Terms of Use

Welcome to the websites of the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), including:

Please take a minute to read these Terms of Use that follow and understand that when you visit our websites (collectively, "SJN Sites"), it means that you agree to follow these terms of use and our Privacy Policy, which governs the collection of personal information. The websites are referred to collectively in these Terms of Use as the SJN Sites. Also included in the term SJN Sites are any auxiliary websites or mobile apps that may be added by SJN in the future. The https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org site is housed on medium.com, and the Terms of Service of medium.com also apply to content on that site.

If you do not agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, please immediately discontinue your use of SJN Sites. Please know that we may amend these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time. We shall have no obligation to notify you of any such changes other than posting such modifications on SJN Sites. You can determine when these Terms of Use were last revised by referring to the “Last Updated” legend at the bottom of this page.

Please note that any personal information collected in connection with SJN Sites is governed by our Privacy Policy.

What these sites contain

SJN is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that was formed to transform journalism so that all people have access to news that helps them envision and build a more equitable and sustainable world. SJN Sites provide information about the mission and activities of SJN. SJN Sites also include or link to content prepared by journalists and other third parties.

Use of SJN's trademarks

SJN’s trademarks – including its name and logo and Solutions Story Tracker® – collectively the “Trademarks,” represent the source and goodwill associated with our organization and its services. Use of SJN trademarks is permissible to the extent allowed by fair use principles, so long as the registered trademark symbol is used whenever Solutions Story Tracker® is mentioned. Use of the logo is subject to our prior written authorization. Only SJN can grant authorization for use of the logo. For written permission to use SJN’s logo, contact us. 

Improper use of SJN’s logo: 

  1. You cannot use SJN’s logo to refer to another organization or another organization’s products or services. 
  2. You cannot use SJN’s logo in any manner that would confuse the viewer or could imply sponsorship or endorsement. 
  3. You cannot change or alter the appearance of SJN’s logo. 
  4. You cannot use SJN’s logo without crediting SJN’s ownership of the logo. 
  5. You cannot use SJN’s logo as a link separate from the related URL.

Copyright and intellectual property policy

The materials published on SJN Sites, including text, images, and illustrations (which we call the “Content”), are protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the United States or other countries. You acquire no rights or licenses to the Content other than the limited rights to use it in accordance with these Terms of Use, and you agree to abide by all posted copyright notices or restrictions relating to the Content. The Content may not be downloaded, copied, or modified except for such personal, non-commercial use as may be authorized by the license or by fair use or other provisions of copyright law.

SJN is committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of journalists and other creators and requires that users of SJN Sites and materials made available through SJN Sites do the same. If you believe that material made available through SJN Sites violates your copyright or that of someone on whose behalf you are authorized to act, please follow the procedure set forth in our Copyright Policy.

Use of materials available on SJN sites

As part of our effort to spread the practice of solutions journalism, we make certain resources (collectively referred to as the "Creative Commons Resources") available for use pursuant to a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International Public License. 

In general, the Creative Commons Resources include:

  1. Tools and resources in the Learning Lab, except where otherwise noted;
  2. All content that appears in our blog The Whole Story;
  3. Descriptions, discussion questions and notes included in the Collections for Discussion section.

Please note that, pursuant to the license users grant to us when they submit materials for SJN Sites, we may include certain User-Generated Content (see explanation below) in the Creative Commons license.

Details on republishing the Creative Commons Resources, including the obligation for attribution, can be found here. In brief, the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International Public License allows you to share and adapt the material as long as you (1) provide attribution, including giving appropriate credit, providing a link to the license, and indicating if changes were made; (2) do not use the material for commercial purposes; and (3) do not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

The issue area taxonomy used in the Solutions Story Tracker® was adapted from the Philanthropy Classification System Taxonomy with definitions by Candid (previously Foundation Center), which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.

With respect to resources on SJN Sites, and material disseminated by electronic mail such as SJN newsletters, that are not included in the Creative Commons Resources (we refer to such other resources herein as the "Content"), the following use restrictions apply:

Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of the Content, except to the extent permissible under fair use principles, requires permission or license from SJN or the third-party copyright holder, as applicable.

You acquire no rights or licenses to the Content other than the limited rights to use it in accordance with these terms, and you agree to abide by all posted copyright notices or restrictions relating to the Content. Except as provided in the next paragraph and/or permitted by fair use principles, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, transmit or in any way exploit any part of the Content.

You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on SJN Sites for personal use only, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of the Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice associated with the Content. Any unauthorized use of the Content may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.

Communications and user-generated content

Any communication or materials you transmit to SJN Sites by electronic mail or otherwise, including any data, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like, is and will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary, including any emails sent to SJN. Any content as well as any comments you post or communications to us ("User-Generated Content") may be used by us or our affiliates for purposes of delivering the services and features of SJN Sites and promoting the same, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, further transmission, publication, broadcast and posting. Furthermore, we are free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in User-Generated Content for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing and marketing products, without any compensation to you.

