Terms of Use

All images and sounds © John Croyle 2020

Hello

These are JOHN CROYLE’s terms of use. They tell you:

The rules for using my services and content
What you can do with my content (share it, link to it, that sort of thing)
What I can do with things you post or upload.

My rights and responsibilities, basically – the important stuff.

I’ve kept them as short as possible. So read them, and check in for updates as the latest version always applies (I’ll usually only make updates when I release a new content, change how I provide a service, or have to comply with a new legal requirement).

When these terms apply

Read these terms before using my services or content. Whenever you use my services or content you agree to these terms. You’re also agreeing to stick to my Privacy rules. Read that too. If you don’t stick to all these terms then I can suspend or terminate my use of services and my content.

But first…

What’s this about "services" and "content"?

That’s media speak for:

a. Services = Anything offered by the JOHN CROYLE.

b. Content

Anything that’s created through those services. Including:

TV and radio shows
Text
Audio
Video
Still or motion Images
Technical stuff such as metadata and open-source code

Terms for using my services and content

A few rules to stop you (and us) from getting in trouble.

a. Don’t mess with my services or content

What do I mean by that? This sort of thing:

Hacking them
Trying to get around my content security technology (software that stops people copying my content)
Accessing content that you aren’t allowed to, or helping others do the same.
Refusing to remove content, from a device when I ask you to. This might happen when I take down services. Which I can do at any time, without notice.

b. Don’t harm or offend other people while using my services or content. That means:

Don’t damage my reputation by associating me with sexism or racism, for instance
Don’t get me sued – by defaming (damaging the reputation of) someone, say, or commenting on an active lawsuit
Don’t harass or upset people
Don’t post or upload anything offensive or obscene
If you disagree with someone, attack the argument, not the person.

c. Play it safe

When you watch my content, be aware of my surroundings and use my device safely.

Don’t use my 360° and virtual reality content if you:

Are pregnant
Have consumed anything that may affect my balance
Have (or have had) a medical condition, like binocular vision abnormalities, psychiatric disorders, seizures or a heart problem.

Make sure you’re in a safe place, preferably seated.

Stop immediately if you feel:

Sick
Eye strain
Dizziness
Any discomfort.

Don’t take part in any activities where you need to focus straight after, or if you feel slightly dazed or confused.

d. Don’t pretend to be JOHN CROYLE (Except at fancy dress parties.)

That includes:

Recreating or copying the look of my service or content
Using my brands, trademarks or logos without my permission
Using or mentioning my content in press releases and other marketing things
Making money from my content or services. You can’t charge people to watch my content, for example
Sharing my content for commercial or for-profit purposes without written permission.

Using JOHN CROYLE content

a. You need WRITTEN permission

To use any of the following things…

Whole or part of any content created by John Croyle
Clips
Photos
Audio
Video
Content from John Croyle.com, John Croyle YouTube Channel, John Croyle VIMEO channel, John Croyle Facebook page, John Croyle Wedding Photography Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, for example.
My logo and other branding
Anything else that’s protected by copyright.

…you’ll need to get written permission. Just had to say twice.

I don’t always own the copyright.

My content often includes other people’s content, you see. For instance, a TV show might feature images, video and music that belong to artists, actors and musicians. Or another production company who owns the copyright. So you’ll have to ask them if you can use it. Except under certain circumstances…

b. When you already have permission. If you’re at a school, college or university that’s under an Educational license usage.

c. How to get permission

Contact John Croyle at …

John Croyle, PO Box 14395, Columbus Ohio 43214-0395

Content that’s shareable will have one or more of these buttons next to it:

Share
Embed
RSS
Social media buttons for posting to Facebook, Twitter and so on.

I don’t always own the copyright for my content. Sometimes I have to get a license or permission from the people who made it. So stick to these rules. Otherwise, among other things, the people who made it won’t want to make content for me again. When you share to a social media platform their terms will apply. Do read their terms (which you can search for online).

Don’t change the feed or remove any of my branding or logos
Credit me by saying it’s from me (IE “Content created by John Croyle www.JohnCroyle.com”) and putting the text and hyperlink in a prominent place nearby
Don’t add to my branding, logos and so on, except for any branding that’s already embedded in the feed

What you can't do

a. Don’t use them to harm or offend. And don't put my content with harmful or offensive stuff. Here’s a list of things that may harm or offend:

Insulting, misleading, discriminating or defaming (damaging people’s reputations)
Promoting pornography or tobacco
Putting children at risk
Anything illegal. Like using hate speech, inciting terrorism or breaking privacy law
Anything that would harm JOHN CROYLE’s reputation.

b. Don’t make it look like it cost money to view my content. You can't charge others for using my content. If you put my content on a site that charges for content, you have to say they’re free-to-view. Unless otherwise stated through a written instrument.

c. Don’t make my content more prominent than non-JOHN CROYLE content, or seems to endorse anything besides me. Otherwise it might look like I am endorsing you. Which I’m not going to do. Also, you can’t make a service or website of my content that only contains my content, so that we seem one in the same.

