PVP.COM
TERMS OF SERVICE

What are Terms of Service?  House Rules, that’s what.

‍It’s our handshake agreement about (well, maybe a gloved hand these days) that explains how we will treat each other.   These Terms of Service (“Terms of Service,” “Terms,” or “ToS;” sometimes we get lazy) govern the relationship between you and PvP International, Inc. (together with its parents, subsidiaries, representatives, affiliates, officers, and directors, “PvP” or “we” or “us”) regarding your access to and use of PvP’s website(s), app, links, games, the whole online shebang, and any related services (collectively the “Services” because our lawyers will not let us call them “Shebang”).The lawyers want you to know: this ToS is a legally binding agreement. By accessing the Services (including downloading any software to your mobile device), you agree to be bound by these Terms.  Seriously.

When you use or access our Services in any capacity and from any device, we need to know you belong here.  First, by hanging out with us online, you represent that you are at least 13 years old in the United States and 16 years old outside the US, and that you understand and agree to these Terms. If you are under the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction of residence), you have to ask a parent (or guardian) who agrees to your use of the Services and that you and they are bound by these Terms.  By the way, if you get to us by way of another site or platform, you might need to comply with additional policies (we don’t control that, so make sure you check it out.  If you access our Services through a third-party platform or site, you may be required to comply with their policies in addition to these Terms. We are Lord and Master here, but not there.

The Services we offer mean you’re going to be giving us information about yourself, so please also check out our privacy policy, which is located at www.pvp.com/privacy.  You have to agree to that, too.  You might even have to agree with some other stuff from time to time (like tournament rules or sweepstakes rules), but for now, make sure you’ve read through this.  We’re like sharks:  we like to keep moving forward.  That means, we might update these Terms from time to time.  When we do, we’ll post the updates and amendments on our website.  Each time you use our Services, things could change, so, you know, check back.  And if you’re not down with our changes, and don’t agree with them, then, while we hate to see you go, you gotta go.  Basically, if you don’t agree with us, your permission to use our Services is revoked!

We don’t like do overs.  Just be cool the first time.  

‍Look, the world is all “me me me,” and we’re not down with that.  Our Services are about “us us us,” together, kicking it, and having a good time.  We don't need toxic here.  If you're that angry gamer who hasn't showered in weeks, keeps yelling at your mom for a meatloaf sandwich with hot cheesy poofs, and think it's your right to be a jerk, then that doesn't fly here.  We don't tolerate that attitude on this platform.  Don’t use our site to be toxic, steal stuff, harass people, spew hatred, or whatever your personal agenda is.  This is not the site for that.    And there are certain things we don’t allow:  If you are under 18 (or the age of majority) and you don’t have permission from your parents (I know, we said it earlier, but seriously, you need to ask), please do not create an account. Please don’t create accounts for other people. Please don’t create an account using false information.  If you have been previously banned from our Services, do not register under a new name or account. Please don’t give away or sell your account.  No creating raffles or giveaways.  No unsolicited offers, advertising, or proposals.  This includes sending chain mail, junk mail, stuffing, or sending repeated messages of any kind. Just chill; it’s not that hard.  Don’t do any inappropriate or hostile things that would interfere with the social environment we’re trying to create.  And just so you know, what makes this place cool is our call, not yours. Do not harass people.  It’s not cool.  And it’s up to us to determine whether you have.  Our sandbox, our rules.  Do not make any attempts to gain unauthorized access to, or circumvent, modify, disrupt or impair in any way our Services or try to mess with our software.  Do not do anything we reasonably deem to be unlawful, abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory, libelous, harassing, hateful, violent, racist, or otherwise messed up, by any means.  Don’t harvest collect email addresses or contact information of others.  Don’t use this platform or our Services to harm, threaten to harm, harass, incite violence or harassment toward anyone (including our employees).  Don’t indicate or imply we endorse you or sponsor you if we do not actually have a contractual relationship with you. No one likes a poser.  Don’t use our Services in any way that involves copyright infringement, trademark or patent infringement, or infringes the rights of others.  Just because you “right clicked” on it in the internet or copied some words, doesn’t mean it’s yours.  Don’t doxx people or attempt in any way to circumvent safeguards protecting information of yours or others.  Don’t offer, promote, advertise, make available, and/or distribute exploits, cheats, bots, software, hacks, mods or any unauthorized third party code or software that can be used to interfere with, alter or modify our Services, or can be used concurrent to or in connection with our Services.Don’t remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Services, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through the Services, features that enforce limitations on the use of the Services, or delete the copyright or other proprietary rights notices on the Services.  Don’t reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Services or any part thereof.

