Terms of Service

Terms of Service

Effective Date: Oct 1, 2021

Welcome

Welcome to SooLeader.com, a digital news, information and communication service available on the Internet's World Wide Web and through other digital means, such as mobile apps and other digital formats, whether known or later developed (collectively referred to as “The Soo Leader”). The Soo Leader is an affiliate of Village Media. As used in these Terms of Service, "The Soo Leader" means SooLeader.com, Village Media, as well as all parent entities, subsidiaries and affiliates of Village Media.

1. Your agreement with The Soo Leader

You understand and agree that, by visiting, accessing or using The Soo Leader you are accepting, without modification, these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with any portion of these Terms of Service, your only option is to discontinue use of The Soo Leader. In agreeing with these Terms of Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age or otherwise capable of entering into and performing legal agreements. If you are under eighteen (18) then you may only use The Soo Leader with the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

These Terms of Service include The Soo Leader' Privacy Policy, located here: The Soo Leader Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms of Service by reference and together with the Terms of Service governs your visit to, access of, and use of The Soo Leader. The Privacy Policy explains The Soo Leader' position on information gathering and how it intends to use and share any information it collects. Read the Privacy Policy carefully, as you are agreeing to it when you agree to these Terms of Service.

2. Revisions to Terms of Service

These Terms of Service are subject to revision from time to time by The Soo Leader and your continued use of The Soo Leader means you agree to, without modification, the revised Terms of Service. If you are a registered member of The Soo Leader, we will notify you of material revisions to these Terms of Service via an email message to the email account you provided at registration or that you have since updated. If you are not a registered member of The Soo Leader, You can review revisions to these Terms of Service by regularly checking this page. Material revisions to these Terms of Service will be indicated by an updated effective date at the top left corner of this page and by a notice posted on the homepage of The Soo Leader. It is your responsibility to remain apprised of any revisions to these Terms of Service and to remain in compliance therewith. Should you object to any such revisions to these Terms of Service or become dissatisfied with The Soo Leader in any way, your only recourse is to immediately terminate your membership or discontinue use of The Soo Leader. Otherwise, continuing to use the membership service, continuing to visit, access or use The Soo Leader, after the effective date means that you agree to be bound by any and all revisions.

3. Support

The Soo Leader is free to users thanks to support from our local advertisers and sponsors. Because this is, in part, an advertising-supported service, we encourage you to patronize the advertisers that help to make this service possible.

4. Registration

You can access The Soo Leader without a subscription; however, access to some features on The Soo Leader (such as commenting features) may require users to register and become members of The Soo Leader. If you are a member of The Soo Leader, you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account whether or not you expressly authorize such activities. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others may not access The Soo Leader using your username or account in whole or in part. The Soo Leader may terminate membership and deny access to The Soo Leader to any person for any reason in its sole discretion. You will not compromise, or attempt to compromise, the security of your account. Additionally, and without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, The Soo Leader may terminate membership and deny access to The Soo Leader to any person who, in The Soo Leader' sole discretion, violates these Terms of Service. Such termination or denial of access shall be in addition to any remedies available to The Soo Leader in law and equity.

5. Your use of The Soo Leader

5.1. Copyright and other intellectual property rights

Material published on The Soo Leader and through collaborative relationships with third-party websites or software, including articles, photos, Content Feeds, graphics, forum postings, audio and video clips, trademarks, service marks, and other content ("Content"), is copyrighted by The Soo Leader, or by other information providers who have licensed their content for use on The Soo Leader. Additionally, the entire Content of The Soo Leader is protected by copyright as a collective work owned by The Soo Leader. You may not reproduce, download, republish or redistribute Content or any portions thereof, including, without limitation, Content provided by licensors and others, including member-submitted content, without the written consent of the copyright owner.

5.2. License grant to access The Soo Leader

Subject to these Terms of Service, The Soo Leader grants you permission to access The Soo Leader and view the Content solely for your personal, non-commercial use. In addition to viewing Content online, you may electronically store a reasonable portion of any individual element of The Soo Leader Content (for example, a limited section of a text article) for your personal, non-commercial use by making a single electronic copy on your computer's hard drive, or a single copy on a disk or other media or a single copy in printed form. You agree, however, that you will not store or archive a significant portion of the Content or create a database using the Content, and you further agree that you will not download, store or archive individual image or video files as stand-alone files.

