http://haiku.institute/patent/Effective Date: January 1, 2025

SUMMARY: These Terms of Service (TOS, Terms) govern your use of the Haiku Institute (HI) website (haiku.institute) and its services. By using the HI website, you agree to be bound by these Terms, the Haiku Institute®”s (HI) Privacy Policy (PP), and the Patent Use Agreement (PUA). Please read these documents carefully.

I.  Introduction and Acceptance:

1. By accessing or using the Haiku Institute (HI) website (haiku.institute), its services, and any related content (collectively, the “Services,” including but not limited to forums, user profiles, and any downloadable materials), you (“User,” “Poet,” “you,” or “your”) agree to be bound by these Terms. You acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to read and understand these Terms.
2. If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, you must not use our Services.
3. HI is a Wyoming entity located at 123 Main St., Cheyenne, Wyoming, dedicated to providing educational resources, poetry storage, and copyright facilitation for haiku and freeform poetry.
4. It is important to note that HI is a commercial platform solely dedicated to the creation, distribuion and storage of poetry by registered users.
5. HI operates a patented system, known as “ELLA,” for the creation and storage of free-form and haiku poetry, which is deployed on haiku.institute. Your use of this site and the ELLA facility is strictly limited to the description thereof found in these Terms, the PP, and PUA.
6. HI reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. HI will provide notice of any material changes to these TOS on the website. Continued use of the Services after such changes constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

II.  Description of Services:

1. HI provides the following Services:
2. Educational Resources: Access to information, tutorials, and guides on creating haiku and free-form poetry.
3. Poetry Storage: Internet storage of user-created haiku and free-form poetry on individual user web pages within the HI website, utilizing the patented ELLA system. HI will make reasonable efforts to maintain data integrity, but data loss can occur. Users are responsible for backing up their own content. HI may establish storage limits and acceptable file types, which will be posted on the website.
4. Copyright Facilitation: At the user’s explicit instruction, HI will apply a common law federal copyright icon (©) form to user-created poetry. This action serves as a visual representation of the user’s claim and is solely the responsibility of the Poet. HI does not provide legal advice regarding copyright’s propriety as all such claims are made under the Poet’s direction. Only a US federal copyright common law description shall be applied, and no other jurisdictional rights are intended to be contained therein. All Poets are strongly advised to seek any legal advice and protection through the use of licensed attorneys at law within their applicable jurisdiction.
5. Use by Children: HI allows children aged 13 and under to use the platform under the direct supervision and guidance of a parent, legal guardian, or teacher (the “adult”). The supervising adult assumes full responsibility for the child’s use of the Services. Our COPPA policy permits disclosure of the child’s published poetry and name with the consent of said adult.
6. Patent Use Agreement: HI provides access to and use of its patented ELLA system for the creation and storage of poetry solely to registered Poets. Please refer to our Patent Use Agreement PUA for further details.
7. Profanity Exclusion Clause: Users are prohibited from posting, transmitting, or otherwise distributing any content that constitutes obscene profanity. For the purposes of this provision, “obscene profanity” refers to language that, as determined by contemporary community standards applicable to adults, meets all of the following criteria: a. Appeals to the prurient interest, meaning it has an erotic, lascivious, abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful, or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion. b. Depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, including ultimate sexual acts (normal or perverted, actual or simulated), masturbation, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals, or sadomasochistic abuse. c. Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. This prohibition extends to any language that is grossly offensive and constitutes a public nuisance. The determination of whether particular content constitutes obscene profanity shall be made at the sole discretion of the website administrators of HI, who may consider the context in which the language is used and will follow internal guidelines for content moderation. Violation of this clause may result in warnings, removal of the offending content, suspension or termination of the User’s account, and any other remedies available at law or in equity.  

III.  User Accounts:

1. To access certain features, you are required to create an account. You agree to provide accurate and complete information during the registration process and to keep your account information up-to-date. It is important to note that unless you register under your true, correct, and legal name, your claim to any copyright protection that may possibly be granted by using a common law copyright symbol may not be available if you use a false name.
2. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials, including your password, and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to use a strong password and not share your login credentials with others.
3. You must notify HI immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your account.
4. HI reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts for reasons including, but not limited to, violation of these Terms, providing false information during registration, or inactivity.
5. Accounts for Children: When a child aged 13 or under creates an account, it must be done with the explicit consent and supervision of a parent, legal guardian, or teacher. A checkbox inquiry asks “Are you under 13? ” If so an additional field is activated requiring the e-mail address of a parent or custodian . A copy of the registration by the child is then sent to the given e-mail address with an invitation to contact HI for any additional information desired . The supervising adult assumes full responsibility for the child’s use of the Services and agrees to our this policy. HI may implement additional verification methods for parental consent.  

