Writer Terms of Service
Updated June 16, 2011
THIS WEBSITE WITH ALL ITS APPLICATIONS IS AN ONLINE SERVICE PLATFORM OWNED AND OPERATED BY IMarketing 2030, LLC under the name The Content Authority (‘Site’).
The current owner of this Site is: IMarketing 2030, LLC P.O. Box 2031 Cranberry Township, PA 16066
PLEASE READ THESE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICES (“Terms Of Services”) CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS Site OR ANY SERVICES OFFERED BY THIS SITE.
By using this Site or goods and services offered by this Site, or printing, downloading, or otherwise using any service from this Site, or registering or becoming a member of this Site, you signify your assent to and agree with these Terms Of Services. If you do not agree to all of these Terms Of Services, please do not use or register with this Site.
I. Nature of this Site 1. This Site offers a platform for authors to publish their text or articles through this Site in other media or on other websites for payment. Accepted texts or articles will be published by a customer (licensee) on other websites or in other media depending on the nature and quality of the article.
2. The author is an independent contractor hired by us and compensated by us for his/her services rendered.
3. Our customer (licensee) has certain approval or rejection rights against the original author of the text or article.
II. Updates and Revisions of our Terms Of Services This Site may revise and update its Terms Of Services at any time without notice by posting such revised or updated Terms Of Services on or at this Site. Any changes to these Terms Of Services will become effective upon posting such revisions or updates.
You are required to periodically check our Terms Of Services for any changes, if you continuously use this Site.
Your continued usage of this Site or any of its goods and services will mean that you accept those changes.
III. Access to this Site; Registration 1. To access this Site or some of the content it offers or provides, you need to first register with this Site and provide us with certain registration data (name, address, email address, etc.) or other information. Such a registration is necessary if you as an author want to publish texts or articles through this Site.
2. The registration data or other information you provide us with MUST be accurate, current, and complete. If this turns out not to be the case, this Site has the unconditional right to refuse you further access to this Site or any of its content or services, and to terminate or suspend your access to or membership with this Site at any time.
3. You have in no way a right to be registered with this Site. It is left to our sole discretion, if we want to accept the application by an author or any other applicant to be registered with this Site.
IV. Submitting Texts and Articles 1. As a registered author you are hired to submit texts or articles to us by typing or pasting them into a text box on your account.
2. Each text or article you submit to us must not infringe upon rights of third persons, in particular copyrights, moral rights, trademarks and service marks, etc.
3. In case of violation, we will have the right to close your account, terminate your membership, and deny you further access to our Site.
V. Rights concerning Texts and Articles 1. The author’s work is made for hire to the exclusive benefit of the owner of this Site. The author is then compensated by us for his or her services rendered. Out of these services this Site shall have the sole and exclusive right to publish, perform, display, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works and license the author’s submitted and accepted texts and/or articles in any type of media, including, but not limited to, print and/or online media, in whole or in part, via all electronic, online, or any other media, now known and hereafter developed, throughout the world, and to license others, in particular customers of this Site, to do the same. The owner of this Site shall have the exclusive right to register copyright of said texts and articles in the name of the owner of this Site or any licensee of the owner of this Site upon first publication.
2. The right to create derivative works includes, without limitation, changes to the author’s texts and/or articles in any way or form. You agree that our licensees or we are allowed to create said derivative works and publish, perform, display, reproduce, distribute, and sell them without restriction.
3. The author waives any moral or personal right to be named as the author of his/her texts or articles.
4. It is left to our sole discretion or quality standards if we want to accept a submitted text. The author has no guarantee that his/her texts or articles will be accepted.
VI. Keywords & Style 1. Writers will be given an order(s) with specific keywords to be used as the subject of the articles.
2. The first sentence of the first and last paragraphs of the article must include the exact main keyword phrase, unless otherwise noted in the said instructions.
3. Orders may also contain related keywords, which need to appear in the article, only where it makes grammatical and contextual sense.
4. Each article should be informative, factual, well researched, and interesting to read.
5. Please refrain from ‘filler content’ that adds no value.
6. Please refrain from the use of the first person when writing.
7. Unless otherwise indicated, each article should be geared toward a 9th-11th grade reading audience.
8. No ‘Spun’ content whether manual or via electronic means is allowed to be submitted.
VII. Quality 1. Make sure to include proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, and paragraph breaks.
2. All articles will be reviewed for spelling, grammatical errors, and plagiarism.
3. Articles that contain spelling or grammatical errors or show plagiarism may be rejected or returned to the writer for revision or reassigned to another writer.
