The Stories of Us Terms of Service

Last Updated: June 16, 2026

 

These Terms of Service govern use of The Stories of Us website (www.thestoriesofus.org) (the “Site”) and cover the following areas:

• Your Relationship with The Stories of Us

• General Restrictions on Use

• User Content

• Links from the Site

• Third Party Content Featured on the Site

• Intellectual Property

• Copyright Policy

• Exclusion of Warranties

• Limitation of Liability

• Ending your Relationship with TSOU

• General Terms

• Changes to the Terms

By accessing or using the Site, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not accept these Terms of Service in full, you must stop using the Site immediately.

 

1.     YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STORIES OF US

1.1    Use of the Site is provided by The Stories of Us, Inc. (“TSOU”).

1.2    The principal place of business for TSOU is at 740 Broadway, Suite 400, New York, NY 10012, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

1.3     Your use of the Site and any services provided to you on or from the Site (collectively, the "Service") is governed by these Terms of Service, which form a legally binding agreement between you and TSOU.

1.4     This legal agreement consists of: (a) these Terms of Service; and (b) the Privacy Policy (collectively, the "Terms").

1.5     Our collection and use of personal information in connection with the Site is described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms of Service by reference.

1.6     The Terms apply to all users of the Service, including users who contribute Content to the Service. "Content" includes, without limitation, text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music,  videos, audiovisual combinations, interactive features and other materials you may view on, access through or contribute to the Service.

 

2.     GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON USE

2.1     Subject to these Terms, TSOU grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Site solely for your personal, non-commercial use and in furtherance of TSOU’s charitable mission. You agree that your failure to adhere to any of the following conditions shall constitute a breach of these Terms on your part:

• you are 13 years of age or older; 

  • if you are between the ages of 13 and 17, you confirm that your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf;

• you agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in a manner which does not infringe the rights, or restrict, or inhibit any other person’s use and enjoyment of the Site;

• you agree not to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any other person or organization;

• you agree not to distribute, reproduce, or make available any part of the Service, including but not limited to any Content, in any medium, without TSOU's prior written authorization, except where sharing functionality is provided by the Service (i.e.,  through built-in social media sharing features);

• you agree not to alter, modify, or create derivative works from any part of the Service;

• you agree not to (or attempt to) circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with any security related features of the Service or features that prevent or restrict the use, copying, or access to Content; 

• you agree not to use or launch any automated system (including, without limitation, any robot, spider or offline reader) to access the Service in a manner that sends more request messages to TSOU servers than a human could reasonably generate using a standard, unmodified web browser;

• you agree not to interfere with or disrupt operation of the Service or any related networks, and not to introduce any viruses, malware, or other harmful code into TSOU systems;

• you agree not to collect, harvest, or otherwise extract personal data from users of the Service;

• you agree not to use the  Service (including Feedback) to solicit business, advertise, or conduct commercial activities; 

• you agree not to solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Service with respect to their Content;

• you agree not to use the Service or any Content in connection with the training of any artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural network, or similar automated system;

• you agree not to access Content for any reason other than your personal, non-commercial use solely as intended through and permitted by the normal functionality of the Service; and you shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of TSOU or the respective licensors of the Content.

2.2    You agree that you will comply with all of the other provisions of the Terms at all times during your use of the Service.

2.3     TSOU grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Service for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not cached or archived copies of those materials. TSOU reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.

2.4     TSOU is constantly innovating in order to provide the best possible experience for its users. You acknowledge and agree that the form and nature of the Service may change from time to time without prior notice to you.

2.5    As part of this continuing innovation, you acknowledge and agree that TSOU may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Service (or any features within the Service) to you or to users generally at TSOU's sole discretion, without prior notice to you. You may stop using the Service at any time. You do not need to specifically inform TSOU when you stop using the Service.
2.6    TSOU does not guarantee that the Service will always be available or uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw, or change the Service or any part of it at any time without notice.

2.7     You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that TSOU has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) any breach of your obligations under the Terms and for the consequences (including any loss or damage which TSOU may suffer) of any such breach.

 

3.     USER CONTENT

3.1     In connection with the Service, TSOU may from time to time grant users permission to submit Content to the Site for our use in connection with our charitable efforts.

3.2     You retain your rights to any Content you submit through the Site. You are responsible for any Content you provide, including compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. You must not upload offensive, obscene or racist Content onto the Site.

3.3     TSOU reserves the right to remove or edit any Content posted on the Site at its sole discretion and without notice, regardless of whether or not it is, in the opinion of any third party in contravention of the above rules.

