Terms of Use for SERP Institute's Licensed Digital Products
Effective Date: January 7, 2021
Welcome to the SERP Institute’s (“we”, “our”, or “SERP”) Licensed Digital Products. We have designed these Terms of Use (“Terms”) to provide users of the MathByExample Web Application and SERP Online Professional Learning Products (the “Licensed Digital Products” or “SERP Licensed Digital Products”) with a safe and rewarding experience. These Terms apply to SERP Licensed Digital Products only. Other SERP Digital Properties are governed by the terms of use for the SERP website and by their Creative Commons licenses.
1. Terms of Use applicability.
These Terms apply to all who use SERP Licensed Digital Products (“Users”). Users include instructors or other representatives of a school, school district, or other entity that is using SERP Licensed Digital Products in a school or other educational setting (“Educational Institution”). Users may also include students and parents or guardians of students. These Terms apply to and are binding on the Educational Institution with respect to the access or use of SERP Licensed Digital Products by any User through that Educational Institution’s account. As a User, you agree that these Terms are binding and apply to all of your use of the Licensed Digital Products. For Educational Institutions, these Terms apply to any license that you have purchased as an Educational Institution. If you do not accept and agree for you and your Educational Institution to be bound by these Terms, you may not access or use SERP Licensed Digital Products.
These Terms are effective as of the date identified above. Future changes to the Terms may be posted on this site. If you do not agree to changes in the Terms, please discontinue your use of the product.
If you are a parent, student, teacher, or administrator of a school or school district and have licensed a SERP Licensed Digital Product, and you do not agree to changes in the Terms, please discontinue your use of the Licensed Digital Product and contact your teacher, school, or school district administrator.
To use SERP Licensed Digital Products, you must be at least 18 years old or possess legal consent from your school, parent, or guardian, and be fully able and competent to enter into and abide by these Terms.
2. Privacy Policy regarding personal information.
SERP has a Privacy Policy that applies to our Licensed Digital Products. It contains important information about the way we collect, use and share information about Users such as teachers, school administrators, and students. We encourage you to read it so that you will understand your choices with regard to protection of your personal information. The SERP Privacy Policy is considered as part of these Terms.
3. Standards of Conduct.
This section of the Terms applies to all Users of SERP Licensed Digital Products. To protect the experience of all Users of SERP Licensed Digital Products, you agree not to misuse the product or its content. For example, you agree not to do, attempt to do, or encourage others to do, any of the following:
i. Interfere with the normal operation and navigation of the Licensed Digital Products, or the availability of the Licensed Digital Products to other Users.
ii. Use the Licensed Digital Products or its content for commercial purposes.
iii. Maintain any link to the Licensed Digital Products from any other commercial website.
iv. Circumvent Licensed Digital Products features that limit access to SERP Licensed Digital Products.
v. Use the Licensed Digital Products to transmit or collect personally identifiable information about other Users.
vi. Use the Licensed Digital Products for purposes of promoting any other goods or services.
vii. Use the Licensed Digital Products to post or send material that is unlawful, harmful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, profane, sexually oriented, obscene, threatening, racially offensive, inaccurate or objectionable in any way that could constitute a criminal offense, or otherwise violate any applicable laws or regulations.
viii. Use any other User’s information, personal or otherwise, for any commercial purpose or to obtain direct financial gain.
We reserve the right to terminate access to or registration for SERP Licensed Digital Products, and seek remedies permitted by law, for any User who violates this section of the Terms.
4. Responsibilities of SERP.
This section of the Terms applies to the extent that the Terms are agreed to by a representative of an Educational Institution subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”).
SERP and the Educational Institution acknowledge that Educational Institution must comply with FERPA, and SERP agrees to operate SERP Licensed Digital Products consistent with the requirements of FERPA. Subject to these Terms, SERP will collect and maintain certain personally identifiable information about students of an Educational Institution who use SERP Licensed Digital Products (“Student PII”). SERP’s use of Student PII is subject to the direct control of Educational Institution. SERP will not collect, use, or disclose Student PII without the approval of Educational Institution except as permitted by these Terms or as required by law.
