Terms of Service

Thank you for using Sonat! We're happy you're here. Please read this Terms of Service agreement carefully before accessing or using Sonat.

A. Definitions

The “Agreement” refers, collectively, to all the terms, conditions, notices contained or referenced in this document (the “Terms of Service” or the "Terms") and all other operating rules, policies (including the Sonat Privacy Policy) and procedures that we may publish from time to time on the Website.
The “Service” refers to the applications, software, products, and services provided by Sonat.
The “Website” refers to Sonat’s website located at sonat.com, and all content, services, and products provided by Sonat at or through the Website. It also refers to Sonat-owned subdomains of sonat.com. Occasionally, websites owned by Sonat may provide different or additional terms of service. If those additional terms conflict with this Agreement, the more specific terms apply to the relevant page or service.
“The User,” “You,” and “Your” refer to the individual person, company, or organization that has visited or is using the Website or Service; that accesses or uses any part of the account; or that directs the use of the account in the performance of its functions. A User must be at least 13 years of age.

Special terms may apply for business or government accounts (See Section B(4): Additional Terms).
“Sonat,” “We,” and “Us” refer to sonat.com, as well as our affiliates, directors, subsidiaries, contractors, licensors, officers, agents, and employees.
“Content” refers to content featured or displayed through the Website, including without limitation text, data, articles, images, photographs, graphics, software, applications, designs, features, and other materials that are available on the Website or otherwise available through the Service. "Content" also includes Services. “User-Generated Content” is Content, written or otherwise, created or uploaded by our Users. "Your Content" is Content that you create or own.

B. Account Terms

Short version: A human must create your account; you must be 13 or over; you must provide a valid email address; and you may not have more than one free account. You alone are responsible for your account and anything that happens while you are signed in to or using your account. You are responsible for keeping your account secure.

1. Required Information

You must provide a valid email address, password & user name in order to complete the signup process. Any other information requested is optional, unless you are accepting these terms on behalf of a legal entity (in which case we need more information about the legal entity) or if you opt for a paid account, in which case additional information will be necessary for billing purposes.

2. Account Requirements

We have a few simple rules for accounts on Sonat's Service.

You must be a human to create an account. Accounts registered by "bots" or other automated methods are not permitted. We do permit machine accounts:
A machine account is an account set up by an individual human who accepts the Terms on behalf of the account, provides a valid email address, and is responsible for its actions. A machine account is used exclusively for performing automated tasks. Multiple users may direct the actions of a machine account, but the owner of the account is ultimately responsible for the machine's actions. You may maintain no more than one free machine account in addition to your free personal account.
One person or legal entity may maintain no more than one free account (if you choose to control a machine account as well, that's fine, but it can only be used for running a machine).
One person or legal entity may maintain no more than one free account. Any attempt to create multiple free accounts, either by using different identities, emails, or other means, is prohibited. Violation of this rule may result in the suspension or termination of all associated accounts.
You must be age 13 or older. Sonat does not target our Service to children under 13, and we do not permit any Users under 13 on our Service. If we learn of any User under the age of 13, we will terminate that User’s account immediately. If you are a resident of a country outside the United States, your country’s minimum age may be older; in such a case, you are responsible for complying with your country’s laws.
Your login may only be used by one person — i.e., a single login may not be shared by multiple people. A paid organization account may create separate logins for as many users as its subscription allows.
Overall, the number of Users must not exceed the number of accounts you've ordered from us.

3. User Account Security

You are responsible for keeping your account secure while you use our Service.

You are responsible for all content posted and activity that occurs under your account.
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and password. Sonat cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage from your failure to comply with this security obligation.
You will promptly notify Sonat if you become aware of any unauthorized use of, or access to, our Service through your account, including any unauthorized use of your password or account.

4. Additional Terms

In some situations, third parties' terms may apply to your use of Sonat. For example, you may be a member of an organization on Sonat with its own terms or license agreements; you may download an application that integrates with Sonat; or you may use Sonat to authenticate to another service. Please be aware that while these Terms are our full agreement with you, other parties' terms govern their relationships with you.

