Sensible Studio, LLC operating as Hug Letters
Last Updated: October 16th 2023
The following terms and conditions (the “Agreement”) govern all use of the Hug Letters website (located at https://www.hugletters.com – “Website”), products, and services (collectively, the “Service”). The Service is owned and operated by Sensible Studio, LLC ("Hug Letters", “us”, “we”, or “our”), a Delaware limited liability company. The Service is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all the terms and conditions contained herein. BY USING OR ACCESSING ANY PART OF THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED HEREIN; IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT USE THE SERVICE.
Hug Letters reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement at any time. If we have your email address, we will notify you via email. In addition, we will update the “Last Updated” date above.
To the extent you have an executed agreement with Hug Letters with respect to the subject matter here, such separate agreement will control.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS THAT YOU AGREE TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES YOU MAY HAVE WITH US – AND WAIVE RIGHTS TO BRING CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS. PLEASE SEE SECTION 18 (“DISPUTE RESOLUTION”) BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION. BY ENTERING THIS AGREEMENT, YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND HAVE TAKEN TIME TO CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS IMPORTANT DECISION.
The Service allows users to compile family-oriented content into a monthly subscription-based newspaper (“Hug Letters”). Family members can contribute photos and stories that are included in Hug Letters, which are primarily intended for loved ones, such as grandparents. Users engage directly with the platform to upload content, organize the structure, and manage their subscriptions.
In order to use the Service, you may be required to create a Service account (“Account”). You represent and warrant that: (a) all required registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information. You will not share your Account login credentials (such as your passwords) with any third party. You must immediately notify us of any unauthorized use, or suspected unauthorized use of your Account or any other breach of security with respect to your Account.
Hug Letters may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time. Hug Letters may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.
The Service is available only to individuals who are at least 18 years old. You represent and warrant that if you are an individual, you are at least 18 years old, and you also certify that you take full responsibility for the selection and use of the Service. This Agreement is void where prohibited by law, and the right to access the Service is revoked in such jurisdictions.
You shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining any equipment or ancillary services needed to connect to, access the Service, including, without limitation, modems, hardware, software, and long-distance or local telephone service. You shall be responsible for ensuring that such equipment or ancillary services are compatible with the Service.
The purchaser of a Hug Letters subscription retains ownership of their personal content contributed to the family newspaper (“Hug Letters Content”); however, the owner must not use any materials or statements from the Hug Letters Content for any commercial purposes without appropriate legal consent.
In connection with the compilation of Hug Letters Content, you may be asked to provide information, photos, stories, and other content (“User Submissions”). By providing User Submissions to Hug Letters, you hereby do and shall grant Sensible Studio, LLC a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the User Submissions in connection with the applicable Hug Letters Content. You acknowledge that your User Submissions may be seen by anyone with whom the Hug Letters Content is shared (such as family members or others in a private group).
You represent and warrant that your User Submissions will (i) be truthful and accurate, (ii) not violate any laws or regulations, (iii) not violate any third party’s intellectual property or other rights, (iv) not disparage, defame, or slander any third party, and (v) not violate any obligations you have to any third party (including confidentiality obligations).
Fees for the Hug Letters subscriptions (or related products and services) will be as set forth by Hug Letters on the Website (collectively, "Fees"). All amounts are due in U.S. Dollars. You acknowledge and agree that Sensible Studio, LLC may use a third-party payment processor to facilitate payments hereunder. If payment is made with a credit card, you warrant that you are the owner or authorized user of the applicable card, and that we, and our payment processor, may charge such card. All information you submit in connection with your purchase (such as your email, address, etc.) must be true, accurate, and up-to-date.
You are responsible for all taxes associated with your purchase (other than taxes based on Sensible Studio, LLC's income).
If your purchase is subject to recurring charges, then you consent to our charging your payment method on a recurring basis without requiring your prior approval for each recurring charge, until you notify us of your cancellation.
We reserve the right to correct any errors or mistakes in pricing, even if we have already requested or received payment. We also reserve the right to refuse any order placed through the Website.
Except as otherwise set forth by Hug Letters on the Website, all Fees are non-cancellable and non-refundable.
You represent and warrant (i) your use of the Service will comply with all laws and regulations (including with respect to privacy), (ii) no content (such as User Submissions, stories, text, data, photos, videos, images, information, and trademarks/logos) you submit to the Service (collectively “User Content”) will infringe or otherwise violate any third party intellectual property rights or any laws or regulations (including, without limitation, as related to obscenity, defamation, and privacy), (iii) if you use the Service on behalf of any third party, you have all necessary authorizations, and (iv) your use of the Service will not conflict with any obligations you have to any third party. Subject to Section 4, Sensible Studio, LLC is hereby granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right to use, reproduce, and display such User Content as reasonably necessary to provide you with the Service. Sensible Studio, LLC reserves the right to remove any User Content from the Service at any time, for any reason (including, but not limited to, upon receipt of claims or allegations from third parties or authorities relating to such User Content), or for no reason at all.
