Terms of Use

As of May 2017

The inevitable “Terms of Use” govern your use of the platform available under http://pictofolio.com (“Pictofolio”) and the services offered by Pictoplasma Denicke & Thaler GbR. By using Pictofolio, you agree to these terms.
Read and enjoy...

1. YOUR AGREEMENT WITH PICTOPLASMA / PICTOFOLIO

Your relationship is with Pictoplasma Denicke & Thaler GbR (“Pictoplasma”) Plantagenstraße 31, 13347 Berlin, Germany, a partnership whose partners are Lars Denicke and Peter Thaler.

You agree that Pictoplasma can use the data you provide in accordance with our Privacy Policy below, which is incorporated herein by reference.

2. REGISTRATION

2.1 You may register for an account on Pictofolio, giving you the opportunity to post your character artwork on Pictofolio with your user account associated with the username and profile information you chose to provide on Pictofolio. You can also use Pictofolio without registering for an account. However, certain functions, such as contacting artists via the private message service or commenting require the registration for a user account.

2.2 When registering for an account, you can choose a username and are free to make further information about you available to other users. Please note however, if you have signed up for a free account but haven’t uploaded any character artwork, a profile picture, or further profile information within 60 days of creating your account, we may remove your account in order to allow another user to select your username. We will send you a warning email before doing so. Also, if you haven’t logged into your account for 365 days, we may delete your account to make room for new users. Again, we will probably send you a warning email to let you know that your account is about to be removed, giving you a chance to log in and keep your account live.

3. YOUR CONTENT BELONGS TO YOU

Crisp and clear: You alone retain all rights in your Content. We don’t claim any ownership over the Content that you post on Pictofolio. “Content” includes any content or creative expression that you’re able to upload, post or share on Pictofolio, including text, images, files, animations, logos, comments, or otherwise.
Nonetheless, we do need certain licenses to your Content in order to operate and enable our services: When you post or transfer Content to the Pictofolio website, you give us a so called non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual license to use, store, reproduce, distribute and publicly display your Content.
The license granted by you is for the only purpose of operating, marketing, promoting, and improving our services. We will always first get in touch with you personally, should we ever plan to incorporate your Content into an exhibition, a publication, or otherwise make use of it.

4. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CONTENT

When you post something on Pictofolio, you are agreeing to allow other Pictofolio users and basically the public to view and display your Content. Consider the Content you post on Pictofolio to be publicly available indefinitely since it may be distributed by other Pictofolio users through their social media or otherwise, or be cached on third party search engines, even after your Pictofolio account is terminated. Be aware that it is extremely difficult to remove Content from the Internet that becomes publicly available. You know the Spiel...

We reserve the right (though we have no obligation) to refuse or remove any Content you post on Pictofolio, if you do not comply with these Terms of Use. You understand that when using the Pictofolio services, you may be exposed to Content from a variety of sources, and that Pictofolio/Pictoplasma is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, awkwardness, or intellectual property rights of, or relating to, such Content. You may be exposed to Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent, maybe even sexually explicit, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you may have against Pictofolio with respect thereto.

5. ESSENTIAL RULES TO FOLLOW WHEN POSTING CONTENT TO PICTOFOLIO

Before posting anything to Pictofolio, please make sure to have read and understood the 6 CHARACTER ESSENTIALS outlined below:

5.1 Keep It Character Related!
Pictofolio is all about character design. Don’t post unrelated artwork, content or links on Pictofolio. Also no Spam. Seriously. Don’t use Pictofolio as a vehicle for spreading unrelated products or services. No phishing. In other words: keep it character related!

5.2 All Characters Welcome!
Pictofolio does not tolerate threats of violence, promotion of self-harm, slurs or hate speech, including hurtful postings or comments involving race, sexual orientation, religious or political belief, age, whether they are personal or general. If you can't make the world (or at least this site) a welcoming, supportive and friendly place for all characters and humans alike, Pictofolio is not for you.

5.3 Adult Characters—for Adult Viewers
We are cool with respectful occasional mature Content—but for adult viewers only.
If you post adult Content, no matter how tasteful, you must respect those who do not wish to see it by marking your work Not Safe for Work (NSFW) during upload or in the edit view. If you fail to do so, we may ask you to do it, or do it for you. If you abuse these rules, we reserve the right to review your account without warning and possibly delete it.

5.4 Show Character—But Be Yourself
Don't impersonate other artists or companies by setting up fake accounts using a misleading artist name and/or profile description.

5.5 Only Post Characters That You Have Created and Have Permission to Post
Don’t infringe on other people’s copyrights and trademarks. Don’t post Content that belongs to third parties without their consent. Absolutely make sure you have the right to post the Content that you put on Pictofolio.
Pictofolio complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). We take creative ownership very seriously, and we will terminate copyright infringers when legally required or appropriate.

