Welcome

Cotton Bureau provides a unique platform for designers to share their ideas, to attract support for them, and to find a marketplace for them. We embrace creativity, free expression, and community.

Our website provides:

• a home for designers to store their designs and ideas, sharing them with our audience
• a place for the world to discover new and interesting ideas and products
• a marketplace that facilitates person-to-person transactions and payments

Our business provides:

• Assistance with logistics: manufacturing, shipping, payments, accounting
• Guidelines and advice
• Maintenance of a friendly, attractive home for e-commerce
• Responsive customer service

Our principles and priorities

• Pleasant, welcoming environment
• Attractive products
• Ease of use for designers and customers
• Confidence in our reliability

Understanding Our Services and Websites

We host designs created by many designers.

Designers don’t work for us and we don’t work for them: they are independent and we are not responsible for each other.

We provide a platform that lets designers and customers reach each other, and we provide ways to make that happen easily.

We do not endorse any expressions of others on our websites and services or in products available through our websites and services.

We can’t control the interactions between designers and customers.

We can’t monitor all the material on our site.

We cannot control, and are not responsible for, websites of others (even if we link to them or they link to us). We reserve the rights to change anything at any time, to refuse service or products, and to refuse designers or customers at our discretion. This helps us create the environment we want.

We care about our users, their experience, and the community we build around this platform. We want to make sure you’re satisfied with your order. If you would like to contact us for customer service and support, please email support@cottonbureau.com.

Our Policies

Designers and customers must not do anything that degrades the quality of our platform, community, or service.

Don’t do anything illegal, dangerous, harmful, offensive, or unwelcome.

We endorse free speech and give it wide latitude. But we also want to create an atmosphere and community that we consider both stimulating and respectful, and we reserve the right to exclude any user or product.

We can make any decision we want to make about what is offensive or unwelcome in our environment.

Our policy is to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, subscribers or account holders who are repeat copyright infringers. We may require proof that a competent authority has rendered judgments of copyright infringement because we cannot know all the facts and circumstances to be certain about accusations of infringement. We reserve the right to determine what circumstances are appropriate; it is difficult to identify them in the abstract.

We expect to cooperate with all valid subpoenas and court orders requiring disclosure of information to assist in government investigations, law enforcement, or litigation.

If you cause us any losses or harms, we reserve the right to bring a lawsuit to remedy those losses or harms.

If you have a problem with what you believe is copyright infringement of your own copyrighted work on our service, please send us an appropriate notification of claimed infringement that complies with 17 U.S.C. §  512 to our Copyright Agent, Nathan Peretic, at copyright@cottonbureau.com or at the following postal address: 110 Torrens St. Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.

If you have a problem with what you believe is a trademark infringement of your own trademark on our service, please contact us as follows: trademark@cottonbureau.com.

If you have a problem with anything else on our site, please contact us at support@cottonbureau.com.

General Terms of Agreement That Apply to All Who Use Our Websites, Services, Or Operations

By using our services or websites, and in return for your access to our services, websites, or operations, you agree to all the following terms, and your continued use of our services or websites indicates your agreement to them. Upon your agreement, these terms form a binding contract between you and us.

Additional binding terms specifically for purchasers and specifically for designers, marketers, and sellers follow these general terms of agreement.

Truthfulness

You promise to be truthful in all your communications with us.

Age Requirements

All persons using our services or operations, including persons creating user accounts, must be at least 18 years old (or, if different, the correct age to form a legal, binding contract in your jurisdiction). If you are not old enough to use our service, please ask a responsible adult to use it on your behalf.

Our Ownership of Materials

You acknowledge that we own our entire website. We do not claim to own individual posts that our users have submitted and of material of others that we are using with authorization. You agree not to challenge our ownership of any materials.

Scope of Authorized Uses

Unless we have indicated to a person that we deny authorization, natural persons who meet the age requirements above, and who agree to our terms of agreement, are authorized to access our websites and services for the sole purposes of

• evaluating and engaging in transactions with us or others through our websites and services and
• accessing the public information, descriptions, and explanations we share about our business and services through links on the front page of our principal website.

All other uses of our websites and services are unauthorized. All persons are expressly forbidden to use our websites, systems, network, or services for the purposes of

• using any automated system, technology, or stratagem to access our website’s network, or resources more frequently than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time by using a traditional, online web browser for consumer purposes;
• obtaining or exploiting any data or personal information of our users including, without limitation, account names, email addresses, or other user contributions from the websites;
• violating the law, violating any contract to which you are a party, disclosing trade secrets, disclosing information of others without authorization;
• impairing, harming, endangering, or unduly burdening our network, equipment, system, software, or resources;
• impairing, harming, endangering, or unduly burdening any networks, equipment, systems, software, or resources of others;
• using our websites, systems, or networks for any commercial solicitation purposes, including without limitations to solicit any users of the of our websites or services;
• competing with us;
• infringing upon our rights or violating our terms of agreement, including by reproducing our material, disseminating it or making it available to others, or making derivative works based upon our material;
• bypassing or circumventing any security measures of anyone;
• communicating deceptively with our users; or
• engaging in dangerous or unwelcome communications or other conduct with our users.

