: While using IMVU, it is your responsibility to act and behave in a manner that is respectful, courteous, and sensitive to the members of the IMVU community and to society at large. This means that you are not allowed to create names, post images, or use language that is nasty, insulting, sexually explicit, racist, disrespectful, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate. (For more information on this, please see the section below entitled "Terms and Conditions of Service -- A More Detailed Summary". )
If you create, post, or use any such prohibited content we have the right to delete it from the program without telling you or providing compensation, and to freeze or close your account.
If you engage in illegal activities, IMVU has the right to notify local, state or federal authorites.
3.a - Developer Behavior
Although we recognize many IMVU developers are teens, we expect all Developers to make a substantial effort to conduct themselves professionally whenever referencing IMVU. This applies to spaces wtihin the IMVU community and without. More importantly, Professional Developers must recognize that their actions and content are visible and have an effect on the community and the IMVU brand.
If a Professional Developer performs any of the actions below, IMVU reserves the right to remove all of that person's Developer privileges and even to remove that account from IMVU entirely.
1 - Any violation of the IMVU Terms of Service.
2 - Verified Copyright Violation In Accordance With the DMCA.
3 - Verified Trademark violation.
4 - Repeatedly submitting access pass or unsuitable for IMVU content to the general audience catalog area.
5 - Verified non-competitive or abusive behavior on IMVU forums or Catalog.
6 - Verified non-competitive or abusive behavior toward other IMVU community members on any website.
If you are already an IMVU Developer and want to learn more about the Professional Developer program, click here.
4. IMVU CONTENT: Just about everything you see on IMVU has been created by you, the IMVU user and developer community. It is therefore up to you to govern your own behavior when creating avatar names, avatar profiles, profile snapshots or photos, avatar customizations, avatar actions, catalog content or when communicating in the chat windows, forums, or message boards.
While we believe that the creation of a 3D chat environment allows for a much richer interpersonal IM experience, IMVU is equally dedicated to maintaining high standards of respect, decency, and courtesy in order to make that experience as friendly and safe as possible. To this end, in addition to those things mentioned in the "Behavior" section above, the following content is not allowed on IMVU:
* Anything that exploits children or minors, or anything beyond a first name that reveals personally identifying information about anyone under the age of eighteen.
* Anything that spreads personal information about another individual (including libel, slander, defamation, harassment, or for any other mean-spirited, malicious or illegal purpose).
* Anything which may be considered to be grossly offensive to the online community, including but not limited to blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred and profanity (bad language).
* Anything that promotes or provides instructional information about illegal activities.
* Anything depicting cruelty to animals.
* Any copyrighted material that is used without the express permission of the owner.
* Any Trademarked logo that is used without the express permission of the owner.
You acknowledge that while IMVU does not actively pre-screen or approve content, it does reserve the right to examine any content submitted to it at any time. IMVU also maintains the absolute right (but not the obligation) to refuse, delete, or remove any content, or to move any content from "public" to "private" status for any reason or no reason, at any time, with or without notice.
You also acknowledge that, if you are a Developer, you will not, under any circumstances attempt to bypass the derivation chain of any product you may derive from.
4.a - Developer Content Policy
To learn more about IMVU's Developer content policy, click here.
4.b Product flagging policy
To learn more about IMVU's product flagging policy, click here.
5. PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY: You understand that at any time IMVU may supervise chat rooms, catalog submissions, forums postings, and filter content, but that we do not have a duty to do this. You understand that bad people can use chat functions and that chat rooms can be dangerous places if you do not use caution and good sense. You agree not to give out any personal information including your password, your real name, your phone number, e-mail address, instant messenger screen name, real world location, real age or other contact information, and not to ask for personal information from other IMVU users.
NOTE: No one from IMVU will ever ask you for your password, so do not EVER give it out!
6. HONESTY: The same rules that govern your behavior in society apply to IMVU as well: If you steal anything -- including avatars, credits, personal inventory, or catalog items from other IMVU users or from IMVU, or if you cheat on any of our games, use any hacking scripting or editing programs in the program, violate the Terms of Service, or break the law, we can freeze or terminate your account, and if appropriate, report you to the Police.
