Terms of Service Agreement

Welcome to Spark (hereinafter referred to as “Spark” or the “Service”), an online matching service to facilitate connection and collaboration on Burning Man-related projects within the Burning Man community.  Spark is operated by Burning Man Project, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation recognized as exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  By using Spark or registering as a Spark member, you agree to the following Terms of Service Agreement (“Agreement”).

This Agreement sets out the legally binding terms of your use of Spark and your membership in the Service and may be modified by Burning Man Project at any time and without prior notice.  Such modifications are effective upon posting by Burning Man Project. This Agreement reflects and incorporates the Spark Community Guidelines.

  • Eligibility. You must be age thirteen or over to register as a Spark member. Membership in the Service is void where prohibited. By using Spark, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement, and you agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
  • Membership Registration. In consideration of your use of the Service, you (“Member”) agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service’s registration form; and (b) maintain and promptly update the registration data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If Member provides any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or Burning Man Project has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, Burning Man Project has the right to suspend or terminate any membership and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).
  • Member Account, Password and Security. Member will receive a password and account designation upon completing Spark’s registration process. Member is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account and is fully responsible for all activities that occur under Member’s password or account. Member agrees to: (a) immediately notify Burning Man Project of any unauthorized use of Member’s password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that Member exits from Member’s account at the end of each session. Burning Man Project cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from Member’s failure to comply with this Section.
  • Term. This Agreement will remain in full force and effect while Member uses Spark.
  • Non-Commercial Use by Members. Spark is for the personal use of individual members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Member may not use Spark to advertise, market or sell any product or service. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become Members and may not use Spark for any purpose.
  • Proprietary Rights in Content Posted on Spark. Burning Man Project does not claim ownership of content Member submits or make available for inclusion on Spark. Each member owns and retains all proprietary rights to the content posted on Spark. With respect to content Member submits or make available for inclusion on Spark, Member may not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display or distribute any proprietary information that Member does not own or have written permission to use unless such information is in the public domain. Additionally, Member hereby grants Burning Man Project a  non-exclusive, world-wide, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free license to distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform, publicly display, and otherwise use all content that Member submits or makes available for inclusion on Spark.
  • Content Posted on the Site.
    1. Member understands and agrees that Burning Man Project may review and delete any content on Spark that, in the sole judgment of Burning Man Project, violates this Agreement, is offensive or illegal, or violates or threatens the rights or safety of others.
    2. Member may not create or maintain any user account(s) that misrepresents Member, by declaration or implication, as any other real-life person, living or dead.
    3. Member is solely responsible for the content that Member submits, publishes, displays or makes available for inclusion on Spark (collectively, “Posts”), or communicates to other members.
    4. Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of Spark, including collecting user names or email addresses by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited communication and unauthorized framing of or linking to Spark, will be investigated, and appropriate legal action may be taken, including without limitation, civil, criminal, or injunctive redress.
    5. The following is a partial list of the kind of content that is prohibited on Spark. Burning Man Project reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action, in its sole discretion, against anyone who violates this Section, including without limitation, removing the offending Posts from Spark and/or terminating the use and membership of violators.  Member agrees not to use Spark to post any content that:
      1. Constitutes, advocates, or promotes unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, bullying or intimidating conduct or content that is tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially or ethnically offensive;
      2. Harms minors in any way;
      3. Consists of advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “chain letters,” or any other form of unsolicited mass mailing or “spamming”;
      4. Is false or misleading;
      5. Infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
      6. Contains restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
      7. Displays pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind;
      8. Provides material that exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone under 18;
      9. Provides instructional information about illegal activities, such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone’s privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
      10. Solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other members;
      11. Relates to commercial activities and/or sales such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;
      12. Contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interfere with Spark and/or any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; or,
      13. Member does not have a right to use or make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as insider information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of an employment relationships or under a nondisclosure agreement).

Even though all of the foregoing is strictly prohibited, there is a chance that Member may become exposed to such content. Member expressly waives any right to collect damages from Burning Man Project as a result of such exposure to the fullest extent allowed by law.