Your Licenses to Us

To the extent you furnish or make publicly available any information or material (including but not limited to user posts and designs) in connection with your use of our websites or services, you license us to exploit all copyright rights in the information or material in all media now known or developed later.

To the extent you furnish or make publicly available any brands, trademarks, trade dress, or similar matter or information in connection with your use of our websites or services, you license us to display those brands, trademarks, trade dress, or similar matter or information.

Your licenses to us are non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, freely sublicensable (including through multiple tiers of sublicenses), and transferable.

Your Warranties to Us Regarding Information and Material You Contribute to Our Services and Websites (Including Designs and Posts)

You warrant that you own all rights in, or have secured all permissions necessary for the exploitation and licensing of, the information and material that you contribute. That includes but is not limited to copyrights, trademark and trade dress rights, patents, publicity rights, and trade secrets.

You warrant that the information and material you contribute, as you intend or cause it to be used in our websites and services, does not violate any laws or rights of others.

Your Compliance with the Law

You promise that you will obey the law in all respects with respect to our websites and services, including:

• You will respect our intellectual property and intellectual property of others; and
• You will not create any risk of mistake, confusion, or deception about yourself, your material, your activities, or your relationship with us.

No Liability for Sites or Services of Others

Our websites or services may contain links or other references to other websites, material, or services that we do not own or control. You acknowledge that we cannot control, and will not be held responsible for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of websites or services of others. You specifically release us from any and all liability arising from your use of, or exposure to, any website, material, or service of others.

Our Right and Power to Change our Business, Services, and Operations; to Terminate Accounts or User Relationships; and to Transfer our Business to Others

We have complete discretion to start, stop, delete, change, modify, remove, suspend, terminate, reinstate, or cancel services, websites, web pages, products, operations, accounts, content, sales, access, features, or benefits at any time.

We may update our rules, guidelines, and expectations without notice at any time in our complete discretion.

We may change our terms of agreement from time to time without giving you notice. Your use of our services and websites at any time shall be governed by the terms of agreement that are current at the time.

In the event that either we or a user terminate a user’s access, an account, or our relationship, we may retain all information or materials that the user provided to us at any time, and we may continue to exploit all public communications of the user to our services or websites. Our rights under this agreement shall survive termination of a user’s access, account, or relationship with us.

We may assign or transfer (whether by merger, reorganization, consolidation, sale of assets or otherwise) this agreement and all rights we have under it to anyone else without the need for your consent. This agreement will continue to bind you and will operate for to our benefit and the benefit of our successors.

Your Agreement to our Privacy Policy

You agree to and acknowledge our Privacy Policy, which is located elsewhere on our website, including the provision that the policy may change from time to time.

You expressly agree and acknowledge that we may use all information that you furnish to us, or that we obtain from our about you, for all purposes consistent with, or not inconsistent with, our Privacy Policy.

Your Agreement to Indemnify Us

You agree to indemnify us for all claims, demands, liability, damages, and costs arising from:

• any violations of any laws or rights by you;
• any actions by you that are harmful, dangerous, offensive, or unwelcome to others; and
• any harms you cause directly or indirectly to us, our property, or our business.

Warranty Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, COTTON BUREAU PROVIDES ITS SERVICES AND WEBSITES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS OR GUARANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. COTTON BUREAU DOES NOT WARRANT THE OPERATION OF ITS OFFERINGS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF COTTON BUREAU SERVICES SHALL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY A COTTON BUREAU AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY.

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT COTTON BUREAU WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, GOODWILL, USE OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES RESULTING FROM: (I) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE COTTON BUREAU’S SERVICES; (II) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; OR (III) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO COTTON BUREAU’S SERVICES, WEBSITES, OR OPERATIONS, EVEN IF YOU HAVE ADVISED US OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT WE ARE NOT THE SPEAKER OR PUBLISHER OF ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL THAT OTHERS CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WEBSITES OR SERVICES, AND THAT ALL MATERIAL ON OUR WEBSITES OR SERVICES IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. WE DO NOT REGULARLY MONITOR USER CONTRIBUTIONS ON OUR WEBSITES OR SERVICES. YOU FURTHER EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT WE OR MAY NOT MAINTAIN OR REMOVE ANY PARTICULAR INFORMATION OR MATERIAL FROM OTHERS ON OUR WEBSITES AND SERVICES.

