Use Policy

Last updated: 10-23-2015

Welcome to www.exploratorium.edu (the “Site”). Access to and use of the Site is provided subject to the following terms and conditions.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY AS YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF THE SITE CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO ALL TERMS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES CONTAINED OR REFERENCED HEREIN.

Terms and Conditions of Use

By using this Site, you are deemed to have agreed to these terms and conditions of use. The Exploratorium reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. You should check these terms and conditions periodically for changes. By using this Site after we post any changes to these terms and conditions, you agree to accept those changes, whether or not you have reviewed them. If at any time you choose not to accept these terms and conditions of use, please do not use this Site.

All content on this Site is subject to change without notice. The Exploratorium reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of this Site with or without notice. The Exploratorium may change, suspend or discontinue all or any aspect of the Site at any time, including the availability of any feature, database, or content (including the Interactive Areas), without prior notice or liability.

Scope of Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to your use of the Site and all other sites and services owned or operated by the Exploratorium (inclusive of electronic and non-electronic sites and services). These terms and conditions do not apply to your use of sites not owned or operated by the Exploratorium to which the Site links.

Use of Materials Posted on this Site

The Exploratorium’s Digital Assets and Works are protected by copyright and trademark laws, and are the property of the Exploratorium. “Digital Assets” as used in this Use Policy means content from any form of media (e.g., photographs, video, text, audio, Web pages, etc.) preserved in digital form. “Works” as used in this Use Policy means any work in the literary, scientific or artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression (including digital form), including without limitation any of the following works: a book, pamphlet and other writing; a lecture, address, sermon or other work of the same nature; a dramatic or dramatico-musical work; a choreographic work; a musical composition with or without words; a cinematographic work to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; a work of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving or lithography; a photographic work to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; a work of applied art; an illustration, map, plan, sketch or three-dimensional work relative to geography, topography, architecture or science; a performance; a broadcast; a phonogram; or a compilation of data to the extent it is protected as a copyrightable work.

Unless otherwise stated in this Use Policy, you may (i) print or download Exploratorium Digital Assets and (ii) copy, reproduce, adapt or distribute Work; provided, however, that in the case of both (i) and (ii) you (A) do so solely for informational, educational and other noncommercial purposes and (B) include the following copyright notice adjacent to the resource copied, developed or derived from Digital Assets or Work, and with the URL as a live link with respect to digital environments:

© The Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu

You may not reproduce, record, publish, modify or distribute any Exploratorium Digital Assets or Works for commercial purposes without prior written consent from the Exploratorium. High-resolution versions are available for most of the items included in the Exploratorium’s Digital Asset catalog. Requests for commercial use of Digital Assets and Works or questions as to whether a specific use is permissible or requires written consent should be sent to: permissions@exploratorium.edu Requests by the media for use of any image should be coordinated through our press office.

Some examples of permitted use of Exploratorium digital assets not requiring prior written permission:

• a handout including an Exploratorium activity for an educational workshop
• a link from your website to a specific Exploratorium Digital Asset;
• as part of a resource packet that you create for your students; and
• a reproduction of a Work for use in an educational setting (e.g., in a school classroom or in an after school program).

Some examples of restricted use, requiring prior written permission:

• a publication containing reproductions of Exploratorium activities or images, Digital Assets or Works, to be sold or provided in exchange for a fee;
• use of Exploratorium images, Digital Assets or Works to promote a commercial program, product, event or activity, such as a science exhibition not produced by the Exploratorium;
• serving Exploratorium pages on your website; and
• development, fabrication or manufacture of exhibits based, in whole or in part, on Digital Assets or Works, for sale, lease, license, rental or other distribution thereof in which money or any other form of compensation or consideration is exchanged therefor (whether or not the recipient will be using such exhibit for informational, educational or other non-commercial purposes).

Rules of Conduct

You shall not post on this Site any content which is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, harassing or threatening, contains viruses or other contaminating or destructive features, violates the rights of others, such as content which infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or violates any right of privacy or publicity, or otherwise violates any applicable law.

You may not post on this Site any links to any external site. This Site may not be used by you for any commercial purpose, to distribute any advertising or solicitation of funds or goods and services or to solicit users to join competitive online services.

Purchases

Certain products may be available for purchase on the Site from time to time. Our product selection may change without notice, and we cannot guarantee that any product will be available at any particular time, or in your particular region, even if it appears to be available on the Site.

