Terms and Conditions

Terms & Conditions

This statement covers all of the WNYmedia.net sites, including but not limited to WNYMedia.net (“WNYMedia.net Sites”) and any associated content including articles, 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 WNYmedia.net, including any documentation or images, are considered property of WNYmedia.net. WNYmedia.net 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 327 Niagara Street Buffalo, New York 14201.

Comments Terms of Use

WNYMedia.net is a private website, and we reserve all rights to delete any comments left on WNYmedia.net that 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.
  • WNYmedia.net will not accept responsibility for information posted in the Comments.

If WNYmedia.net 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 WNYmedia.net.

Please note that once you post a comment to one of our sites, it becomes part of WNYmedia.net and 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.

Content Submissions

We Have All Rights In Our Site and Content unless otherwise stated;  You Grant Us Certain Rights When You Submit Content or agree for us to use your Content (Syndication):

(a) Our site (including all text, photographs, graphics, video and audio content contained on our site) is protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under the copyright laws of the United States, and we (subject to the rights of our licensors and licensees under applicable written and signed agreements, understandings and arrangements) have all rights therein. All individual articles, blogs, videos, content and other elements comprising our site are also copyrighted works, and we (subject to the rights of our licensors and licensees under applicable written agreements, understandings and arrangements) have all rights therein. You must abide by all additional copyright notices or restrictions contained on our site.
(b) By posting or submitting content on or to our site (regardless of the form or medium with respect to such content, whether text, videos, photographs, audio or otherwise), you are giving us, and our affiliates, agents and third party contractors the right to display or publish such content on our site and its affiliated publications (either in the form submitted or in the form of a derivative or adapted work), to store such content, and to distribute such content and use such content for promotional and marketing purposes. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, with respect to any video submissions to us made by you from time to time, you understand and agree that (unless you and we agree otherwise) we may, or may permit users to, based solely on functionality provided and enabled by our website, compile, re-edit, adapt or modify your  submission, or create derivative works therefrom, either on a stand-alone basis or in combination with other video submissions, and (unless you and we agree otherwise) you shall have no rights with respect thereto and we or our licensees shall be free to display and publish the same (as so compiled, re-edited, adapted, modified or derived) for any period.
(c) You shall be solely responsible for your own submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them. In connection with each of your submissions, you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that: (I) you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize us to use all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all such submissions to enable inclusion and use of such submissions in the manner contemplated by us and these Terms and Conditions; and (II) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in such submissions to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of such submissions in the manner contemplated by us and these Terms and Conditions. In furtherance of the foregoing, you agree that you will not: (I) submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant us all of the rights granted herein; (II) publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage us or any third party; (III)submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate; or (IV) post advertisements or solicitations of business. We reserve the right to remove or not publish submissions without prior notice. You understand that when you submit content in any form to WNYmedia.net we may authorize such content to be distributed or syndicated to or published on other WNYmedia Branded environments.

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and the WNYmedia.net as a result of this agreement or your use of this Site.

This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and WNYmedia.net with respect to this Site. This agreement supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and WNYMedia.net. with respect to this Site. No modification of this agreement shall be effective unless it is authored by  WNYMedia.net or its affiliates, or unless it is physically signed in  ink by the administrator of WNYmedia.net. Any alleged waiver of any breach of this agreement shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any future breach. A printed version of this agreement and/or of any notice given by WNYmedia.net in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement or your use of this Site to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained by WNYmedia.net in printed form.

3. You Have Rights if You Believe Your Copyright is Being Infringed: If you are a copyright owner or agent thereof and believe that any of our content infringes upon your copyright, please contact us in writing at 327 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14201.

4. Your Use of Our Content is Restricted:

(a) Unless expressly permitted by written and signed agreement, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, transmit or in any way exploit any part of our site or any content thereon, except as permitted under the last sentence of this Section 4(a) and except that you may make one print copy that is limited to occasional articles of personal interest only. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing (but subject to the last sentence of this Section 4(a)), you may not distribute any part of this site or any content thereon over any network, including, without limitation, a local area network, or sell or offer it for sale. In addition, these files may not be used to construct any kind of database. Just as we from time to time excerpt materials from other sources in order to support the various commentaries and writings contained herein, we respect the right of others to make “fair use” of the materials contained on our site; accordingly, you may from time to time excerpt and use materials set forth on this site consistent with the principles of “fair use”.
(b) We are concerned about the integrity of our site when it is viewed in a setting created by a third party that includes advertising or other materials that we have not authorized to be displayed with the content of our site. Neither you nor any third party shall make use of the contents of our site in any manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights, including copyright or that has not been authorized in writing by us.

5. We are Not Responsible For and Do Not Necessarily Hold the Opinions Expressed by Our Content Contributors: Opinions and other statements expressed by users and third parties (e.g., bloggers) are theirs alone, not opinions of WNYmedia.net. Content created by third parties is the sole responsibility of the third parties and its accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed. You acknowledge that by providing you with the ability to view and distribute content through our site, WNYmedia.net is not undertaking any obligation or liability relating to the content. WNYmedia.net and its affiliates, successors, assigns, employees, agents, directors, officers and shareholders do not undertake or assume any duty to monitor our site for inappropriate or unlawful content. WNYmedia.net and its affiliates, successors, assigns, employees, agents, directors, officers and shareholders assume no responsibility or liability which may arise from the content thereof, including, but not limited to, claims for defamation, libel, slander, infringement, invasion of privacy and publicity rights, obscenity, pornography, profanity, fraud, or misrepresentation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, WNYmedia.net reserves the right to block or remove communications, postings or materials at any time in our sole discretion.
6. You Will Be Responsible for Any Harm We Suffer as a Result of Your Violation of These Terms and Conditions or Any Breach by You of Your Representations and Warranties: You agree to indemnify and hold harmless WNYmedia.net and its affiliates, and their respective members, directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any violation by you of these Terms and Conditions or any breach by you of your representations and warranties hereunder. We reserve the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this Section In such event, you shall provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us.

7.  Our Liability to You is Limited: WNYmedia.net and its affiliates, and their respective members, directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents and licensors are not liable for incidental, indirect, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including, without limitation, lost revenues or profits, loss of business or loss of data, in any way related to this site or for any claim, loss or injury based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in our site (including, without limitation, as a result of breach of any warranty or other term of these Terms and Conditions). Any claim against us shall be limited to the amount you paid, if any, for use of our site.

Image Terms of Use


WNYMedia.net Sites often times 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 WNY Media Network
  • 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) 716-430-6102 to confirm that we received your original complaint.

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

  • 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.
  • Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you: an email address is preferred, as well as a telephone contact number.
  • 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.

  1. 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.”
  2. Send it to Attn: Legal at 327 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14201


OR email it to:

admin AT wnymedia DOT 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, WNYmedia.net 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.

WNYmedia.net 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.

 Any Dispute Between Us Will be Governed by New York Law:

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of New York, applicable to agreements made and to be performed therein without regard to conflict of laws principles. BY CONTINUING TO USE OUR SITE, YOU AGREE TO ABIDE BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. The caption to each Section of these Terms and Conditions are for convenience of reference only and shall be ignored in the construction or interpretation hereof.

Notification of Changes

Whenever WNYmedia.net 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.