Speaking of which…

d. Don’t exaggerate your relationship with the JOHN CROYLE. You can’t say I endorse, promote, supply or approve of you. I don’t. Don’t use my content for political purposes. And you can’t say you have exclusive access to my content.

e. Don’t associate them with advertising or sponsorship

That means you can’t:

Put any other content within the link to my content itself. So no ads or short videos people have to sit through
Put ads next to or over them
Put any ads in a page or app that contain mostly my content
Put ads related to their subject alongside my content. So no trainer ads with a shareable about shoes
Add extra content that means you’d earn money from them.

f. Don’t be misleading about where they came from. Do not remove or alter the copyright notice, or imply that someone else made my content.

My content - what you have to do

Use the latest version and, where I have it, don’t remove any tagging or tracking.
Make sure it’s displayed accurately.
Add a credit (if it doesn’t already have one).

Most come with credits included. If not, put one in a prominent place nearby to show where you got the content from, like “Content created by John Croyle. www.JohnCroyle.com.”

If possible, add a hyperlink to the content’s original location. Make sure it works, and don’t put anything else within the credit and the link.

One thing I have to say

I’m not liable for anything that happens to you if you use my content.

Metadata

a. For people

You’re not allowed to pluck metadata from my content.

But I do have a service that lets you use some of my metadata for some purposes for free. Then you can use and rearrange content metadata for:

Blogs
Applications
Social media sites
Academic research.

As long as you:

Don’t disrupt the service
Stick to any limits I set on how often you can use my metadata
Stick to extra terms that sometimes apply to specific bits of metadata. If there are any, I’ll always let you know.

b. For business

You’ll need a license to use my metadata. Apply for a metadata license by emailing: see my contact page. And you can’t use the metadata for free. Sorry about that.

My Content - what is it = Anything John Croyle created.

My Content - the terms

a. There might be tinkering. Some services have tools that let other people use, reproduce, modify or edit my content, or make things inspired by it. Don’t do it without written permission from me. Really.

b. I won't pay you for viewing my content. I appreciate you sharing my content but I not going to pay you. Sorry.

c. There might be other terms. Sometimes uploading content means using a tool provided by someone other than the JOHN CROYLE. For example you can use WhatsApp to share my stories. Sometimes the provider’s terms and conditions apply to using their tool. Do read their terms (which you can search for online) as they tell you what the provider can do with my creation when you use their tool.

d. Personal Information I (or the provider I use so you can upload my creation) will not share the personal information you provide to us without letting you know first. Read more on how I use my personal data in my privacy policy.

e. I hope you can use my Content. But I will not guarantee it.

f. my name: John Croyle. I usually show my name alongside my content somewhere. I’ll try to remove it if you ask me to, but this isn’t always possible.

g. Image and Name Usage: John Croyle reserves the right to use any image(s) or sounds, contracting person or businesses name or likeness, for, but not limited to: publication, electronic/digital/online media, education, competition, commercial, for profit, or any instrument known or not known, in perpetuity.

You cannot without written permission.

h. I might contact you. To check if you’ve got permission to use my content.

My Content - what you can do with them

a. When you own the copyright. You own the copyright if content is completely new and original. Which usually means it doesn’t feature anyone else’s content, such as videos and music. If so, you can do whatever you like with it.

b. When you don't own the copyright. If a creation contains my content – like images, sounds, music or video – made by someone else, the copyright for that content may belong to them. Which usually means you’ll have to get their and (maybe) my written permission to do anything. Once you’ve got permission, you can share their creation with the public. On social media, for instance.

My Content - what JOHN CROYLE can do

When you share a creation with me, I try to tell you exactly what I’m going to do with it. But that’s not always possible, so here’s what might happen…

When you contribute a creation, I can:

a. Use, host or store it in any JOHN CROYLE services or future created content

b. Copy, change or translate it, or make things that inspire

c. Use it with any tools for making My Content or remixing content

d. Moderate it

Which means I can review, edit, remove or decide not to display it. And, if it breaks any laws, I can refer it to the police and other authorities.

e. And I can use it

Anywhere in the world
In any medium (for example TV, the internet, radio) known or not-known
For as long as I want.