These rules also apply to your use of The Soo Leader:

1. You will not in any way infringe or misappropriate any of the intellectual property in and to the Content accessible through The Soo Leader. This means you agree not to copy, modify, publish, transmit, create derivative works (including, without limitation, summaries, analyses and reports) from, transfer, sell or display the Content, including logos, trademarks or service marks, or otherwise violate the proprietary rights of The Soo Leader or others except as expressly permitted herein.
2. You will not reuse, republish or otherwise distribute the Content or any modified or altered versions of it (including derivative works), whether over the World Wide Web or otherwise, and whether or not for payment, without the express written permission of The Soo Leader or a third-party copyright holder, except that in some cases you may use individual stories that appear on The Soo Leader as specifically designated by the functionality of The Soo Leader (e.g., e-mail a story to a friend or purchase the rights to reproduce a story for other use). In such cases we communicate such rights to you directly in the applicable portion of the Content.
3. You will cooperate promptly and completely with any reasonable request by The Soo Leader related to an investigation of infringement of copyright or other proprietary right.

To obtain permission to reuse or republish The Soo Leader material in any format, please contact [email protected].

The Soo Leader cannot grant permission to reuse or republish material from other information providers, such as the Associated Press or New York Times News Service; however, these information providers are intended third party beneficiaries of these terms and conditions and they may exercise all rights and remedies available to them. Please contact them directly to obtain permission. In addition, all Associated Press Content displayed on The Soo Leader is subject to the AP terms and conditions at http://www.ap.org/company/Terms-conditions.

5.3. Member-submitted content

Members and other users of The Soo Leader may be able, as dictated by the functionality of The Soo Leader, to submit or to otherwise make available messages, e-mails, photographs, videos and other content for display on The Soo Leader ("Member Content"). You are solely responsible for Member Content that you submit, and The Soo Leader acts as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of Member Content. Member Content must conform to the guidelines below. Without limiting any of its rights in law and equity, The Soo Leader reserves the right to remove any Member Content for any reason in its sole discretion including any Member Content that it believes may violate these Terms of Service, or any copyright or third-party rights.

By submitting or otherwise making available any Member Content to The Soo Leader, you automatically grant The Soo Leader a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), license to use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, distribute, transfer or sell any such content, for any purpose, including commercial purposes and in connection with advertising for the sole benefit of The Soo Leader (collectively, "use"), in any type of media or in any form now known or later developed, without any payment to you. In addition, you automatically waive and give up any claim that any use of such content violates any of your rights, including privacy rights, publicity rights, moral rights or any other right, including the right to approve the way The Soo Leader uses such content. You also grant The Soo Leader the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you provide, submit, or otherwise make available to The Soo Leader for any purpose whatsoever, including, without limitation, commercial purposes. By submitting Member Content, you automatically warrant and represent to The Soo Leader that you are the owner of all intellectual property rights in and to the Member Content or that you otherwise have all sufficient rights to grant the license above. By submitting Member Content, you further warrant and represent that the Member Content infringes no third-party right of privacy, right of publicity, or any other third-party right or proprietary interest.

5.4. Content Feeds

5.4.1. License Grant for Content Feeds. The Soo Leader offers or may offer content feeds, consisting of a selection of headlines, summaries, text blurbs, and links to full stories, which are delivered using Really Simple Syndication ("RSS") technology, other XML (extensible Markup Language) technology, or other syndication technology ("Content Feed(s)"). Subject to these Terms of Service, and to the extent that The Soo Leader elects to offer Content Feeds(s), The Soo Leader grants you a revocable, nontransferable, non-sublicensable, royalty-free, nonexclusive license to display the Content Feeds on your personal Web site or blog ("Site"). For purposes of these Terms of Service, "Content Feed(s)" includes the Content included therein, or any portion thereof. The foregoing license expressly excludes content from The Soo Leader not included in the Content Feed(s); by way of example only, if the Content Feed(s) include only the headline and first paragraph of a story on The Soo Leader, the foregoing license does not give you the right to display the entire story on your Site.

5.4.2. Reservation of Rights. Except as expressly set forth in Section 5.4.1, and/or unless otherwise consented to in writing by The Soo Leader, you may not, directly or indirectly: (a) sell, modify, translate, download, copy, publish, transmit, distribute or otherwise disseminate the Content Feed(s); (b) delete or fail to display any promotional taglines included in the Content Feed(s); or (c) rent, lease, or otherwise transfer rights to any Content Feeds.

5.4.3. Further Restrictions; No Modification. Unless otherwise consented to in writing by The Soo Leader, you will: (a) display the Content Feed on your Site in the exact form received by you, and not modify or edit it; (b) ensure that the fundamental meaning of the Content Feed is not changed or distorted; (c) comply with all applicable laws and all limitations and restrictions (if any) placed by The Soo Leader on the use, display or distribution of any Content Feed. You will not (s) archive any Content Feeds for access by users at any future date after the Content Feed has been removed from your Site; (t) display the name, logo, trademark or other identifier of another person on your Site in such a manner as to give the viewer the impression that such other person is a publisher or distributor of The Soo Leader; (u) remove, conceal or obliterate any copyright or other proprietary notice or any credit-line, date-line or other mark or source identifier included on the Content Feed(s), including without limitation, the size, color, location or style of The Soo Leader' marks; (v) make any representation or warranty on behalf of The Soo Leader; (w) incorporate any Content Feeds on any site containing nudity or pornographic material, that displays material that exploits children under the age of 18, that promotes or provides instructional information about illegal activities or physical harm or injury against any group or individual, or that uses the The Soo Leader in any manner that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, invasive of personal privacy or misleading; (x) display the Content Feed in a manner that does not allow for successful linking and redirection to, and delivery of, The Soo Leader' page; (y) frame any The Soo Leader page; or (z) fail to stipulate that the Content Feed is supplied by The Soo Leader and is protected by copyright and owned by The Soo Leader.

