Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Last updated: September 14, 2017

Thank you for using Minute School!

Minute School’s products and services are provided by Minute School Inc. These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of Minute School’s website, apps, and other products and services (“Services”). As some of our Services may be software that is downloaded to your computer, phone, tablet, or other device, you agree that we may automatically update this software, and that these Terms will apply to such updates. Please read these Terms carefully, and contact us at support@minuteschool.com if you have any questions. By using our Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms, including the policies referenced in these Terms (such as our Privacy Policy).

Using Minute School

Who May Use our Services

You may use our Services only if you can form a binding contract with Minute School, and only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable laws. When you create your Minute School account, and subsequently when you use certain features, you must provide us with accurate and complete information, and you agree to update your information to keep it accurate and complete. Any use or access by anyone under the age of 13 is prohibited, and certain courses may have additional requirements and/or restrictions.

Our License to You

Subject to these Terms and our policies (including the Acceptable Use Policy and Honor Code), we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use our Services. You may download content from our Services only for your personal, non-commercial use, unless you obtain Minute School’s written permission to otherwise use the content. You also agree that you will create, access, and/or use only one user account, and you will not share with any third party access to or access information for your account. Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access.

Our Courses

Course Modifications

We are constantly working on improving our courses which requires constant modification. Minute School reserves the right to modify any course content or the point value or weight of any element (such as lesson, document, assignment, quiz, exam, or other assessment). Courses offered are subject to the Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability sections below.

No Academic Credit

Minute School has no obligation to have a course recognized by any educational institution or accreditation organization.

Disclaimer of Student-University Relationship

Nothing in these Terms or otherwise with respect to your participation in any course: (a) establishes any relationship between you and any educational institution with which Minute School may be affiliated; (b) enrolls or registers you in any educational institution, or in any course offered by any educational institution; or (c) entitles you to use the resources of any educational institution beyond participation in the course.

Your Content

User Content

The Services enable you to share your content, such as homework, quizzes, exams, projects, and other assignments you submit, posts or comments you make, and the like (“User Content”), with Minute School and/or other users. You retain all intellectual property rights in, and are responsible for, the User Content you share.

How Minute School and Others May Use User Content

To the extent that you provide User Content, you grant Minute School a fully-transferable, royalty-free, perpetual, sub licensable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to copy, distribute, modify, create derivative works based on, publicly perform, publicly display, and otherwise use the User Content. Nothing in these Terms shall restrict other legal rights Minute School may have to User Content, for example under other licenses. We reserve the right to remove or modify User Content for any reason, including User Content that we believe violates these Terms.

Feedback

We welcome your suggestions, ideas, comments, and other feedback regarding the Services (“Feedback”). By submitting any Feedback, you grant us the right to use the Feedback without any restriction or any compensation to you. By accepting your Feedback, Minute School does not waive any rights to use similar or related Feedback previously known to Minute School, developed by its employees or contractors, or obtained from other sources.

Security

We care about the security of our users. While we work to protect the security of your account and related information, Minute School cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security measures. Please notify us immediately of any compromise or unauthorized use of your account by emailing support@minuteschool.com.

Third Party Content

Through the Services, you will have the ability to access and/or use content provided by other users and/or other third parties and links to websites and services maintained by third parties. Minute School cannot guarantee that such third party content, in the Services or elsewhere, will be free of material you may find objectionable or otherwise inappropriate or of malware or other contaminants that may harm your computer, mobile device, or any files therein. Minute School disclaims any responsibility or liability related to your access or use of such third party content.

Copyright and Trademark Policy

Minute School respects the intellectual property rights of our users and other third parties and expects our users to do the same when using the Services. We have adopted and implemented the Minute School Copyright and Trademark Policy in accordance with applicable law, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Education Research

Minute School is committed to advancing the science of learning and teaching, and records of your participation in courses may be used for education research. In the interest of this research, you may be exposed to variations in the course content. Research findings will typically be reported at the aggregate level. Your personal identity will not be publicly disclosed in any research findings without your express consent.

Paid Services

Minute School offers paid Services (e.g., access to lessons and assessments) for a fee. Unless otherwise stated, fees are quoted in a virtual currency: Coins, or in a currency as specified by the payment mechanism associated with the applicable paid Services. You are responsible for paying all fees and applicable taxes when purchasing Coins or paying fees with a payment mechanism associated with the applicable paid Services. Fees may vary based on your location and other factors, and Minute School reserves the right to change any fees at any time at its sole discretion. Any change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon posting through the relevant Services. Refunds may be available for paid Services as described in our Refund Policy.

