1. Accepting These Terms 

This document and the other documents that we reference below make up our Terms of Use (“Terms”). The Terms are a legally binding contract between you and Blank Canvas VTA, LLC. (“BC”). 

Please note that Section 11. Disputes with BC contains an arbitration clause and class action waiver. By agreeing to the Terms, you agree to resolve all disputes through binding individual arbitration, which means that you waive any right to have those disputes decided by a judge or jury, and that you waive your right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, or representative actions. 

This contract sets out your rights and responsibilities when you use blankcanvasVTA.com, or any other service provided by BC (“Services”). By using any of our Services (including browsing the website), you’re agreeing to the Terms. If you don’t agree with the Terms, you may not use our Services. 

2. Other Documents 

If you use any of our Services, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Anti-Discrimination Policy. 

We have additional policies that apply to sellers and buyers through BC. 

All of these policies are a part of our Terms, as is the remainder of this document. 

3. Your Privacy 

Our Privacy Policy details how your information is collected, used and shared when you use our Services. By using our Services, you also agree that we can process your information in the ways set out in the Privacy Policy. 

Both BC and sellers process members’ personal information (for example, buyer name, email address, and shipping address) and are therefore considered separate and independent data controllers of buyers’ personal information under law. That means that each party is responsible for the personal information it processes in providing the Services. For example, if a seller accidentally discloses a buyer’s name and email address when fulfilling another buyer’s order, the seller, not BC, will be responsible for that unauthorized disclosure.   

If, however, BC and sellers are found to be joint data controllers of buyers’ personal information, and if BC is sued, fined, or otherwise incurs expenses because of something that you did as a joint data controller of buyer personal information, you agree to indemnify BC for the expenses it occurs in connection with your processing of buyer personal information. See Section 9. Indemnification below for more information about your indemnification obligations to BC. 

4. Your Account with BC 

You’ll need to create an account with BC to use some of our Services. Here are a few rules about accounts with BC: 

A. You must be 18 years or older to use our Services. Minors under 18 and at least 13 years of age are only permitted to use our Services through an account owned by a parent or legal guardian with their appropriate permission and under their direct supervision. Children under 13 years are not permitted to use BC or the Services. You are responsible for any and all account activity conducted by a minor on your account, and there may be commercial products or services available that you may want to consider to limit a minor's access to material online. 

B. You must provide accurate information in your account. It’s prohibited to use false information or impersonate another person or company through your account. 

C. Choose an appropriate name. If you decide to not have your full name serve as the name associated with your account, you may not use language that is offensive, vulgar, infringes someone’s intellectual property rights, or otherwise violates the Terms. 

D. You’re solely responsible for any activity on your account. If you’re sharing an account with other people, then the person whose financial information is on the account will ultimately be responsible for all activity. If you’re registering as a business entity, you personally guarantee that you have the authority to agree to the Terms on behalf of the business. Accounts are not transferable. 

E. BC is a separate entity from you. These Terms don't create any agency, partnership, joint venture, employment, or franchisee relationship between you and BC. 

5. Your Content 

Anything that you post using our Services is your content (“Your Content”). We don’t make any claim to it, which includes anything you post using our Services (like names, bio pictures, listing photos, descriptions, reviews, comments, videos, usernames, etc.). 

A. Responsibility for Your Content. You understand that you are solely responsible for Your Content. You represent that you have all necessary rights to all parts of Your Content and that you’re not infringing or violating any third party’s rights by posting it. 

B. Permission to Use Your Content. By posting Your Content through our Services, you grant BC a license to use it. We don’t claim any ownership to Your Content, but we have your permission to use it to help BC function and grow. That way, we won’t infringe any rights you have in Your Content and we can help promote it. You acknowledge and agree BC may offer you or BC buyers promotions on the Site, from time to time, that may relate to your listings. 