3.4    By submitting Content through the Site, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods now known or later developed (for clarity, these rights include, for example, curating, transforming, and translating) in connection with our charitable efforts. You also grant TSOU the right to use your initials and, likeness in connection with the use of your Content as described above. You agree that this license includes the right for TSOU to promote and improve the Service and to make Content submitted to or through the Site  available to other companies, organizations or individuals for the syndication, broadcast, distribution, promotion or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use. Such additional uses by TSOU, or other companies, organizations or individuals, are made with no compensation paid to you with respect to the Content that you submit, transmit or otherwise make available through the Site. You understand that we may review, monitor, modify, adapt, or remove your Content as it is distributed, syndicated, published, or broadcast by us and our partners and/or make changes to your Content in order to adapt the Content to different media.

3.5    You represent and warrant that you have, or have obtained, all rights, licenses, consents, permissions, power and/or authority necessary to grant the rights granted herein for any Content that you submit through the Site. You agree that such Content will not contain material subject to copyright or other proprietary rights, unless you have necessary permission or are otherwise legally entitled to submit the material and to grant TSOU the license described above.

3.6    You shall be liable for and shall defend and indemnify us and hold us harmless against any and all claims, actions, liabilities, losses, damages, expenses (including without limitation any reasonable legal expenses) incurred by us which arise directly or indirectly from (a) any breach by you of your obligations, representations or warranties under these Terms;  (b) your use of the Site or any Content you submit; or (c) your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party. 

3.7    If you suspect a breach of the terms on the Site, please email us at hello@thestoriesofus.org. 

 

4.     LINKS FROM THE SITE

4.1     The Site may include hyperlinks to other websites that are not owned or controlled by TSOU. TSOU has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites.

4.2     You acknowledge and agree that TSOU is not responsible for the availability of any such external sites or resources, and does not endorse any advertising, products or other materials on or available from such websites or resources.

4.3     You acknowledge and agree that TSOU is not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the availability of those external sites or resources, or as a result of any reliance placed by you on the completeness, accuracy or existence of any advertising, products or other materials on, or available from, such websites or resources.

 

5.     THIRD PARTY CONTENT FEATURED ON THE SITE

5.1     The Site may contain articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video and other content belonging to or originating from third parties (the "Third Party Content"). While TSOU does check Third Party Content for accuracy, appropriateness and completeness when initially posted, we assume no responsibility for any Third Party Content posted on the Site, including without limitation the content, accuracy, offensiveness, opinions, reliability of or contained in the Third Party Content. Such Third Party Content will be clearly labelled as such on the Site.

5.2     You acknowledge that TSOU is not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the Third Party Content, or as a result of any reliance placed by you on the completeness or accuracy of such content.

5.3    The Site may use or integrate third party services, including the YouTube API Services, to display or provide certain content. By using the Site, you acknowledge and agree that your use of such content is also subject to the applicable third‑party terms and policies. For content provided through the YouTube API Services, you agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service and acknowledge that Google’s Privacy Policy applies to data collected through those services. 

• Please find the YouTube API Terms of Service here: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms.

• Please find the Google Privacy Policy here: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

 

6.     INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

6.1     All right, title, and interest in and to the Service, including without limitation the name “The Stories of Us,” the TSOU logo, and any other trademarks, service marks, branding, products, features, or materials presented through the Service from time to time (collectively, the “TSOU IP”) are and shall remain the exclusive property of TSOU.

6.2    The TSOU IP  may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not TSOU's, nor in any manner that is likely to cause confusion, or in any way that may disparage or discredit TSOU.

6.3     Other trademarks, service marks or logos that appear on the Site , in particular (but not exclusively) those of partner charities, are the property of their respective owners and are likely to be registered trademarks and subject to restrictions as to their use. They must not be used without the express permission of both TSOU and the trademark owner.

 

7.     COPYRIGHT POLICY

7.1     All content on the Site, including text, photographs, images, graphics, and the overall design of the Site is owned by or licensed to TSOU, our partner charities, or other original providers, and is protected by the applicable intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws.

7.2     You may copy content for your own personal, non-commercial use provided you do not alter it or remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice.

7.3     Commercial use or publication of all or any item displayed is strictly prohibited without prior authorization from TSOU and, where applicable, the copyright holder.

 

8.     EXCLUSION OF WARRANTIES

8.1     Nothing in the Terms shall affect any statutory rights that you are always entitled to as a consumer and that you cannot contractually agree to alter or waive.