4. If your article is returned to your for poor quality or plagiarism, you will receive a warning. A second rejected article will result in the loss of a tier level and a third rejection will result in your removal as a writer from this Site. Please note that multiple infractions on the same day can result in a quick dismissal.
VIII. Administration and Acceptance 1. After accepting, an article to write you have 8 hours to complete the article or it will be reassigned. If your article is rejected for any reason after you submit it, you will have 24hrs to correct the article or it will be reassigned and you will not be paid for it.
2. Customers have 3 days after the receipt of the article(s) to request revision. If revision is requested the articles will be returned to the writer for correction.
3. If the customer does not request revision within the 3-day period, the articles are considered “approved” by the customer.
4. Prior to making payment for articles, the Site and the customer must approve the articles. Writers will not receive payment for articles that are not approved.
IX. Delivery of the ordered text or article: Approval / Rejection by the customer 1. A customer may approve of or reject the actually delivered text or article. The customer may under certain criteria also ask for improvements of the delivered text or article.
2. A rejection by the customer is only possible, if the delivered text or article does not match with the criteria of the order. The rejection has to be specified in detail by the customer, so that the author can improve the text or article accordingly. This Site will check the customer’s rejection request. This Site will accept a rejection only if (1) the rejection can be based on the terms of the original order or on circumstances which must have been known to the author, (2) the customer specifically describes why these terms or circumstances have not been met, and (3) the customer had given the author the opportunity to correct or improve the text or article. In case the rejection request is unjustified, we will charge the customer’s account as if the text or article was approved by the customer. This Site has the final word on whether the customer’s rejection was (un)justified.
3. Instead of rejecting a delivered text or article, the customer may ask for improvements of the delivered text or article. In this case, the customer has the obligation to specify in detail where exactly he/she sees a need for improvements, so that the author has the chance to improve the text or article accordingly. The customer has a right to ask for improvements only if (1) the request for improvements can be based on the terms of the original order or on circumstances, which must have been known to the author, (2) the customer specifically describes why these terms or circumstances have not been met. This Site will give the author a specific amount of time to improve the text or article accordingly, in case the request for improvements is justified. In case the customer’s request for improvements i unjustified, we will charge the customer’s account as if the text or article was approved by the customer. This Site has the final word on whether the customer’s request was (un)justified.
4. The customer has 3 days hours to reject a delivered text or article or ask for improvements. If the customer does not reject the delivered text or article or asks for improvements within the 3-day period, this Site will irrevocably deem the text or article approved by the customer and charges the customer’s account accordingly.
5. All payments will be processed through PayPal.
X. Employment/ Federal Filing Information 1. For tax purposes, the company considers your services as an independent contractor and if necessary, you should consult a tax accountant regarding any tax payments at your local, state, and federal levels.
2. For audit and tax purposes, an I-9 needs to be filled out by applicants. A 1099 will be supplied to all ‘qualified authors’ that receive greater than $600 within the calendar year.
a. A ‘Qualified Author’ is one to whom it is legally required to supply a 1099. Not all Authors will receive 1099s.
3. Due to the potential fluctuations of this industry, the company does not promise a minimum amount of weekly paid work.
XI. Payment Structure: 1. The better quality work that you produce the higher potential pay you will receive. As you submit consistent quality work, you will then gain access to work orders that requires higher quality content. The majority of the content requested from buyers’ falls within the top two tiers, but that should not dissuade you from trying to gain a higher rating.
2. You will be paid on what quality is requested NOT what tier level you are. Therefore, if you are a tier 2 writer and receive tier 1 work, you will be paid at the tier 1 rate. This is important when calculating how much you hope to earn each day/ week as a writer with us. With that said if you are a tier 2 and you get a request for a tier 2 you will be paid the tier 2 rates.
XII. No luring away of clients The author has no right to directly contact clients unless authorized through this Site. Legal rights will be enforced against the author accordingly.
XIII. No unauthorized copying of content of this Site By using this Site you agree to prevent any unauthorized copying of this Site, or any of the content contained therein. You represent and warrant that you will not illegally download, copy, or redistribute any of the content appearing on this Site. You will be obligated to immediately destroy any information or content you have illegally downloaded, printed or otherwise copied from this Site.