C. Rights You Grant BC. By posting Your Content, you grant BC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use, display, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, store, and prepare derivative works of Your Content. This allows us to provide the Services and to promote BC, your BC shop, or the Services in general, in any formats and through any channels, including across any BC Services, our partners, or third-party website or advertising medium. You agree not to assert any moral rights or rights of publicity against us for using Your Content. You also recognize our legitimate interest in using it, in accordance with the scope of this license, to the extent Your Content contains any personal information. 

D. Reporting Unauthorized Content. BC has great respect for intellectual property rights, and is committed to following appropriate legal procedures to remove infringing content from the Services. If content that you own or have rights to has been posted to the Services without your permission and you want it removed, please email rachel@blankcanvasvta.com with the subject “Reporting Unauthorized Content”. If Your Content is alleged to infringe another person’s intellectual property, we will take appropriate action, such as disabling it if we receive a report of infringement that complies with our policies, or terminating your account if you are found to be a repeat infringer. We’ll notify you if any of that happens. 

E. Inappropriate, False, or Misleading Content. You agree that you will not post any content that is abusive, threatening, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, or otherwise offensive or in violation of our Anti-Discrimination Policy, or any part of our Terms. You also agree not to post any content that is false and misleading or uses the Services in a manner that is fraudulent or deceptive. 

6. Your Use of Our Services 

License to Use Our Services. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use our Services—subject to the Terms and the following restrictions in particular: 

A. Don’t Use Our Services to Break the Law. You agree that you will not violate any laws in connection with your use of the Services. This includes any local, state, federal, and international laws that may apply to you. It’s your responsibility to obtain any permits or licenses that your shop requires, and to meet applicable legal requirements in applicable jurisdiction(s). This includes the sale and delivery of your items, such as age verification upon delivery, where required by law. You may not sell anything that violates any laws and you may not engage in fraud (including false claims or infringement notices), theft, anti-competitive conduct, threatening conduct, or any other unlawful acts or crimes against BC, another BC user, or a third party. 

B. You are responsible for paying all fees that you owe to BC. Except as set forth below, you are also solely responsible for collecting and/or paying any applicable taxes for any purchases or sales you make through our Services. 

C. You agree not to attempt to obtain the source code of the Services. You must not crawl, scrape, or spider any page of the Services, or reverse engineer the Services (including both BC Intellectual Property and Seller Content) without our express permission. 

D. You agree to do no harm. You agree not to interfere with or try to disrupt our Services, for example by distributing a virus, excessive requests to our site or platform, or other harmful computer code. 

E. Shared Ideas. Any ideas or other materials you submit to BC (not including Your Content or items you sell through our Services) are considered non-confidential and non-proprietary to you. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use and publish those ideas and materials for any purpose, without compensation to you. 

G. Online Communication. From time to time, BC will provide you with certain legal information in writing. By using our Services, you’re agreeing that we can send you information electronically (such as by email) instead of mailing paper copies, and that your electronic agreement is the same as your signature on paper. 

7. Termination 

Termination By You. You may terminate your account with BC at any time. Terminating your account will not affect the availability of Your Content posted through Services prior to termination. You’ll still be required to make payments on any outstanding bills. 

Termination By BC. We may terminate or suspend your account (and any accounts BC determines are related to your account) and your access to the Services should we have reason to believe you, your Content, or your use of the Services violate our Terms. If we do so, you understand that you don’t have a contractual or legal right to continue to use our Services, for example, to sell or buy on our website. Generally, BC will notify you that your account has been terminated or suspended, unless you’ve repeatedly violated our Terms or we have legal or regulatory reasons preventing us from notifying you. 

If you or BC terminate your account, you may lose any information associated with your account, including Your Content. 

We May Discontinue Services. BC reserves the right to change, suspend, or discontinue any of the Services for you, any or all users, at any time, for any reason, including those laid out in BC’s policies under these Terms of Use. We will not be liable to you for the effect that any changes to the Services may have on you, including your income or your ability to generate revenue through the Services. 