7. COPYRIGHTS: Any IMVU user may become a developer once they have registered their name. The developer toolkit is free to download, easy to use, and allows you to design, paint, or texture your own items and submit them to the catalog. The understanding is that the items you submit are your own unique creations, and have not been copied, plagiarized, or poached from other sources. While IMVU does not actively pre-screen or police the items submitted by independent developers to the catalog, we do take copyright violations VERY seriously, and we will act expeditiously in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to investigate and pursue copyright violations.
IMVU encourages all of its developers to act within the spirit of the DMCA, not just the letter of the law. Official IMVU policy guidelines for DMCA compliance are posted here: http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_info.php?section=Info&topic=copyrightinfo
7.a TRADEMARKS: As with copyright infringement, IMVU takes Trademark and/or Servicemark violations very seriously. Violating someone's Trademark rights is against both the IMVU TOS and US law and may result in punitive measures such as revoking of Developer privelages and disabling your account, etc. Developers should also be aware that, as well as punitive measures taken by IMVU, they can be vulnerable to legal action taken by the party whose Trademark has been violated. This can include legal liability and court costs. IMVU's Trademark policies are posted here: http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_info.php?section=Info&topic=copyrightinfo
8. PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS: When you purchase IMVU products (including credits, credit bundles, avatar name, try-it passes, etc) choose carefully as we do not refund if you change your mind. However, if the products are faulty we will meet our obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act. If you have encountered any problems with a purchase, or believe that you have been incorrectly billed click here to report billing problem.
Please note that your account may be disabled without warning or notice at any time by IMVU. We will do this when there is suspicion of, a report of, or confirmation of any of the following events:
-- Any kind of payment fraud (Credit Card, Paypal, cancelled check, etc).
-- Any unauthorized use of your IMVU account requiring IMVU to refund purchases made.
-- Any time your IMVU account is used for purchases that subsequently require a refund, reversal, or chargeback, without prior warning or notice given to IMVU.
-- Any other type of abuse which IMVU deems is substantial enough to warrant disabling your account.
If your IMVU account has been disabled due to one of the above events and you feel a reasonable misunderstanding has occurred, you may use our automated BILLING HELP REQUEST FORM to send us a detailed explanation of what took place.
(To find the BILLING HELP REQUEST FORM, click on the HELP tab located in the right upper corner of any IMVU web-page, then click on the "STILL NEED HELP" section).
9. CONTENT RIGHTS: By using the program, you are giving IMVU permission to use your character, information, and submissions however we choose (including elsewhere in our Service, in our advertising, or in any future media such as web sites, television programs, motion pictures, games, or merchandising), for as long as we want without compensation to you.
10. SAFETY TIPS: To learn more about safety at IMVU, click here.
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IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service -- A MORE DETAILED SUMMARY:
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.
This Agreement describes in more detail the terms and conditions of your registration and use of the IMVU program. It may be modified by IMVU at any time and without prior notice, such modifications to be effective upon posting by IMVU on the Web site. This Agreement includes IMVU's acceptable use policy for content posted on the web site, IMVU's Privacy Policy, and any notices regarding the Web site.
If you do not understand and accept the provisions outlined here, do not use the program. Your use of IMVU constitutes your acceptance of this Agreement and all of IMVU's rules and restrictions related to its Services, as they may change from time to time.
1. Eligibility
You must be 13 years of age or over to register as a member of IMVU or to use the program. If you are greater than 13 but not yet 18, your use of the program implies that you have your parents or guardians permission to do so. (Please refer to the section above entitled "For Teenagers"). Use of the program is void where prohibited. By using the program, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement and to abide by all of its terms and conditions.
2. Acceptance of Terms
By using IMVU in any way, you are agreeing to comply with IMVU's Terms and Conditions of Service. Should you object to any term or condition of these Terms, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications the Terms and Conditions of Service, or should you become dissatisfied with IMVU in any way, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue your use of IMVU. You may do so at any time and for any reason by simply following the instructions on the your Accounts page entitled "Delete your IMVU account". You also understand that IMVU may terminate your membership for any reason, at any time. If IMVU terminates your account because you have breached this Agreement, you will not be entitled to any refund, reimbursement, or remuneration. Even after membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect.
