Terms and Conditions - ShipSpotting.com - Ship Photos and Ship Tracker

Terms and Conditions

Terms of Service
The following agreement (this Agreement or the Terms of Service) describes the terms on which Shipspotting.com offers you access to its services (The Website).

This offer is conditioned on your agreement to all of the terms and conditions contained in the Terms of Service, including your compliance with the policies and terms referred to in this Agreement. By using the Website, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to this, you should decline this agreement, in which case you are prohibited from accessing or using the Website. Shipspotting may amend this Agreement at any time in its sole discretion, effective upon posting the amended Agreement at the domain or subdomains of http://www.shipspotting.com where the prior version of this Agreement was posted, or by communicating these changes through any written contact method we have established with you.

Defintition of Service
Shipspotting.com is an online community for ship photos and related topics. The webpage contains more than 500 000 pictures of vessels and is the worlds largest in its kind.

The photo section of Shipspotting provides an online gallery for ship photographers. The overall mission is to create a setting where ship photographers can gain maximum exposure for their work and to provide for a meeting place for ship enthusiasts from all over the world.

Uploading Photos
To ensure Shipspotting will be the foremost ship photo community for our members and visitors to enjoy, following rules for uploading pictures apply. By posting photos at Shipspotting you also agree to the terms and conditions posted in our Copyright Policy.

Resolution (image size) must be between 1024 x 768 pixels and 4000 x 4000 pixels.

File size maximum is 4000 KB

Photos must be sharp and correctly exposed.

No silhouettes will be accepted

Full ships only. Foreground obstructions must not restrict the view of the ship. For side views, bows or sterns must not be cropped off. Bow and stern shots may be acceptable if they show the vessel from the waterline to the top of the superstructure.

The ship must be the main subject. Distant views and shots where the ship is a small part of the image may be considered for deletion. Members should understand the limitations of their camera.

If posting multiple photos, the angle must change by a minimum of 30 degrees between photos.

The horizon must be level. If not, use free Picasa (see FAQ) or other photo manipulation software.

The date and location for the photo must be included in the description.

When uploading, members must comply with copyright law. Post only photographs for which you have copyright ownership. Other people's slides or negatives can only be used if their name and permission is stated in the description. No scans of ship photographs from publications are allowed.
Any member posting photos or images in breech of copyright will have their membership cancelled.

We reserve the right to remove unsuitable material without notice.

Copyright Policy
Shipspotting.com respects the copyrights and other intellectual property rights of others and requests that the people who use its services do the same. Although every effort has been made to ensure that material submitted to Website are photographed and copyright protected by the person uploading the material, Shipspotting.com and any affiliate will assume no responsibility that the information is correct.

Any material protected by copyright may not be placed on the Site without the express permission of the author or owner of the copyright on that material. If Shipspotting becomes aware of the presence of copyright infringing material on its server either in the course of its ordinary and reasonable business activities, or through notification by a third-party who alerts Shipspotting, through an appropriate notice as required under Copyright Law, of the specific location of the alleged presence of such materials, Shipspotting will:

a. Promptly take down or block access to the allegedly infringing material; and
b. Contact the Member responsible for the gallery and alert him or her of the allegations of copyright infringement and of Shipspotting's removal or blocking of the allegedly infringing material.

If Member believes that the removal or blocking of his or her material was a result of a mistake or a misidentification of the material, Member shall provide Shipspotting a counter notification establishing the Member's rights to display the material in question, as well as any other information Shipspotting shall request. Upon receipt, Shipspotting will promptly forward the counter-notification to the party that claims to be the copyright owner. If that party then does not file suit to enjoin the alleged infringement, Shipspotting will re-post or unblock the material within 10-30 business days.

To promote contributing photographers and increase traffic to the Website, Shipspotting reserves the right to make available links to submitted photos for other websites or applications (hereafter 3:rd Party) to incorporate as part of their service. Linking to material on the Internet is common and not an issue in itself, but to be clear on how pictures submitted to Shipspotting.com might be used, this paragraph was created.

Following conditions apply:

Third Party will be able to display a picture from Shipspotting at their website or application

The picture will NOT be available in full size with 3rd Party but only as thumbnail. The size of the thumbnail might however differ from size at www.shipspotting.com.

Third Party has the right do display the thumbnail only.

The user will be redirected to www.shipspotting.com for the full picture

Under all circumstances photographers name and copyright shall be presented directly in relation to the thumbnail and a link to Shipspotting will be present.

Third Party has no right to re-distribute, resell or in any other way transfer or display content delivered through the Service to any other party.

Shipspotting reserves the right to charge 3:rd Party a fee for this service if applicable.