C. Acceptable Use

Short version: Sonat hosts a wide variety of collaborative projects from all over the world, and that collaboration only works when our users are able to work together in good faith. While using the service, you must follow this Acceptable Use Policy, which includes some restrictions on content you can post, conduct on the service, and other limitations. In short, be excellent to each other.

1. Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Your use of the Website and Service must not violate any applicable laws, including copyright or trademark laws, export control laws, or other laws in your jurisdiction. You are responsible for making sure that your use of the Service is in compliance with laws and any applicable regulations.

2. Content Restrictions

You agree that you will not under any circumstances upload, post, host, or transmit any content that:

is unlawful or promotes unlawful activities;
is or contains sexually obscene content;
is or contains get-rich-quick schemes;
is the result of excessive automated bulk activity (for example, spamming);
is libelous, defamatory, or fraudulent;
is discriminatory or abusive toward any individual or group;
compromises Sonat users or Sonat services;
is content that misrepresents your identity or site purpose
contains or installs any active malware or exploits, or uses our platform for exploit delivery (such as part of a command and control system); or
infringes on any proprietary right of any party, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other rights.
contains hate speech, harassment, or threats of violence against individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic;
is content that promotes, sells, or distributes illegal goods or services;
is content that involves phishing or other fraudulent activities intended to deceive users into providing sensitive information;
is graphic and harmful content, including content that is graphically violent, obscene, sexually explicit, promotes self-harm, terrorist activity, misinformation, or poses a threat to the public. This restriction applies to both private and public content;
is content that exploits or sexualizes children. Any content that depicts or promotes abuse or exploitation of children in any manner is prohibited. This prohibition includes any activity that could be considered grooming;
is content that involves spam or unwanted contact. Any use of the Services to send or host spam, including the sending of unwanted or unauthorized commercial content, unwanted or mass solicitation, or other forms of duplicative or unsolicited messages is prohibited;

3. Conduct Restrictions

While using Sonat, you agree that you will not under any circumstances:

harass, abuse, threaten, or incite violence towards any individual or group, including Sonat employees, officers, and agents, or other Sonat Users;
use our servers for any form of excessive automated bulk activity (for example, spamming), or relay any other form of unsolicited advertising or solicitation through our servers, such as get-rich-quick schemes;
attempt to disrupt or tamper with Sonat's servers in ways that could harm our Website or Service, to place an undue burden on Sonat's servers through automated means, or to access Sonat's Service in ways that exceed your authorization;
impersonate any person or entity, including any of our employees or representatives, including through false association with Sonat, or by fraudulently misrepresenting your identity or site's purpose; or
violate the privacy of any third party, such as by posting another person's personal information without consent.

4. Services Usage Limits

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Service, use of the Service, or access to the Service without Sonat's express written permission.

5. Scraping

Scraping refers to extracting data from our Website via an automated process, such as a bot or webcrawler.

Researchers may scrape public, non-personal information from Sonat for research purposes, only if any publications resulting from that research are open access.
Archivists may scrape Sonat for public data for archival purposes.

You may not scrape Sonat for spamming purposes, including for the purposes of selling Sonat users' personal information, such as to recruiters, headhunters, and job boards.

All use of Sonat data gathered through scraping must comply with the Sonat Privacy Policy.

6. Privacy

Misuse of Sonat Users' Personal Information is prohibited.

Any person, entity, or service collecting data from Sonat must comply with the Sonat Privacy Policy, particularly in regards to the collection of our Users' Personal Information (as defined in the Sonat Privacy Policy). If you collect any Sonat User's Personal Information from Sonat, you agree that you will only use the Personal Information you gather for the purpose for which our User has authorized it. You agree that you will reasonably secure any Personal Information you have gathered from Sonat, and you will respond promptly to complaints, removal requests, and "do not contact" requests from Sonat or Sonat Users.

