We (the folks at Automattic) are on a mission to make the web a better place. We hope you love our products and services — from website publishing tools to ecommerce solutions to security backup systems to management tools for distributed companies to the next great idea that we haven’t even thought of yet — as much as we love creating them.
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) describe our commitments to you, and your rights and responsibilities when using our services. Please read them carefully and reach out to us if you have any questions. If you don’t agree to these Terms, don’t use our services.
If you are a user in countries located in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom (“European User”), some special terms apply to you as mentioned below.
We’ve made these Terms available under a Creative Commons Sharealike license, which means that you’re more than welcome to copy them, adapt them, and repurpose them for your own use. Just make sure to revise them so that your Terms of Service reflect your actual practices. Also, if you do use these Terms, we’d appreciate a credit and link to Automattic somewhere on your website. You can grab a copy of these Terms and other legal documents on GitHub.
1. Who’s Who
“You” means any individual or entity using our Services. If you use our Services on behalf of another person or entity, you represent and warrant that you’re authorized to accept the Agreement on that person’s or entity’s behalf, that by using our Services you’re accepting the Agreement on behalf of that person or entity, and that if you, or that person or entity, violates the Agreement, you and that person or entity agree to be responsible to us.
Please see below to determine which entity your Agreement is with, which depends on where you reside and which Services you use. We use the term “Designated Countries” to refer to Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, and all countries located in Europe.
2. Your Account
When using our Services requires an account, you agree to provide us with complete and accurate information and to keep the information current so that we can communicate with you about your account. We may need to send you emails about notable updates (like changes to our Terms of Service or Privacy Policy), or to let you know about legal inquiries or complaints we receive about the ways you use our Services so you can make informed choices in response.
We may limit your access to our Services until we’re able to verify your account information, like your email address.
When you create a WordPress.com account, we consider that to be an inquiry about our products and services, which means that we may also contact you to share more details about what we have to offer (i.e., marketing). Don’t worry — if you aren’t interested, you can opt out of the marketing communications, whether it’s an email, phone call, or text message.
You’re solely responsible and liable for all activity under your account. You’re also fully responsible for maintaining the security of your account (which includes keeping your password secure). We’re not liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of your acts or omissions. If you get fired because of a blog post you write about your boss, that’s on you.
Don’t share or misuse your access credentials. And notify us immediately of any unauthorized uses of your account, store, or website, or of any other breach of security. If we believe your account has been compromised, we may suspend or disable it.
If you’d like to learn about how we handle the data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
3. Minimum Age Requirements
Our Services are not directed to children. You’re not allowed to access or use our Services if you’re under the age of 13 (or 16 in Europe). If you register as a user or otherwise use our Services, you represent that you’re at least 13 (or 16 in Europe). You may use our Services only if you can legally form a binding contract with us. In other words, if you’re under 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority where you live), you can only use our Services under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to the Agreement.
4. Responsibility of Visitors and Users
We haven’t reviewed, and can’t review, all of the content (like text, photo, video, audio, code, computer software, items for sale, and other materials) posted to or made available through our Services by users or anyone else (“Content”) or on websites that link to, or are linked from, our Services. We’re not responsible for any use or effects of Content or third-party websites. So, for example:
- We don’t have any control over third-party websites.
- A link to or from one of our Services does not represent or imply that we endorse any third-party website.
- We don’t endorse any Content or represent that Content is accurate, useful, or not harmful. Content could be offensive, indecent, or objectionable; include technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, or other errors; or violate or infringe the privacy, publicity rights, intellectual property rights, or other proprietary rights of third parties.
- You’re fully responsible for the Content available on your website, and any harm resulting from that Content. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your website’s Content abides by applicable laws and by the Agreement.
- We aren’t responsible for any harm resulting from anyone’s access, use, purchase, or downloading of Content, or for any harm resulting from third-party websites. You’re responsible for taking the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content.