If you’re still with us, here’s how it works.  

When you access or use the Services, you create an account with us (“Account”). You can create a username different from your actual name, and you must also have a password in order to login to your Account.  Got it?

It’s up to you to keep things secure.

‍Once you create your account, it’s yours and you’re responsible for all uses of the Services and activity related to your Account, which means everything, including any transactions associated with that Account.  By creating the Account, in addition to agreeing to these Terms and our privacy policy (and if you’re accessing us though the app, our EULA), you’re agreeing that your account will contain accurate, complete, and up-to-date information.  Don’t share your password.  It’s your responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your account and the login information you created and it’s not OK to share it. We need to know if your account has been compromised, so if you think you’ve been hacked or someone has accessed your account, contact us immediately and let us know.  Also, if you learn or suspect that your Account has been compromised, please contact us immediately, and change your login data to stop it.  To be clear, your safety has to be your priority; we can’t and won’t be responsible to you for any losses or harm you may suffer as a result of an unauthorized person accessing your Account and/or using your Login information.

Disputes with other users.

‍We expect people to play fairly and work out their issues, if any.  We can’t take on your problems and won’t be responsible for them.  For legal purposes, if you do have a dispute with any other user, you hereby release us from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or related to such disputes. We reserve the right to reclaim and/or remove any usernames at our discretion at any time, for any reason. You may have only one Account at any time.

Don’t bring your muddy boots or foul mouth into our house.  We have the power to boot you. And we will.

In addition to all the remedies and actions we may take (and without limiting those), we can and may suspend, terminate, delete, limit, or modify your Account or your access to the Services (or parts of the Services) in the event it becomes necessary in our sole discretion and for any reason.  We might remove posted content, take legal and technical steps to prevent access to the Services by you or anyone, without warning or notice to you, if we believe or even suspect you are violating our Terms.

If we do suspend or terminate your access to our Services or to your Account, it could affect any groups you’ve joined or benefits you’ve accrued, or status you have within our Services.  Too bad; we’re not responsible.

It’s our house.  If we decide we don’t want guests, that’s our choice.
‍We reserve the right to stop offering and/or supporting some or all of the Services we provide.  Once we do, your permission to use our Service (or that portion we stop supporting) automatically terminates.  This means you could (and likely will) lose access to whatever content you might have added to that particular portion of the Service. We also reserve the right to terminate any Account that has been inactive for 180 days or more.

When you’re done, we’ll say goodbye.
‍It’s a two-way street.  Maybe you don’t like our vibe and our Services are not for you.  That’s cool. We’re not clingy.  You can close your Account for any reason any time you want.

Delete account
To close your account, you can let us know (see our privacy policy for greater details here, if you like).  You can send an email to privacy@pvp.com that contains your request.  Consistent with our privacy policy, we may ask you follow-up questions to confirm the closure of your account is coming from you.  Once you have closed your account, your content is gone and you will have no access to anything that was in your account.

PvP’s Services are Legally Ours.
‍The Services and all rights associated with providing the Services, are now and throughout the legal term of ownership, the property of PvP or its licensors. Nothing in our Terms or your actions grants you any rights to our Services or any of the software or processes associated with providing you those Services.  Except for the license we provide you for limited use, you have no rights to our Services or intellectual property.

By using our Services, you’re making clear to us and agreeing that you don’t now, nor will you ever have any ownership (or property interest) in any Account you create or actions (such as user content) you perform within the Services. In fact, you agree that any and all interest and rights in and to your or any Account are owned in perpetuity by PvP.

Stuff you post (user generated content).
‍Our Services are about connecting.  That means to get the most out of your experience, you may want to post content.  Depending upon the Services you access, we may permit you or other users to submit, upload, publish, transmit, or otherwise make available to us materials, data, information, communications, pictures, and sounds using the Services (we call this “User Generated Content” or “UGC”). You created your UGC, so it’s your property.  But hold up:  once you make UGC available within our services you are giving PvP permission, in the form of an irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sublicensable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to copy, reproduce, fix, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, manufacture, commercialize, publish, distribute, sell, license, sublicense, transfer, lease, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, provide access to electronically, broadcast, communicate to the public by telecommunication, display, perform, enter into computer memory, and use and practice, in any way, your User Content as well as all modified and derivative works thereof in connection with the Services, including marketing and promotion of the Services, without notice to or consent from you, and without compensation to you or any other person or entity.

We know that was a lot of legalese, but it’s important to our rights, and we need to hold on to our rights so we can keep providing you the Services.  
We’ll keep going:

You further hereby grant to PvP the unconditional, irrevocable right to use and exploit your name, likeness and any other information or material submitted or transmitted to PvP in connection with any UGC, without any obligation to you. Except as prohibited by law, you waive any rights of attribution and/or any moral rights you may have in your UGC, regardless of whether UGC is altered or changed in any manner.

Keep it clean.
‍Just like your Account, you’re responsible for what you post, no matter where it is without our Services.  Don’t violate legal standards or infringe upon the rights of others.  Make sure whatever you post is yours and doesn’t belong to someone else.  Also, if your UGC is violent, is hate-speech (in our absolute discretion!), is defamatory, libelous, obscene, tortious threatening, abusive, bigoted, racist, sexist, or otherwise problematic to us, we may take action against you, including closing your Account, if we are made aware of it.  User Content may be processed by us in accordance with our privacy policy.  If you have questions, please send them here: privacy@pvp.com

We don’t sell things of value.
While we may change this sometimes in the future, our site is virtual, and we may provide you with virtual items.  Virtual items are not real and have no real-world value.  That means you cannot use them other than in the Services, and you cannot sell or trade or transfer them.  You also are not entitled to them if we or you close your account.

Our Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis for your use, with no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and those arising from course of dealing or usage of trade. PvP does not warrant that you will be able to access or use our Service at the times or locations of your choosing; that our Services will be of a certain quality or suitability or will be uninterrupted or error-free; that defects will be corrected; or that our Services are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Limitation of Liability
‍Basically, you use these Services at your own risk. Don’t come at us if you’re mad about something.  If you don’t want to accept that risk, don’t use our Services.  Pretty simple.  Here’s the way our lawyers say it:

PvP will not be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, punitive or other similar damages, including but not limited to loss of revenues, lost profits, lost data or business interruption or other intangible losses (however such losses are qualified), arising out of or relating in any way to these Terms or our Services, whether based in contract, tort or any other legal theory whatsoever, and whether or not PvP has been advised of the possibility of such damages. PvP will not be liable to you for more than the amount you have paid to PvP in accordance with these Terms (which is nothing) in the six (6) months immediately preceding the date on which you first assert a claim. You acknowledge and agree that if you have not paid anything to PvP during such time period, your sole remedy (and PvP’s exclusive liability) for any dispute with PvP is to stop using the Services and to cancel your Account.

You also agree to indemnify, save, and hold harmless PvP, its affiliated companies, officers, directors, contractors, employees, agents, third-party suppliers, licensors, and partners from any and all claims, losses, damages, and liabilities, including legal fees and expenses, arising out of or relating to: (i) your use or misuse of our Services or goods or services obtained in connection therewith; (ii) any breach or violation of these Terms; (iii) our use of your User Generated Content; or (iv) any breach of the representations, warranties, and covenants made by you herein. We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify you of any such matter as we are made aware.  The provisions in this paragraph will, you agree, survive any termination of your Account or of our Services.

Limitations are, well, limited.
‍We’ll follow the law wherever the law is.  What that means, practically speaking is that while we’ve disclaimed certain liabilities, some jurisdictions do not agree with us, and a portion of the above may not apply to you. So, to that our lawyers say this:  to the extent that PvP may not disclaim any warranty or limit its liability as set forth herein, the scope of such warranty and the extent of PvP’s liability will be the minimum permitted under such applicable law. In particular, nothing in these Terms will affect the statutory rights of any consumer or exclude or restrict any liability for death or personal injury arising from any negligence or fraud of PvP. This provision shall have no effect on the choice of law provision set forth below.

If it gets real up in here (disputes).
We’d like to work it out.  And to that end, we prefer you reach out and talk.  If a dispute arises between you and us, the best way is to come to a resolution, and we prefer an amicable solution to a brawl. We have our own dispute resolution program that works in most cases, and we require that you exhaust our internal informal processes before initiating formal arbitration or other proceedings.  Send us a note at https://home.pvp.com/contact.  Sometimes in the heat of the moment, your communication may not come out the way you want it, or you may have forgotten an important element.  Be patient.  We may need to ask you follow-up questions or investigate further.  Most of the time, this does the trick.  Request for Escalation.  If we still haven’t satisfactorily addressed your concern, you can request it be escalated.

Arbitration Agreement
If your issue remains unresolved after you’ve exhausted our informal dispute resolution system above, you may seek to resolve it through binding arbitration as follows: If you are a resident of the US or Canada, you and PvP agree to resolve any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services on an individual basis through final and binding arbitration, provided you have exhausted the dispute resolution steps above and the dispute remains unresolved. This agreement will preclude you from bringing any class action against PvP. This agreement applies to all kinds of claims under any legal theory, except those described in the Exceptions to Agreement to Arbitrate subsection. It also applies even after you stop using your Account or have deleted it.

An arbitration proceeding proceeds before a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge and jury, so we both agree to give up our right to a trial before a judge or jury. Arbitration proceedings have different rules than lawsuits in court. Arbitration is less formal and provides limited opportunity to compel the other side to share information relevant to the dispute—a process called discovery. The arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual. But, if you or we do not like the arbitrator’s decision, the courts only have a limited ability to change the outcome of arbitration or make the arbitrator reconsider his or her decision. If we have a dispute about whether this agreement to arbitrate can be enforced or applies to our dispute, we all agree that the arbitrator will decide that too, rather than a court or other agency. Unless you and PvP otherwise agree in writing, any arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding.

Exceptions to Agreement to Arbitrate.

‍We all agree that we each still have the right to go to court to resolve disputes relating to your or our intellectual property, or to adjudicate claims that are not subject to arbitration.

We all agree that we can only bring claims against each other on an individual basis.  No class actions. That means neither of us can bring a claim as a plaintiff or member in a class or collective action; any decision of an arbitration can only affect the individual who is involved in the action.

The Arbitration Process, Rules, and Governing Law
The American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) will run the arbitration between you and PvP, in accordance with the AAA’s rules and procedures then in effect (including their Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes, if applicable) (“AAA Rules”), except as modified here. If something in these Terms is different than the AAA Rules, then we will follow these Terms instead. To review the AAA Rules or to start an arbitration proceeding, you can refer to AAA’s website (www.adr.org) or you can call AAA at 1-800-778-7879. If either of us decide to initiate arbitration, we agree to provide the other party with a written Demand for Arbitration as specified in the AAA Rules.  You get to select where you want to be:  in the county or province where you live, or where we “live” (California).  We can also both agree to a third location.  During arbitration, you agree that we can still work together outside of the process to try to more quickly resolve your or our concerns.  We are both entitled to have the arbitrator issue a written decision.  In some limited cases, you may be able to ask a court to change a decision.  Each of us can go to court to ask a judge to enter the arbitrator’s decision as a matter of law. We will agree that, if we have to resort to arbitration (let’s not, though), then the Federal Arbitration Act (including its procedural provisions) is the law that will be applied to determine whether the provisions here can be enforced and how they should be interpreted.

