Terms and Conditions

MYPRSA COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

Welcome to MyPRSA Communities, the online forum of the Public Relations Society of America, Inc. ("PRSA"). The MyPRSA Community Guidelines (“Guidelines”) seek to encourage prudent use of, and apply to all users of, MyPRSA.

We want MyPRSA to be a positive, safe, and beneficial place for all our members for discussions related to PRSA’s mission to advance the public relations and communications profession and professional. We created these Guidelines to help foster and protect our community. By using MyPRSA, you agree to these Guidelines. Please familiarize yourself with these Guidelines, and boundaries for prohibited content, before participating. Overstepping the requirements of these Guidelines may result in deleting or relocating Comments and other content, loss of access to the MyPRSA Communities, reporting to law enforcement in extreme cases, or other actions without notice. PRSA is committed to these Guidelines and we hope you are too. If you do not agree to these Guidelines, do not access, or use MyPRSA Communities.

If you encounter a message that you believe violates these Guidelines, please contact Member Services at Membership@prsa.org.

  1. RESPONSIBILITY FOR USE. At all times, you agree to conduct your online activities on MyPRSA Communities in a professional, responsible, respectful, and business-like manner and in accordance with these Guidelines and all applicable laws. Any views or opinions expressed by you on MyPRSA Communities are your personal views or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of PRSA. Moreover, no user-posted information available through MyPRSA Communities should constitute professional or legal advice of any kind.

  2. USER OBLIGATIONS. Participation and access to MyPRSA Communities is limited to persons age 18 years and over who are members in good standing of PRSA. By accessing or using MyPRSA Communities, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age and are a member in good standing of PRSA. When you use MyPRSA Communities, you promise to provide true and accurate information. You also understand and agree that use of the internet and MyPRSA Communities is solely your decision and at your own risk. You are responsible for your own use and any “Comments” (as defined below). PRSA is not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the internet, the accuracy of the information contained or presented on MyPRSA Communities, or for the consequences of any reliance on such transmission and/or information. You must make your own determination as to these issues.

  3. RIGHT TO USE. Access to and use of MyPRSA Communities is limited to your personal use in your capacity as a PRSA member and to PRSA’s mission-related communications, promotion, and other activities. Further, access and use of MyPRSA Communities is a privilege that may be revoked at any time without notice. Accordingly, PRSA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, at any time to take one or more of the following actions if you violate this policy, depending on the severity of the violation and the user’s history on MyPRSA Communities: delete or edit your comments, suspend or permanently ban your account, report you to law enforcement, or take other appropriate action under the circumstances. In some cases, in its sole discretion, PRSA may allow content for public awareness which would otherwise go against our Prohibited Content Standards

  4. PROHIBITED CONTENT. Your use of MyPRSA Communities must comply with the following content requirements:

    • Anti-competitive Conduct: Do not engage in conduct or discuss topics that violate, or which may be construed as a violation, of any applicable antitrust or competition law in any jurisdiction. You shall not use MyPRSA Communities to discuss or share non-public commercially sensitive information, or in any way that may have the purpose or effect of monopolization, restraining trade, or lessening competition.

    • Hate Speech, Violent/Graphic, and Insensitive Content: PRSA does not allow bigoted, hateful, or offensive content or anything that is vulgar, obscene, profane, libelous, defamatory, in poor taste or otherwise objectionable. PRSA prohibits materials that encourage violence or attacks or bullying. Please remember to respect others and their opinions. PRSA encourages open and sincere communication and urges all users to remember that MyPRSA Communities is intended to be a resource for all.

    • Irrelevant or Off-topic Content: Comments must be clear, concise, and related to the specific purpose of the Community. Comments must be on topic for the designated community within MyPRSA Communities. Comments must not be unduly duplicative of something you have already posted on MyPRSA Communities.

    • Spam: Do not post any spam content or unsolicited promotional or commercial materials that are repetitive, excessive, or irrelevant to the Forum, or which would restrict or inhibit any other user from using MyPRSA Communities.

    • Sexually Explicit Materials: PRSA does not allow nudity, sexually explicit material, or content that links to pornographic material.