7. Excessive Bandwidth Use

If we determine your bandwidth usage to be significantly excessive in relation to other Sonat customers, we reserve the right to suspend your account or throttle your file hosting until you can reduce your bandwidth consumption.

8. User Protection

You agree not to engage in activity that significantly harms our Users. We will resolve disputes in favor of protecting our Users as a whole.

D. User-Generated Content

1. Responsibility for User-Generated Content

You may create or upload User-Generated Content while using the Service. You are solely responsible for the content of, and for any harm resulting from, any User-Generated Content that you post, upload, link to, or otherwise make available via the Service, regardless of the form of that Content. We are not responsible for any public display or misuse of your User-Generated Content.

2. Sonat May Remove Content

We do not pre-screen User-Generated Content, but we have the right (though not the obligation) to refuse or remove any User-Generated Content that, in our sole discretion, violates any Sonat terms or policies.

3. Ownership of Content, Right to Post, and License Grants

You retain ownership of and responsibility for Content you create or own ("Your Content"). If you're posting anything you did not create yourself or do not own the rights to, you agree that you are responsible for any Content you post; that you will only submit Content that you have the right to post; and that you will fully comply with any third-party licenses relating to Content you post.

Because you retain ownership of and responsibility for Your Content, we need you to grant us — and other Sonat Users — certain legal permissions, listed in Sections D.4 — D.7. These license grants apply to Your Content. If you upload Content that already comes with a license granting Sonat the permissions we need to run our Service, no additional license is required. You understand that you will not receive any payment for any of the rights granted in Sections D.4 — D.7. The licenses you grant to us will end when you remove Your Content from our servers unless other Users have forked it.

4. License Grant to Us

We need the legal right to do things like host Your Content, publish it, and share it. You grant us and our legal successors the right to store, parse, and display Your Content, and make incidental copies as necessary to render the Website and provide the Service. This includes the right to do things like copy it to our database and make backups; show it to you and other users; parse it into a search index or otherwise analyze it on our servers; share it with other users; and perform it, in case Your Content is something like music or video.

This license does not grant Sonat the right to sell Your Content or otherwise distribute or use it outside of our provision of the Service.

5. License Grant to Other Users

Any User-Generated Content you post publicly or publish may be viewed by others.

By publishing your document you grant each User of Sonat a nonexclusive, worldwide license to use, display, and perform Your Content through the Sonat Service. If you are uploading Content you did not create or own, you are responsible for ensuring that the Content you upload is licensed under terms that grant these permissions to other Sonat Users.

6. Moral Rights

You retain all moral rights to Your Content that you upload, publish, or submit to any part of the Service, including the rights of integrity and attribution. However, you waive these rights and agree not to assert them against us, to enable us to reasonably exercise the rights granted in Section D.4, but not otherwise.

To the extent this agreement is not enforceable by applicable law, you grant Sonat the rights we need to use Your Content without attribution and to make reasonable adaptations of Your Content as necessary to render the Website and provide the Service.

E. Copyright Infringement and DMCA Policy

If you believe that content on our website violates your copyright, please contact us in accordance with our Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy. If you are a copyright owner and you believe that content on Sonat violates your rights, please contact us via our convenient DMCA form or by emailing support@sonat.com. There may be legal consequences for sending a false or frivolous takedown notice. Before sending a takedown request, you must consider legal uses such as fair use and licensed uses.

We will terminate the accounts of repeat infringers of this policy.

F. Intellectual Property Notice

Short version: We own the service and all of our content. In order for you to use our content, we give you certain rights to it, but you may only use our content in the way we have allowed.

1. Sonat's Rights to Content

Sonat and our licensors, vendors, agents, and/or our content providers retain ownership of all intellectual property rights of any kind related to the Website and Service. We reserve all rights that are not expressly granted to you under this Agreement or by law. The look and feel of the Website and Service is copyright © Sonat, Inc. All rights reserved. You may not duplicate, copy, or reuse any portion of the HTML/CSS, Javascript, or visual design elements or concepts without express written permission from Sonat.