  • Prohibited Conduct. Member agrees to use Spark in a manner consistent with this Agreement and all applicable laws and regulations. Member may not interfere with or disrupt Spark, including the servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service.  Member further agrees not to use any information obtained from Spark to harass, threaten, abuse or harm another person, or to contact, advertise, solicit, or sell to any other member without that member’s prior explicit consent.
  • Access to Member Information and Content. Member acknowledges, consents and agrees that Burning Man Project may access, archive, preserve, and disclose Member’s account information and content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access, preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce this Agreement; (c) respond to claims that Member content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to Member’s requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Burning Man Project, its staff, and/or the wider Burning Man community.
  • Intellectual Property. Spark Members may not Post, distribute, reproduce or otherwise use on the Service any third-party copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your copyrighted work has been infringed on the Service, please provide the Spark Administrator with the following information:
    1. an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
    2. a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
    3. a link to where the material that you claim is infringing is located on Spark;
    4. Your address, telephone number, and email address;
    5. a written statement that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and,
    6. a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Notices of claims of infringement can be directed to the Spark Administrators at: spark-administrators@burningman.org

  • Privacy. Member’s use of Spark and the posting of content on Spark is subject to Burning Man Project’s Privacy Policy, available here: https://burningman.org/privacy-policy/.  By using Spark, Member accepts the terms of Burning Man Project’s Privacy Policy including its terms regarding the collection, retention and use of Member’s information or content.
  • Disclaimer of Warranties. Burning Man Project tries to keep the Service operational, error-free and safe.  BUT MEMBER EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT: MEMBER’S USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT MEMBER’S SOLE RISK. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. BURNING MAN PROJECT EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. BURNING MAN PROJECT MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT: (i) THE SERVICE WILL MEET MEMBER’S REQUIREMENTS, (ii) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, OR (iv) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT MEMBER’S OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND MEMBER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO MEMBER’S COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY MEMBER FROM BURNING MAN PROJECT OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.
  • Waiver of Liability. MEMBER KNOWINGLY AND EXPRESSLY UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES THAT BURNING MAN PROJECT SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO MEMBER FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF BURNING MAN PROJECT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, MISUSE OR ALTERATION OF MEMBER’S INFORMATION OR CONTENT; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, BURNING MAN PROJECT’S LIABILITY TO MEMBER FOR ANY CLAIM WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY MEMBER TO BURNING MAN PROJECT FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.
  • Termination & Survival. Member agrees that Burning Man Project may, in its sole discretion and without prior notice to Member, immediately terminate Member’s access to the Service and delete Member’s account, associated email address and content. Such termination may result from, but is not limited to, (a) breaches or violations of this Agreement or other incorporated agreements, policies or guidelines; (b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies; (c) a request by Member (self-initiated account deletions); (d) discontinuance or material modification to the Service (or any part thereof); (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems; and (f) extended periods of inactivity. Termination of Member’s access and account may include removal of access to all offerings within the Service; deletion of Member’s password and all related information, files and content associated with or inside Member’s account (or any part thereof); and/or barring Member’s further use of the Service. Furthermore, Member agrees that any termination of Member’s access and account shall be in Burning Man Project’s sole discretion and that Burning Man Project shall not be liable to Member or any third party for any termination of Member’s access or account. Member agrees that Sections 6 through 18 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
  • Disputes. If there is any dispute about or involving Spark and/or the Service, Member agrees that the dispute shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions.  All such proceedings shall take place exclusively in the forum and under the jurisdiction of the state or federal courts in the State of California, County of San Francisco, and Member consents to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.
  • Indemnity and Release. Member, on behalf of itself and its agents, shall be liable for and shall indemnify, defend and hold Burning Man Project, its affiliates, owners, officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents harmless against any claim, loss or damage, actual or threatened, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising in connection with or out of Member’s Posts, content or use of the Service. Member hereby releases, waives, discharges and covenants not to sue Burning Man Project and its affiliates, owners, officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents (“Releasees”) from all liability, to Member and Member’s agents, for any and all loss or damage, and any claim or demands on account of bodily injury or property damage arising in connection with or arising out of Member’s Posts, content or use of the Service, whether caused by the negligence of the Releasees or otherwise. The foregoing release shall apply to known and unknown claims. Member hereby waives California Civil Code Section 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” Member expressly agrees that the indemnity and release herein is intended to be as broad and as inclusive as permitted by governing law.
  • No Agency. There is no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchisor-franchisee relationship between Burning Man Project and any user of the Service.
  • Other. This Agreement, accepted upon use of Spark and further affirmed by becoming a Member of the Service, contains the entire agreement between Member and Burning Man Project regarding the use of Spark and/or the Service. The failure of Burning Man Project to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a subsequent or prospective waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND MY USE OF SPARK AND/OR THE SERVICE CONSTITUTES MY UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT.