Terms of Service

Last Modified: 2014-01-27

Hello! Welcome to Terms of Service. Please read this carefully before using our site, services, or products. This is a contract between you. We've also included several annotations that aren't a part of the contract itself, but are intended to emphasize key sections and help you follow the text. We’ve tried to be fair and straightforward. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions!

1. Accepting the Terms of Service

Please read these Terms of Service and our Community Guidelines (collectively, the "Agreement") carefully before using (the "Site") and/or the other domains, websites, products, applications, mobile applications, services, and/or Content provided by , Inc. (all of those collectively with the Site, the "Services") (a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo! Inc., a Delaware corporation, collectively with its agents, representatives, consultants, employees, officers, and directors, " "we," or "us"). By using or accessing the Services, you ("Subscriber" or "you") agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you don’t agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you shouldn't, and aren't permitted to, use the Services. We’re just letting you know, here, that we were recently acquired by Yahoo! Inc. This section also includes an agreement where you're agreeing to agree to the terms of this agreement.

2. Modifications to this Agreement

reserves the right to modify this Agreement by (1) posting a revised Agreement on and/or through the Services and (2) providing notice to you that this Agreement has changed, generally via email where practicable, and otherwise through the Services (such as through a notification on your Dashboard or in our mobile applications). Modifications will not apply retroactively. You are responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any modifications to this Agreement.

We may sometimes ask you to review and to explicitly agree to (or reject) a revised version of this Agreement. In such cases, modifications will be effective at the time of your agreement to the modified version of this Agreement. If you do not agree at that time, you are not permitted to use the Services.

In cases where we do not ask for your explicit agreement to a modified version of this Agreement, but otherwise provide notice as set forth above, the modified version of this Agreement will become effective fourteen days after we have posted the modified Agreement and provided you notification of the modifications. Your use of the Services following that period constitutes your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement as modified. If you do not agree to the modifications, you are not permitted to use, and should discontinue your use of, the Services.

Note that, if you have prepaid for any Paid Services (as defined below) prior to a modification of this Agreement, your use of such prepaid Paid Services is governed by the version of this Agreement in effect at the time Tumblr received your prepayment. As grows and improves, we might have to make changes to these Terms of Service. When we do, we'll let you know. We're also going to make it a practice to post old versions so it's easy to see changes/additions/deletions. To see old versions, scroll down to the end of this document.

3. Use of the Services

Eligibility:

No individual under the age of thirteen (13) may use the Services, provide any personal information to Tumblr, or otherwise submit personal information through the Services (including, for example, a name, address, telephone number, or email address). You may only use the Services if you can form a binding contract with Tumblr and are not legally prohibited from using the Services. You have to be at least 13 years old to use Tumblr. We're serious: it's a hard rule, based on U.S. federal and state legislation. “But I’m, like, 12.9 years old!” you plead. Nope, sorry. If you're younger than 13, don't use Tumblr. Ask your parents for a Playstation 4, or try books.

Service Changes and Limitations:

The Services change frequently, and their form and functionality may change without prior notice to you. Tumblr retains the right to create limits on and related to use of the Services in its sole discretion at any time with or without notice. Tumblr may also impose limits on certain Services or aspects of those Services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability. Tumblr may change, suspend, or discontinue any or all of the Services at any time, including the availability of any product, feature, database, or Content (as defined below). Tumblr may also terminate or suspend Accounts (as defined below) at any time, in its sole discretion. Tumblr is an ever-evolving platform. With new products, services, and features launching all the time, we need flexibility to make changes, impose limits, and occasionally suspend or terminate certain offerings (like features that flop). We can also terminate or suspend any account at any time. That sounds harsh, but we only use that power when we have a reason, as outlined in these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and our Community Guidelines.

Limitations on Automated Use:

You may not, without express prior written permission, do any of the following while accessing or using the Services: (a) tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Services, or the computer or delivery systems of Tumblr and/or its service providers; (b) probe, scan, or test any system or network (particularly for vulnerabilities), or otherwise attempt to breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures; (c) access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by Tumblr (and only pursuant to those terms and conditions) or unless permitted by Tumblr's robots.txt file or other robot exclusion mechanisms; (d) scrape the Services, and particularly scrape Content (as defined below) from the Services; (e) use the Services to send altered, deceptive, or false source-identifying information, including without limitation by forging TCP-IP packet headers or email headers; or (f) interfere with, or disrupt, (or attempt to do so), the access of any Subscriber, host or network, including, without limitation, by sending a virus to, spamming, or overloading the Services, or by scripted use of the Services in such a manner as to interfere with or create an undue burden on the Services. Don't do bad things to Tumblr or to other users. Some particularly egregious examples of "bad things" are listed in this section.

4. Registration, Tumblr URLs, and Security

As a condition to using certain of the Services, you may be required to create an account (an "Account") and select a password and Tumblr username, which will serve as a default link to your default Tumblr blog of the form [username].tumblr.com (a "Tumblr URL"). You must select a different Tumblr URL for each new blog you create.

You agree to provide Tumblr with accurate, complete, and updated registration information, particularly your email address. It's really important that the email address associated with your Tumblr account is accurate and up-to-date. If you ever forget your password - or worse, fall victim to a malicious phishing attack - a working email address is often the only way for us to recover your account.