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT WE MAKE NO GUARANTEE OR AFFIRMATION REGARDING THE RELIABILITY, ACCURACY, QUALITY, COMPLETENESS, USEFULNESS, OR OTHER QUALITIES OF INFORMATION OR MATERIAL THAT PERSONS CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WEBSITES AND SERVICES. YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE FULLY RESPONSIBLE TO EVALUATE AND BEAR ANY RISKS RELATING TO YOUR USE OF, OR RELIANCE ON, ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL FROM OTHERS.

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT TO THE CONTRARY, THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE MONETARY LIABILITY OF COTTON BUREAU AND ANY OF ITS AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AFFILIATES IN CONNECTION WITH THE COTTON BUREAU SERVICES, UNDER ANY THEORY OF LAW (INCLUDING BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, AND INFRINGEMENT) SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO US.

Disputes

We hope and trust that our relationship will always be satisfactory. In the unlikely event that a dispute arises between us, you agree that the following terms will apply:

• You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of Cotton Bureau services, websites, or operations, or arising out or related to of our relationship or this agreement, must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
• Any disputes arising out of your use of our services, websites, or operations, or arising out of or related to our relationship or this agreement, shall be governed by the ADDITIONAL TERMS OF AGREEMENT REGARDING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES included below.
• Subject to the provisions of the ADDITIONAL TERMS OF AGREEMENT REGARDING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES, which shall control, You and Cotton Bureau agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, or courts having appellate jurisdiction over those courts. If you live in a country with laws that give consumers the right to bring disputes in their local courts, this paragraph does not override those rights.

Governing Law

These Terms will be governed by Pennsylvania law except for its conflicts of laws principles. Some countries (including those in the European Union) have laws that require agreements to be governed by the local laws of the consumer’s country or require that their substantive laws, including privacy laws, apply. This section does not override those laws.

Third-Party Beneficiaries

You agree that Cotton Bureau’s employees, representatives, management, and affiliates are third-party beneficiaries of Cotton Bureau’s rights under this agreement.

There are no other third-party beneficiaries of this agreement.

Entire Agreement and Severability to Conform to Law

This is the entire agreement between you and Cotton Bureau, replacing any earlier agreements between you and us, regarding your use of our services and websites.

No person has the authority to alter or waive our rights or your obligations under these terms unless an officer or counsel of Cotton Bureau executes a document agreeing to such an alteration or waiver.

If a court determines any provision of this Agreement to be illegal or unenforceable, the parties agree to sever that provision from this Agreement, with all other provisions remaining in force.

Additional Terms of Agreement Regarding Arbitration of Disputes

Cotton Bureau believes that most disagreements can be resolved informally and efficiently by contacting Cotton Bureau customer support. If You are a U.S. customer, and the dispute is not resolved through Cotton Bureau customer support, You and Cotton Bureau agree that any such dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating in any way to the Software and Services or this License Agreement (a “Claim”), shall be determined by binding arbitration or small claims court, instead of in courts of general jurisdiction, as follows:

Small Claims Court

You may elect to litigate your Claim in small claims court if all the requirements of the small claims court are satisfied, including any limitations on jurisdiction and the amount at issue in the dispute. You agree to bring a Claim in small claims court in your county of residence or in the United States.

Arbitration

Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court.  Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, allows for more limited discovery than in court, and is subject to very limited review by courts. Arbitrators can award the same damages and relief that a court can award.  You agree that, by agreeing to this License Agreement, the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration provision, and that You and Cotton Bureau are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.  This arbitration provision shall survive termination of this License Agreement and/or the termination of Your Cotton Bureau product license.

Notice of Claim: If You elect to seek arbitration, You must first send to Cotton Bureau, by certified mail, a written Notice of Your Claim ("Notice of Claim").  The Notice of Claim to Cotton Bureau should be addressed to: Nathan Peretic, Cotton Bureau, 110 Torrens St. Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 and should be prominently captioned “NOTICE OF CLAIM”.  The Notice of Claim should include both the mailing address and email address You would like Cotton Bureau to use to contact You. If Cotton Bureau elects to seek arbitration, it will send, by certified mail, a written Notice of Claim to Your billing address on file. A Notice of Claim, whether sent by You or by Cotton Bureau, must (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; (b) set forth the specific amount of damages or other relief sought ("Demand"); and (c) whether You reject any subsequent modification of the Dispute Resolution section by Cotton Bureau (see Section 12(B)(e)).

Arbitration Proceedings: If You and Cotton Bureau do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within thirty (30) days after the Notice of Claim is received, You or Cotton Bureau may commence an arbitration proceeding (or, alternatively, file a claim in small claims court).  You may download or copy a form of notice and a form to initiate arbitration at www.adr.org.  The arbitration will be governed by the Consumer or Commercial Arbitration Rules, as appropriate, of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") (collectively, the "AAA Rules"), as modified by this License Agreement, and will be administered by the AAA.  The AAA Rules and Forms are available online at www.adr.org.  The arbitrator is bound by the terms of this License Agreement.  All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including issues relating to the scope and enforceability of this arbitration provision.

