Thank you for your interest in the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive® website (the “Website”). This Website is maintained as an informational and educational resource to our visitors and users. By using this Website, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use. Please review these terms and conditions carefully. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you should not use this Website.
The University of Southern California (“USC”), the USC Shoah Foundation, and their officers, agents, employees, and representatives are collectively referred to herein as “we”, “us”, or “our”.
The terms of use described herein (“Terms of Use”), the Privacy Policy described and referenced below, and any other policy or guidelines incorporated into this agreement by reference (collectively, the “Agreement”) governs your use of the Website, https://vha.usc.edu, administered by the Website’s administrator, vhahelp@usc.edu, and other websites, online locations and apps for the Visual History Archive, including all content, information and functionality available through them, which are collectively referred to in this Agreement as the “Sites,” or individually as a “Site”.
You must agree to this Agreement before you access, browse or use the Sites. Your use of the Sites is conditioned upon your acceptance of the terms of use set forth in this Agreement.
We may modify this Agreement at any time by posting of the modified agreement. Any such modifications shall be effective immediately. You can view the most recent version of these terms at any time at https://vha.usc.edu.
If you do not agree to the terms set forth in this Agreement, you may not use or access the Sites or any content. Each time you use or access the Sites, register or create an online account on a Site, or click that you accept or agree to these terms if presented with the option to do so, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and unconditionally accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy, and any other policy or guidelines incorporated into this Agreement by reference.
Your visit or use of any of our Sites is also governed by our privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”), which is available at https://vha.usc.edu and incorporated into these Terms of Use by this reference. Please review our Privacy Policy.
All content included on the Sites is and shall continue to be our property, or the property of its content suppliers, and is protected under applicable copyright, patent, trademark, and other proprietary rights.
“Visual History Archive,” “USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education,” and other marks contained or displayed on the Sites are either trademarks or registered trademarks of USC. Other product and company names mentioned on the Sites may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Any copying, redistribution, use or publication by you of any such content or any part of the Site is prohibited, except as expressly permitted in this Agreement. Under no circumstances will you acquire any ownership rights or other interest in any content by or through your use of this site.
All content included on the Sites (including, but not limited to, copyrights and other intellectual property rights in and to videotaped interviews), is and shall continue to be the property of the USC Shoah Foundation or its content suppliers and is protected under applicable copyright, patent, trademark, and other proprietary rights. Any copying, redistribution, use or publication by you of any such content or any part of the Site is prohibited, except as expressly permitted in this Agreement. Under no circumstances will you acquire any ownership rights or other interest in any content by or through your use of this site. All rights are reserved by the USC Shoah Foundation.
The Sites also contain and include content and information that involve privacy interests or are not in the public domain. Unauthorized copying, downloading, recording, or publication of USC Shoah Foundation interviews, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited and may subject an individual or entity to penalties for copyright infringement, violation of other intellectual property laws, violation of privacy rights, or violation of other rights or interests protected under applicable law.
In order to use the Sites, you must be 18 years of age or older, an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental and/or guardian consent, and capable of entering into the terms and conditions set forth in the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and any other policy or guidelines incorporated into this Agreement by reference. If you are not 18 years of age or older, you must be over the age of 13 to use or access the Sites. The Sites are not intended for use by persons under the age of 13. Please do not use the Sites if you are under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect, either online or offline, personal information from persons under the age of 13.
We grant you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to use the Sites solely for your own personal use and not for republication, distribution, assignment, sublicense, sale, preparation of derivative works, or other use. You agree not to copy materials on or download materials from the Sites, reverse engineer or break into the Sites, or use materials, products or services in violation of any law or of any violation of any term or condition contained in this Agreement. The use of the Sites is at our sole and absolute discretion, and we may terminate, restrict, or limit your use of the Sites at any time, with or without notice, for any or no reason.
