Privacy Notice &
Terms and Conditions

General Terms of Use​

1. Use of Our Services

A. Eligibility
This is a contract between you and the CSA. You must read and agree to these terms before using the Services. If you do not agree, you may not use the Services. You may use the Services only if you can form a binding contract with the CSA, and only in compliance with this Agreement and all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations. Any use or access to the Services by anyone under 13 is strictly prohibited and in violation of this Agreement. The Services are not available to any Users previously removed from the Services by the CSA.

B. Access to the Site
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you are hereby granted a non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, freely revocable license to use the Services for your internal use only as permitted by the features of the Services. The CSA reserves all rights not expressly granted herein in the Services and the CSA Content (as defined below). The CSA may terminate this license at any time for any reason or no reason.

C. CSA Accounts
Your CSA account gives you access to the services and functionality that we may establish and maintain from time to time and in our sole discretion. We may maintain different types of accounts for different types of Users. If you open a CSA account on behalf of a company, organization, or other entity, then (a) “you” includes you and that entity, and (b) you represent and warrant that you are an authorized representative of the entity with the authority to bind the entity to this Agreement, and that you agree to this Agreement on the entity’s behalf.

You may never use another User’s account without permission. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information, and you must keep this information up to date. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you must keep your account password secure. We encourage you to use “strong” passwords (passwords that use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols) with your account. You must notify the CSA immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. The CSA will not be liable for any losses caused by any unauthorized use of your account.

You may control your User profile and how you interact with the Services by changing the settings in your[member portal. By providing CSA your email address you consent to our using the email address to send you Services-related notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail. We may also use your email address to send you other messages, such as changes to features of the Services and special offers. If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may opt out or change your preferences in your member portal. Opting out may prevent you from receiving email messages regarding updates, improvements, or offers.

D. Services Rules
You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities: (i) copying, distributing, or disclosing any part of the Services in any medium, including without limitation by any automated or non-automated “scraping”; (ii) using any automated system, including without limitation “robots,” “spiders,” “offline readers,” etc., to access the Services in a manner that sends more request messages to the CSA servers than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time by using a conventional on-line web browser (except that the CSA grants the operators of public search engines revocable permission to use spiders to copy publically available materials from CSA.org for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials); (iii) transmitting spam, chain letters, or other unsolicited email; (iv) attempting to interfere with, compromise the system integrity or security or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running the Services; (v) taking any action that imposes, or may impose at our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (vi) uploading invalid data, viruses, worms, or other software agents through the Services; (vii) collecting or harvesting any personally identifiable information, including account names, from the Services; (viii) using the Services for any commercial solicitation purposes; (ix) impersonating another person or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity, conducting fraud, hiding or attempting to hide your identity; (x) interfering with the proper working of the Services; (xi) accessing any content on the Services through any technology or means other than those provided or authorized by the Services; or (xii) bypassing the measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Services, including without limitation features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Services or the content therein.

We may, without prior notice, change the Services; stop providing the Services or features of the Services, to you or to Users generally; or create usage limits for the Services. We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your access to the Services without notice and liability for any reason, including if in our sole determination you violate any provision of this Agreement, or for no reason. Upon termination for any reason or no reason, you continue to be bound by this Agreement.
You are solely responsible for your interactions with other CSA Users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Users. The CSA shall have no liability for your interactions with other Users, or for any User’s action or inaction.

2. Membership; User Content

If you are a CSA Member, please refer to the Membership Terms and Conditions for additional terms and conditions applicable to you.

Some areas of the Services allow Users to submit, post, display, provide, or otherwise make available content such as profile information, comments, questions, and other content or information (any such materials a User submits, posts, displays, provides, or otherwise makes available on the Services is referred to as “User Content”).

WE CLAIM NO OWNERSHIP RIGHTS OVER USER CONTENT CREATED BY YOU. THE USER CONTENT YOU CREATE REMAINS YOURS. However, you understand that certain portions of the Services may allow other Users to view, edit, share, and/or otherwise interact with your User Content. By providing or sharing User Content through the Services, you agree to allow others to view, edit, share, and/or interact with your User Content in accordance with your settings and this Agreement. The CSA has the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to remove any User Content that is shared via the Service.