XIV. Notice Any notice required to be given under these Terms Of Services may be provided by e-mail to a functioning e-mail address of the party to be noticed, by a general posting on this Site, or personal delivery by commercial carrier such as FedEx, DHL, or Airborne. Notices by you to us shall be given by e-mail or other electronic messages unless otherwise specified in these Terms Of Services. Any correctly addressed notice to you that is refused, unclaimed, or undeliverable, because of an act or omission of you shall be deemed effective as of the first date that said notice was refused or deemed undeliverable by the postal authorities, messenger, fax machine, e-mail server, or overnight delivery service.
XV. Copyright and Trademark Protection 1. Copyright Protection All works and content included, contained or offered on this Site, in particular all literary works, pictorial and graphical works, photographs, images, video and audio clips, audiovisual works, music, button icons and other icons, streaming files and other data, animation or graphics, or any form of software files in object code or source code format are the property of the owners of this Site or their content suppliers and are protected by national and international copyright laws. The aforementioned copyright protection also refers to compilations or all forms of alteration of all content on this Site. We will report and prosecute offenders of our copyrights to the fullest extend of applicable law.
2. Trademark Protection All logos and other trademarks and service marks which you may find on this Site may be trademark protected by national and international trademark and service mark laws. These trademarks and service marks may not be used publicly except with express written permission from the owner of these trademarks and service marks. You are not allowed to do anything which may cause confusion among consumers with respect to the aforementioned trademarks and service marks.
XVI. Disclaimer of Warranty THE SERVICE OF THIS Site AND ALL MATERIALS CONTAINED THEREIN ARE PROVIDED ON AN ‘AS IS, AS AVAILABLE’ BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS, TITLE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OTHER THAN THOSE WHICH ARE IMPLIED BY AND INCAPABLE OF EXCLUSION, RESTRICTION OR MODIFICATION UNDER APPLICABLE LAW IN YOUR JURISDICTION. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THIS Site OR ANY OF THE MATERIALS CONTAINED THEREIN IS AT YOUR DISCRETION AND AT YOUR OWN AND SOLE RISK. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY THIS Site OR THE EMPLOYEES OR AFFILIATES OF THIS Site SHALL CREATE OR IMPLY A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF LIABILITY OF THE OWNERS OF THIS Site. THIS Site MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER ABOUT ANY OTHER WEBSITE WHICH YOU MAY ACCESS THROUGH THIS Site. WHEN YOU ACCESS THROUGH THIS Site ANOTHER WEBSITE, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IT IS COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT; THIS Site HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE CONTENT ON THAT OTHER WEBSITE. THIS Site IS NOT RESPONSIBLE TO YOU FOR ANY TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS OF DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE USED CONTENT OF THIS Site OR ANY FORM OF WEBSITE DOWNTIME. THIS Site DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THIS Site WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN OR ON THIS Site WILL BE CORRECTED.
XVII. Limitation of Liability 1. IN NO EVENT WILL THIS Site OR ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AFFILIATES, AND THE ASSIGNS OF SAME BE LIABLE TO YOU, OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY FOR
– ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL, DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS OR GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS Site, THE MATERIALS OR ANY INFORMATION, OR TRANSACTIONS PROVIDED OR OFFERED ON THIS Site OR DOWNLOADED FROM THIS Site, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS ASSERTED ON THE BASIS OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THIS Site OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR – ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN OR ON THIS Site, THE MATERIALS AND/OR LISTINGS OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED, PROVIDED, OR OFFERED THROUGH THIS Site. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR COUNTRIES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THIS Site’s LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
2. THIS Site IS ONLY A PLATFORM. EACH AUTHOR REGISTERED ON OR WITH THIS Site IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS/HER OWN PROFILE AND CONTENT. ALSO, EACH AUTHOR IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALITY, ACCURACY AND LEGALITY OF HIS/HER TEXTS OR ARTICLES. WE EXPLICITLY WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT BOTH THE AUTHOR AND THE CUSTOMER SHALL ALWAYS BE AWARE OF AND ABIDE BY THE FTC-RULES, IN PARTICULAR, WITHOUT LIMITATION, “THE GUIDES CONCERNING THE USE OF ENDORSEMENTS AND TESTIMONIALS IN ADVERTISING” (FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 255) WHICH, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEBSITE OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (see www.ftc.gov).
3. THIS Site OR ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AFFILIATES, AND THE ASSIGNS OF SAME ARE IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF THE AUTHOR’S TEXTS OR ARTICLES SENT THROUGH THIS Site. THIS Site IS IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCE(S) IF ANY OF THE AUTHOR’S TEXTS OR ARTICLES ARE REJECTED OR DENIED ACCORDING TO THIS Site’s STANDARDS OR DISCRETIONS OR IF THE AUTHOR’S TEXTS OR ARTICLES ARE NOT PUBLISHED LATER.