3. Content: Just about everything you see on IMVU has been created by its members, users, and developer community. It is therefore up each member of the IMVU community to govern their own behavior when creating avatar names, avatar profiles, profile snapshots or photos, avatar customizations, avatar actions, catalog content or when communicating in the chat windows, forums, or message boards. It is very important to understand that IMVU does not actively pre-screen or police items submitted by independent developers to the catalog, nor does it pre-screen or police community chat, Chat Now, or website submissions. All postings, messages, texts, files, images, photos, video, sounds, or other such content posted on, transmitted through, or linked from IMVU are therefore the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated. In other words, if you contribute content to IMVU, you are entirely responsible for all the content that you post, email, submit, or otherwise make available to the program in any shape or form.
IMVU is an open-access community site, which is to say that it does not preemptively screen new registrants, nor does it seek to limit access to new members except where prohibited by law, by age, or by the conditions set forth in this Terms of Service. You realize that by using IMVU, you risk coming into contact with people who may misrepresent themselves, or who may act abusively or inappropriately. You also realize that by using IMVU you risk being exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. If, while using IMVU, you encounter links to other websites which are completely independent of IMVU, IMVU makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site. Your linking to any other websites is at your own risk.
You understand that your use of IMVU is entirely at your own risk and comes without warranties or guarantees of any kind. You are using IMVU on an "as is" basis, which essentially means that "what you see is what you get". You agree that under no circumstances will IMVU be liable in any way for any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed or otherwise made available through the program. You acknowledge that while IMVU does not actively pre-screen or approve content, it does reserve the right to examine any content submitted to it at any time. IMVU also maintains the absolute right (but not the obligation) to refuse, delete, or remove any content, or to move any content from "public" to "private" status for any reason or no reason, at any time, with or without notice.
3.a Developer submissions: If, as a Developer, you purposefully submit multiple copies of the same product, not only will all copies of that product will be disabled but this act will be considered a violation of IMVU's Terms of Service.
4. Copyright -- Notification of Claims of Infringement
If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, you may file a DMCA takedown notice. To learn more about DMCA takedown notices and IMVU's DMCA policies, click here or, click the 'Copyright(DMCA)' link at the bottom of every IMVU webpage.
5. Privacy and Information Disclosure
You understand that at any time IMVU may supervise chat rooms, catalog submissions, forums postings, and filter content, but that we do not have a duty to do this. You understand that bad people can use chat functions and that chat rooms can be dangerous places if you do not use caution and good sense. You agree not to give out any personal information including your password, your last name, your phone number, e-mail address, instant messenger screen name or other contact information, and not to ask for personal information from other IMVU users.
NOTE: No one from IMVU will ever ask you for your password, so do not EVER give it out!
Your use of IMVU signifies acknowledgement of and agreement to our Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that IMVU may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your content, as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce these Terms; respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third-parties; respond to claims that contact information (e.g. phone number, street address) of a third-party has been posted or transmitted without their consent or as a form of harassment; protect the rights, property, or personal safety of IMVU, its users or the general public.
6. Conduct
You are expected to use IMVU in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations. While using IMVU, it is your responsibility to act and behave in a manner that is respectful, courteous, and sensitive to the members of the IMVU community and to society at large. You agree not to post, email, submit, or otherwise make available content:
1. that is disrespectful, discourteous, and insensitive to any member of the IMVU community.
2. that claims another IMVU member has committed copyright theft. If you know about a copyright violation, you agree to contact the copyright holder and ask them to submit a DMCA notice to IMVU. To learn more about DMCA takedown notices and IMVU's DMCA policies, click here or, click the 'Copyright(DMCA)' link at the bottom of every IMVU webpage.
3. that exposes anyone in the "general audience" section of the program to content deemed to be 'mature' or 'adult' in nature, or belonging to the 'adult section' of the program (examples of this might include sexually explicit language, suggestive behavior, naked photos or images, etc.; messages or content that promote drugs, drug use, or drug-related paraphernalia; messages or content that promote, encourage, or solicit sexually promiscuous behavior). A good rule of thumb is: "if it's something you would not see on prime-time public TV, then it probably does not belong in the 'General Audience' section of the program". Another way to think about is "If it is something you would not want your 13 year old brother or sister seeing, hearing, saying, buying, or wearing in the real world, then it does not belong in the 'General Audience' section of the program ";
4. that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
5. that impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an IMVU employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
6. that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or harms minors in any way;
7. that includes personal or identifying information about another person.