When ordering a product, you will provide the information that we request so that we can complete and ship the order, including your accurate name, address, email address, and billing information.

By providing us with a payment method, such as a credit or debit card, you authorize us to charge the price of your purchase, as presented to you at the time of purchase, to the specified account.

All purchases are subject to our Shipping Policy and our Return Policy .  We reserve the right to refuse any order.

Links

The Exploratorium welcomes links to the Site. Permission to create a link to the Site is not required. However, we do reserve the right to request removal of a link from any Web page we believe does not further the Exploratorium’s mission. You may NOT enclose pages from the Exploratorium Web site within a frame set on your site.

The Site may provide links and pointers to Internet sites maintained by others. The Exploratorium is not responsible for the availability of any other site to which this Site links. Nor does the Exploratorium endorse or take responsibility for the content, advertising, products or other materials made available through any other site. Under no circumstances shall the Exploratorium be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you in connection with your use of, or reliance on, any content, goods or services available on any other site.

Trademarks

The trademarks, service marks, and logos that appear on the Site, including but not limited to EXPLORATORIUM, EXPLORATORIUM STORE, EXPLORABOOK, THE TINKERING STUDIO, and INSTITUTE FOR INQUIRY, are registered or unregistered marks of the Exploratorium ("Exploratorium Trademarks"). You may not use the Exploratorium Trademarks without the Exploratorium's prior, written permission. The trademarks of third parties may also appear on the Site from time to time; you may not use these trademarks without prior, written permission of their respective owners. You acknowledge and agree that nothing on the Site grants, expressly or implicitly, by estoppel or otherwise, any right or license to use any of the Exploratorium Trademarks or may be construed to mean that the Exploratorium has authority to grant any right or license on behalf of any third party trademark owner.

Submissions

The Exploratorium is not responsible for material appearing on any message board, chat room, or similar interactive service appearing on the Site, except for material signed by an identified authorized representative of the Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is not responsible for screening material posted by users of the Site for libel, obscenity, invasion of privacy, copyright or trademark infringement, accuracy, or for any other reason. We do, however, retain the right to modify or remove messages or other material that we, in our sole discretion, consider infringing, offensive, abusive, defamatory, obscene, stale, or otherwise unacceptable. We also reserve the right to edit materials for any other reason. Whether or not we modify or remove such material, users remain solely responsible for the content of their own messages or postings.

By submitting content to the Site, you give (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly granted) The Exploratorium the nonexclusive right to use your questions, comments, and postings, in their original or edited form, in television programs, books, articles, commentaries, or in any other medium now known or later developed. You are not entitled to any compensation for such use.

Any messages sent to The Exploratorium will be treated as non-proprietary and non-confidential and will become the property of The Exploratorium where it may or may not be used for any purpose.

Security

Violations of system or network security are prohibited and may result in criminal and/or civil liability. The Exploratorium will investigate incidents involving such violations and may involve and cooperate with law enforcement if a criminal violation is suspected. Complaints regarding suspected illegal use or network security should be sent to websecurity@exploratorium.edu.

Disclaimers

THE SERVICES, MATERIALS, DIGITAL ASSETS ON THIS SITE AND WORKS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

NEITHER THE EXPLORATORIUM NOR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS WARRANT THAT ANY FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THEM AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

NEITHER THE EXPLORATORIUM NOR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS IN THE SITE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. YOU (AND NOT THE EXPLORATORIUM OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATED COMPANIES OR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Limitation of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, WILL THE EXPLORATORIUM OR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE MATERIALS ON THE SITE, DIGITAL ASSETS OR WORKS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Privacy Policy

We are committed to protecting your privacy and security and have explained in detail the steps we take to do so. We urge you to read our Privacy Policy.

Jurisdictional Issues

We control and operate this site from our offices in the United States of America. We do not represent that materials on the site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Persons who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

Choice Of Law

If any disputes arise regarding your use of this Site, such disputes shall be resolved according to the laws of the State of California, without reference to its choice of law provisions, and the federal or state courts of the City and County of San Francisco shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all claims. If any of these terms and conditions are found unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision will be considered severable from the remaining terms and conditions, and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

ALL TEXTUAL, GRAPHICAL, AND OTHER CONTENT APPEARING ON THIS WEB SITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE EXPLORATORIUM OR IN SOME CASES THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS FROM WHOM THE EXPLORATORIUM HAS SECURED PERMISSION.