5.6 Help Us Keep Pictofolio Clean & Respectful
Should you stumble over Content on Pictofolio that violates any of the above CHARACTER ESSENTIALS please don't freak out, but help us fix things by letting us know immediately via Email or the “Report Character” feature (over the main image in single Character view).

Likewise, if you see your Content on Pictofolio being used without your permission, please contact us immediately for receipt of infringement notices here:

Pictoplasma GbR
Plantagenstraße 31
13347 Berlin
Germany

or by calling +49 (0)30 4611 2611, and – preferably – by emailing abuse@pictofolio.com

Your notice must comply with the DMCA: For your request to be valid, you must provide the following information in writing: (a) An electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner; (b) Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (c) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and where it is located on the Service; (d) Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as your address, telephone number, and, email address; (e) A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or law; and (f) A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

6. OUR SERVICES, TERMINATION

6.1 We may terminate the services with one month’s notice

6.2 At any time, you may delete your Content from the Pictofolio services, or delete your entire account in your account “Settings.” On the other hand, we need to reserve the right to terminate or suspend your account at any time, with or without notice, if you do not comply with these Terms of Use. When your account is terminated, you no longer have the right to access or use the Pictofolio services. When you delete Content or your account is terminated, we will use reasonable efforts to remove all of your Content from Pictofolio. However, there may be a delay between your request and when the Content or account is publicly visible due to technical or operational limitations. Note that we do retain backups of Content on our servers, and some of your Content may remain on our servers (though not publicly visible) even after you ask to have it deleted. If you delete your account or Content, it will however be permanently unrecoverable.

6.3 We may modify our services at any time, since Pictofolio is constantly changing and evolving. We intend to add features and functionality from time to time, and we reserve the right to limit use of certain features or functions. We may modify or adapt your Content in order to transmit, display or distribute it over computer networks and in various media and/or make changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to any requirements or limitations of any networks, devices, services or media.

6.4 While you are invited to enjoy the site for free and watch it grow, in the near future, Pictofolio will offer some features or functionality for a fee. As soon as that happens, you’ll be responsible for any applicable sales taxes or other charges arising from the transaction. Also note you’d be paying for a feature or functionality, but you wouldn’t own it – you’d purchase the right to use or access that feature or functionality. Pictofolio may charge fees at any time in its discretion.

7. USER ACTIVITY

We do our best to contribute with Pictofolio to a respectful community where everybody feels welcome. We therefore reserve the right to delete accounts and Content, which bothers others or inhibits Pictofolio or the services, in particular, if you don’t comply with these Terms of Use and the above CHARACTER ESSENTIALS. Therefore: If you use a robot to post random shit on Pictofolio, or to sign up for multiple accounts, and we find out—we’ll definitely delete your account(s).

8. LINKS

As is in the nature of things, Pictofolio contains uncountable links to third-party websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that Pictoplasma is not responsible or liable for: (i) the availability or accuracy of such websites or resources; or (ii) the Content, products, or services on or available from such websites or resources. Links to such websites or resources do not imply any endorsement by Pictoplasma and the Pictofolio services of such websites or resources or the Content, products, or services available from such websites or resources. You acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any such websites or resources.

9. LIABILITY

Our liability for slight negligence is limited to infringements of essential contractual obligations. The liability in case of infringement of such essential contractual obligation shall be limited to the damages typical for our services, which we should have expected when entering into the agreement due to the circumstances we known at that time.
We shall be fully liable for willful intent and gross negligence and any harm to body, life and health caused by intent or negligence. The limitations on liability set out above shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to our employees and other assistants or agents.

10. PROPERTY WE OWN AND RESTRICTIONS

Pictoplasma owns all rights to our logo, Pictofolio, and our website, including any intellectual property rights related to them. You may not reuse, distribute, copy, or duplicate any part of Pictofolio without express written permission from Pictoplasma.

11. PRIVACY

When you use Pictofolio, you agree to the Pictofolio Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms of Use (below). Please read the Privacy Policy because it describes what information and data we collect and how we use it.

12. AMENDMENTS

We will inform you of amendments of these Terms of Use by email or by a message displayed to you when logging in to Pictofolio. If you do not object to such amendments within a period of two weeks after receipt of the notice, the amendments shall be deemed agreed. We will inform you separately of your right of objection and the legal consequences of silence in case of amendment of these Terms of Use.
If you object to the amendment of these Terms of Use, we have the right to terminate the subscription agreement with two weeks’ notice.

13. VENUE, LAW

For any disputes arising from or in connection with Pictofolio and the services provided on Pictofolio, the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Sales Convention shall apply, except for consumers located within the European Union for whom the statutory consumer regulations at the consumer's place of reside apply.
For commercial customers and consumers located outside the European Union, the place of performance and legal venue is Berlin.

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