And anyone I work with can do those things too, with my written permission. For example, if you send an image to JOHN CROYLE, I could share it featuring that image with a broadcaster or documentarian, who’d then be able to do all the things above too. They could also charge their users to see it.

My Content - what you can't send me

Don’t send us anything that:

a. Doesn’t comply with copyright laws and terms

b. Puts children at risk

c. Was made by someone else, or that copies someone else’s creation

d. Is illegal or defamatory (damaging to someone else’s reputation)

e. Is inappropriate (offensive, off-topic or spam)

f. Breaks any laws

g. Infringes anyone’s rights (that includes privacy rights)

h. Promotes a business that’s not yours.

i. Identifies someone (unless you have their consent or, if they’re under 16, the consent of their parent or guardian).

My JOHN CROYLE Account (Account feature may or may not be activated on the John Croyle website)

a. Registering for an account

You need an account to use some of my services, like personal recommendations and notifications.

b. Keep your JOHN CROYLE account safe.

To keep your account safe, don’t:

Tell anyone your username or password
Give us false information
Try to log in as someone else
Try to bypass my security measures
Create more than one account
Create an account for someone else, except for my child.

And be sure to keep my details up-to-date.

c. What I do with my information

The data you send us when you register, fill in forms or use my services helps us to:

Provide you with services, recommendations, notifications and other features
Improve my existing services and come up with new ones.

Know more on how I use your personal data in my privacy policy.

d. Changing settings and deleting my account

Find out how to tinker with or delete my account here.

But remember: if you do delete your account, you’ll lose any information you’ve contributed to JOHN CROYLE. And you might not be able to get them back again if you open a new account.

For more info, contact JOHN CROYLE

Mishaps

I take great care to make my content and services the best they can be. So if something does go wrong, I am responsible only:

a. If my services or content damage your device or anything on it. Should this happen, you might be able to ask for compensation under consumer protection law.

Compensation isn’t guaranteed, though. Be sure to get legal advice.

b. For certain unlikely events. If my negligence causes death or injury, for example.

c. If you’re an individual “consumer” and it would be unfair for us to not be held responsible.

Otherwise, I’m not liable for anything that happens if:

You rely on advice, data, commentary, opinions or any other content
There are errors, omissions, interruptions, delays, bugs or viruses
I turn off or remove content, services, external links or My Content (I’d normally only do this for legal reasons, because of house rules, or if I’m improving a service)
The thing that happens that couldn’t reasonably have been foreseen
The thing that happens that wouldn’t usually result from a mishap
You and I hadn’t agreed that this thing would probably happen in the event of a mishap.

This applies to sites I link to as well as my content and services.

John Croyle offers No refunds, No warranty, and No liability for any content I created or service provided.

If unavoidable and/or unforeseen event(s) should occur and John Croyle is unable to complete our written agreement, John Croyle’s only liability is to refund paid deposits that were paid to John Croyle. John Croyle does not do oral agreements, so if its not on a written instrument, the agreement is not agreed to. John Croyle will keep as his own property, with all rights and privileges, according to US code 17 section 101, et seq., any image(s), sounds, or digital file(s). In other words, my content is mine. Not yours. John Croyle reserve sole right to determine how content is created. You might have have exclusive license to keep, share, duplicate and print said content. But content cannot be duplicated, in any fashion, for commercial or for-profit purposes, and digital files and/or images remain the exclusive property of John Croyle.

Speaking of which…

External links

I sometimes link to non-JOHN CROYLE sites. And I sometimes put my services on them – when you connect with me on social media, for example.

A few things to bear in mind:

a. I don’t endorse the sites I link to.

b. I’m not responsible for their content or liable for anything that happens to you if you use them.

c. If you or anyone else shares something containing a link, I’m not responsible for anything on the site it links to.

d. External sites usually have their own terms of use.

Final stuff

A quick recap, a few extra legal bits and I’m done:

a. When you use my services and content, you’re agreeing to:

My terms of use
My privacy policy
My house rules (if applicable)
Any other terms I’ve let you know about.

And those things replace all previous agreements between you and I about using my services or content.

b. This is a contract between you and I. No one else has any rights to enforce its terms.

c. USA law governs these terms, and only USA, Ohio Courts within Franklin County, can make judgments about them.

d. My services and content are made available to you by John Croyle, PO 14395 Columbus, Ohio 43214-0395