5.4.4. Warranty. If you use the Content Feed services, you warrant that your Site does not infringe the intellectual property of any third parties. You further warrant that your Site violates no applicable law.

6. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"

The Soo Leader respects the copyrights of others and expects its users to do the same. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office site at //www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, The Soo Leader will respond expeditiously to notices of alleged copyright infringement that are duly reported to our Designated Copyright Agent identified in the notice below. We will disable and/or terminate the accounts of Users who are repeat infringers.

If you believe that The Soo Leader or any user of The Soo Leader has infringed your copyright, please notify our Copyright Agent and provide the following information.

1. An identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
2. An identification of the material on The Soo Leader that you claim is infringing or is subject to infringing activity that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, with enough detail (including without limitation the URL of the material) to allow us to locate the material on our site.
3. Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
4. A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
5. A statement by you declaring that the above information in your Notice is accurate, made under penalty of perjury, and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright interest involved.
6. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

The Copyright Agent for The Soo Leader is Juan Cornejo, The Village Media Company’s Assistant General Counsel who can be reached at jcornejo@Village Media.com or 2100 Q Street, Sacramento, CA 95816. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section, your DMCA notice may not be valid.

7. Online conduct

The Soo Leader encourages a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect. Any action by a user that infringes on another user's right to use and enjoy The Soo Leader is prohibited. The Soo Leader reserves the right, but does not assume any obligation, to monitor your online conduct to enforce these Terms of Service. Specifically, you may not do (or attempt to do) any of the following:

1. Provide any information that is false, misleading or inaccurate.
2. Use any portion of The Soo Leader for any unlawful purpose or otherwise fail to comply with all applicable domestic and international laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations.
3. Use any portion of The Soo Leader for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available Member Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party.
4. Use any portion of The Soo Leader for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available Member Content that is harmful to minors in any way, harassing, harmful, threatening, abusive, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.
5. Use any portion of The Soo Leader for uploading, posting, e-mailing, transmitting or otherwise making available junk mail, commercial advertisements, or any other form of commercial solicitation.
6. Interfere with any other person's use of or the proper functioning of The Soo Leader.
7. Misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person.
8. Hold yourself out as sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with The Soo Leader.
9. Modify, translate, adapt, edit, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any software programs used by The Soo Leader in connection with The Soo Leader.
10. Use or launch any automated means including spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers and the like, to download or copy data or content from The Soo Leader.
11. Distribute any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs that are designed or intended to: (i) disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of The Soo Leader, any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment used in connection therewith; or (ii) damage or obtain unauthorized access to any data or other information of any third party.
12. Take any action that: (i) imposes or may impose, in The Soo Leader' sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on its infrastructure; (ii) interferes or attempts to interfere with the proper working of The Soo Leader; or (iii) disrupts or diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of The Soo Leader.

To register a complaint about another user's conduct, please e-mail [email protected].

8. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

8.1. Disclaimer

While The Soo Leader strives for accuracy, it does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information or database on our service. Nor does The Soo Leader warrant or guarantee that any files available for downloading will be free of defects. Neither nor any of its information providers will be liable in any way to you or to other parties for delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in material published in The Soo Leader.

The content, services, and features of The Soo Leader are subject to change without notice. The inclusion of any content, services, and features on The Soo Leader at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time.

While we take reasonable steps to ensure that no viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other destructive properties are present, the entire risk as to the quality and performance of The Soo Leader and the accuracy and completeness of any information is with you.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed on The Soo Leader forums, comment sections, blogs, and any other area where user-generated Content is displayed, represent the individual's own views and are not necessarily those of The Soo Leader. The Soo Leader does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice and opinions made by anyone other than authorized The Soo Leader spokespersons.

Any investment decisions or other actions that users take based on information available on The Soo Leader or in its mobile apps should first be reviewed by a competent financial adviser or other professional. THE SOO LEADER SERVICES IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OR PRODUCT ON OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ANY LINK TO ANOTHER WEB SITE OR RESOURCE).

