Terms of Use
Last Revised on 6/15/22
This Terms of Use Agreement (“ToU”) is made between Lauren Liess & Co. (“we,” “us,” “our”) and you (“you,” “your,” “user”), the individual choosing to use our online services.
Our Privacy Policy is subject to this ToU. There are terms in the Privacy Policy that materially affect how your personal information is stored, accessed, and processed. As such, you should read our Privacy Policy in addition to this ToU.
Services this ToU Covers
We are an interior design firm that offers interior design services and online services. This ToU applies to our online services, including our website, social media accounts, and any future online services we develop (the “Online Services”). Please note that our interior design services are controlled by separate service agreements provided to you upon engaging us for such services.
Services This ToU Doesn’t Cover
We love supporting our partners, and to show our appreciation, we may link to their websites and services. When you click on one of these links, you are leaving our Online Services, and this ToU no longer applies. The way our partners or other third parties we do not own do business is out of our hands, and we assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party website or service. Additionally, when you are using any other third-party platform to interact with our Online Services, such as Google, Instagram, or Facebook, you agree to comply with their service policies, and this ToU is in addition to, not in place of, such agreements.
Acceptance of ToU
We know these ToU’s can be tedious to get through. However, by accessing our Online Services, it is understood that you agree to comply and be legally bound by the terms set out in this ToU, which is why you really should stick it out and read the whole thing.
Changes to Terms
From time to time, we may need to make changes to this ToU and may do so at any time. The date at the top of this ToU represents when this ToU was last revised. It is important to check this ToU from time to time to ensure that you are all caught up to date. By continuing to access or use our Online Services after a change has occurred, you agree to be bound by our updated ToU.
Conditions Before You Access Our Online Services
Our Online Services are not targeted or intended to be used by people under the age of 18. All children between the ages of 13 – 17 must have permission from their parent or guardian before accessing our Online Services. If you live outside of the United States, your country may apply stricter age limits. In some cases, even if you are older than 13, you may not be legally allowed to access our Services regardless of having parental permission. Additionally, you must be authorized to use our Online Services and enter into this ToU if you are acting on behalf of a company.
User Accounts
We don’t personally require you to have a user account to interact with our Online Services. However, if you wish to communicate via social media, or interact with any of our other services hosted by another third party, you may be required to provide personal information and, in some cases, create an account. We do not control or have access to this information.
General Intellectual Property & Grant of License to Use Online Services
Our Online Services contain content, such as our company name and logo, our website design, our website code, and photos that may be protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other laws. We own and retain all rights in such content. We may also use some open source and licensed third-party content in our Online Services, such as fonts, photos, and graphics. We do not make any claim of ownership to this content, and no user is permitted to use third-party content without entering into their own third-party licensing agreement with the owner of such content. We do not grant or transfer any other rights, title, or interest to you other than the following limited license: We grant to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use our Online Services for non-commercial personal purposes only. We reserve the right to terminate this license at any time if your use of our Online Services is not in strict compliance with this ToU.
Publicity
You grant to us a perpetual, worldwide, payment-free, irrevocable license to use, repost, republish, and share any public reviews, posts, or commentary posted on any third-party platform (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, and Google Reviews) that you make about us for our publicity and marketing purposes.
Copyright Policy
We respect the intellectual property rights of others. Our policy is to respond to and investigate any claim that content used in connection with our Online Services infringe on any person or entity's copyright or other intellectual property rights. If you are a copyright owner or an authorized agent of a copyright owner, and you believe that content on our Online Services infringes on another copyrighted work, please submit your claim via email to the address identified at the end of this ToU, with the subject line: “Copyright Infringement” and include in your claim a detailed description of the alleged infringement. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), your claim must include:
• an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
• a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed or a copy of the copyrighted work;
• identification of the URL or other specific location on our Online Services where the material that you claim is infringing is located;
• your address, telephone number, and email address;
• 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; and
• a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized agent permitted to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
Please be aware that you may be held accountable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, for misrepresentation or bad-faith claims relating to content that you report as being allegedly infringing in nature.
Representations and Warranties
• Our Representations and Warranties: OUR ONLINE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS.” WE MAY BUT ARE IN NO WAY OBLIGATED TO CORRECT ERRORS AND OMISSIONS IN OUR ONLINE SERVICES AS THEY ARE BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THAT THE LAW OF THE JURISDICTION PERMITS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT USE OF OUR ONLINE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT DATA WILL NOT BE LOST. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT YOU COMPLY WITH ALL OF OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY ACTIONS THAT RESULT FROM YOUR NON-COMPLIANCE.
• User Representations and Warranties: By using our Online Services, you represent and warrant that:
• You are free to enter into and comply with this ToU and are not under any disability, restriction, or prohibition, contractual or otherwise, that prevents you from entering into this ToU;
• You will provide accurate and truthful information regarding your personal identification and will not use any other person’s information;
• You have read and agree to this ToU and will not use our Online Services for any fraudulent or inappropriate purpose or in a way that violates these terms and conditions;
• You will not try to reverse engineer our site or software to circumvent access to our services;
• You will not circumvent or hack any technology used by us to protect our services and our users;
• You will not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature; and
• You will not copy or fraudulently reproduce our content or violate our intellectual property rights.
Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL WE BE LIABLE FOR YOUR FAILURE TO PROVIDE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE INFORMATION, YOUR FAILURE TO KEEP PERSONAL INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL, OR YOUR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ANY OTHER LAWS. WE WILL ALSO NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, CHANGES TO THE SERVICES OR PLATFORM, TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT SUSPENSION OF SERVICES, DAMAGE TO COMPUTER OR HARDWARE, SECURITY BREACHES, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, LOST PROFITS, BREACH OF A THIRD-PARTY CONTRACT, OR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER RESULTING FROM AN ACTION UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF US UNDER THIS TOU EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF ONE U.S. DOLLAR (USD 1.00). IN THE EVENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY ABOVE, OUR LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SUCH LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REFLECT A FAIR AND REASONABLE ALLOCATION OF RISK AND HAVE BEEN REACHED DUE TO FUNDAMENTAL BARGAINING BETWEEN YOU AND US.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any and all claims, losses, liability, damages, expenses, and costs, including attorney fees, mediation, arbitration, and court costs, resulting from any breach by you of this ToU and any activity related to your engagement with our Online Services.
Privacy, Cookies, and Data Protection
We care about your personal information; any personal information you provide to us is collected, stored, processed, and used according to our Privacy Policy. Our use of cookies and data protection systems are also explained in the Privacy Policy.
International Users
Our Online Services are controlled, operated, and administered from our offices within the United States of America and are not intended to be subject to the laws or jurisdiction of any country outside of the United States of America. WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT OUR SERVICES ARE APPROPRIATE, LEGAL, OR AVAILABLE FOR USE IN ANY PARTICULAR JURISDICTION OTHER THAN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Those who choose to access our Online Services outside of the United States of America do so on their own initiative and assume all risks associated with such access, including, but not limited to, any compliance with their particular jurisdictions’ laws and regulations and any United States export controls. We reserve the right to limit our services, in whole or in part, to any geographic location or jurisdiction we choose.
Dispute Resolution
THIS SECTION OF OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND YOUR RIGHT TO BE PART OF A CLASS ACTION. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AND FULLY UNDERSTAND THIS SECTION BEFORE USING AND ACCESSING OUR ONLINE SERVICES. THIS SECTION WILL SURVIVE TERMINATION OF THIS TOU, OUR PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMINATION OR EXPIRATION OF ANY ONLINE SERVICES PROVIDED BY US.
• Letting Us Know About Complaints: We hope that we can work out any complaints or differences that we may have with you respectfully and calmly. If you have any concerns about our Online Services, please reach out to let us know. If we cannot work out our differences together, then the following mandatory binding arbitration will apply to resolve the dispute.
• Mandatory Binding Arbitration: If any controversy or claim arising out of, or relating to services provided under this ToU, cannot be amicably resolved, such controversy or claim will be determined by binding arbitration rather than in a court of law. Except that mandatory binding arbitration will not apply with respect to any claims relating to infringement or misuse of intellectual property or any legal dispute that falls into the jurisdiction of a small claims court and would be more efficiently and cost-effectively resolved in a small claims court.
The binding arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes of the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) and administered by the AAA in [Fairfax County, Virginia]. Arbitration must be commenced by filing a demand for arbitration with the AAA within one (1) year after the claim occurs or within one (1) year of the party asserting the claim becoming reasonably aware of the act or omission giving rise to the claim. If applicable law prohibits a one-year statute of limitations for asserting claims, claims must be asserted within the shortest period of time permitted by the applicable law. A prevailing party has the right to collect all reasonable fees associated with the arbitration, including attorneys’ fees and arbitration costs.
• Class Action Waiver: You agree to waive any right to participate in a class or representative action or proceeding and warrant that any claims brought against us will be initiated only in your individual capacity. Any relief awarded by an arbitrator or otherwise will not affect other users of our Online Services.
Assignment
You are not entitled to assign this ToU, in whole or in part, to another person, without our prior written consent. We reserve the right to assign this ToU, in whole or in part, to any third party at any time without notice, including but not limited to any individual or entity acquiring all or substantially all of our business or assets.
Survival of Terms Beyond Termination
All provisions in this ToU that specifically state or logically ought to survive the termination of this ToU will survive such termination, including, but not limited to, payment obligations, intellectual property rights, warranties, indemnities, and limitation on liability clauses.
Waiver and Severability
Waiver by us of terms in this ToU, in any one or more instances, will in no way be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach of this ToU or any other agreement, whether or not of a similar nature. If any term or condition in this ToU is declared to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of the provisions will remain in effect and will be enforceable to the fullest extent possible.
Applicable Law and Jurisdiction
Except where otherwise required by mandatory law, this ToU, as well as our Privacy Policy, is to be governed by and interpreted, constructed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the state of [Virginia] without regard to conflict of law provisions. All disputes are to be resolved in the jurisdiction of [Fairfax County, VA].
Entire Agreement
This ToU and our Privacy Policy represent the entire and exclusive agreement between our users and us. All previous written and oral agreements and communications related to our Online Services are superseded.
Contact Us
Thanks for your patience in getting through all of the necessary legal language of this document! We have tried to be as clear as possible in communicating our expectations regarding our Online Services. However, if you have any questions about this ToU, our Privacy Policy, or our Online Services in general, please reach out! We would be more than happy to explain them.
[Lauren Liess & Co.]
[Po Box 930 Great Falls, VA 22066]
[571-926-7825]