The parties agree that SERP, in its provision of SERP Licensed Digital Products, is performing an institutional service or function on behalf of the applicable Educational Institution, and is thus acting as a school official under FERPA as that term is defined at 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(1) (“School Official”). In its role as School Official, SERP will collect, use, and disclose Student PII only for the purpose, scope, and duration of providing SERP Licensed Digital Products, as described in these Terms and SERP’s Privacy Policy. SERP will not (i) use Student PII for advertising purposes; (ii) use Student PII to amass a profile about a student except in furtherance of SERP Licensed Digital Products; or (iii) sell Student PII.
SERP will destroy Student PII within its possession, custody, or control within one hundred and twenty (120) days following the time the Student PII is no longer needed for provision of SERP Licensed Digital Products, including upon notice from Educational Institution or termination of Educational Institution’s account.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, and consistent with FERPA, SERP may use and disclose, and nothing in these Terms shall be construed as a limitation on its ability to use and disclose, both aggregate and de-identified data, including disclosure to any third party such as researchers; provided, however, that SERP agrees not to attempt to re-identify de-identified data and not to disclose such data to any third party unless that third party agrees to not attempt to re-identify the data.
Parents or guardians of student Users of SERP Licensed Digital Products may request through an Educational Institution administrator access to, correction of, or deletion of Student PII held by SERP. Student PII held by SERP will be made available to Educational Institution upon request by Educational Institution. Educational Institution may request correction or deletion of Student PII by submitting a request to privacy@serpinstitute.org. Please note that we may request additional information from you to verify your identity before we disclose any information.
SERP agrees to protect and maintain Student PII with commercially reasonable security measures that include appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to secure Student PII from unauthorized access, disclosure, and use.
SERP agrees to comply with all applicable laws that require the notification of individuals or government authorities in the event of unauthorized access to or disclosure of Student PII or other event requiring notification by law (“Notification Event”). In the event of a Notification Event, SERP agrees to notify the applicable Educational Institution promptly and to provide reasonable assistance to Educational Institution to inform individuals or regulators if required by applicable law.
If SERP becomes compelled by law or regulation, subpoena, court order, or other administrative directive to disclose any Student PII, SERP will provide Educational Institution with prompt written notice, to the extent permitted by law, so that Educational Institution may seek an appropriate protective order or other remedy. If a remedy acceptable to Educational Institution is not obtained by the date that SERP must comply with the request, SERP will furnish only that portion of Student PII that it is legally required to furnish, and SERP shall take reasonable steps to require any recipient of the Student PII to exercise commercially reasonable efforts to keep the Student PII confidential, to the extent permitted by law.
5. Responsibilities of Educational Institution.
This section applies to the extent that these Terms are agreed to by a representative of an Educational Institution.
Where Educational Institution discloses Student PII to SERP, Educational Institution shall disclose only specific data elements required to enable SERP to provide the Licensed Digital Products. If Educational Institution is a school district or other entity contracting on behalf of multiple FERPA-covered educational institutions, individual schools within Educational Institution may disclose requested data on behalf of the other FERPA-covered educational institutions, and such disclosures shall be deemed to be made by Educational Institution pursuant to these Terms.
Where Educational Institution discloses Student PII to SERP or authorizes SERP to collect Student PII under these Terms, Educational Institution acknowledges that such collection is permitted by all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to FERPA.
6. Additional Terms.
If you purchase or are given a license for a SERP Licensed Digital Product, additional terms apply.
Parents, teachers, or administrators of a school district or school that has licensed a SERP Licensed Digital Product or has been given a license for a Licensed Digital Product are required to provide us with accurate information, including your email address, job title, school, and school district. You authorize us to use the contact information you provide to communicate with you about the Licensed Digital Product.
Students who use Licensed Digital Products at the direction of their teachers, school, school administrator or district administrator may provide personal information, including name, class, and school identifiers, as directed by the teacher. In some instances, non-student Users may provide this information to us on the students’ behalf. SERP does not communicate directly with students.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account login names and passwords. You may not permit use of your account by others. You accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account. If you have reason to think that someone is using your account without your permission, you agree to contact us immediately. SERP is not responsible for loss or damage resulting from unauthorized use of your account.
7. SERP retains all rights to intellectual property, copyrights and trademarks associated with our Licensed Digital Products.