By sharing User-Generated Content with SJN, you affirm, represent, and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions (including without limitation, the permission of each and every individual person identifiable in any piece of User-Generated Content), to use and authorize SJN to use all copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights (including the name, voice and/or likeness rights of each identifiable person), in and to your User-Generated Content, to enable inclusion and the use thereof on SJN Sites in accordance with these Terms of Use.

YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT YOU WILL NOT SUBMIT CONTENT THAT (I) IS DEFAMATORY, LIBELOUS, MISLEADING, OFFENSIVE, INDECENT OR OBJECTIONABLE, OR (II) OTHERWISE INFRINGES UPON ANOTHER’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR OTHER PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY RIGHTS UNDER THE LAWS PERTAINING TO COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK, PATENT, TRADE SECRET, PRIVACY AND/OR PUBLICITY.

You retain all ownership rights in and to your User-Generated Content. However, by making User-Generated Content, you grant SJN a non-exclusive, universe-wide, perpetual, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferrable license to use, distribute, reproduce, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform all User-Generated Content in any media formats and through any media channels now existing or hereafter created without compensation to you for purposes of delivering the services and features of SJN Sites and promoting the same. This includes the right, at SJN’s option, to include User-Generated Content in a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International Public License. You also hereby grant each user of SJN Sites a non-exclusive license to access your User-Generated Content through SJN Sites, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display, and perform such User-Generated Content as permitted through the functionality of SJN Sites and under these Terms of Use. SJN will not use your User-Generated Content for any commercial purposes without obtaining your prior approval.

When using the SJN Sites, you will be exposed to User-Generated Content from a variety of sources. SJN is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User-Generated Content.

SJN does not endorse any User-Generated Content or any comments or other content contained therein or associated therewith, and SJN expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with User-Generated Content.

SJN reserves the right to remove User-Generated Content without prior notice. SJN will take such steps as are required by law or otherwise reasonable and necessary to resolve any complaint from a third party alleging that such party’s intellectual property rights have been infringed by User-Generated Content or other Content. See our Copyright Policy.

SJN may ask you to sign a brief certification to confirm the original and non-infringing nature of your User-Generated Content.

If you have any questions as to the permissible uses of any materials on SJN Sites, please contact us.

Links

SJN Sites provide links to other websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that SJN is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for the privacy practices or the content (including misrepresentative or defamatory content) of such websites, including (without limitation) any advertising, products or other materials or services on or available from such websites or resources, nor for any damage, loss or offense caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, the use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on such external sites or resources.

You are permitted to link to SJN Sites as long as you adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. We do not allow our links to appear on websites that promote any form of bigotry or pornography or any site encouraging or engaged in illegal activities.
  2. SJN is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization. No statement should be made that implies or suggests that SJN is a partner of your organization without the written approval of SJN.
  3. You cannot link to SJN Sites if your website harms or diminishes the mission of SJN.
  4. While there is no obligation to do so, we appreciate you informing SJN that you are adding our link to your site by contacting us with your web address.

No warranties and limitation on liability

THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON SJN SITES IS PROVIDED AS A SERVICE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF SJN SITES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW. SJN SITES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS-IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR ANY WARRANTY IMPLIED THROUGH COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR DEALING, OR USAGE OF TRADE.

SJN does not warrant or represent and expressly disclaims any warranties or representations (a) that the Content, including the User-Generated Content, is accurate, complete, free from viruses or free from infringement, (b) that SJN Sites will operate correctly or without interruption, error or defect, or (c) that your use of SJN Sites will not infringe on the rights of third parties.

You further understand and agree that neither SJN nor its affiliates, nor its members, officers, directors, employees or agents will be liable to you or any third party for any liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses of any kind and under any theory of law, equity, contract, tort or otherwise which you or such third party may incur as a result of your use of SJN Sites, including, without limitation, your violation of a third party intellectual property right based on your use of SJN Sites. Without limiting the foregoing, you understand and agree that neither SJN nor its affiliates nor its members, officers, directors, employees or agents are responsible for any damage, loss, or injury resulting from hacking, tampering, or other unauthorized access or use of SJN Sites.

Some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some or all of the above exclusion may not apply to you.

Indemnification

You hereby agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless SJN and its affiliates and their respective members, officers, directors, employees and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) due to or arising out of your use of SJN Sites in violation of any of these Terms of Use.

Disputes

You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of New York located in the County of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for resolution of any dispute, action or proceeding arising in connection with these Terms of Use or your use of SJN Sites. Any cause of action between SJN and the user must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues; otherwise the cause of action is permanently barred.

Miscellaneous provisions

These Terms of Use, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between SJN and its users. If any portion of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining terms and conditions, which shall remain in full force and effect. In the event that SJN fails to enforce any of these terms and conditions, such failure does not constitute a waiver. Moreover, any explicit waiver made by SJN as to any term or condition does not constitute a waiver of any other term or condition. These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

If you have any questions concerning our Terms of Use, please contact us.

 

Effective: September 8, 2014. 
Last updated: October 10, 2023.