Covid-19 and other Force
Majeure It’s a crazy world out there.  Whether it’s a pandemic, downed Internet, mother nature, whatever, we will not be liable for any failure to offer the Services or otherwise perform that is caused by things outside our commercially reasonable control.  This includes without limitation, acts of God, pandemics, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fires, floods, accidents, strikes, or shortages of transportation facilities, fuel, energy, labor, or materials.

Additional legal issues.
Look, running a website where people get together is tough.  Fights break out, people do unsavory things, and so we know this is long, but all this has to be done, because somewhere back in time, someone ruined it for all of us.  So here goes more.  First, if a portion of these terms are inapplicable, that doesn’t make the entire thing inapplicable.  We all agree that if a portion of our Terms is found unlawful or unenforceable, that provision or provisions is ineffective, limited by the jurisdiction in which it is not allowed, and does not affect the validity or our ability to enforce the rest of the Terms.

Choice of Law
Except where prohibited, you agree that this Terms of Service is governed by the laws of the United States and construed and interpreted under the laws of the State of California applicable to contracts entered into and performed wholly in the State of California.

Assignment
PvP may assign or delegate these Terms, in whole or in part, to any person or entity at any time with or without your approval. It doesn’t work both ways, though:  you may not assign and/or delegate any of the rights or obligations you have under the Terms, without our say so.

Did someone take your stuff?
If you see your copyrighted material posted on our site, we have a procedure for addressing it (hint:  it’s the same one everyone else uses).  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides procedures for copyright owners who believe their US copyrights rights have been infringed. If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by us infringe your copyright (for example, some content posted by another user), you or your agent can send us a notice requesting that the material be removed or access to it blocked.

Section 512(c) of the Copyright Act and other laws) allows you to address your rights.  Please contact our DMCA Agent with a notice containing the following information: Reasonably sufficient details to enable us to identify the work claimed to be infringed (e.g., title, author, any registration or tracking number, URL) or, in the case of multiple works, a representative list of such works; Reasonably sufficient details to enable us to identify and locate the material claimed to be infringing (e.g., a link to the page that contains the material)Your name, address, telephone number, and, if available, email address; A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material identified above is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; A written statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is alleged to be infringed; and Your physical or electronic signature.

If you believe material that you have posted to the Services has been improperly taken down, you may file a written counter-notice with our DMCA Agent. Please include the following details: Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which it appeared before it was removed or disabled; A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; Your name, address, telephone number, and, if available, email address; A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is outside the US, for any judicial district in which PvP may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted a notice in compliance with Section (c)(1)(C) of the DMCA, as described above; and Your physical or electronic signature.  DMCA notices must meet current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA.

Please send DMCA notices to our DMCA Agent at the following address or by email (subject line “DMCA Communication”): DMCA Agent PvP International, Inc., 1240 Rosecrans Ave., Ste 120Manhattan Beach, CA 90266dmcaagent@pvp.com

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing, or that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake, may be subject to liability. Please also be advised that we enforce a policy of terminating the Accounts of repeat infringers (i.e., users who have made two or more postings for which we receive a notice of infringement). PvP’s DMCA Agent should be contacted only for the purposes set forth in this Section. NON-DMCA INQUIRIES DIRECTED TO PVP’S DMCA AGENT WILL NOT BE ANSWERED. MISUSE OF THE DMCA CAN SUBJECT YOU TO LIABILITY.

Entire Agreement
These Terms, including any additional policies and documents referenced in this agreement, are the entire agreement between you and PvP. They supersede all prior understandings between you and PvP, regardless of the medium (oral, written electronic) and practice (custom, policy, course of business, precedent) by which such understandings were communicated.

No Waiver
Any failure of PvP to enforce any right or provision in these Terms shall not constitute a waiver or relinquishment of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by us in writing. The express waiver by PvP of any provision, condition, or requirement of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition, or requirement.

Notices
We may give notice to you via, in-Service posts, push notifications, or through information you provided when you registered.  All official notices given by you or required from you under these Terms must be in writing and addressed to: PvP International, Inc. Attn: General Counsel 1240 Rosecrans Ave., Ste 120 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 compliance@pvp.com Notices provided without compliance with this subsection will have no legal effect.