The intellectual property, including but not limited to the content, appearance, trademarks, and technology used to deliver our Licensed Digital Products, are protected by intellectual property laws in the U.S. and in other countries. SERP retains all rights, title and interest in and to the intellectual property contained in or otherwise associated with our Licensed Digital Products. You agree to comply with such laws, and, without limitation, you agree not to use our trademark in any way that is likely to cause confusion or to discredit SERP in any way.
You are granted permission to access and use the Licensed Digital Product for your own, noncommercial purposes in accordance with these Terms. We grant you a nonexclusive, revocable license to store or print a limited number of pages of the Licensed Digital Product incidental to your use. You agree not to: (1) copy or store any part of the digital product or its content except for the purposes authorized in this section; (2) modify or create derivative works of the Licensed Digital Product for any commercial purpose; and (3) distribute or disseminate the Licensed Digital Product or any part thereof.
Non-student Users who publicly post materials on the Licensed Digital Product grant SERP and other Users of the Licensed Digital Product an unlimited license to reproduce, distribute, and share such materials without the User’s permission.
8. If you have evidence that your copyrighted work has been used on the site for our Licensed Digital Products, you should notify us immediately.
SERP respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe content included in SERP Licensed Digital Products infringes your copyright, you may send notification to:
Beverly Hoffmaster
SERP Institute
1100 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1310
Washington, DC 20036
9. Rights and Remedies for use of SERP Licensed Digital Products are limited.
SERP WORKS DILIGENTLY TO DELIVER QUALITY PRODUCTS. BUT UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES MAY ARISE. SERP LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOUR USE OF THE SERP LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCTS IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT: (1) ACCESS TO THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, TIMELY, OR FREE OF ERRORS; (2) THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT OR THE SERVERS HOSTING THEM WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER DAMAGING CODE; OR (3) THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE IN THE FUTURE.
SERP STRIVES TO SERVE OUR USERS WELL. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF OUR LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS OR FOR RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF INFORMATION PROVIDED BY OUR LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCTS.
FROM TIME TO TIME, SERP LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCTS MAY INCLUDE LINKS TO RESOURCES AS A CONVENIENCE TO OUR USERS. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS AS TO THE QUALITY, FUNCTIONALITY OR LEGALITY OF DIGITAL PROPERTIES TO WHICH WE MAY PROVIDE LINKS, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AGAINST US WITH RESPECT TO SUCH DIGITAL PROPERTIES.
IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF THE PRODUCT. THIRD PARTY USERS OF THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT MAY HAVE POSTED ON OR OTHERWISE CHANGED THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT. WE DO NOT ENDORSE AND ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY THIRD PARTY CONTENT. SERP SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY SUCH CONTENT.
SERP SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY THE INFORMATION OR IDEAS CONTAINED OR REFERENCED IN THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR LIABILITY FOR OTHER DAMAGES EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO US IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT IN THE 1 YEAR PERIOD PRECEDING THE CLAIM.
10. If you violate these Terms, and the violation results in a claim against us, you must make us whole.
YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD US HARMLESS AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, INCLUDING DAMAGES, COSTS AND EXPENSE, OR ATTORNEYS’ FEES, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE LICENSED DIGITAL PRODUCT. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ASSUME THE EXCLUSIVE DEFENSE OF A CLAIM SUBJECT TO INDEMNIFICATION, AND YOU AGREE TO COOPERATE WITH US IN SUCH A CASE TO DEFEND THE CLAIM. YOU MAY NOT SETTLE ANY CLAIM COVERED BY THIS SECTION WITHOUT OUR PRIOR APPROVAL IN WRITING.
11. Miscellaneous provisions.
These Terms are governed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia. By registering for or using the Licensed Digital Products, you consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the District and Federal courts located in the District of Columbia.
If any provision of these Terms conflicts with the law under which these Terms are to be construed, such provisions shall be deemed to be restated in accordance with the law to reflect as nearly as possible the original intention of these Terms. All other provisions shall remain in effect.
The failure of either party to enforce strict performance by the other party of any provisions in these Terms will not be construed as a waiver or relinquishment of such party’s right to assert any such provision or right in any other instance.
You represent to us that you have the authority to register with SERP Licensed Digital Products according to these Terms. These Terms constitute the entire understanding between the parties as to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
Questions and concerns may be directed to:
Beverly Hoffmaster
SERP Institute
1100 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1310
Washington, DC 20036