4. THIS Site OR ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AFFILIATES, AND THE ASSIGNS OF SAME ARE IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIRD PARTY SERVICES OFFERED ON OR USED BY THIS Site. THE RESPECTIVE THIRD PARTY, FOR EXAMPLE, PAYMENT SYSTEMS, ETC. IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS OWN SERVICES. WE DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT ANY OF ITS SERVICES IN ANY WAY OR FORM.
XVIII. Indemnity You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless this Site, its officers, directors, employees, independent contractors, telecommunication providers, and agents, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, and other costs, including, without limitation, reasonable legal, attorneys’ and accounting fees, reasonably incurred in the defense of any claim or suit arising out of or otherwise related to these Terms Of Services, including, without limitation, any breach by you of these Terms Of Services. This Site will promptly notify you by e-mail of any such claim or suit, and cooperate fully, at your expense, in the defense of such claim or suit. This Site may participate in the defense of such claim or defense at its own expense, and choose its own attorney or other legal counsel, but is not forced or obligated to do so.
XIX. No Agency Relationship Nothing in these Terms Of Services shall be deemed to constitute, create, imply, give effect to, or otherwise recognize a partnership, employment, joint venture or formal business entity of any kind between the author and the owner of this Site. The rights and obligations of the parties shall be limited to those expressly set forth herein.
XX. Termination of Membership Without limiting other remedies, this Site may issue a warning or terminate your access to this Site at any time, with or without advance notice or permission, if – We believe that you have breached any material term of these Terms Of Services; – We are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; – We decide to stop operating this Site entirely or parts thereof. You agree and acknowledge that neither this Site nor any third party acting on our behalf shall be responsible or liable to you for any termination of your membership or access to this Site. After termination by us, re-registration of you as a user of or on this Site is strictly forbidden. This Site and its affiliates disclaim any and all liability or responsibility arising from fraudulent entry and use of this Site. In case of fraud, we will take all necessary and appropriate actions under applicable federal, state, and international laws.
XXI. Rights to Injunctive Relief This Site and you acknowledge and agree that remedies at law may be inadequate to provide an aggrieved party with full compensation in the event of the other party’s breach of these Terms Of Services, and that an aggrieved party shall therefore be entitled to seek injunctive relief in the event of any such breach, in addition to seeking all other remedies available at law or in equity.
XXII. Attorney’s Fees In the event any party (you or this Site) shall commence any claims, actions, formal legal action, or arbitration to interpret and/or enforce these Terms Of Services or issues relating thereto, including without limitation claimed breaches of representations and warranties, the prevailing party in any such action or proceeding shall be entitled to recover, in addition to all other available damages or other relief, its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in connection therewith, including attorney’s fees incurred on appeal.
XXIII. Severability If any provision of these Terms Of Services shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, or any portion thereof, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable to the maximum extent permissible and the remainder of these Terms Of Services will continue in full force and effect.
XXIV. No Waiver Failure by either party to enforce any provision of these Terms Of Services will not be deemed a waiver of future enforcement of that or any other provision. No waiver of one breach shall constitute a waiver of subsequent breaches of the same or of a different nature.
XXV. No Assignment Neither these Terms Of Services nor any rights or membership granted to you hereunder may be sold, leased, assigned or otherwise transferred, in whole or in part by you.
XXVI. Entire Agreement These Terms Of Services constitute the entire agreement between this Site and you with respect to your access and use of this Site and the content contained therein, and your membership with this Site, and supersedes and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter. You acknowledge, represent and warrant that you have read these Terms Of Services and agree to be bound by them as part of and in consideration of using this Site and, if you have become a member of this Site, of your membership.
XXVII. Consumer Rights Information – California Residents Only This Section applies only to California residents. In compliance with Section 1789 of the California Civil Code, please note the following:
Name of Service Provider: The Content Authority P.O. Box 2031 Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Contact Information: support@thecontentauthority.com
XXIII. Complaints – California Residents The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1020 N. Street, #501, Sacramento, CA 95814,or by telephone at 1-916-445-1254
Users who wish to gain access to the authors-only section of this Site, must be a member in good standing. This Site reserves the right to change the payment-rates at any time. Users may contact this Site at: support@thecontentauthority in order to resolve any billing disputes or to receive further information about this Site.