You are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account password and for the security of your Account, and you will notify Tumblr immediately of any actual or suspected loss, theft, or unauthorized use of your Account or Account password.

5. Privacy

For information about how Tumblr collects, uses, and shares your information, please review our Privacy Policy. You agree that by using the Services you consent to the collection, use, and sharing (as set forth in the Privacy Policy) of such information, including the transfer of this information to the United States and/or other countries for storage, processing, and use by Tumblr and the Tumblr Affiliates (as defined below).

6. Content and Subscriber Content

Definitions:

For purposes of this Agreement: (1) the term "Content" means a creative expression and includes, without limitation, video, audio, photographs, images, illustrations, animations, logos, tools, written posts, replies, comments, information, data, text, software, scripts, executable files, graphics, Themes (as defined below), and interactive features, any of which may be generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible on or through the Services; (2) the term "Subscriber Content" means Content that a Subscriber submits, transfers, or otherwise provides to the Services. Content includes, without limitation, all Subscriber Content.

Your Rights in Subscriber Content:

Subscribers retain ownership and/or other applicable rights in Subscriber Content, and Tumblr and/or third parties retain ownership and/or other applicable rights in all Content other than Subscriber Content. You retain ownership you have of any intellectual property you post to Tumblr.

Subscriber Content License to Tumblr:

When you provide Subscriber Content to Tumblr through the Services, you grant Tumblr a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license to use, host, store, cache, reproduce, publish, display (publicly or otherwise), perform (publicly or otherwise), distribute, transmit, modify, adapt (including, without limitation, in order to conform it to the requirements of any networks, devices, services, or media through which the Services are available), and create derivative works of, such Subscriber Content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purposes of allowing Tumblr to operate the Services in accordance with their functionality, improve the Services, and develop new Services. The reference in this license to "creat[ing] derivative works" is not intended to give Tumblr a right to make substantive editorial changes or derivations, but does, for example, enable reblogging, which allows Tumblr Subscribers to redistribute Subscriber Content from one Tumblr blog to another in a manner that allows them to add their own text or other Content before or after your Subscriber Content.
When you upload your creations to Tumblr, you’re giving us permission to make them available in all the ways you would expect us to (for example, via your blog, RSS, the Tumblr Dashboard, etc.). We never want to do anything with your work that surprises you. Something else worth noting: Countless Tumblr blogs have gone on to spawn books, films, albums, brands, and more. Any royalties or reimbursement you get for your creations are, needless to say, entirely yours. It's your work, and we're proud to be a part (however small) of what you accomplish.

You also agree that this license includes the right for Tumblr to make all publicly-posted Content available to third parties selected by Tumblr, so that those third parties can syndicate and/or analyze such Content on other media and services. An example of what it means to "make all publicly-posted Content available" to a Tumblr partner for distribution or analysis would be licensing the Tumblr "firehose," a live feed of all public activity on Tumblr, to partners like search engines.

Note also that this license to your Subscriber Content continues even if you stop using the Services, primarily because of the social nature of Content shared through Tumblr’s Services - when you post something publicly, others may choose to comment on it, making your Content part of a social conversation that can’t later be erased without retroactively censoring the speech of others. One thing you should consider before posting: When you make something publicly available on the Internet, it becomes practically impossible to take down all copies of it.

You also agree that you will respect the intellectual property rights of others, and represent and warrant that you have all of the necessary rights to grant us this license for all Subscriber Content you transfer to us.

Content License to You:

As a Subscriber of the Services, Tumblr grants you a worldwide, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, and non-transferable license to download, store, view, display, perform, redistribute, and create derivative works of Content solely in connection with your use of, and in strict accordance with the functionality and restrictions of, the Services (including, without limitation, Paid Services, as defined below). This means, for example, that we license Content to you for purposes of reblogging.

Compliance with Community Guidelines:

You agree that you won't violate Tumblr's Community Guidelines.

Termination and Deletion:

On termination of your Account, or upon your deletion of particular pieces of Subscriber Content from the Services, Tumblr shall make reasonable efforts to make such Subscriber Content inaccessible and cease use of it; however, you acknowledge and agree that: (a) removed Subscriber Content may persist in caches or backups for a reasonable period of time and (b) copies of or references to the Subscriber Content may not be entirely removed (due to the nature of reblogging, for example).

7. Special Provisions for Application Developers

If you develop software or services based on the Services or any Content, whether using the Tumblr Application Programming Interface or not, you will agree to and comply with the Tumblr Application Developer and API License Agreement.

8. Use of Trademarks

Any use of Tumblr's trademarks, branding, logos, and other such assets in connection with the Services shall use Tumblr’s approved branding and shall be in accordance with the Tumblr Trademark Guidelines.

9. Themes

Tumblr makes available specialized HTML and CSS code ("Tumblr Template Code") for the design and layout of blog pages available for use on some of the Services ("Themes"). Certain Themes are available for purchase as a Paid Service (as defined below) (such Themes, "Premium Themes"). Purchased Premium Themes may not be transferred between Accounts, between blogs, or between Services on a single Account and are subject to the payment terms herein.