Membership
Shipspotting.com offers a free Membership that is available to both visitors and photographers who publish material. Users can only be accepted as members if they register all required information and provide an accurate, legitimate and working electronic mail address. In addition to free membership, Shipspotting might or might not introduce so called Premium Services that will be subject to a cost for any user intending to use these specific features or services.

By registering as a Member of Shipspotting and publish your pictures here, you also agree to our Copyright Policy.

Membership is intended for personal use only and is non-transferable. Membership is strictly individual. Members must be at least 13 years old to join.

By registering as a Member of Shipspotting, you agree to use the Website in a manner consistent with all applicable laws and regulations and in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined below.

Shipspotting is a website for publishing pictures of ships and discussions related to this subject. All members and visitors shall acknowledge this fact and see to it that any submission made to the Website adheres to this.

Although obvious, all users of the Service shall be aware of this non-exclusive list of actions and content that are not permitted on the Site:

Any use of copyrighted material without the explicit permission of the owner. Any material that encroaches the rights of others, including clear expressions of bigotry, racism, or hatred.

Any material that is perceived by Shipspotting or members of the Shipspotting Community, as abusive, deceptive, profane, slanderous, offensive, or inappropriate, including explicit pornography.

Any use of material that contains viruses, corrupt files or other content which may compromise the Shipspotting or any user thereof.

Any material that violates any laws or regulations of any governing body with jurisdiction over Shipspotting, its affiliates and users.

Any materials inconsistent with the values of the spirit of the Shipspotting community.

Adding links to your gallery that that promotes any of the above.

Limitations of Liability and Warranty
The Member agrees that the use of the Site is entirely at the Member's own risk. The Site is provided on an as is basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. Furthermore, neither Shipspotting nor any third-party content provider makes any warranty with respect to any content, information, services, or products provided through or in conjunction with the Site.

The Member specifically agrees that Shipspotting or third-party content providers are not liable for any conduct by Members associated with the Site, including, but not limited to, Member galleries, Member Profiles, surveys, or message boards.
Shipspotting and third-party content providers make no guarantee of the accuracy, correctness, or completeness of any information on the Site and are not responsible for:
1. any errors or omissions arising from the use of such information;
2. any failures, delays, or interruptions in the delivery of any content or services contained within the Site, or
3 losses or damages arising from the use of the content or services provided by the Site.

Indemnity
A Member agrees to indemnify Shipspotting and any third-party information provider against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys fees, arising from the Members use of the Site.

This expressly includes:
1. Members responsibility for any and all liability arising from the violation or infringement of proprietary rights or copyrights and
2. any libelous or unlawful material contained within Member galleries, profiles, or Postings.

Termination of Service
Shipspotting may terminate Membership and any and all information, communications, pictures and other material at any time, without notice, for conduct that violates this Agreement or other policies or guidelines set out by Shipspotting elsewhere on the Site. Shipspotting may terminate Membership and delete any and all bios, information, communications, Postings, picturs, stories or galleries for online conduct that Shipspotting believes is harmful to other Members or other third-party information providers. Under no circumstances will Shipspotting accept any claim from member whos membership has been withdrawn under above stated circumstances. This is also valid for any monetary fee the member has paied for that membership (so called premium memberships)

Rules for Online Conduct:
The Shipspotting comment boards and Message Boards.
By participating in any of the above services, the Member agrees not to include any electronic mail or postings (Postings) that contain any of the following material in Shipspotting comment boards or Message Boards:

Material that defames, abuses or threatens others.

Statements that are bigoted, hateful or racially offensive.

Material that advocates illegal activity.

Material that contains obscene content.

Advertising or any form of commercial solicitation.

Shipspotting reserves the right to edit, delete, or move any Postings.

Password Security
The exchange between Shipspotting and the Member of information such as passwords or electronic mail may not be secure given the current state of the Internet. Shipspotting encourages Members to change their passwords frequently.

E-mails and newsletters
By registering you also accept newsletters from Shipspotting.com. These are meant to be an interesting and informative way of keeping up with the latest news from Shipspotting.com and our members. They might contain 3:rd party promotions and advertising. We do not rent or sell our e-mail addresses. Any third party wishing access to our e-mail database will be denied.

How we protect your privacy
We use security measures to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of data used by our system. We will never add your e-mail address to any other mailing lists.
Your subscription to Shipspotting Newsletter will not result in unsolicited e-mail.

Sharing and Usage
We will never share, sell, or rent individual personal information with anyone without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to us is only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information and to contracted service providers for purposes of providing services relating to our communications with you.

How can you stop receiving email from us?
Each email sent contains an easy, automated way for you to cease receiving email from us, or to change your address.