Terms & Conditions

This statement covers all of the Convergence Media Networks LLC sites, including but not limited to WNYMedia.net (“WNYMedia.net Sites”) and any associated content including email and RSS feeds. Please read this statement carefully before proceeding to access any of the WNYMedia.net Sites. Your use of the WNYMedia.net Sites indicates your agreement to abide by the Terms in effect.

Contact Information

Any correspondence with the WNYMedia.net Sites or with Convergence Media Networks LLC, including any documentation or images, are considered property of Convergence Media Networks LLC. Convergence Media Networks LLC reserves the right to reproduce such correspondence, in whole or in part, on any of the WNYMedia.net Sites and affiliates. All correspondence can be sent to 67 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, New York 14201.

Comments Terms of Use

WNYMedia.net is a private website, and we reserve the right to delete any comments we find offensive. We strive to maintain an atmosphere of free and open conversation, but inevitably, some posts on the site will spiral off into negative sniping and flame wars. When this happens, we reserve the right to close the posts to further comments. If a commenter repeatedly abuses our comment policy, we delete all of their comments on every post on the site, and ban their IP address.

In order to make our comments useful and interesting, the following guidelines have been established for comment users:

• Do not post threatening, harassing, defamatory, or libelous material.
• Do not intentionally make false or misleading statements.
• Do not offer to sell or buy any product or service.
• Do not post material that infringes copyright.
• Do not post information that you know to be confidential or sensitive or otherwise in breach of the law.
• Keep all comments relevant to the particular WNYMedia.net Site where the comment is being posted.
• Convergence Media Networks LLC will not accept responsibility for information posted in the Comments.

If Convergence Media Networks LLC receives notice that a comment post is not in keeping with these terms and conditions or the intended use of the comments, we reserve the right to remove that comment posting. The removal of any comment shall be solely at the discretion of Convergence Media Networks LLC.

Please note that once you post a comment to one of our sites, it becomes part of the public conversation. Our policy is that we will not remove a user’s comments unless they are in violation of our Terms of Service, and we won’t remove them otherwise except in very extreme circumstances. So if you want to say something that you will later regret personally, it is advisable that you use a username that does not identify you. We cannot simply remove your comments because you have a change of heart about making them.

Image Terms of Use

WNYMedia.net Sites oftentimes display images as part of blog posts. The types of images editors are authorized to use on WNYMedia.net sites include:

• Images licensed from photographic archive vendors
• Images supplied to our editors or released into the public domain by public relations and marketing companies for press purposes
• Reader-submitted images, with the implied representation that the person submitting the image owns the copyright in the image and the right to give it to us for use on our site(s)
• Images published on Flickr or other public photo sites in instances where the photographer has chosen to license their work under the Creative Commons license
• Images commissioned by Convergence Media Networks, LLC
• Thumbnail images of 150×150 pixels or less
• Images used to illustrate a newsworthy story under the Fair Use doctrine
• Images where the use is transformative, such as for satire
• Images so widely distributed on the internet that they are deemed to have become part of the public domain

If you think we have published an image or text that infringes your copyright, we will address your concerns; however, if the image falls into one of the categories listed above, we believe that our use of the image is legitimate and we will not remove it from the site.

Please note that we will respond only to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The text of the Act can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Web Site, http://lcWeb.loc.gov/copyright/

To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication (by email with an attached and signed PDF or by fax) that sets forth the items specified below. Please do not send us regular mail, as we may not receive it in a timely fashion. In all cases, if you do not hear a response from us within 10 days of submitting a complaint, please telephone us at (716) 886-9696 to confirm that we received your original complaint.

To enable us to address your concerns, please provide the following information:

1. For each allegedly infringing image or piece of text that you wish to have removed from one of our sites, provide the exact permanent URL for the page containing the material.
2. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you: an email address is preferred, as well as a telephone contact number.
3. Provide the following information detailing your claim to ownership of the copyright in the allegedly infringing material:
   • Proof of copyright in the image or text concerned, namely proof of registration of the Image under the DMCA, OR, absent such registration,
   • a detailed description of where the photograph was taken, by whom, who or what the subject of the image is, AND
   • Evidence to support your claim that you own the copyright in the image

We will not comply with requests to remove an image where the complainant cannot prove that they own the copyright in the image in question.

4. Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
5. Send it to Attn: Legal at 67 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, New York 14201

OR email it to: legal@wnymedia.net

Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) if you materially misrepresent that any material on our sites is infringing your copyrights.

Please note that a copy of each legal notice we receive may be published (with your personal information removed).

External Links Disclaimer

WNYMedia.net Sites routinely contain links to external, third party websites. By providing links to other sites, Convergence Media Networks LLC does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to the WNYMedia.net Site in question.

Convergence Media Networks LLC does not operate or control and has no responsibility for the information, products and/or services found on any external sites. Nor do such links represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any information, products and/or services provided on or through any external sites, including, without limitation, warranties of any kind, either express or implied, warranties of title or non-infringement or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Visitors to WNYMedia.net Sites assume complete responsibility and risk in their use of any external sites. Visitors should direct any concerns regarding any external link to its site administrator or webmaster.

Notification of Changes

Whenever Convergence Media Networks LLC changes its Terms of Use, it will post those changes to this Statement, and other places we deem appropriate to make users aware of such changes.