8.2     The Service is provided "as is" and without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied.

8.3     In particular TSOU does not represent or warrant to you that:

• your use of the Service will meet your requirements,

• your use of the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or free from error,

• any information obtained by you as a result of your use of the Service will be accurate or reliable,

• that this Site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs or represents the full functionality, accuracy and reliability of the materials, and

• that defects in the operation or functionality of any software provided to you as part of the Service will be corrected.

8.4     No conditions, warranties or other terms (including any implied terms as to satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or conformance with description) apply to the Service except to the extent that they are expressly set out in the Terms.

 

9.     LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

9.1     Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or limit TSOU's liability for losses which may not be lawfully excluded or limited by applicable law.

9.2     Subject to the overall provision in paragraph 8.1 above, TSOU shall not be liable to you for:

• any indirect or consequential losses which may be incurred by you. This shall include: (i) any loss of profit (whether incurred directly or indirectly); (ii) any loss of goodwill or business reputation; (iii) any loss of opportunity; or (iv) any loss of data suffered by you;

• any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of:

  • any reliance placed by you on the completeness, accuracy or existence of any materials contained on the Site; and 

  • any changes which TSOU may make to the Service, or for any permanent or temporary cessation in the provision of the Service (or any features within the Service).

9.3     The limitations on TSOU's liability to you in paragraph 9.2 above shall apply whether or not TSOU has been advised of or should have been aware of the possibility of any such losses arising.

 

9.4     To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, TSOU's total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the Site shall not exceed ten U.S. dollars ($10.00).

 

10.     ENDING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TSOU

10.1     The Terms will remain in effect until terminated by either you or TSOU, including the following circumstances:

• you have breached any provision of the Terms (or have acted in a manner which clearly shows that you do not intend to, or are unable to comply with the provisions of the Terms); or

• TSOU is required to do so by law (for example, where the provision of the Service to you is, or becomes, unlawful).

• If you want to terminate your legal agreement with TSOU, you may do so by notifying TSOU at any time in writing to hello@thestoriesofus.org. 

10.2     TSOU may terminate its legal agreement with you if TSOU is transitioning to no longer providing the Service to users in the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Service.

10.3     When these Terms come to an end, all of the legal rights, obligations and liabilities that you and TSOU have benefited from, been subject to (or which have accrued over time whilst the Terms have been in force) or which are expressed to continue indefinitely, shall be unaffected by this cessation.

 

11.     GENERAL TERMS

11.1     The Terms constitute the whole legal agreement between you and TSOU and govern your use of the Service and completely replace any prior agreements between you and TSOU in relation to the Service.

11.2     You agree that if TSOU does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in the Terms (or which TSOU has the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of TSOU's rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to TSOU.

11.3     You agree that TSOU may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms, by email, regular mail, SMS or postings on the Service.

11.4     If any court of law, having the jurisdiction to decide on this matter, rules that any provision of these Terms is invalid, then that provision will be removed from the Terms without affecting the rest of the Terms. The remaining provisions of the Terms will continue to be valid and enforceable.

11.5     These Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the State of New York.

11.6     A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to enforce any term of these Terms.

11.7     Feedback. If you give to TSOU any idea, proposal, suggestion, or feedback, including without limitation ideas for new services, technologies, promotions, or service improvements (“Feedback”), you give to TSOU, without charge, royalties, or other obligation to you, the right to make, have made, create derivative works, use, share, and commercialize your Feedback in any way and for any purpose. TSOU will treat any Feedback you provide to TSOU as non-confidential and non-proprietary. You agree that you will not submit to TSOU any information or ideas that you consider to be confidential or proprietary.

 

12.     CHANGES TO THE TERMS

12.1     We may revise or amend this policy at any time at our sole discretion, for example to address changes to the law or regulatory changes or changes to functionality offered through the Service. The modified version of the Terms (the "Modified Terms") will be posted on this page and the “Last Updated” date at the top will be updated. We encourage you to review the Terms from time to time. 

12.2     If we make any substantive changes in the way we collect or use personally identifying information provided by users, we will post a prominent announcement on our website home page. We will not change our policies and practices to make them less protective of user information collected prior to the effective date of any changes without the consent of affected users. We encourage users to visit this page periodically to review our current policy.

12.3     If you do not agree to the Modified Terms you must stop using the Service. Your continued use of the Service after the date the Modified Terms are posted will constitute your acceptance of the Modified Terms.