Terms of Use

These Terms of Use govern your use of Encyclopædia Britannica® Online and, unless other terms and conditions expressly govern, any other electronic services provided by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ("Britannica") that may be available from time to time (collectively, the "Services").

General: Your use of the Services constitutes your agreement to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, please do not use the Services. Britannica reserves the right to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. Please check this page periodically for any modifications. Your use of any of the Services following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

Ownership: The content on the Services is the property of Britannica, its affiliated companies or licensors and is protected by international copyright, patent, and trademark laws.

Use of Content: You may display, print or download content on the Services only for your personal, non-commercial use, provided you do not remove or alter any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary notices or legends. You may not publish, distribute, retransmit, sell or provide access to the content on the Services, except as permitted under applicable law and as described in these Terms of Use.

You may not engage in systematic retrieval of content from the Services to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database, or directory without written permission from Britannica. Nor may you mirror on your own site the home page or results pages of the Services.

If you want to post, publish, or use content from (or contained within) the Services on your Web site or in any other Internet activity, you will need permission from Britannica, even though your Web site or Internet activity is free of charge. Requests should be directed to this syndication form.

Your Communications: You are responsible for your own communications and are responsible for the consequences of sending them through Britannica’s system. You must not do the following things: send material that is copyrighted, unless you are the copyright owner or have the permission of the copyright owner to post it; send material that reveals trade secrets, unless you own them or have the permission of the owner; send material that infringes on any other intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others; send material that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity; send a sexually-explicit image; send advertisements or solicitations of business; send chain letters or the like; or impersonate another person.

By sending information or materials through Britannica’s system, you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content and use of your information or materials by Britannica will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party. You automatically grant to Britannica, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display your communications alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology whether now known or hereafter developed, and to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses. Where Britannica so uses your communication, you assign to Britannica all copyright rights and other rights in and to such material as a work for hire.

You may not use Britannica’s system or other communication mechanisms for sale, trade or other commercial purposes. You may not send information or materials through this system that violates the rights of any third party or contains a virus or other harmful component. Nor may you use language or engage in any activity that is threatening, abusive, vulgar, discourteous or unlawful. Britannica reserves the right to remove or edit messages or material submitted by users and to remove communications that are abusive, illegal or disruptive.

Britannica will make a good faith effort to respond to communications submitted through its system, but Britannica has no liability or responsibility to users therefore. Britannica reserves the right to expel users and prevent their further access to its system for violating the law or these Terms of Use.

Linking to the Services: For details on how to link to the Services, click here. Please contact Britannica when you link to the Services, so that Britannica can better understand how its content is being accessed and so that you can be contacted when changes are made to the Services that could invalidate your links. Any linking to the Services will be at your own risk and expense.

By linking to the Services, you agree that you will not:

• imply that Britannica endorses your site, products or services or that you are affiliated with Britannica in any way.
• frame Britannica content, surround it with your own advertising or identity, or charge a fee for any link to the Services.
• link to the Services from any page containing libelous, obscene or criminal material, or material that infringes, violates, or advocates the infringement or violation of any third party rights.
• host, publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute any content on the Services except as permitted in these Terms of Use or as specifically permitted by Britannica.

Disclaimer of Warranties: THE SERVICES AND ALL INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER CONTENT INCLUDED IN OR ACCESSIBLE FROM THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE), ALL OF WHICH BRITANNICA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Limitation of Liability: IN NO EVENT SHALL BRITANNICA, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, OR CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF BRITANNICA WAS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN CONTRACT, TORT, UNDER STATUTE, IN EQUITY, AT LAW, OR OTHERWISE.

Indemnification: To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold Britannica, its directors, officers, shareholders, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of the use or unauthorized copying of the Services or any of their content, the violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable laws or regulations.

Governing Law: These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Illinois, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws.

Security: If you are a subscriber to any of the Services that are available by subscription (the "Subscription Services"), your right to use the Subscription Services is personal to you or members of your immediate family residing with you. If you are authorized by a subscriber (such as your employer, a school or library) to access and use any of the Subscription Services, your right to use the Subscription Services is not transferable. You are responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your credentials for access to the Subscription Services (e.g., your username and password) and for complying with any guidelines prescribed by Britannica from time to time to prevent unauthorized access to the Subscription Services. You agree to immediately notify Britannica of any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. Britannica reserves the right to perform one-way encryption of passwords for account maintenance purposes.

Additional Terms Applicable to Subscribers to the Subscription Services:

