The American Heraldry Society

The purpose of the American Heraldry Society’s Web forum is to encourage and promote the collegial discussion of heraldry. To this end, the Society asks that you treat fellow forum participants with respect and courtesy and that you conduct yourself in a civilized manner.

This Agreement and the forum use guidelines explain the terms and conditions on which the Society grants you access to the Society’s Web forum and also explain what is expected of you and other forum users. The forum use guidelines are not exhaustive, and as such the forum administrators and moderators shall have discretion to address any behavior or communication that may be deemed inappropriate for any portion of the Web forum, including, but not limited to, the message board, the chat room, in your user profile, private messaging, and on the forum’s user map.

The Society reserves the right to suspend access to this forum at any time for any reason not limited to failure to abide by this Agreement and the forum use guidelines.

By using the Society’s Web forum, you agree to the following:
 

The term “you” includes you and any of your owners, employees, partners, independent contractors, subsidiaries, affiliates, attorneys, agents, heirs, and assigns. 

The term “the Society” includes the American Heraldry Society, its officers, members, employees, subsidiaries, independent contractors, agents, attorneys, and assigns. 
 

You may use a nickname as your user name, but you must record your legal name as you generally use it on commercial and government documents, a complete postal address, at least one working telephone number and a current email address in your user profile. You will not provide false or misleading information to us. You will keep your profile information up-to-date. You will not give others access to your username and password. Your use of personal avatars, graphics, and signatures should not be offensive and should not include unauthorized copyrighted material.
 

You agree that you are fully responsible for the content that you post. You will not knowingly post content that violates the copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of any third party and that you will remove the same should you discover that you have violated this provision.

You will not post content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive, that violates a third party’s right to privacy, that otherwise violates any applicable local, state, national or international law, or that is otherwise inappropriate. You may not impersonate others.

You will indemnify the Society, its officers, members, employees, agents, and affiliates from any and all claims and/or damages (including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any claim brought by any third party relating to content you have posted. 

You acknowledge and agree that you use and/or rely on any information obtained through the Society’s Website and Web forum at your own risk. 

You will abide by the forum use guidelines adopted by the Society’s Board of Governors or the Board’s designee. Those guidelines may not be modified or amended orally, impliedly, or in any manner not set forth in writing and adopted by the Society’s Board of Governors or the Board’s designee. The guidelines may be amended by the Society’s Board of Governors or the Board’s designee at any time and without notice. Any amendments to the guidelines will become effective according to their terms and may be made effective immediately. As a condition for this, you agree to periodically review the forum use guidelines posted on the Society’s Web forum.

You agree that your continued use of the Society’s Web forum after the effective date of any amendment to the forum use guidelines constitutes your consent and acceptance of the amendment.

The Society’s failure to enforce any provisions of the forum guidelines or to take action against any other party in the event of any breach shall not be deemed a waiver by the Society as to subsequent enforcement of the forum use guidelines or subsequent actions in the event of future breaches.
 

When you communicate with the Society, send the Society information, or provide content to the Society, the Society’s Website, or the Society’s Web forum, you grant the Society a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable right to exercise all copyright and publicity rights you have in the content, in any manner whatsoever, in any media now known or which may be created in the future, including in other works and forms not associated with this website.
 

The Society’s failure to enforce any provisions of this Agreement or to take action against any other party in the event of any breach shall not be deemed a waiver by the Society as to subsequent enforcement of this Agreement or subsequent actions in the event of future breaches.
 

This Agreement in all respects shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of the State of Texas, to the exclusion of any other applicable body of governing law, without regard to conflicts of laws principles. This Agreement is entered into in Travis County, Texas. You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of Texas for any dispute arising from or related to this Agreement. You agree that the exclusive venue for any dispute arising from or related to this Agreement will be a court located in Travis County, Texas. You agree to pay our attorney’s fees if we prevail in any claim.
 

Should any term of this Agreement be declared void or unenforceable, that term shall be severed from the Agreement and such declaration shall have no effect on the enforceability of the remaining terms.

This Agreement contains the complete and entire understanding and agreement between you and us and supersedes any previous communications, representations, or agreements, verbal or written, related to the subject matter of this Agreement.

Except as permitted by this Agreement, this Agreement may not be modified or amended orally, impliedly, or in any manner not set forth in writing.

This Agreement may be amended by us at any time and without notice, but only by amending this Agreement as posted on this website, unless otherwise agreed to in a writing signed by both of us.

Any amendments will become effective 30 days after being posted on the website, unless circumstances require that a change be immediately implemented. As a condition for this Agreement you agree to periodically review this Agreement posted on the Society’s Web forum.

You agree that your continued use of the Society’s Web forum after the effective date of any amendment constitutes your consent and acceptance of the amendment.
 

Message Board, Chat Room, and other Media

Communicating on message boards and in chat rooms is different from face-to-face communication. Your facial expressions and tone of voice are not seen, so jokes and sarcasm can be misinterpreted. Please use care to express yourself well so you do not unintentionally offend others.
 

Please remember that some of your fellow users may be minors, so do not post language or material that is not appropriate for all ages.
 

Some heraldic topics, by their nature, can spark disagreements. Controversial topics include nation-specific design standards, expressions of nobility in America, expressions of nationalism, gender bias in armorial inheritance, religious heraldic traditions, usurpation, and differing aesthetic values. Thus, it is not surprising that there should be differences between the views held by one user and another - indeed it would be truly remarkable if there were not. However, the words you enter during a burst of passion or indignant anger will be there for you and everyone else to see, sometimes long after those intense feelings have passed. That’s not meant to discourage spontaneity, but we remind everyone to heed the long-term existence and effects of what you post.
 

By using this forum, you agree:

• Not to post any communication that is intended to harass, belittle, humiliate, threaten or cause embarrassment to a fellow user.

• Not to post off-topic messages in a topical message board.

• Not to post material (or links to material) that contains vulgar, obscene or indecent language or images.

• Not to send spam or unwanted emails or private messages to other users.

• Not to post material that defames, abuses or threatens others.

• Not to post statements that are bigoted, hateful or racially offensive.

• Not to post material that advocates illegal activity or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them.

• Not to post (e.g., upload or copy/paste) unauthorized copyrighted material.

• Not to post advertising or any form of commercial solicitation (references to commercial heraldic activities in a topical discussion are permitted).
 

Statements or postings that violate the above terms will be deleted upon discovery. While we may attempt to notify you if we move or delete a post, we are under no obligation to do so. Depending on the nature or severity of the violation, the Society and/or site administrators at their sole discretion may terminate a user’s account.
 

All content and compilation of the content of the Society’s website, forum, chat rooms, publications, and all other media (“content”) is the property of the Society, and is protected by the United States and international copyright and trademark laws. It is understood that when a user posts content he or she grants the Society the right to display, disseminate, and use the information as it sees fit for the normal operation of the website, forum, and its features. Users should not copy, display, or disseminate user-created or Society-created content without the written permission of both the author(s) and the Society.