The Terms will remain in effect even after your access to the Service is terminated, or your use of the Service ends. 

8. Warranties and Limitation of Liability 

Items You Purchase. You understand that BC does not manufacture, store, or inspect any of the items sold through our Services. We provide the venue; the items in our marketplaces are produced, listed, and sold directly by independent sellers, so BC cannot and does not make any warranties about their quality, safety, authenticity, or their legality. Any legal claim related to an item you purchase must be brought directly against the seller of the item. You release BC from any claims related to items sold through our Services, including for defective items, misrepresentations by sellers, or items that caused physical injury (like product liability claims). 

Content You Access. You may come across materials that you find offensive or inappropriate while using our Services. We make no representations concerning any content posted by users through the Services. BC is not responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of content posted by users that you accessed through the Services. You release us from all liability relating to that content. 

Interactions. You can use the Services to interact with other individuals, either online or in person. However, you understand that we do not screen users of our Services other than to meet certain compliance and legal obligations, and you release us from all liability relating to your interactions with other users. Please be careful and exercise caution and good judgment in all interactions with others, especially if you are meeting someone in person. 

Third-Party Services. Our Services may contain links to third-party websites or services that we don’t own or control (for example, links to Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest). You may also need to use a third party’s product or service in order to use some of our Services. When you access these third-party services, you do so at your own risk. These third parties may require you to accept their own terms of use. BC is not a party to those agreements; they are solely between you and the third party. 

Gift Cards and Promotions. You acknowledge that BC does not make any warranties with respect to your Gift Card balance and is not responsible for any unauthorized access to, or alteration, theft, or destruction of a Gift Card or Gift Card code that results from any action by you or a third party. You also acknowledge that we may suspend or prohibit use of your Gift Card if your Gift Card or Gift Card code has been reported lost or stolen, or if we believe your Gift Card balance is being used suspiciously, fraudulently, or in an otherwise unauthorized manner. If your Gift Card code stops working, your only remedy is for us to issue you a replacement Gift Card code. By participating in a special offer or promotion, you agree that you may not later claim that the rules of that special offer or promotion were ambiguous. 

WARRANTIES. BC IS DEDICATED TO MAKING OUR SERVICES THE BEST THEY CAN BE, BUT WE’RE NOT PERFECT AND SOMETIMES THINGS CAN GO WRONG. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT ANY KIND OF WARRANTY (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED). WE ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMING ANY WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AS WELL AS ANY WARRANTIES IMPLIED BY A COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, COURSE OF DEALING, OR USAGE OF TRADE. 

WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT: (I) THE SERVICES WILL BE SECURE OR AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION; (II) ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; (III) THE SERVICES WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL MATERIALS; OR (IV) THE RESULTS OF USING THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. YOU USE THE SERVICES SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 

LIABILITY LIMITS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEITHER BC, NOR OUR EMPLOYEES OR DIRECTORS SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, OR FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL BC’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED ($100) US DOLLARS (USD) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID BC IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 

9. Indemnification 

If BC gets sued because of something that you did, you agree to defend and indemnify us. That means you’ll defend BC (including any of our employees) and hold us harmless from any legal claim or demand (including reasonable attorney’s fees) that arises from your actions, your use (or misuse) of our Services, your breach of the Terms, or you or your account’s infringement of someone else’s rights. 

We reserve the right to handle our legal defense however we see fit, even if you are indemnifying us, in which case you agree to cooperate with us so we can execute our strategy. 

10. Disputes with Other Users 

If you find yourself in a dispute with another user of BC’s Services or a third party, we encourage you to contact the other party and try to resolve the dispute amicably. 

BC will attempt to help you resolve disputes in good faith and based solely on our interpretation of our policies, in our sole discretion; we will not make judgments regarding legal issues or claims. BC has no obligation to resolve any disputes. 

Release of BC. You release BC from any claims, demands, and damages arising out of disputes with other users or parties. 

