Terms of Use

These terms and conditions of use and service (the “Terms”) cover your account creation, access, and other use (collectively, “use”) of the sites, templates, applications, tools, services and features of the Editor (collectively, the “Editor”) of the Land Use Atlas Inc., D/B/A/ the National Zoning Atlas (the “NZA”). Please read the Terms carefully before you use the Editor. By using the Editor, online at edit.zoningatlas.org, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms (your agreement with us being, the “Agreement”).

References to “you”, “your,” and similar terms refer to you, as the Account holder or user of the Editor. References to “us”, “we,” “our,” and similar terms refer to the NZA.

1. Account-Related Terms

1.1. Account Creation. To use the Editor, you must first create an account (an “Account”). In creating your Account, you agree to provide us with accurate, complete, and at all times up to date information about your identity and contact information.

1.2. Account Team Assignment. Upon the creation of your Account, your Account may be assigned either to the NZA or to a team officially recognized and created through the Editor by the NZA (an “Atlas Team”). Each Atlas Team has a leader or leaders (whether singular or plural, the “Team Leader”), each of whom will have an individual Account that, among other things, offers the ability to manage Account holders assigned to the applicable Atlas Team and to see content entered by such Account holders.

1.3. Account Security. We seek to use reasonable organizational, technical, and administrative measures to protect your Account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of the password for your Account, for using special caution when accessing your Account from a public or shared computer, and for any activities connected with your Account. You must immediately notify us in accordance with the “Contact Us” section below if you know or have any reason to suspect that your password has been stolen, misappropriated or otherwise compromised, or in the case of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of your Account.

1.4. Account Privacy. All information we collect via the Editor, including information you provide to create an Account, is subject to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the Privacy Policy, you should not use the Editor. By using the Editor, you confirm that you have read and understood any Privacy Policy effective during the period of your use, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with the Privacy Policy.

1.5. Account Termination. We reserve the right to terminate your Account if: you provide false information about your identity; knowingly submit false information to the Editor; knowingly interfere with the content or function of the Editor; use, host, store, reproduce, modify, license, create derivative works of, communicate, download, publish, publicly display, or distribute information contained in the Editor for unauthorized purposes; or otherwise violate these Terms. You may request to terminate your Account at any time by using the “Contact Us” section below.

2. Content-Related Terms

2.1. Nature of Your Content. You may provide us with content, including without limitation text, photos, images, code, information, website links, contact information, and other materials and associated content (“Your Content”). You warrant that Your Content is, to the best of your knowledge, accurate, reliable, secure, complete, error-free, and current. You also agree that you will not submit content (including any image) that is illegal, violent, sexually explicit, obscene, or otherwise objectionable.

2.2. Ownership of Your Content. Your Content remains owned by you, except to the extent limited by law; by your external agreement any third-party individual, company, entity, or institution with whom you may be affiliated or from whom you may be receiving compensation or credit (including any Team Leader or institutional affiliate thereof); or by any other external claim or claimant out of our control.

2.3. Use of Your Content by Your Atlas Team. After your Account is affiliated with an Atlas Team or Atlas Teams, your Team Leader or your Team Leader’s entity or institution may claim ownership (concurrent or exclusive) of Your Content, and we do not through these Terms or this Agreement make any claims or assert any conclusions as to whether you or your team owns Your Content. However, we explicitly authorize a Team Leader employed by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity or an accredited institution of higher education to host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, communicate, download, publish, publicly display, and distribute any of Your Content for noncommercial purposes, subject to applicable law and to any external agreements by and between you, your Atlas Team or Atlas Teams, and/or your Team Leader. If you disagree that your Team Leader or your Team Leader’s entity or institution should have these rights, you should not use the Editor.

2.4. Our Content. The Editor and its entire contents, features, and functionality – including but not limited to all information, software, processes, maps, geospatial data, text, illustrations, displays, images, trademarks, designs, icons, photographs, video, and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof, and any other content or materials that appear in the Editor (collectively, “Our Content”) – are owned by the NZA and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. When you submit Your Content to the NZA, including through the Editor, you grant NZA (including our third party hosting providers acting on our behalf) a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, license, create derivative works of, communicate, download, publish, publicly display, and distribute Your Content in any form, media, or technology whether now known or later developed. This right and license shall be exclusive to the NZA except as otherwise provided in this Agreement.

2.5. Limitations. Unless you have our express written permission, you may not use, host, store, reproduce, modify, license, create derivative works of, communicate, download, publish, publicly display, or distribute any of Our Content; any content submitted by any other Account holders to the Editor; or any content resulting from the Editor’s merger of texts and maps or otherwise produced or enhanced by the NZA or its Editor. If we provide you with express written permission to this content, information, or materials (collectively, the “Covered Materials”): (a) you must display and keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices; (b) you must credit the “National Zoning Atlas, online at zoningatlas.org,” (c) you must not commercially use (including sell) any of the Covered Materials; and (d) you must not use the materials in a manner that suggests NZA approval or participation without our written permission.

2.6. Permission to Publish NZA Atlas Images. Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, you may without our express written permission create screenshots of the publicly-accessible version of the National Zoning Atlas, online at zoningatlas.org, and publish these screenshots in reports, documents, websites, publicity, or other publicly available materials with a credit to “National Zoning Atlas, online at zoningatlas.org.”

