Terms of Use

Last updated June 18, 2020

Agreement to Terms
These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity (“you”) and Story & Tune ("Company", “we”, “us”, or “our”), concerning your access to and use of the www.storyandtune.com website, as well as songwriting and music production services. You agree that by accessing the Site, you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all of these Terms of Use. 

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to make changes or modifications to these Terms of Use at any time and for any reason. It is your responsibility to periodically review these Terms of Use to stay informed of updates. You will be subject to, and will be deemed to have been made aware of and to have accepted, the changes in any revised Terms of Use by your continued use of the Site after the date such revised Terms of Use are posted.

Story & Tune is intended for users who are at least 18 years old. Persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to use or register for Story & Tune Services. 

Intellectual Property Rights
Story & Tune is the property of Ben Grace and Karyn Thurston, and all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics on the Site (collectively, the “Content”) and the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the “Marks”) are owned or controlled by us or licensed to us, and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, international copyright laws, and international conventions. The Content and the Marks are provided on the Site “AS IS” for your information and personal use only. Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, no part of the Site and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever, without our express prior written permission.

Songs and recordings written and produced by Story & Tune remain the sole legal property of Ben Grace and Karyn Thurston, and may not be edited, reproduced, or redistributed for selling, leasing, or republishing without our written consent. Downloaded or printed content delivered to clients is for personal use only. You will be solely responsible for any liability that may arise as a result of violation of copyright protections as defined by the state of California and the United States.

User Representations
By using the Site, you represent and warrant that:  (1) you have the legal capacity and you agree to comply with these Terms of Use; (2) you are not a minor in the jurisdiction in which you reside; (3) you will not access the Site through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script, or otherwise; (4) you will not use the Site for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and (5) your use of the Site will not violate any applicable law or regulation.

If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your contract and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site or music production services.

Payment and Collection of Funds
Story & Tune determines the procedures and applicable fees for services provided. A non-refundable deposit of 25% of the total package cost shall be paid upon agreement, with the remaining amount due upon delivery of the final product. You shall be solely responsible for any liabilities acquired in attempt to secure late or delinquent payments once final product is received.

Rights and Obligations
Story & Tune shall not be liable for any non-performance of an agreement due to circumstances beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disaster, war or terrorist activity, debilitating injury, illness, or death. In the event of such circumstances, clients will not be entitled to the return of their deposit and will accept delivery of final product when services become available again.

Contribution License
You agree that the Site may access, store, process, and use any information and personal data that you provide following the terms of the Privacy Policy and your choices (including settings).

By submitting suggestions or other feedback regarding the Site, you agree that we can use and share such feedback for any purpose without compensation to you.

We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Site. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Site and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.

Submissions
Story & Tune views any personal information submitted in the process of song creation to be confidential and the sole property of the client. Photos, identifying facts, and stories not included in final song will not be published without client’s consent. 

Story & Tune shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, to all compositions and recordings, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these items for any lawful purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to the client. 

Third Party Links
The Site may contain (or you may be sent via the Site) links to other websites ("Third-Party Websites") as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information, applications, software, and other content or items belonging to or originating from third parties ("Third-Party Content"). Such Third-Party Websites and Third-Party Content are not investigated, monitored, or checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites accessed through the Site or any Third-Party Content posted on, available through, or installed from the Site, including the content, accuracy, offensiveness, opinions, reliability, privacy practices, or other policies of or contained in the Third-Party Websites or the Third-Party Content. You agree and acknowledge that we do not endorse the products or services offered on Third-Party Websites and you shall hold us harmless from any harm caused by your purchase of such products or services. Additionally, you shall hold us harmless from any losses sustained by you or harm caused to you relating to or resulting in any way from any Third-Party Content or any contact with Third-Party Websites.

Site Management
We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to: (1) monitor the Site for violations of these Terms of Use; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Terms of Use, including without limitation, reporting such user to law enforcement authorities; (3) in our sole discretion and without limitation, refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions or any portion thereof; (4) in our sole discretion and without limitation, notice, or liability, to remove from the Site or otherwise disable all files and content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems; and (5) otherwise manage the Site in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Site.

Privacy Policy
We care about data privacy and security. By using the Site, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy posted on the Site, which is incorporated into these Terms of Use. Please be advised the Site is hosted in the United States. If you access the Site from any other region of the world with laws or other requirements governing personal data collection, use, or disclosure that differ from applicable laws in the United States, then through your continued use of the Site, you are transferring your data to the United States, and you agree to have your data transferred to and processed in the United States. 

Term and Termination
Story & Tune reserves the right to refuse service. If a client contract must be terminated midway through a project due to violation of terms, abuse, false representation, or discriminatory behavior, Story & Tune shall retain the deposit to cover costs of work performed and waive the remaining project balance. If we terminate or suspend your contract for any reason, you are prohibited from registering and creating a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party, even if you may be acting on behalf of the third party. In addition to terminating or suspending your account, we reserve the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation pursuing civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

Governing Law
These Terms of Use and your use of the Site are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed within the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Dispute Resolution: Informal Negotiations
To expedite resolution and control the cost of any dispute, controversy, or claim related to these Terms of Use (each a "Dispute" and collectively, the “Disputes”) brought by either you or us (individually, a “Party” and collectively, the “Parties”), the Parties agree to first attempt to negotiate any Dispute (except those Disputes expressly provided below) informally for at least thirty (30) days before initiating arbitration. Such informal negotiations commence upon written notice from one Party to the other Party.

Dispute Resolution: Binding Arbitration
If the Parties are unable to resolve a Dispute through informal negotiations, the Dispute (except those Disputes expressly excluded below) will be finally and exclusively resolved through binding arbitration. Except where otherwise required by the applicable AAA rules or applicable law, the arbitration will take place in San Diego County, California. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Parties may litigate in court to compel arbitration, stay proceedings pending arbitration, or to confirm, modify, vacate, or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator. 

If for any reason, a Dispute proceeds in court rather than arbitration, the Dispute shall be commenced or prosecuted in the state and federal courts located in San Diego County, California, and the Parties hereby consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction, and forum non conveniens with respect to venue and jurisdiction in such state and federal courts. Application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) is excluded from these Terms of Use.

In no event shall any Dispute brought by either Party related in any way to the Site be commenced more than one (1) years after the cause of action arose. 

The Parties agree that any arbitration shall be limited to the Dispute between the Parties individually. To the full extent permitted by law, (a) no arbitration shall be joined with any other proceeding; (b) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (c) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.   

Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, including our subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of our respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) use of the Site; (2) breach of these Terms of Use; (3) any breach of your representations and warranties set forth in these Terms of Use; (4) your violation of the rights of a third party, including but not limited to intellectual property rights; or (5) any overt harmful act toward any other user of the Site with whom you connected via the Site. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate, at your expense, with our defense of such claims. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding which is subject to this indemnification upon becoming aware of it.

User Data
We will maintain certain data that you transmit to the Site for the purpose of managing the performance of the Site, as well as data relating to your use of the Site. Although we perform regular routine backups of data, you are solely responsible for all data that you transmit or that relates to any activity you have undertaken using the Site. You agree that we shall have no liability to you for any loss or corruption of any such data, and you hereby waive any right of action against us arising from any such loss or corruption of such data.