8. that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, misinformative, or constitutes "bait and switch";
9. that depicts cruelty to animals
10. that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships.
11. that constitutes or contains "affiliate marketing," "link referral code," "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or unsolicited commercial advertisement.
12. that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if (1) posted in areas of the IMVU sites which are not designated for such purposes; or (2) emailed to IMVU users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.
13. that includes links to commercial services or web sites, except as allowed by IMVU.
14. that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items, the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law.
15. that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
16. that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or
17. that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the program.
Additionally, you agree not to:
18. contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
19. "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
20. collect personal data about other users without IMVU's written permission OR for commercial or unlawful purposes;
21. use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service - exception is made for internet search engines (e.g. Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file;
22. post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content, or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
23. attempt to gain unauthorized access to IMVU's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the program or the IMVU website.
24. engages in commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes
25. Hijack IMVU users away from IMVU websites by any means including but not limited to hijacking visitors to your avatar home page and automatically sending them to any other page. Hijacking via home page messages is also foridden.
26. Developers and Professional Developers agree further that their Developing privelages are a right granted to them by IMVU and can be taken away at any time for any TOS violation including non-competitive or abusive behavior toward other IMVU community members on *any* website.
27. Accuse another IMVU member of theft IMPLICITLY or EXPLICITLY through any means of communication in IMVU including but not limited to homepages, messages on homepages, product descriptions, product titles and chats.
As clarification, an example of an *IMPLICIT* accusation is: creating a product with a name like "Legal version of XXXXX" when there is another product in the catalog called "XXXXX" implies that the original "XXXXX" version is illegal. We consider that to be an accusation and therefore against our TOS.
If you create, post, or use any such prohibited content we have the right to delete it from the program without telling you or providing compensation, and to freeze or close your account.
If, while using IMVU, you become exposed to any prohibited or offensive content such as (but not limited to) those items listed above, you further waive your right to any damages (from any party) related to such exposure. IMVU reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the program and terminating the membership of such violators.
7. No Spam Policy
You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other members to buy or sell any non-IMVU related products or services through the program. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. Although IMVU cannot monitor the conduct of its members off the web site, it is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from IMVU in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, IMVU reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a member may send to other members in any 24-hour period to a number which IMVU deems appropriate in its sole discretion.
You should be aware that sending unsolicited email advertisements to IMVU email addresses or through IMVU computer systems is not only a violation of these Terms, but also of certain federal and state laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030 et seq.), Section 502 of the California Penal Code and Section 17538.45 of the California Business and Professions Code. Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.
8. Limitations of service
You acknowledge that IMVU may establish limits concerning use of its program and services, including the maximum number of days that content will be retained by IMVU, the maximum number and size of postings, email messages, or other content that may be transmitted or stored by IMVU, and the frequency with which you may access IMVU. You agree that IMVU has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any content maintained or transmitted by IMVU. You acknowledge that IMVU reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue its services (or any part thereof) with or without notice, and that IMVU shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of its program or service.
9. Termination of service
You agree that IMVU, in its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, if IMVU believes that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the Terms. Further, you agree that IMVU shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to its program or services. Furthermore, you agree not to attempt to use IMVU after said termination. These Terms and Conditions of Service shall apply even after the termination of your account..
10. Dealings with organizations and individuals
Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You agree that IMVU shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between participants on this site, or between users and any third party, you understand and agree that IMVU is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release IMVU, its officers, employees, agents and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and / or our service.
If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 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."
11. Proprietary rights
IMVU is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. Content displayed on or through IMVU is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to copyrights laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of IMVU or its collective work is prohibited.
You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service, and agree to abide by any and all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the IMVU service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service. IMVU is a registered mark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Although IMVU does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting content to any public area of IMVU or its services, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to IMVU an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing.
11.a Fan Sites
IMVU is proud to have the one of the greatest online communities in the world. Some elements of this community include websites that are not owned, operated or influenced by IMVU inc. Rather, these external sites are operated by IMVU's loyal fan base and are called Fan Sites. Even more, IMVU encourages its fan base to create Fan Sites as every one of them contributes to a better community.