• Definitions As used in these additional terms, "you" or "yours" refers to each person who establishes a subscriber account ("Account") or who is authorized to access and use any of the Subscription Services.
• Account You are responsible for all use of your Account under any user ID (username) or password by any person and for ensuring that all use of your Account complies fully with the provisions of this Usage Agreement.
• Subscription Fees and Changes Subscription charges commence upon the date your Services subscription is activated and will be billed to your credit card each month (for monthly subscriptions) or year (for annual subscriptions) thereafter. You acknowledge and agree that you will not receive a bill in the mail for your subscription. Britannica reserves the right to increase subscription rates at any time. Changes to standard subscription rates will be posted at http://secure.britannica.com/subscribe. Increases in subscription rates will apply to existing accounts at the time of their renewal and will not exceed the standard subscription rate that has been in effect and posted for at least 30 days. Reductions in the standard subscription rate will not necessarily be reflected in your renewal subscription rate. Customers subscribing at specially discounted promotional rates may be subject to varying rate increases, none of which shall exceed the standard posted subscription rate.
• Termination of Subscription Either party shall have the right to terminate your subscription at any time by providing notice of termination to the other. In the event of termination of your subscription by either party, you shall have no claims against Britannica or its affiliates. Termination of your subscriptions automatically terminates your license to use the Subscription Services and any content or other material contained therein. If you acquired an annual subscription to the Subscription Services and you terminate your subscriptions within 30 days of the date of activation of your Account, you are eligible to receive a refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica; you must contact Britannica Customer Support to receive this refund. If you acquired a monthly subscription to the Subscription Services or if your subscription is acquired with a Promotion Certificate and you terminate your subscription, you will not receive any refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica. If your subscription to the Subscription Services was acquired with a Gift Certificate and you terminate your subscription within 30 days of the date your Gift Certificate was acquired from Britannica, you are eligible to receive either: (a) a refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica (available only to the party acquiring your Gift Certificate from Britannica); (b) a credit towards the price of acquiring other Britannica products or services; or (c) a credit towards the future subscription fee for an existing Subscription Services subscription. You must contact Britannica Customer Support to receive these remedies. If Britannica terminates your subscription, other than as a result of your breach of this Agreement, Britannica will refund to you a pro rata portion of the subscription fee paid to Britannica, if any, for the unexpired portion of your subscription.
  Subscription Changes, Renewals and Cancellations Subscription charges commence upon the date your Service subscription is activated and will be billed to your credit card each month (for monthly subscriptions) or year (for annual subscriptions) thereafter. You acknowledge and agree that you will not receive a bill in the mail for your subscription.
  If you acquired an annual subscription to the Subscription Services and you wish to change to another Subscription Service offering you may do so without penalty within 30 days of the activation of your Account. You must contact Customer Service to request this or other changes from one Subscription Service to another. If you acquired a monthly subscription to the Subscription Services and you wish to change to another Subscription Service offering, contact Customer Service. The change will be made effective when your current monthly term ends.
  Your subscription will be automatically renewed unless you cancel prior to the renewal date. You must cancel your subscription before it renews in order to avoid billing of subscription fees for the renewal term to your credit card. Instructions on how to cancel your subscription are available online in the Account Maintenance area at http://account.britannica.com. Cancellations should not be considered final until you have received a Cancellation Confirmation e-mail from Britannica. In the event that you cancel your subscription, the unexpired portion of your subscription will not be refunded, applied to another subscription, or transferred to anyone else and is not convertible to cash or other form of credit. Payments made as part of a monthly subscription cannot be used as credit toward annual
• subscription charges and are non-transferable.
  Britannica reserves the right to increase subscription rates at any time. Changes to standard subscription rates will be posted at http://secure.britannica.com/subscribe. Increases in subscription rates will apply to existing Accounts at the time of their renewal and will not exceed the standard subscription rate that has been in effect and posted for at least 30 days. Reductions in the standard subscription rate will not necessarily be reflected in your renewal subscription rate. Customers subscribing at specially discounted promotional rates may be subject to varying rate increases, none of which shall exceed the standard posted subscription rate.
• Credit Cards You agree that you will provide a major credit or charge card (e.g., MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover) that Britannica may charge for all subscription fees or other amounts payable to Britannica. With respect to such charges, you give the following authorization:
  I authorize automatic credit or charge card billing by Britannica. I agree that the charges described above will be billed by Britannica to the credit or charge card that I have provided to Britannica in my Account information, or otherwise when I applied for the Subscription Services. I understand that all fees and charges are nonrefundable. I agree that Britannica will not be responsible for any expenses that I may incur resulting from overdrawing my bank account or exceeding my credit limit as a result of an automatic charge made under this Agreement.
• Account Information You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate information for your Account in order to receive access to the Subscription Services. You agree to promptly update all Account information to keep your account current, complete, and accurate (such as a change in billing address, credit card number, or credit card expiration date) and you must promptly notify Britannica if your credit card is cancelled (for example, for loss or theft) or if you become aware of a potential breach of security, such as the unauthorized disclosure or use of your log-in and password. Changes to such information can be made by going to the Account Maintenance area at http://account.britannica.com. If you fail to provide Britannica any of the foregoing information, you agree that Britannica may assume that your credit card is either still valid or that it has been renewed and may continue charging you for the Subscription Services to which you have subscribed, unless you have cancelled your subscription.

Legal Notices

Copyrights

All contents of the Services are ⓒ 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. Encyclopædia Britannica is copyrighted 1994-2008 by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, , 2006, 2007 and 2008 Britannica Book of the Year are copyrighted 1997,1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively, by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

All series of Britannica's Discover English with Ben and Bella are ⓒ 2008 by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Original animations of Britannica's Discover English with Ben and Bella are ⓒ 2008 by Kids for Kids GmbH.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary (Eleventh Edition), Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, and Merriam’s Webster’s Student Dictionary (Third Edition), are all copyrighted 2004 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Photographs and illustrations are copyrighted by their respective owners, as noted in the credits.

Patents

The functionality of the Services is protected by Patent Nos. 5,241,671, 6,546,399, 6,978,277, 7,051,018, 7,082,437, 7,085,778 & Patents Pending.

Trademarks

"Encyclopædia Britannica" and other marks that appear throughout the Services belong to Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., its affiliates, or third-party trademark owners. Except as permitted by applicable laws, you are prohibited from using any of the marks appearing on the Services without express written consent from the respective trademark owners.