- Any Content that’s for sale through any of our Services is the seller’s sole responsibility, so you must look solely to the seller for any damages that result from your purchase or use of Content.
- We are not a party to, and will have no responsibility or liability for, any communications, transactions, interactions, or disputes between you and the provider of any Content.
Please note that additional third-party terms and conditions may apply to Content you download, copy, purchase, or use.
5. Fees, Payment, and Renewal
a. Automattic Fees
Fees for Paid Services. Some of our Services are offered for a fee, like certain WordPress.com plans or WooCommerce themes or extensions (collectively, “Paid Services”). This section applies to any purchases of Paid Services.
By using a Paid Service, you agree to pay the specified fees. Depending on the Paid Service, there may be one-time fees, recurring fees, or revenue-based fees. For recurring fees (AKA subscriptions), your subscription begins on your purchase date, and we’ll bill or charge you in the automatically-renewing interval (such as monthly, annually, or biennially) you select, on a pre-pay basis until you cancel, which you can do at any time by contacting the relevant support team. For revenue-based fees — such as fees for the Payments feature — you pay us a percentage of the revenue your website generates. Revenue-based fees are ongoing.
Taxes. To the extent permitted by law, or unless explicitly stated otherwise, all fees do not include applicable federal, provincial, state, local or other governmental sales, value-added, goods and services, harmonized or other taxes, fees, or charges (“Taxes”). You’re responsible for paying all applicable Taxes relating to your use of our Services, your payments, or your purchases. If we’re obligated to pay or collect Taxes on the fees you’ve paid or will pay, you’re responsible for those Taxes, and we may collect payment from you.
Payment. You must provide accurate and up-to-date payment information. By providing your payment information, you authorize us to store it until you request deletion. If your payment fails, we suspect fraud, or Paid Services are otherwise not paid for or paid for on time (for example, if you contact your bank or credit card company to decline or reverse the charge of fees for Paid Services), we may immediately cancel or revoke your access to Paid Services without notice to you. You authorize us to charge any updated payment information provided by your bank or payment service provider (e.g., new expiration date) or other payment methods provided if we can’t charge your primary payment method.
Fees and Changes. We may change our fees at any time in accordance with these Terms and requirements under applicable law. This means that we may change our fees going forward, start charging fees for Services that were previously free, or remove or update features or functionality that were previously included in the fees. If you don’t agree with the changes, you must cancel your Paid Service.
Refunds. We may have a refund policy for some of our Paid Services, and we’ll also provide refunds if required by law. In all other cases, there are no refunds and all payments are final.
We also have a “no-show policy” for some Paid Services that require your participation (for example, our Quick Start sessions). This means that if you don’t show up for, don’t participate in, or are late for a scheduled session, you’ll still be charged for the Paid Service and won’t be entitled to a refund.
European Users: You have the right to withdraw from the transaction within fourteen (14) days from the date of the purchase without giving any reason as long as your purchase was not of a customized nature, the service has not been fully performed, or subject to other limitations as permitted by law. For digital content, you agree that any purchase of digital content will be made available to you immediately and as a result you waive any right of withdrawal to such content.
b. Fees Collected by Website Owners
Fees Paid to Websites or Website Owners. Website owners can sell items (goods, content, services, etc.), offer subscriptions for their websites at specific price points and intervals, or simply collect payments. We’re not involved in a website’s subscription details or store operations (including the quality, timing, pricing, or legality of what may or may not be included in exchange for payment, or any goods or services purchased). If you buy items or subscriptions from a website, you’re making the purchase directly from the website owner, and they’re solely responsible for the items sold. Please contact the website owner if you have any questions or complaints.
Automatic Renewal. Any recurring payments you make to a website owner (like a website subscription) are automatically renewed. This means that unless you or the website owner cancels your website subscription before the end of the subscription period, it’ll automatically renew and your payment method will be charged. For example, if you select an annually renewing website subscription, you’ll be automatically charged once each year until the subscription is canceled. You can view the renewal dates or cancel your website subscriptions on your Other Site Payments page.