Modifying and Terminating our Services

We are constantly changing and improving our Services. We may add or remove functions, features, or requirements, and we may suspend or stop a Service altogether. Accordingly, Minute School may terminate your use of any Service for any reason. If your use of a paid Service is terminated, a refund may be available under our Refund Policy. None of Minute School, its participating institutions and instructors, its contributors, sponsors, and other business partners, and their employees, contractors, and other agents (the “Minute School Parties”) shall have any liability to you for any such action. You can stop using our Services at any time, although we’ll be sorry to see you go.

Disclaimers

THE SERVICES AND ALL INCLUDED CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THE MINUTE SCHOOL PARTIES SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. THE MINUTE SCHOOL PARTIES FURTHER DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY RELATED TO YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY RELATED CONTENT. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SERVICES OR SUCH CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE MINUTE SCHOOL PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM: (A) YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES; (B) ANY CONDUCT OR CONTENT OF ANY PARTY OTHER THAN THE APPLICABLE MINUTE SCHOOL PARTY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT; OR (C) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE, OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT OR INFORMATION. IN NO EVENT SHALL MINUTE SCHOOL’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICES EXCEED TWENTY U.S. DOLLARS ($20) OR THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FEES RECEIVED BY MINUTE SCHOOL FROM YOU FOR THE USE OF PAID SERVICES DURING THE PAST SIX MONTHS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE DISCLAIMERS AND THE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY SET FORTH IN THIS TERMS OF USE REFLECT A REASONABLE AND FAIR ALLOCATION OF RISK BETWEEN YOU AND THE MINUTE SCHOOL PARTIES, AND THAT THESE LIMITATIONS ARE AN ESSENTIAL BASIS TO MINUTE SCHOOL’S ABILITY TO MAKE THE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE BASIS.

YOU AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION RELATED TO THE SERVICES MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Minute School Parties from any and all claims, liabilities, expenses, and damages, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, made by any third party related to: (a) your use or attempted use of the Services in violation of these Terms; (b) your violation of any law or rights of any third party; or (c) User Content, including without limitation any claim of infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property or other proprietary rights.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The Services are managed by Minute School, which is located in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. You agree that any dispute related to these Terms will be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, excluding its conflicts of law provisions. You further consent to the personal jurisdiction of and exclusive venue in the federal and provincial courts located in and serving Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada as the legal forum for any such dispute.

Excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief, for claims related to the Services where the total amount sought is less than ten thousand U.S. Dollars ($10,000.00 USD), either you or Minute School may elect at any point during the dispute to resolve the claim through binding, non-appearance-based arbitration. The dispute will then be resolved using an established alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) provider, mutually agreed upon by you and Minute School. The parties and the selected ADR provider shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; rather, the arbitration shall be conducted, at the option of the party seeking relief, online, by telephone, or via written submissions alone. Any judgment rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

 

General Terms

Revisions to the Terms

We reserve the right to revise the Terms at our sole discretion at any time. Any revisions to the Terms will be effective immediately upon posting by us. For any material changes to the Terms, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of such changes. In all cases, your continued use of the Services after publication of such changes, with or without notification, constitutes binding acceptance of the revised Terms.

Severability; Waiver

If it turns out that a particular provision of these Terms is not enforceable, this will not affect any other terms. If you do not comply with these Terms, and we do not take immediate action, this does not indicate that we relinquish any rights that we may have (such as taking action in the future).

Notice for California Users

Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California website users are entitled to the following specific consumer rights notice: The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S-202, Sacramento, California 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

 

Acceptable Use Policy

Minute School’s mission is to improve the lives of students by helping tem excel in higher education. We believe strongly in preserving free speech and expression for our learners. We also want to make sure that all of our learners feel safe and comfortable while using our Services. We have drafted these guidelines to ensure that people understand and follow the rules when participating in our online community and otherwise using our Services.

Although we do not routinely screen or monitor content provided by users, we may remove or edit inappropriate content or activity reported to us or suspend, disable, or terminate a user’s access to all or part of the Services.