2. License to Sonat Policies

This Agreement is licensed under this Creative Commons Zero license.

G. Advertising on Sonat

Short version: We do not generally prohibit the use of Sonat for advertising. However, we expect our users to follow certain limitations, so Sonat does not become a spam haven. No one wants that.

1. Sonat documents

Sonat documents are intended to host Content. You may include static images, links, and promotional text in the documents associated with your Org, but they must be related to the project you are hosting on Sonat . Some monetization efforts are permitted, such as donation buttons and crowdfunding links.

2. Spamming and Inappropriate Use of Sonat

Advertising Content, like all Content, must not violate the law or these Terms of Use, for example through excessive bulk activity such as spamming. We reserve the right to remove any advertisements that, in our sole discretion, violate any Sonat terms or policies.

H. Payment

Short version: You are responsible for any fees associated with your use of Sonat. We are responsible for communicating those fees to you clearly and accurately and letting you know well in advance if those prices change.

1. Pricing

Our pricing and payment terms are available at sonat.com. If you agree to a subscription price, that will remain your price for the duration of the payment term; however, prices are subject to change at the end of a payment term.

2. Upgrades, Downgrades, and Changes

We will immediately bill you when you upgrade from the free plan to any paying plan.

If you upgrade to a higher level of service, we will bill you for the upgraded plan immediately.

You may change your level of service at any time by going into your Billing settings. If you choose to downgrade your account, you may lose access to Content, features, or capacity of your account. Please see our section on Cancellation for information on getting a copy of that Content.

3. Billing Schedule; No Refunds

For monthly or yearly payment plans, the Service is billed in advance on a monthly or yearly basis respectively and is non-refundable. There will be no refunds or credits for partial months of service, downgrade refunds, or refunds for months unused with an open account; however, the service will remain active for the length of the paid billing period.

In order to treat everyone equally, no exceptions will be made.

4. Authorization

By agreeing to these Terms, you are giving us permission to charge your on-file credit card, PayPal account, or other approved methods of payment for fees that you authorize for Sonat.

5. Responsibility for Payment

You are responsible for all fees, including taxes, associated with your use of the Service. By using the Service, you agree to pay Sonat any charge incurred in connection with your use of the Service. If you dispute the matter, contact Sonat Support. You are responsible for providing us with a valid means of payment for paid accounts. Free accounts are not required to provide payment information.

I. Cancellation and Termination

Short version: You may close your account at any time. If you do, we'll treat your information responsibly.

1. Account Cancellation

It is your responsibility to properly cancel your account with Sonat. You can cancel your account at any time by going into your Settings. The Account screen provides a simple, no questions asked cancellation link. We are not able to cancel accounts in response to an email or phone request.

2. Upon Cancellation

We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements, but barring legal requirements, we will delete your full profile and the Content of your spaces within 90 days of cancellation or termination (though some information may remain in encrypted backups). This information can not be recovered once your account is canceled.

We will not delete Content that you have contributed to other Users' documents.

3. Sonat May Terminate

Sonat has the right to suspend or terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. Sonat reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.

4. Survival

All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination will survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.

J. Communications with Sonat

Short version: We use email and other electronic means to stay in touch with our users.

1. Electronic Communication Required

For contractual purposes, you (1) consent to receive communications from us in an electronic form via the email address you have submitted or via the Service; and (2) agree that all Terms of Service, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that those communications would satisfy if they were on paper. This section does not affect your non-waivable rights.

2. No Phone Support

Sonat only offers support via email, in-Service communications, and electronic messages. We do not offer telephone support.

K. Disclaimer of Warranties

Short version: We provide our service as is, and we make no promises or guarantees about this service. Please read this section carefully; you should understand what to expect.

Sonat provides the Website and the Service “as is” and “as available,” without warranty of any kind. Without limiting this, we expressly disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied or statutory, regarding the Website and the Service including without limitation any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, security, accuracy, and non-infringement.

Sonat does not warrant that the Service will meet your requirements; that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; that the information provided through the Service is accurate, reliable or correct; that any defects or errors will be corrected; that the Service will be available at any particular time or location; or that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components. You assume full responsibility and risk of loss resulting from your downloading and/or use of files, information, content or other material obtained from the Service.

L. Limitation of Liability

Short version: We will not be liable for damages or losses arising from your use or inability to use the service or otherwise arising under this agreement. Please read this section carefully; it limits our obligations to you.

You understand and agree that we will not be liable to you or any third party for any loss of profits, use, goodwill, or data, or for any incidental, indirect, special, consequential or exemplary damages, however arising, that result from

the use, disclosure, or display of your User-Generated Content;
your use or inability to use the Service;
any modification, price change, suspension or discontinuance of the Service;
the Service generally or the software or systems that make the Service available;
unauthorized access to or alterations of your transmissions or data;
statements or conduct of any third party on the Service;
any other user interactions that you input or receive through your use of the Service; or
any other matter relating to the Service.

Our liability is limited whether or not we have been informed of the possibility of such damages, and even if a remedy set forth in this Agreement is found to have failed of its essential purpose. We will have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond our reasonable control.

M. Release and Indemnification

Short version: You are responsible for your use of the service. If you harm someone else or get into a dispute with someone else, we will not be involved.

If you have a dispute with one or more Users, you agree to release Sonat from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

You agree to indemnify us, defend us, and hold us harmless from and against any and all claims, liabilities, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the Website and the Service, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement, provided that Sonat (1) promptly gives you written notice of the claim, demand, suit or proceeding; (2) gives you sole control of the defense and settlement of the claim, demand, suit or proceeding (provided that you may not settle any claim, demand, suit or proceeding unless the settlement unconditionally releases Sonat of all liability); and (3) provides to you all reasonable assistance, at your expense.

N. Changes to These Terms

Short version: We want our users to be informed of important changes to our terms, but some changes aren't that important — we don't want to bother you every time we fix a typo. So while we may modify this agreement at any time, we will notify users of any changes that affect your rights and give you time to adjust to them.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to amend these Terms of Service at any time and will update these Terms of Service in the event of any such amendments. We will notify our Users of material changes to this Agreement, such as price changes, at least 30 days prior to the change taking effect by posting a notice on our Website. For non-material modifications, your continued use of the Website constitutes agreement to our revisions of these Terms of Service.

We reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website (or any part of it) with or without notice.

O. Miscellaneous

1. Governing Law

Except to the extent applicable law provides otherwise, this Agreement between you and Sonat and any access to or use of the Website or the Service are governed by the federal laws of the United States of America and the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law provisions. You and Sonat agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in the City and County of San Diego, California.

2. Non-Assignability

Sonat may assign or delegate these Terms of Service and/or the Sonat Privacy Statement, in whole or in part, to any person or entity at any time with or without your consent, including the license grant in Section D.4. You may not assign or delegate any rights or obligations under the Terms of Service or Privacy Statement without our prior written consent, and any unauthorized assignment and delegation by you is void.

3. Section Headings and Summaries

Throughout this Agreement, each section includes titles and brief summaries of the following terms and conditions. These section titles and brief summaries are not legally binding.

4. Severability, No Waiver, and Survival

If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion of the Agreement will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent. The remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. Any failure on the part of Sonat to enforce any provision of this Agreement will not be considered a waiver of our right to enforce such provision. Our rights under this Agreement will survive any termination of this Agreement.

5. Amendments; Complete Agreement

This Agreement may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized representative of Sonat, or by the posting by Sonat of a revised version in accordance with Section N. Changes to These Terms. These Terms of Service, together with the Sonat Privacy Statement, represent the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between you and us. This Agreement supersedes any proposal or prior agreement oral or written, and any other communications between you and Sonat relating to the subject matter of these terms including any confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements.

6. Questions

Questions about the Terms of Service? Contact us via support@sonat.com