3. Functionality-Related Terms

3.1. Our Management of the Editor. We reserve the following rights, which we may exercise at any time and in our sole discretion, and without liability or notice to you (except where prohibited by applicable law) to: (a) change parts or all of the Editor and its functionality; (b) suspend or discontinue parts or all of the Editor; (c) terminate, suspend, restrict, or disable your access to or use of parts or all of the Editor; (d) terminate, suspend, restrict, or disable access to your Account; (e) remove or modify content in the Editor under any circumstances, including but not limited to circumstances involving proven or alleged illegality, offensiveness, or copyright infringement; and (f) edit, modify, or remove Your Content for any reason, including to comply with our content guidelines or formatting requirements.

3.2. Your Use of the Editor. For the avoidance of doubt, to ensure the integrity and security of data contained in the Editor and for other reasons, you may not: cause any of Our Content to be framed or embedded into another website without our written permission; decompile or reverse engineer any of the software or code we use; probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of our system or network; use any software or other means to scrape or otherwise gather data from the Editor for any purpose, including but not limited to using web scraping tools, bots, or other automated processes to access or extract data from the Editor, including data to which you have not been given explicit access; interfere with or disrupt any user, host, or network by, for example, distributing malware or overloading any part of the Editor; avoid, bypass, remove, deactive, impair, descramble, or otherwise circumvent any technological or other measure used by the NZA.

3.3. Disclaimers. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, NZA makes no warranties, either express or implied, about the Editor. The Editor is provided to you “as is” and “as available.” The NZA also disclaims any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. NZA makes no warranty or representation that the Editor will: (a) be timely, accurate, complete, reliable, uninterrupted, or error-free; (b) meet your requirements or expectations; or (c) be free from viruses or other harmful components.

4. Miscellaneous Terms

4.1. Liability. You acknowledge and agree that to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will NZA and its affiliates and its and their directors, officers, employees, and agents be liable with respect to any claims arising out of or related to the Editor or this Agreement for: (a) any indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages; (b) any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill or other intangible losses; (c) any Losses (as defined below) related to your access to, use of, or inability to access or use parts, some or all of your Account or parts or all of the Editor, including without limitation interruption of use or cessation or modification of any aspect of the Editor; (d) any Losses related to unavailability, degradation, loss, corruption, theft, unauthorized access, or, unauthorized alteration of, any content, information or data, including without limitation Your Content; or (e) any of Your Content or other conduct or content of any user or third party using the Editor, including without limitation defamatory, offensive, or unlawful conduct or content. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the aggregate liability of NZA for all claims arising out of or related to the Editor and this Agreement exceed twenty dollars ($20).

4.2. Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless NZA and its affiliates and its and their directors, officers, employees and agents from and against all damages, losses, liabilities, costs, claims, demands, fines, awards and expenses of any kind (including without limitation reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) (collectively, “Losses”) arising out of or related to: (a) your breach of this Agreement; (b) Your Content; or (c) your violation of any law or regulation or the rights of any third party.

4.3. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the NZA will be resolved exclusively in the courts of the State of Connecticut.

4.4. Dispute Resolution. Before filing a formal claim against the NZA, you agree to try to resolve the dispute by first emailing [email protected] with a description of your issue. All formal disputes must be resolved through arbitration in accordance with the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules & Procedures in effect at the time of the dispute, with any arbitration hearings to take place at a location to agreed upon in Hartford, Connecticut, in English, and shall be settled by one (1) commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving intellectual property and commercial contract disputes. You may only resolve disputes with us on an individual basis, and you may not bring a claim as a plaintiff or a class member in a class, collective, consolidated or representative action.

4.5. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the sole and entire agreement between you and NZA regarding the subject matter of this Agreement, and it supersedes and replaces any other prior or contemporaneous agreements, or terms and conditions applicable to the subject matter of this Agreement. You agree that you have not relied upon, and have no remedies in respect of, any term, condition, statement, warranty, or representation except those expressly set out in this Agreement.

4.6. Waiver, Severability, and Assignment. Our failure or delay to enforce any provision of this Agreement is not a waiver of our right to do so later. If any provision of this Agreement is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect and an enforceable term will be substituted reflecting our intent as closely as possible. You may not delegate, transfer or assign this Agreement or any of your rights or obligations hereunder without our prior written consent, and any such attempt will be of no effect. We may delegate, transfer, or assign this Agreement or some or all of our rights and obligations hereunder, in our sole discretion, with thirty (30) days of prior written notice.

4.7. Survival. All sections of this Agreement that by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including without limitation the following sections in these Terms and any similar sections or provisions in the rest of this Agreement: Our Content, Disclaimers, Liability, Indemnification, Governing Law and Jurisdiction, Dispute Resolution, and Waiver, Severability, and Assignment.

4.8. Modifications. We reserve the right to change these Terms at any time without notice, and we will post the most current version on our site. We will endeavor to notify you if changes may affect your substantive rights, but it is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically for any changes. Your continued use of the Editor after any changes to these Terms will constitute your acceptance of such changes. If you disagree with our changes, then you must stop using the Editor.

4.8. Contact Us. If you need to contact us, you can always reach us by email at [email protected].