Fan Sites must ask permission to use the IMVU logo and/or name as well as any other legally protected art that IMVU owns. This includes but is not limited to the Credits logo, the Access Pass logo, the Try It pass logo, the Gold Pass logo, and all products found in the IMVU catalog including Avatars. IMVU reserves the right to refuse this permission to anyone for any reason.
Only products found in the General Audience section of the IMVU catalog are suitable for display on all Fan Sites. If a Fan Site wishes to display Restricted content on its Site, it may do so only if, like IMVU, it has age verification in place.
It follows that if a Fan Site wishes to display content from the Restricted section of the IMVU catalog, people may only be able to access this content after paying for access with a Credit Card or by verifying their age through an age verification service.
Unsuitable for IMVU content is never OK on any site associated with IMVU, the IMVU brand, the IMVU community and the IMVU avatars. To learn more, please see our Access Pass / Unsuitable for IMVU content polciy.
Failure for Fan Sites to abide by the TOS will result in punitive action from IMVU that may include but is not limited to deleting all avatar accounts associated with the Fan Site as well as legal action against the owners of the Fan Site. What's more, Fan Sites are legally liable for all violations of local laws including displaying inappropriate content to minors.
12. Disclaimer of Warranties
YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" OR "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE IMVU SITE AND THE SERVICE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE IMVU SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IMVU DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.
13. General Disclaimers:
IMVU is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate content posted on the Web site or in connection with its program or services, whether caused by users of the Web site, IMVU members, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized by IMVU.
IMVU is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Web site or Member of the Service.
IMVU assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, user or member communications.
IMVU is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site 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 Web and/or in connection with the Service.
Under no circumstances will IMVU be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from anyone's use of the Web site or the Service, any content posted on the Web site or transmitted to members, or any interactions between users of the Web site, whether online or offline.
The Web site and the Service are provided "AS-IS" and IMVU expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement.
IMVU cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the Web site and/or the Service. The service may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by users from IMVU or through or from the service shall create any warranty not expressly stated herein.
14. Limitations of Liability
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL IMVU BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF IMVU HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM
USE OR MISUSE OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMVU SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE IMVU SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED
BY LAW. In some jurisdiction, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.
15. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold IMVU, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of content you submit, post or make available through IMVU, your use of the IMVU, your violation of these Terms of Service, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.
16. General information
The Terms of Service constitute the entire agreement between you and IMVU and govern your use of the IMVU program and services, superceding any prior agreements between you and IMVU. The Terms of Service and the relationship between you and IMVU shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and IMVU agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of San Francisco, California. The failure of IMVU to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Service is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Service remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of IMVU or the Terms of Service must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
17. Violations of Terms and Liquidated Damages
Please report any violations of the Terms of Service by flagging the posting(s) for review, or by emailing to ServiceTerms@imvu.com. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.
You understand and agree that, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then you will be liable to pay IMVU liquidated damages as follows:
a. If you post a message that (1) impersonates any person or entity; (2) falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; or (3) that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent, you agree that IMVU in its sole discretion may disclose identifying information about you to the victim, and that should IMVU bring a claim against you in court, that you will pay IMVU one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such message.
b. If IMVU establishes limits on the frequency with which you may access its service, or terminates your access to or use of its service, you agree to pay IMVU one hundred dollars ($100) for each message posted in excess of such limits or for each day on which you access IMVU in excess of such limits, whichever is higher.
c. If you send unsolicited email advertisements to IMVU email addresses or through IMVU computer systems, you agree to pay IMVU twenty five dollars ($25) for each such email.
d. If you post messages in violation of these Terms of Use, other than as described above, you agree to pay IMVU one hundred dollars ($100) for each such message. In its sole discretion, IMVU may elect to issue a warning before assessing damages.
Otherwise, you agree to pay IMVU's actual damages, to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated.
18. Feedback
We welcome your feedback on this document in our feedback forum. Please contact us with any questions regarding this agreement. . Specific questions about IMVU's Terms & Conditions of Service may be addressed to: ServiceTerms@imvu.com