    • Impersonation or Misleading: You may not impersonate other people or organizations, whether actual or fictitious, including representatives of PRSA, or engage in behavior that is misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent. Please be aware that PRSA may make posts on behalf of users of MyPRSA Communities when it has the permission of such users.

    • Respecting Confidential Information and Intellectual Property: Before sharing content, please be sure you have the right to do so. We do not allow users to post content that violates someone else’s intellectual property or proprietary rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. We also do not allow users to post anything that violates any confidentiality obligation or the privacy or publicity rights of any other person.

    • Child Exploitation: Content that harms, exploits, or abuses children, including sexual abuse imagery and content that presents children in a sexual manner, is prohibited. For safety reasons, we do not allow posting or distribution of the images and videos of minors without the consent of their parents/guardians.

    • Illegal Activities: Do not engage in, promote, condone, or depict activities that violate applicable law in any jurisdiction.

    • No Solicitation: You may use MyPRSA Communities to solicit donations only if you are acting with permission and on behalf of PRSA, PRSA Chapters, PRSA Districts, PRSA Sections or PRSA Foundation, as applicable, or as otherwise authorized by PRSA. Solicitations for other donations, votes for office within PRSA, or participants for contests, sweepstakes, or product testing are not permitted. You may not make posts to promote commercial, personal, or other nonprofit websites, products, or services that, in PRSA’s sole discretion, do not benefit PRSA or the PRSA community.

    • Harmful Code: Anything that contains or distributes malicious code, viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer, network, or MyPRSA or PRSA’s data, network, or systems is prohibited.

    PRSA reserves the right to determine other topical areas not identified above as prohibited content.

  5. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. You have no proprietary or ownership interest in MyPRSA, and these Guidelines provide only a limited license to use its features. All materials published or available on MyPRSA (including, but not limited to text, photographs, images, illustrations, designs, audio clips, video clips, “look and feel,” metadata, data, or compilations, all also known as the "Content") are the property of PRSA, its licensors, sponsors, partners, advertisers, content providers, or other third parties and may be protected by law; the reproduction, transmission, distribution, sale, publication, broadcast, circulation, or dissemination of any such Content by you, or by you through any other person or entity, is prohibited unless prior written permission is separately obtained from PRSA or the owner or authorized licensors of such content if PRSA is not the owner. You are granted a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use MyPRSA Communities conditioned on your continued acceptance of, and compliance with, these Guidelines. You may only use MyPRSA Communities in a personal, noncommercial manner. PRSA reserves the right to terminate this license at any time for any reason. You have no right to identify or suggest an affiliation with or endorsement by PRSA and/or its policies or services in any way that is false, misleading, deceptive, or likely to cause confusion. MyPRSA Communities is Copyright © 2016-2020 Public Relations Society of America, Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. ENFORCING SECURITY. PRSA wishes to keep MyPRSA Communities as a safe and productive resource for all. You therefore may not use MyPRSA Communities or any of PRSA’s data, systems, network, or services to engage in, foster, or promote illegal, abusive, or irresponsible behavior, including, without limitation, accessing or using PRSA data, systems, or networks in an unauthorized manner, attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of a PRSA system or network, circumventing any PRSA security or authentication measures, monitoring PRSA data or traffic, interfering with any PRSA services, collecting or using from MyPRSA Communities email addresses, screen names, or other identifiers, collecting or using from MyPRSA Communities information, including any “Comment” (as defined below) without the consent of the owner or licensor, using any false, misleading, or deceptive TCP-IP packet header information, using MyPRSA Communities to distribute software or tools that gather information, distributing advertisements, or engaging in conduct that is likely to result in retaliation against PRSA or its data, systems, or network. In order to maintain security, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy while using MyPRSA Communities because PRSA reserves the right to view, monitor, and/or record activity on MyPRSA Communities and to comply with government or court appointed authorities when necessary.