IV.  User-Generated Content and Perpetual License:

1. You retain ownership of all haiku and free-form poetry you create and/or upload to the HI website as stated herein.
2. Perpetual License Grant: In consideration for using HI’s patented ELLA system, you hereby grant to HI a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, display, distribute, and modify any and all freeform and haiku poetry you create and/or upload to the HI website. This license allows HI to utilize your poetry on its website and for related promotional or operational purposes in perpetuity.
3. You represent and warrant that you have the right to upload your content and grant the license herein and that it does not infringe on the rights of any third party.
4. HI reserves the right to review and remove any content that violates these Terms or that HI deems inappropriate, without notice to the user.
5. HI will not be held liable for any content posted by the user.

V.  Copyright Notices and Responsibilities:

1. HI will apply a copyright icon (©) at your explicit instruction as a visual representation of your claim. This action is solely for visual representation and does not constitute legal advice or a guarantee of copyright protection.
2. You are solely responsible for the validity and enforcement of any copyright claims related to your content. HI makes no warranties regarding the effectiveness of such notices.
3. It is the user’s responsibility to ensure their works do not infringe on existing copyrights.

VI.  Prohibited Conduct:

1. You agree not to: i. Upload content that is illegal, harmful, offensive, defamatory, libelous, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, obscene, pornographic, or infringing on the intellectual property or other rights of others. ii. Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity. iii. Engage in any activity that disrupts or interferes with the HI website or Services, including but not limited to introducing viruses, worms, or other malicious code. iv. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the HI website or Services, user accounts, or computer systems or networks connected to HI. v. Use any automated means (including but not limited to bots, spiders, or scrapers) to access or collect data from the HI website without HI’s express written permission. vi. Upload malware, viruses, worms, or any other harmful software. vii. Engage in spamming, chain letters, or other unsolicited mass messaging. viii. Commercial Activity:
2. You agree that you will not use this site to attempt to sell any goods or services, solicit business, or engage in other commercial activities without HI’s express written permission. i. Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the patented ELLA system. ii. Violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation. iii. Circumvent any security measures or access controls of the HI website or Services.

VII.  Intellectual Property:

All intellectual property rights in the HI Website and Services, including the patented ELLA system, software, design, text, graphics, logos, and trademarks (excluding user-generated content subject to the license granted herein), are owned by or licensed to HI. You may not use any HI trademarks or logos without HI’s express written permission. While you may indicate that your poetry was created on or is stored on the Haiku Institute website, you may not falsely claim an endorsement or affiliation with HI.

VIII.  Disclaimer of Warranties:

1. The Services are provided “as is” and “as available” without any warranties, express or implied.
2. HI does not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses or other harmful components.
3. HI disclaims all warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
4. HI does not warrant the validity or effectiveness of any copyright placement, as such is the Poet’s sole responsibility.  

IX.  Limitation of Liability:

1. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, HI shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to your use of the Services, even if HI has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
2. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, HI’s total liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be limited to the amount you paid, if any, to HI for the use of the Services in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the liability.
3. HI is not liable for any loss of user-generated content.  

X.  Arbitration:

1. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms of Services, the use of the HI website including ELLA, or related entities, service, and procedures shall be resolved through binding arbitration under the provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act.
2. Each party shall appoint one arbitrator.
3. If an even number of arbitrators are appointed, the appointed arbitrators shall jointly appoint a third arbitrator to create an odd number.
4. Arbitration proceedings shall be conducted online via platforms such as Zoom, email, and file-sharing services like Dropbox.
5. The arbitrators’ decision shall be final, binding, and non-appealable and enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction within the State of Wyoming. The users’ continued use of this website constitutes their permission for such venue for all purposes, including enforcement of an arbitral award.
6. No court of law shall have jurisdiction over any dispute except for the enforcement of this arbitration clause or the enforcement of an arbitral award.
7. Each party to the arbitration shall bear his, or her, own costs and expenses, including the payment of attorney fees, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

XI.  Governing Law:

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Wyoming, without regard to its conflict of law principles.  

XII.  Changes to Terms:

1. HI reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time.
2. HI will provide notice of any material changes to these TOS by posting the updated Terms on the website. Continued use of the Services after the posting of the modified Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

XIII.  Termination:

1. HI may terminate your access to the Services at any time for any reason, including but not limited to violation of these Terms.
2. Upon termination, your account may be deactivated, and your user-generated content may be deleted. HI is not obligated to retain your content after termination.  

XIV.  Contact Information:

For any questions or concerns regarding these Terms, please contact the HI mail form located out at Contact.

XV.  Entire Agreement:

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the PPatent Use Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and HI regarding the Services and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether oral or written, between you and HI.  

XVI.  Privacy Policy (PP) and Patent Use Agreement (PUA):

Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information on how we collect, use, and share your information and our Patent Use Agreement for restrictions, rights, and obligations offered by HI.