Refunds. We’re not responsible for refunding fees paid to a website owner because those transactions are between website owners and their users. If you’d like to request a refund, please contact the website owner. If you have a complaint regarding a website owner, you can contact us.
6. Feedback
We love hearing from you and are always looking to improve our Services. When you share comments, ideas, or feedback with us, you agree that we’re free to use them without any restriction or compensation to you.
7. General Representation and Warranty
Our mission is to make the web a better place, and our Services are designed to give you control and ownership over your websites. We encourage you to express yourself freely, subject to a few requirements. In particular, you represent and warrant that your use of our Services:
- Will be in strict accordance with the Agreement;
- Will comply with all applicable laws and regulations (including, without limitation, all applicable laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content, privacy, data protection, the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside, the use or provision of financial services, notification and consumer protection, unfair competition, and false advertising);
- Will not be for any unlawful purposes, to publish illegal content, or in furtherance of illegal activities;
- Will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of Automattic or any third party;
- Will not overburden or interfere with our systems or impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure, as determined by us in our sole discretion;
- Will not disclose the personal information of others;
- Will not be used to send spam or bulk unsolicited messages;
- Will not interfere with, disrupt, or attack any service or network;
- Will not be used to create, distribute, or enable material that is, facilitates, or operates in conjunction with, malware, spyware, adware, or other malicious programs or code;
- Will not involve reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, deciphering, or otherwise attempting to derive the source code for the Services or any related technology that is not open source; and
- Will not involve renting, leasing, loaning, selling, or reselling the Services or related data without our consent.
8. Specific Service Terms
a. Websites and Accounts
caffesiere enables you to create beautiful websites and blogs, and we would love for you to use it. A WordPress.com account also allows you to sign into some of our other Services.
It’s basic service is free, and we offer paid plans that add advanced features like a custom domain name, extra storage, and access to premium themes. We don’t own your content, and you retain all ownership rights you have in the content you post to your website. However, be responsible in what you publish. In particular, make sure that nothing prohibited (like spam, viruses, or serious threats of violence) appears on your website.
If you find a WordPress.com website that you believe violates these Terms, please let us know.
Your WordPress.com Website’s URL. If you create a website on WordPress.com, you get free use of an Automattic-owned subdomain, like yourgroovysite.wordpress.com or mollys.food.blog. You must not engage in “domain squatting,” claim an unreasonable number of subdomains (as determined by us), or sell access to any subdomains.
License. By uploading or sharing Content, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, adapt, publicly display, and publish the Content solely for the purpose of providing and improving our products and Services and promoting your website. This license also allows us to make any publicly-posted Content available to select third parties (through Firehose, for example) so that these third parties can analyze and distribute (but not publicly display) the Content through their services. You also give other WordPress.com users permission to share your Content on other WordPress.com websites and add their own Content to it (aka to “reblog” your Content), so long as they use only a portion of your post and they give you credit as the original author by linking back to your website, which the reblogging function on WordPress.com does automatically.
Removing Content. If you delete Content, we’ll use reasonable efforts to remove it from public view (or in the case of a private website, from view by the authorized visitors) on WordPress.com, but you acknowledge that cached versions of the Content or references to the Content may not be immediately unavailable.
Web Traffic. We may use a third-party service to measure WordPress.com’s audience and usage. By having your website on WordPress.com, you agree to assign the traffic for your website to Automattic, and you authorize us to sign a Traffic Assignment Letter on your behalf. This means that your website’s traffic may be included under Automattic, your website may not receive credit for traffic in the respective reports, and you must not assign your website’s traffic to any other party. If we require additional documentation to verify ownership of your website or domain name, you agree to make reasonable efforts to provide it.