  7. COMMENTS. MyPRSA Communities provides the opportunity to share knowledge and post other helpful or meaningful information. By submitting Content and any other information of any type of "Comment" to MyPRSA Communities or by otherwise using MyPRSA Communities to transmit or display Content or information, you hereby represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to transmit and provide a Comment(s). You agree that upon uploading, posting, or submitting a Comment or Content on MyPRSA Communities, you automatically grant PRSA a non-exclusive, transferable, worldwide, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable right and license to use, distribute, publicly perform, display translate, adapt, reproduce and creative derivative works form your Comments or Contents, in whole or in part, in any and all media or technology, now known or later developed, for any lawful purpose, with or without attribution and without any duty to compensate you. You grant us the right to authorize the use of your Comments and Contents that you upload, post, or submit to others. You also acknowledge that your submissions are non-confidential for all purposes. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permission necessary to submit, display, or make available any Content in your Comment, that your Comment and such Content will not violate any law or the rights of any person, and that you have all necessary rights and permissions to grant to PRSA the rights and licenses herein.

  8. NO PRE-SCREENING OF YOUR COMMENTS. We reserve the right, but do not have an obligation, to monitor or moderate all materials posted to MyPRSA Communities or through MyPRSA’s Communities services or features by users, and we are not responsible for any such materials posted by users to the extent PRSA itself does not post or display the information PRSA does not endorse or oppose any opinion provided by you or another person or entity on MyPRSA Communities. Any views expressed on MyPRSA Communities do not necessarily reflect the views of PRSA.

  9. COPYRIGHT; DESIGNATED AGENT FOR NOTIFICATION OF CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT. PRSA respects the intellectual property rights of others, and it asks you to do the same. Accordingly, it is PRSA’s policy to respond appropriately to a notice of alleged infringement that complies with U.S. Copyright Law. If you believe that one or more of your works have been copied or used in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide a written notice of your claim of copyright infringement that is directed to PRSA’s designated agent as specified below along with the following information:

    • A signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest that is allegedly infringed.

    • A description, in reasonable detail (including any applicable URL address), of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed.

    • A description, in reasonable detail, of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on MyPRSA Communities.

    • Your address, telephone number, and email address.

    • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

    • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your written notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. Send to membership@prsa.org.

  10. LINKS TO OTHER SITES. If links to other websites are provided or made available through MyPRSA Communities, please note that these sites have not necessarily been reviewed by PRSA and are maintained by third parties over which PRSA exercises no control and for which PRSA will not be responsible. Please also note that these links do not imply an endorsement by PRSA of any other site, product, service, person, cause, campaign, or information.

  11. DISCLAIMER. MYPRSA IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES AND MAY INCLUDE ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES. PRSA MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND PRSA DISCLAIMS, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MYPRSA.

  12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. PRSA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF MYPRSA. PRSA’S MAXIMUM LIABILITY FOR ANY REASON SHALL BE LIMITED TO $100.

  13. INDEMNIFICATION. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PRSA and its affiliates, and their directors, officers, employees, agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any violation of these Guidelines by you or any other person using your MyPRSA Communities account. 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.

  14. GOVERNING LAW AND FORUM SELECTION. THESE GUIDELINES AND ITS ENFORCEMENT, AND ANY CONTROVERSY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE MAKING OR PERFORMANCE OF THESE GUIDELINES, SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO NEW YORK'S PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICTS OF LAW. THE PARTIES AGREE TO SUBMIT TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK (OR, IF THAT COURT DOES NOT HAVE JURISDICTION, THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF NEW YORK) AND THE APPROPRIATE APPELLATE COURTS THEREFROM, WHICH SHALL HEAR ANY LAWSUIT RELATED TO OR ARISING UNDER THESE GUIDELINES. Each party (a) consents to jurisdiction in such courts; (b) waives any objection to venue in any of such courts; and (c) waives any objection that any of such courts is an inconvenient forum. In any action commenced by a party hereto against another party to the Guidelines, there shall be no right to a jury trial. THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IS EXPRESSLY WAIVED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. A printed version of these Guidelines and of any related notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings.

  15. CHANGES. Please note that PRSA reserves the right to change MyPRSA Communities and/or its features (although PRSA does not have any obligation to do so) as well as the terms and conditions of these Guidelines. Your continued use of MyPRSA Communities following any announced change will mean that you have accepted any change to MyPRSA Communities and/or to these Guidelines. Therefore, we encourage you to review these Guidelines on a periodic basis.

September 15, 2020