You also agree not to use, copy, download, distribute, republish, or share any image, audio recording, or video recording of USC Shoah Foundation interviews, except to the extent specifically permitted under this Agreement or applicable law, without USC Shoah Foundation’s prior, written permission, which we may withhold in our sole and absolute discretion.
If your use or publication of content or information from USC Shoah Foundation interviews qualifies as “Fair Use” under 17 USC § 107 or “Fair Practice” under Article 10 of the Berne Convention, and such use or publication does not violate any other applicable law, including, but not limited to, the privacy rights or interests of the persons included in the interviews, or any other protected right or interest that may be included in the interviews, you should cite the interviews as sources. While the elements may be adjusted for specific needs, we recommend that citations of Visual History Archive testimonies include the author - in this case, the name of the interviewee(s); the title (without quotation marks) - the word "Interview" and the interview code number; the title of the website (italicized) - Visual History Archive; the publisher or site sponsor - USC Shoah Foundation; the year of publication - in this case, the year that the testimony was recorded; the date of access - when the researcher accessed the testimony. To cite the specific moments of the testimony, please use either the segment numbers or the relevant tape number and time-codes. For example:
MLA
APA
Any use or publication of content or information that exceeds “Fair Use” or “Fair Practice” exceptions requires the prior, written permission from the USC Shoah Foundation. Please see https://libguides.usc.edu/vha for more information.
You agree that you alone are responsible for any and all text, graphics, videos, images, music, sounds, and any other content that you publish, upload, display or transmit on or through the Sites, including but not limited to any information that you might submit through or upload onto the Sites (collectively, “User Content”), and promise that all information provided to us by you will be truthful and accurate to the best of your knowledge. You also agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding your use of the Sites. You further agree not to publish, upload, display or transmit any User Content or information that is untrue or inaccurate, or that you did not create and that you do not have permission to publish, upload, display or transmit.
The Sites are made available to you for your personal, educational and non-commercial use only. You agree that the information submitted, posted, transmitted or shared by you on or through the Sites does not include any unlawful, libelous, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, slanderous, hateful, or otherwise any material embarrassing to any other person or entity as determined in our sole discretion, and does not violate or infringe upon the rights of any third-party, including but not limited to any and all copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights.
Additionally, you agree that you will not:
Visiting any Site, submitting information through the Sites, and sending emails to us or our agents or representatives constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Sites, satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
We reserve the right to remove any comments or feedback from its Sites, blog, or any affiliated online presences that are profane, defamatory, inappropriate, off-topic, or in violation of this Agreement in our sole and absolute discretion.
The Sites may contain links to other sites. Links from a Site located on our server to any third-party website do not imply our endorsement of their site’s products or services, and we are not responsible for their content. References to third-party products, services, or organizations do not imply our endorsement of such products, services, or organizations. If you decide to access any sites linked through or from our Sites, you do so entirely at your own risk, and we are not responsible for the privacy or security practices of such other sites, and such other sites may contain commercial advertising. Use of third-party sites may also be subject to terms and conditions of use for their sites, and we encourage you to review their terms of use and privacy policies before using their sites.
We make no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding USC Shoah Foundation interviews. The USC Shoah Foundation does not verify the accuracy of the information in the videotaped interviews. Such information may infringe upon privacy or intellectual property rights of other persons or entities, and may contain defamatory comments or material owned by third parties. You agree that we are not responsible for any content or commentary contained in the interviews or anywhere else on the Sites that you might find to be derogatory, defamatory, offensive, disagreeable, or displeasing in any way.
YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SITES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE."
WE AND EACH OF OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES AND/OR LICENSORS DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT TO YOU THAT:
ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED BY YOU WHILE USING THE SITES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR OTHER DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH OR FROM THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SITES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.
WE FURTHER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY EXPRESS WARRANTIES, STATUTORY WARRANTIES, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF: MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE EXTENT YOUR JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON WARRANTIES, THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT WE, AND EACH OF OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES AND/OR LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHICH MAY BE INCURRED BY YOU, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL OR BUSINESS REPUTATION, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR OTHER DAMAGES OR INTANGIBLE LOSS ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATING TO THE SITES, YOUR USE OF THE SITES, OR THE CONTENT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE BECAUSE OF ANY CHANGES WE MAY MAKE TO THE SITES, OR FOR ANY PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY CESSATION IN THE PROVISION OF OR ANY FEATURES WITHIN THE SITES; THE DELETION OF, CORRUPTION OF, OR FAILURE TO STORE, ANY CONTENT AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DATA MAINTAINED OR TRANSMITTED BY OR THROUGH YOUR USE OF THE SITES; OR YOUR FAILURE TO PROVIDE US WITH ACCURATE INFORMATION).
THE LIMITATIONS ON OUR LIABILITY TO YOU SHALL APPLY WHETHER OR NOT WE OR YOU HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY SUCH LOSSES ARISING.
IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE SITES, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE OR ANY TERMS OR CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITES.
We reserve the right, and you authorize us, to use and assign all information regarding Site uses by you and all information provided by you in any manner consistent with our Privacy Policy.
You acknowledge and agree that this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of California and consent to jurisdiction in California without regard to any conflict of law or choice of law principles with respect to any claim or dispute between you and us. You irrevocably acknowledge and agree that any claim or dispute between you and us that arises in whole or in part from your use of the Sites shall be decided exclusively by a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Los Angeles County, California.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU WAIVE ANY JURISDICTIONAL, VENUE, OR INCONVENIENT FORUM OBJECTIONS TO SUCH COURTS. ANY SUCH CLAIM OR ACTION WILL BE BROUGHT INDIVIDUALLY AND NOT ON A CLASS-WIDE BASIS. YOU KNOWINGLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY FORM OF “CLASS,” “JOINT,” OR “REPRESENTATIVE” LITIGATION AGAINST US OR ANY OF OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND LICENSORS.
We make no representation that the Sites are appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, or that it provides an adequate level of data protection as required in the European Union or elsewhere. If you access the Sites from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and you are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations regarding online conduct, acceptable content and all other matters.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless us, and each of our subsidiaries, agents, affiliates and/or licensors, against any claim, liability, expense or damages arising from or relating to your use of the Sites. Your obligation to defend and indemnify us shall survive the termination of this Agreement and your use of the Sites.
The various provisions contained within the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and any other policy or guidelines incorporated into this Agreement by reference are separate and independent, and should any term be declared unlawful, invalid or unenforceable for any reason by a court or other appropriate tribunal, including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remaining provisions and terms shall remain in full force and effect.
The Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and any other policy or guidelines incorporated into this Agreement by reference shall constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Sites. This Agreement shall be binding on the parties and their respective successors and assigns.
There are no third party beneficiaries intended by this Agreement, and you may not assign or transfer this Agreement or your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our prior written consent.
We may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without notice, for any or no reason.
Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1789.3, users are entitled to the following specific consumer rights notice:
The name, address and telephone number of the provider of the Sites is University of Southern California, USC Shoah Foundation, 650 W 35th Street, Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90089, 213- 740-6001, vhi-web@usc.edu.
If you have any complaints regarding the Sites or content, questions or comments related to the Sites, or would like to request further information regarding use of the Sites or content, you may contact the Website administrator at USC Shoah Foundation, 650 W 35th Street, Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90089, 213-740-6001, vhi-web@usc.edu.
If you believe your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide a notice containing all of the following information to our Copyright Agent:
For notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Sites please contact:
Gus Anagnos, Chief Information Security Officer
University of Southern California
By Mail:
Attn: Gus Anagnos, Chief Information Security Officer
University of Southern California
Information Technology Services Division
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2812
By Phone: 213-740-5555
By Email: notices@usc.edu
To contact the USC Shoah Foundation or request permission to publish, please mail or fax your inquiry to the following address:
USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education
Archival Access
Leavey Library
650 West 35th Street, Suite 114
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2571
Fax: (213) 740-6044
https://sfi.usc.edu