You are prohibited from using our Services to share content that:

  • Contains illegal content or promotes illegal activities with the intent to commit such activities. Please keep in mind that learners who are as young as 13 use Minute School, and we do not allow content that is inappropriate for these younger learners.
  • Contains credible threats or organizes acts of real-world violence. We don’t allow content that creates a genuine risk of physical injury or property damage, credibly threatens people or public safety, or organizes or encourages harm.
  • Harasses others. We encourage commentary about people and matters of public interest, but abusive or otherwise inappropriate content directed at private individuals is not allowed.
  • Violates intellectual property, privacy, or other rights. Do not share content that you do not have the right to share, claim content that you did not create as your own, or otherwise infringe or misappropriate someone else’s intellectual property or other rights. Always attribute materials used or quoted by you to the original copyright owner.
  • Spams others. Do not share irrelevant or inappropriate advertising, promotional, or solicitation content.
  • Otherwise violates the Minute School Terms of Use.

You also aren’t allowed to:

  • Do anything that violates local, state, national or international law or breaches any of your contractual obligations or fiduciary duties.
  • Share your password, let anyone access your account, or do anything that might put your account at risk.
  • Attempt to access any other user’s account.
  • Reproduce, transfer, sell, resell, or otherwise misuse any content from our Services, unless specifically authorized to do so.
  • Access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of our systems, unless specifically authorized to do so.
  • Break or circumvent our authentication or security measures or otherwise test the vulnerability of our systems or networks, unless specifically authorized to do so.
  • Try to reverse engineer any portion of our Services.
  • Try to interfere with any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, spamming, or mail-bombing.
  • Use our Services to distribute malware.
  • Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
  • Encourage or help anyone do any of the things on this list.

 

Copyright and Trademark Policy

Minute School respects the intellectual property rights of our users and other third parties and expects our users to do the same when using the Services. We reserve the right to to suspend, disable, or terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights of others.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you would like to read the DMCA, please visit the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf.

If you believe in good faith that materials on the Services infringe your copyright, the DCMA provides that you (or your agent) may send us a notice requesting that the material be removed or access to it blocked.

The notice must include the following information:

  • the physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if multiple copyrighted works located on the Services are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works);
  • identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to allow Minute School to locate the material on the Services;
  • the name, address, telephone number, and email address (if available) of the complaining party;
  • a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
  • a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notices must meet the then-current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA. Notices and counter-notices with respect to the Services can either be sent:

via mail: Copyright Agent, Minute School, 684 Belmont Avenue West, Suite 302, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2M 1N6
via email: copyright@minuteschool.com

We suggest that you consult your legal advisor before filing a notice. Also, be aware that there can be penalties for false claims under the DMCA.

Minute School also respects the trademark rights of others. Accounts with any other content that misleads others or violates another’s trademark may be updated, suspended, disabled, or terminated by Minute School in its sole discretion. If you are concerned that someone may be using your trademark in an infringing way on our Services, please email us at copyright@minuteschool.com, and we will review your complaint. If we deem appropriate, we may remove the offending content, warn the individual who posted the content, and/or temporarily or permanently suspend or disable the individual’s account.

 

Minute School Refund Policy

If you are found to be in violation of Minute School’s Honor Code or otherwise violate the Terms of Use, you will not be issued a refund or voucher. In addition, if you do not pass or if you otherwise receive an unsatisfactory grade for a course, you will not be issued a refund or voucher, unless you qualify for a refund as set forth below. For more information about our refund process, including instructions for requesting a refund, please email support@minuteschool.com.

For Coins purchased directly from Minute School

For Coins purchased directly from Minute School, Minute School will offer you a complete refund until two weeks after payment, or until you use any Coins, whichever is earlier.

For Other Paid Services

Except as described in this Refund Policy or as explicitly stated as part of the sign-up process for a Service, Minute School has no obligation to provide refunds or vouchers for any other Services.

Third Party Marketplaces

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you purchase Coins or purchase any other paid Service through a third party marketplace (e.g., in-app purchases through the Apple App Store), the refund policy applicable to that third party marketplace will apply, unless otherwise explicitly stated by Minute School. Except as otherwise explicitly stated by Minute School, the third party marketplace will be solely responsible for making refunds under its refund policy, and Minute School will have no refund obligations. Minute School disclaims any responsibility or liability related to any third party marketplace’s refund policy or the third party’s compliance or noncompliance with such policy.

 

Honor Code

All members must agree to abide by the following code of conduct:

  • I will register for only one account.
  • I shall be friendly, patient, thoughtful, respectful, and welcoming of others.
  • I shall avoid destructive behavior that is aggressive or belittling of others.
  • My answers to questions, quizzes, exams, and other assignments will be my own work.
  • I will not make solutions to questions, quizzes, exams, projects, and other assignments available to anyone else. This includes both solutions written by me, as well as any solutions provided by the staff or others.
  • I will not engage in any other activities that will dishonestly improve my results or dishonestly improve or hurt the results of others.