Prohibited Uses. Your Content and conduct must not violate the WordPress.com User Guidelines or the VideoPress Service Guidelines if you use our Services to upload videos.
HTTPS. We offer free HTTPS on all WordPress.com websites by default, including those using custom domains, via Let’s Encrypt. By signing up and using a custom domain on WordPress.com, you authorize us to represent that you have the power and authority to act on the domain name registrant’s behalf (by requesting the necessary certificates, for example) for the sole purpose of providing HTTPS on your website.
Advertisements. We may display advertisements on your website unless you have purchased a plan that includes the removal of ads.
Attribution. We may display attribution text or links in your website footer or toolbar, noting that your website is powered by WordPress.com or attributing the creator of your theme, for example. For more details about these attributions, and under which circumstances (if any) you may alter or remove them, please see our Footer Credit Options support page.
Professional Email. Your use of Professional Email is subject to Titan’s (Flock FZLLC) policies, including Titan’s Customer Terms of Use (for owners of the email subscription), End User Terms of Use (for individuals granted access to mailboxes created by the subscription owner), Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy in addition to these Terms. We make no warranties related to these services and disclaim any obligations or actions of Titan under their policies.
b. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open source, customizable ecommerce platform. The Services we offer at WooCommerce.com give you the power to sell your products and services in whatever way your business needs.
Your use of certain Services offered via WooCommerce.com or WooCommerce Shipping & Tax, like those related to tax calculation, payment, and shipping, may require Jetpack to function. If you enable those features, the Jetpack-specific terms also apply.
9. Copyright Policy
As we ask others to respect our intellectual property rights, we respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe any Content violates your copyright, please see our Copyright Policy and send us a notice.
10. Intellectual Property
The Agreement doesn’t transfer any Automattic or third-party intellectual property to you, and all right, title, and interest in and to such property remains (as between Automattic and you) solely with Automattic. Automattic, WordPress, WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, VaultPress, Happy Tools, Jetpack CRM, MailPoet, and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics, and logos used in connection with our websites or Services are trademarks or registered trademarks of Automattic (or Automattic’s licensors). Other trademarks, service marks, graphics, and logos used in connection with our Services may be the trademarks of other third parties. Using our Services doesn’t grant you any right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any Automattic or third-party trademarks.
11. Third-Party Services
While using the Services, you may enable, use, or purchase services, products, software, embeds, or applications (like themes, extensions, plugins, blocks, or point-of-sale terminals) provided or manufactured by a third party or yourself (“Third-Party Services”).
If you use any Third-Party Services, you understand that:
- Third-Party Services aren’t vetted, endorsed, or controlled by Automattic.
- Any use of a Third-Party Service is at your own risk, and we won’t be responsible or liable to anyone for Third-Party Services.
- Your use is solely between you and the respective third party (“Third Party”) and is governed by the Third Party’s terms and policies.
- Some Third-Party Services may request or require access to your data — or to your visitors’ or customers’ data — through things like pixels or cookies. If you use the Third-Party Service or grant them access, the data will be handled in accordance with the Third Party’s privacy policy and practices, which you should carefully review before you use any Third-Party Services. Third-Party Services may not work appropriately with our Services and we may not be able to provide support for issues caused by any Third-Party Services.
- If you have questions or concerns about how a Third-Party Service operates or need support, contact the Third Party directly.
In rare cases we may at our discretion, suspend, disable, or remove Third-Party Services from your account or website.
If you purchase Google Workspace or G Suite, there are a few other things we want to highlight: these services are provided by Google, and your use of them is subject to Google’s Terms of Use for the services, which you’ll accept before using Google Workspace or G Suite for the first time. We’re an authorized reseller of Google Workspace and G Suite, but make no warranties about Google’s services, and disclaim Google’s liability for any damages arising from our distribution and resale of their services. Google will provide technical support for its services, per its Technical Support Services Guidelines.