In no event will The Soo Leader, Village Media, or their parents or affiliates be liable for (i) any incidental, consequential, or indirect damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of programs or information, and the like) arising out of the use of or inability to use The Soo Leader, or any information or services provided on The Soo Leader or in its mobile apps, even if The Soo Leader has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or (ii) any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies published on The Soo Leader or in its mobile apps. IN NO EVENT WILL SOO LEADER, Village Media'S OR THEIR PARENTS' OR AFFILIATES' AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OF SERVICE OR THE SITE, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY), WARRANTY OR OTHERWISE, EXCEED $100.

SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

9. Indemnity

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Soo Leader, Village Media and their parents and affiliates from: (i) your use of and access of The Soo Leader; (ii) your violation of any of these Terms of Service; (iii) your violation of any third-party right including any copyright, trademark, trade secret, or privacy right related to any Member Content submitted by you (if applicable) or your use of the website. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive the term and your use of The Soo Leader.

10. Miscellaneous

We may terminate these Terms of Service, your account, or your access to The Soo Leader at any time with or without notice to you. You may terminate these Terms of Service or your account by: (a) discontinuing your use of The Soo Leader and (b) destroying and removing all copies of Content from your Site (if any) and that is otherwise in your possession and control.

This agreement between The Soo Leader and its users will be governed and interpreted under the laws of the state of Colorado. Courts located in Boulder County, CO have jurisdiction in any dispute arising from these Terms of Service.

In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is found to be in conflict with the law, such provision shall be restated to reflect the original intent, and all other terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect.

You and The Soo Leader agree to the following dispute resolution process for any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service, The Soo Leader Content, your Member Content, your conduct on the site, or any other aspect of our relationship (“Subject Legal Claim”).

In an attempt to find the quickest and most efficient resolution of our issues, you and The Soo Leader agree to first discuss any issue informally for at least 30 days. To do that, please send your full name and contact information, your concern and your proposed solution by email to us at: customerservice@Village Media.com. If we should need to discuss an issue with you, we will contact you using the email or mailing address on your account.

If we do not reach an agreed upon solution after our discussions for at least 30 days, you and The Soo Leader agree that any Subject Legal Claim that either of us may have must be resolved through binding individual arbitration before the American Arbitration Association using its Consumer Arbitration Rules. There are two limited exceptions to this Dispute Resolution and Arbitration provision: (i) either party may pursue in small claims court any action that is within that jurisdiction, as long as the case proceeds on an individual basis only; (ii) either party may seek to enforce its patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets in an appropriate state or federal court.

To help resolve any issues between us promptly and directly, you and agree to begin any arbitration within one year after a Subject Legal Claim arises; otherwise, the Subject Legal Claim is waived. You and The Soo Leader also agree to arbitrate in each of our individual capacities only, not as a representative or member of a class, and each of us expressly waives any right to file a class action or seek relief on a class basis. All arbitration hearings will be held in Sacramento, California. The parties agree that this Dispute Resolution and Arbitration provision is subject to, and will be governed and enforced under, the Federal Arbitration Act.

You may download a form Notice to initiate arbitration at www.adr.org. If you initiate the arbitration, your arbitration fees will be limited to the filing fee set forth in the AAA's Consumer Rules. It is important that you understand that the arbitrator's decision will be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. If the arbitrator rules against The Soo Leader, in addition to accepting whatever responsibility is ordered by the arbitrator, we think it's fair that The Soo Leader reimburse your reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, regardless of who initiated the arbitration. In addition, if the arbitrator rules in The Soo Leader’ favor, it will not seek reimbursement of our attorney’s fees, regardless of who initiated the arbitration.

If any provision of these Terms of Service shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Service and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

These Terms of Service represents the complete agreement concerning the subject matter hereof between the parties and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings between them, whether written or oral.

Neither party will be liable for any failure to perform any obligation (other than payment obligations) hereunder, or from any delay in the performance thereof, due to causes beyond its control, including industrial disputes of whatever nature, acts of God, public enemy, acts of government, failure of telecommunications, fire or other casualty.

These Terms of Service are void where prohibited by law, and the right to access The Soo Leader is revoked in such jurisdictions.

The parties hereto are independent contractors, and these Terms of Service creates no partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative or employment relationship between the parties. You have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on our behalf and you shall not make any statement, on your Site (if any) or otherwise, that conflicts with these Terms of Service.

11. Questions and comments about The Soo Leader

We hope you enjoy using The Soo Leader. Questions and comments about the content of The Soo Leader may be sent by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to:

Village Media Inc.
298 Queen Street East
Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 1Y7

We try to read all comments sent to us and try to respond to as many as possible. Technical questions regarding your software, your configuration or your connection should be directed to your Internet access provider. The Soo Leader cannot address questions except those specifically about content and services we provide.