Sensible Studio, LLC has no obligation to provide any support under this agreement.
You shall not submit any content or information to the Service that is false, misleading, or inaccurate. You shall not use any “deep-link”, “page-scrape”, “robot”, “spider”, or other automatic device, program, algorithm, or methodology, or any similar or equivalent manual process, to access, acquire, copy, or monitor any portion of the Service, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Service, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents, or information through any means not purposely made available through the Service. Sensible Studio, LLC reserves the right to bar any such activity. You shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion or feature of the Service, or any other systems or networks connected to the Service or to any Sensible Studio, LLC server, or to any of the services offered on or through the Service, by hacking, password “mining”, or any other illegitimate means. You shall not probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or any network connected to the Service, nor breach the security or authentication measures on the Service or any network connected to the Service. You shall not reverse look-up, trace or seek to trace any information on any other user of or visitor to the Service, or any other customer of Sensible Studio, LLC, including any Sensible Studio, LLC account not owned by you, to its source, or exploit the Service or any service or information made available or offered by or through the Service, in any way where the purpose is to reveal any information, including but not limited to personal identification or information, other than your own information, as provided for by the Service. You shall not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of the Service or Sensible Studio, LLC’s systems or networks, or any systems or networks connected to the Service or to Sensible Studio, LLC. You shall not use any device, software, or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service or any transaction being conducted on the Service, or with any other person’s use of the Service. You shall not forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any message or transmittal you send to Sensible Studio, LLC on or through the Service. You shall not, in connection with the Service, pretend (e.g., through impersonation) that you are any other individual or entity. You shall not use the Service for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by this Agreement, or to solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes the rights of Sensible Studio, LLC or others.
If you provide ideas, suggestions, or other feedback to Sensible Studio, LLC in connection with the Service (such as suggestions for improvements to the Service) ("Feedback"), you acknowledge that the Feedback is not confidential, and you authorize Sensible Studio, LLC (and our successors and assigns) a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, transferrable, royalty-free, fully paid-up right and license to use, reproduce, display, perform, distribute, sell, and otherwise fully exploit all Feedback.
We may provide you areas on the Website to leave reviews or ratings. When posting a review, you must comply with the following criteria: (1) you should have firsthand experience with the person/entity being reviewed; (2) your reviews should not contain offensive profanity, or abusive, racist, offensive, or hate language; (3) your reviews should not contain discriminatory references based on religion, race, gender, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability; (4) your reviews should not contain references to illegal activity; (5) you should not be affiliated with competitors if posting negative reviews; (6) you should not make any conclusions as to the legality of conduct; (7) you may not post any false or misleading statements; and (8) you may not organize a campaign encouraging others to post reviews, whether positive or negative.
We may accept, reject, or remove reviews in our sole discretion. We have absolutely no obligation to screen reviews or to delete reviews, even if anyone considers reviews objectionable or inaccurate. Reviews are not endorsed by us and do not necessarily represent our opinions or the views of any of our affiliates or partners. We do not assume liability for any review or for any claims, liabilities, or losses resulting from any review. By posting a review, you hereby grant to us a perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully-paid, assignable, and sublicensable right and license to reproduce, modify, translate, transmit by any means, display, perform, and/or distribute all content relating to reviews.
The Service may permit you to link to other third-party websites, applications, or services ("Third-Party Offerings"), and other websites or applications may contain links to the Service. Such Third-Party Offerings are not under Hug Letters' control, and you acknowledge that Hug Letters is not responsible or liable for the content, functions, accuracy, legality, appropriateness, or any other aspect of such sites. The inclusion of any such link does not imply endorsement by Hug Letters. You further acknowledge and agree that Hug Letters shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services available on or through any such Third-Party Offerings.
You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Sensible Studio, LLC operating as Hug Letters, and each of our employees, contractors, directors, suppliers, and representatives from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that arise from or relate to: (i) your use or misuse of, or access to, the Service; (ii) your violation of this Agreement; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; (iv) any claim that one of your User Submissions caused damage to a third party; or (v) any disputes or issues between you and any third party. We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will assist and cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. HUG LETTERS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (I) THE SERVICE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR (II) THE RESULTS OF USING THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.
THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMERS SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
IN NO EVENT SHALL SENSIBLE STUDIO, LLC, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE: (I) FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE, (II) FOR ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE (REGARDLESS OF THE SOURCE), OR (III) FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF (IN THE AGGREGATE) $100.00 (U.S.). THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Hug Letters may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement, you may simply discontinue using the Service. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.
You agree not to import, export, re-export, or transfer, directly or indirectly, any part of the Service or any information provided on or through the Service except in full compliance with all United States, foreign, and other applicable laws and regulations.