12. Changes
We may modify the Terms from time to time, for example, to reflect changes to our Services (e.g., adding new features or benefits to our Services or retiring certain features of certain Services) or for legal, regulatory, or security reasons. If we do this, we’ll provide notice of the changes, such as by posting the amended Terms and updating the “Last Updated” date or, if the changes, in our sole discretion, are material, we may notify you through our Services or other communications. Any changes will apply on a going-forward basis, and, unless we say otherwise, the amended Terms will be effective immediately. By continuing to use our Services after we’ve notified you, you agree to be bound by the new Terms. You have the right to object to any changes at any time by ceasing your use of our Services and may cancel any subscription you have.
13. Termination
We may terminate your access to all or any part of our Services at any time, with or without cause or notice, effective immediately, including if we believe, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement, any service guidelines, or other applicable terms. We have the right (though not the obligation) to (i) reclaim your username or website’s URL due to prolonged inactivity, (ii) refuse or remove any content that, in our reasonable opinion, violates any part of this Agreement or any Automattic policy, or is in any way harmful or objectionable, (iii) ask you to make adjustments, restrict the resources your website uses, or terminate your access to the Services, if we believe your website’s storage or bandwidth usage burdens our systems (which is rare and typically only occurs when a website is used for file sharing or storage), or (iv) terminate or deny access to and use of any of our Services to any individual or entity for any reason. We will have no obligation to provide a refund of any fees previously paid.
14. Disclaimers
Our Services are provided “as is.” Automattic and its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Neither Automattic, nor its suppliers and licensors, makes any warranty that our Services will be error free or that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. If you’re reading this, here’s a treat. You understand that you download from, or otherwise obtain content or services through, our Services at your own discretion and risk.
15. Jurisdiction and Applicable Law
Except to the extent any applicable law provides otherwise, the Agreement and any access to or use of our Services will be governed by the laws of the state of California, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions and the application of the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to the Agreement and any access to or use of our Services will be the state and federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, U.S.A. Nothing in this Agreement affects your rights as a consumer to rely on mandatory provisions in your country of residence.
16. Limitation of Liability
In no event will Automattic, or its suppliers, partners, or licensors, be liable (including for any third-party products or services purchased or used through our Services) with respect to any subject matter of the Agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages; (ii) the cost of procurement for substitute products or services; (iii) for interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or (iv) for any amounts that exceed $50 or the fees paid by you to Automattic under the Agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action, whichever is greater. Automattic shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond its reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.
17. Data Processing Agreement
You agree that our ability to provide our Services to you is subject to compliance with US sanctions that restrict or prohibit who or from where our Services can be accessed. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you (i) are not located or residing in any country or territory subject to comprehensive US sanctions (currently Cuba, Crimea, Iran, North Korea, Donetsk People’s Republic, Luhansk People’s Republic, and Syria); (ii) are not listed on any United States list of prohibited or restricted parties, such as OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Persons List, or otherwise subject to US sanctions that would prohibit your access to or use of our Services; and (iii) shall not use or allow access by any of your customers or potential customers (if applicable) to the Services in any manner that may cause Automattic to violate US export controls and sanctions. We reserve the right to restrict or block your access, or access by any of your customers or potential customers (if applicable), to the Services and/or to terminate the Agreement at any time without notice if we determine, at our sole discretion, that such access may cause a violation or create unacceptable risk to us under export controls or sanctions.
18. Translation
These Terms were originally written in English (US). We may translate these terms into other languages, and in the event of a conflict between a translated version of these Terms and the English version, the English version will control.
19. Miscellaneous
The Agreement (together with any other terms we provide that apply to any specific Service) constitutes the entire agreement between Automattic and you concerning our Services. If any part of the Agreement is unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that part is severable from the Agreement, and does not affect the validity or enforceability of the rest of the Agreement. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of the Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof.
Automattic may assign its rights under the Agreement without condition. You may only assign your rights under the Agreement with our prior written consent.