Unless Cotton Bureau and You agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of either Your residence or of the mailing address You provided in Your Notice of Claim.  If Your claim is for U.S. $10,000 or less, Cotton Bureau agrees that You may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules.  If Your claim exceeds U.S. $10,000, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules.  Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.

Injunctive and Declaratory Relief: Except as set forth in the Small Claims Court provision above, the arbitrator shall determine all issues of liability on the merits of any claim asserted by You or Cotton Bureau, and may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim. To the extent that You or Cotton Bureau prevail on a claim and seek public injunctive relief (that is, injunctive relief that has the primary purpose and effect of prohibiting unlawful acts that threaten future injury to the general public), the entitlement to and extent of such relief must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration. The parties agree that litigation of any issues of public injunctive relief shall be stayed pending the outcome of the merits of any individual claims in arbitration.

Arbitration Fees: If Your claim for damages does not exceed $10,000, Cotton Bureau will pay all fees imposed by the AAA to conduct the arbitration, including reimbursement of Your initial filing fee, unless the arbitrator finds that either the substance of Your claim or the relief sought in Your Demand for Arbitration was frivolous or was brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)). If Your claim for damages exceeds $10,000, standard AAA Rules will govern the payment of all AAA fees, including filing, administration and arbitrator fees.

Class Action Waiver: YOU AND Cotton Bureau AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.  Further, if You have elected arbitration, unless both You and Cotton Bureau agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims with Your claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.  If this specific provision is found to be unenforceable, then the entirety of this Dispute Resolution section shall be null and void.

Modification of Dispute Resolution Section: If Cotton Bureau changes this “Dispute Resolution” section after the date You first accepted this License Agreement, and You have not otherwise affirmatively agreed to such changes, You may reject any such change by so stating within Your Notice of Claim. By failing to reject any changes to this Dispute Resolution section in Your Notice of Claim, You agree to resolve any Claim between You and Cotton Bureau in accordance with the terms of the Dispute Resolution section in effect as of the date of Your Notice of Claim.

Severability:  With the exception of the Class Action Waiver provisions noted above, if an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction decides that any part of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the other parts of this Agreement shall still apply.

Additional Terms of Agreement That Apply to Designers, Marketers, and Sellers

By providing a design or offering any item for sale, you agree to all the following terms.

Our Relationship to Designers/Marketers/Sellers

You acknowledge and agree that purchasers and other persons who use our websites, services, or operations are not affiliated with us and are independent. In the event of any dispute arising with or from purchasers and other users of our websites, services, or operations, you will resolve the dispute directly with them and will not hold us responsible for the acts or omissions of others.

Printing Issues

You acknowledge and agree that we cannot guarantee that the Design will meet your expectations and we will not confirm with you that our printing or other production matches your original Design. It is up to our discretion whether or not to send you a mockup for approval.

You agree that you are solely responsible for the final proof of all materials before printing or other production. You acknowledge that the printing process will not always be error-free.

You agree that you will not hold us liable for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of the printing process and related matters, even if you have advised us of the possibility of such damages.

Payments

Cotton Bureau uses PayPal or bank transfer to distribute payments to sellers. If you choose to enable bank transfers, you expressly authorize Cotton Bureau’s service provider, Dwolla, Inc. to originate credit transfers to your financial institution account.

Additional Terms of Agreement That Apply to Purchasers

By placing an order for purchase, you agree to all the following terms.

Our relationship to designers/marketers/sellers

You acknowledge and agree that designers, marketers, and sellers who use our platform are not affiliated with us and are independent. In the event of any dispute arising with or from designers, marketers, or sellers in connection with our websites, services, or operations, you will resolve the dispute directly with them and will not hold us responsible for the acts or omissions of others.

You agree that you will not hold us responsible for actions or omissions of other persons, including designers, marketers, and sellers, who use our services and website.

Glitches

Our Cotton Bureau team is only human, and therefore we make mistakes from time to time. We can’t promise that all of our product specs, pricing or other information or material on our Website is complete and accurate or error-free. You agree that, if we make a mistake relating to the pricing or specs of any merchandise available through our services or website, Cotton Bureau has the right not to complete orders at its own discretion.

You agree that we cannot guarantee availability of any product available through our services or website. If we are unable to ship an item in your order to you, we will promptly give you a refund for the item.

We choose reliable delivery services to deliver merchandise. You agree that, once we have delivered your order to a delivery service, addressed to you in accordance with your order, the risk of loss and title to the merchandise pass to you.

If you receive an item that is the wrong size or with a wrong design, please understand that we may not be able to provide a replacement. If you comply with our return instructions, we will promptly issue a refund for any wrong item.

Revised May 25, 2018