11. Disputes with BC 

If you have a complaint with us, let us know, and hopefully we can resolve your issue. But if we can’t, these rules will govern any legal dispute involving our Services: 

A. Governing Law. The Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of laws rules, and the laws of the United States of America. These laws will apply no matter where in the world you live, but if you live outside of the United States, you may be entitled to the protection of the mandatory consumer protection provisions of your local consumer protection law. 

B. Arbitration. You and BC agree that any dispute or claim arising from or relating to the Terms shall be finally settled by final and binding arbitration, using the English language, administered by the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (the "AAA Rules") then in effect (those rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference into this section, and as of the date of these Terms you can find the AAA Rules here), unless otherwise required by law. Arbitration, including threshold questions of arbitrability of the dispute, will be handled by a sole arbitrator in accordance with those rules. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court that has jurisdiction. 

Any arbitration or mediation under the Terms will take place on an individual basis. You understand that by agreeing to the Terms, you and BC are each waiving the right to trial by jury or to participate in a class action lawsuit. Class arbitrations shall only be available if requested by either party under its Class Action Arbitration Rules and approved by the arbitration entity. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each party shall have the right to bring an action in a court of proper jurisdiction for injunctive or other equitable or conservatory relief, pending a final decision by the arbitrator or mediator. You may instead assert your claim in “small claims” court, but only if your claim qualifies, your claim remains in such court, and your claim remains on an individual, non-representative, and non-class basis. 

C. Costs of Arbitration. Payment for any and all reasonable AAA filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees will be in accordance with the Consumer Arbitration Rules, and in the case of CEDR, its rules. If the value of your claim does not exceed $10,000 USD, BC will pay for the reasonable filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees associated with the arbitration, unless the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose.  

D. Forum. Any legal action against BC related to our Services must be filed and take place in Ventura County, California. For all actions under the AAA Rules, the proceedings may be filed where your residence is, or in Ventura, California and any in-person hearings will be conducted at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties taking into account their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. For any actions not subject to arbitration or mediation, you and BC agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of a state or federal court located in Ventura County, California. 

E. Government Exception. If you are a government agent or entity in the United States using the Services in your official capacity, and you are legally unable to agree to the clauses in this section, then those clauses do not apply to you. In that case, the Terms and any action related to the Terms will be governed by the laws of the United States (without reference to conflict of laws) and, in the absence of federal law and to the extent permitted under federal law, the laws of the State of California. 

F. Modifications. If we make any changes to this “Disputes with BC” section after the date you last accepted the Terms, those changes will not apply to any claims filed in a legal proceeding against BC prior to the date the changes became effective. BC will notify you of substantive changes to the “Disputes with BC” section at least 30 days prior to the date the change will become effective. If you do not agree to the modified terms, you may send BC a written notification (including email) or close your account within those 30 days. By rejecting a modified term or permanently closing your account, you agree to arbitrate any disputes between you and BC in accordance with the provisions of this “Disputes with BC” section as of the date you last accepted the Terms, including any changes made prior to your rejection. If you reopen your closed account or create a new account, you agree to be bound by the current version of the Terms. 

12. Changes to the Terms 

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we believe that the changes are material, we’ll let you know by posting the changes through the Services and/or sending you an email or message about the changes. You can decide whether you want to continue using the Services. Changes will be effective upon the posting of the changes unless otherwise specified. You are responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any changes. Your use of the Services following the changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. 

13. Finer Legal Points 

The Terms, including all of the policies that make up the Terms, supersede any other agreement between you and BC regarding the Services. If any part of the Terms is found to be unenforceable, that part will be limited to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms will otherwise remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any part of the Terms is not a waiver of our right to later enforce that or any other part of the Terms. We may assign any of our rights and obligations under the Terms. 

14. Contact Information 

If you have any questions about the Terms, please email us at rachel@blankcanvasvta.com. 

Last updated on Aug 24, 2022