When you use the Service or send emails to Hug Letters, you are communicating with Hug Letters electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that Hug Letters provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
All legal notices to Hug Letters must be addressed in writing and sent by registered or certified mail to: Sensible Studio, LLC, 2041 N Hamlin Ave, FL2, Chicago, IL 60647 (Attn: Legal). If you have general questions regarding this Agreement or the Service, you may also email us at contact@hugletters.com. Hug Letters may provide notices to you via email or to any other address you provide.
Let's Try To Work It Out. Ideally, if you have any concerns or complaint against Hug Letters, we would like to resolve the issue without resorting to formal court or arbitration proceedings. Therefore, before filing a claim against Hug Letters, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting us as set forth in Section 17 above. Hug Letters will attempt to resolve the dispute informally (and will contact you via email). If a dispute is not resolved within thirty (30) days of submission, you may bring a formal proceeding.
Arbitration. Any disputes that are not settled informally as contemplated above shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the rules and procedures (“Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). The Rules will be AAA’s Consumer Arbitration Rules if available. Arbitration shall be conducted by one (1) arbitrator selected in accordance with the Rules. In the event any telephonic or other streamlined procedures are available – they will be used. The written decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties and enforceable in any court. The arbitration proceeding shall take place in Chicago, Illinois, using the English language. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may bring claims for equitable or injunctive relief before a court (see the “Going to Court” section below) at any time.
Process. A form for initiating arbitration proceedings is available on the AAA's site at www.adr.org. In addition to filing this form with the AAA, the party initiating the arbitration must mail a copy of the completed form to the opposing party. You may send a copy to Hug Letters at: Sensible Studio, LLC, 2041 N Hamlin Ave, FL2, Chicago, IL 60647 (Attn: Arbitration). In the event we initiate arbitration against you, we will send a copy of the completed form to the email address or physical address we have on file.
Evidence. If your claim does not exceed $10,000, then the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents we and you submit to the arbitrator, unless you request a hearing or the arbitrator determines that a hearing is necessary. If your claim exceeds $10,000, your right to a hearing will be determined by the Rules. Subject to the Rules, the arbitrator will have the discretion to direct a reasonable exchange of information by the parties, consistent with the expedited nature of the arbitration.
Fees. The parties will each bear their own costs and expenses associated with the arbitration – and responsibility to pay any AAA filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees will be solely as set forth in the AAA Rules.
No Class Actions. You may only resolve disputes with Hug Letters on an individual basis and may not bring a claim as a plaintiff or a class member in a class, consolidated, or representative action. Class arbitrations, class actions, private attorney general actions, and consolidation with other arbitrations are not allowed.
Modifications. Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make any amendment to the foregoing arbitration terms or conditions (other than an amendment to any notice address or site link) in the future, such amendment shall not apply to any claim that was filed in a legal proceeding against Hug Letters prior to the effective date of the amendment. In addition, you shall have the right to reject any such amendment by notifying Hug Letters in writing within thirty (30) days of the date that you are first notified of the amendment (according to the procedures set forth above in this Section 18). In the event you so reject an amendment, the amendment will not apply to you – but this Section 18 will otherwise remain in full force and effect (according to the pre-amendment version you had already agreed to).
Going to Court. Subject to the arbitration provision above, you agree that the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for all disputes arising in connection with this Agreement shall be in the state and Federal courts located in Chicago, Illinois. You hereby submit to such jurisdiction and venue.
THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THIS SECTION 18 WILL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED OR OTHERWISE.
Visiting the Website, sending us emails, and completing online forms constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Site, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing. YOU HEREBY AGREE TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, CONTRACTS, ORDERS, AND OTHER RECORDS, AND TO ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICES, POLICIES, AND RECORDS OF TRANSACTIONS INITIATED OR COMPLETED BY US OR VIA THE SITE. You hereby waive any rights or requirements under any statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, or other laws in any jurisdiction which require an original signature or delivery or retention of non-electronic records, or to payments or the granting of credits by any means other than electronic means.
Unless otherwise indicated, the Website is Hug Letters’ proprietary property and all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics on the Site (collectively, the “Content”) and the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the “Marks”) are owned or controlled by us or licensed to us, and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, international copyright laws, and international conventions. The Content and the Marks are provided on the Site “AS IS” for your information and personal use only. Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, no part of the Site and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever, without our express prior written permission.
Provided that you are eligible to use the Website, you are granted a limited license to access and use the Website and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you in and to the Website, the Content, and the Marks.
The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable, or sublicensable by you except with Hug Letters' prior written consent. Hug Letters may assign this Agreement in whole or in part at any time without your consent. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of this Agreement and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind Hug Letters in any respect whatsoever. Any notice to the Site that is required or permitted by this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed effective upon receipt, when delivered personally or by courier, overnight delivery service, or confirmed facsimile, 48 hours after being deposited in the regular mail as certified or registered mail (airmail if sent internationally) with postage prepaid, addressed to Sensible Studio, LLC, 2041 N Hamlin Ave, FL2, Chicago, IL 60647 (Attn: Legal), or in the case of notice to you, to the email address you provided to Hug Letters (if any). The terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement shall be binding upon assignees.