By submitting, posting, displaying, providing, or otherwise making available any User Content on or through the Service, you expressly grant, and you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant, to the CSA a royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, list information regarding, edit, translate, distribute, syndicate, publicly perform, publicly display, and make derivative works of all such User Content and your name, voice, and/or likeness as contained in your User Content, in whole or in part, and in any form, media or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed, for use in connection with the Services and the CSA’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Services (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each User of the Services a non-exclusive license to access your User Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Content as permitted through the functionality of the Services and under this Agreement.

For the purposes of this Agreement, “Intellectual Property Rights” means all patent rights, copyright rights, mask work rights, moral rights, rights of publicity, trademark, trade dress and service mark rights, goodwill, trade secret rights and other intellectual property rights as may now exist or hereafter come into existence, and all applications therefore and registrations, renewals and extensions thereof, under the laws of any state, country, territory or other jurisdiction.

In connection with your User Content, you affirm, represent and warrant the following:

You have obtained and are solely responsible for obtaining all consents as may be required by law to post any User Content relating to third parties.
Your User Content and the CSA’s use thereof as contemplated by this Agreement and the Services will not violate any law or infringe any rights of any third party, including but not limited to any Intellectual Property Rights and privacy rights.
The CSA may exercise the rights to your User Content granted under this Agreement without liability for payment of any guild fees, residuals, payments, fees, or royalties payable under any collective bargaining agreement or otherwise.
To the best of your knowledge, all User Content that you make available via the Services is truthful and accurate.

The CSA takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content that you or any other User or third party posts, sends, or otherwise makes available over the Service. You shall be solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of posting, publishing it, sharing it, or otherwise making it available on the Service, and you agree that we are only acting as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of your User Content. You understand and agree that you may be exposed to User Content that is inaccurate, objectionable, inappropriate for children, or otherwise unsuited to your purpose, and you agree that the CSA shall not be liable for any damages you allege to incur as a result of or relating to any User Content.

3. Our Proprietary Rights

The Services and all materials therein or transferred thereby, including, without limitation, software, images, text, graphics, illustrations, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, photographs, audio, videos, and music, (the “CSA Content”), and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto, are the exclusive property of the CSA and its licensors. Except as explicitly provided herein, nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create a license in or under any such Intellectual Property Rights, and you agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from any CSA Content. Use of the CSA Content for any purpose not expressly permitted by this Agreement is strictly prohibited.

You may choose to or we may invite you to submit comments or ideas about the Services, including without limitation about how to improve the Services or our products (“Ideas”). By submitting any Idea, you agree that your disclosure is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction and will not place the CSA under any fiduciary or other obligation, and that we are free to use the Idea without any additional compensation to you, and/or to disclose the Idea on a non-confidential basis or otherwise to anyone. You further acknowledge that, by acceptance of your submission, the CSA does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to the CSA, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

4. No Professional Advice

If the Services provide professional information (for example, medical, legal, or financial), such information is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. No action should be taken based upon any information contained in the Services. You should seek independent professional advice from a person who is licensed and/or qualified in the applicable area.

5. Text Messaging

You may sign up to receive certain CSA notifications or information via text messaging. You may incur additional charges from your wireless provider for these services. You agree that you are solely responsible for any such charges.

6. Third-Party Links and Information

The Services may contain links to third-party materials that are not owned or controlled by the CSA. The CSA does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access a third-party website or service from the Services or on or through any third-party website or service, you do so at your own risk, and you understand that this Agreement and the CSA’s Privacy Notice do not apply to your use of such sites. You expressly relieve the CSA from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website, service, or content. Additionally, your dealings with or participation in promotions of advertisers found on the Services, including payment and delivery of goods, and any other terms (such as warranties) are solely between you and such advertisers. You agree that the CSA shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any sort relating to your dealings with such advertisers.

7. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the CSA and its subsidiaries, agents, licensors, managers, and other affiliated companies, and their employees, contractors, agents, officers and directors, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from: (i) your use of and access to the Services, including any data or content transmitted or received by you; (ii) your violation of any term of this Agreement, including without limitation your breach of any of the representations and warranties above; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any right of privacy or Intellectual Property Rights; (iv) your violation of any applicable law, rule or regulation; (v) any content that is submitted via your account including without limitation misleading, false, or inaccurate information; (vi) your willful misconduct; or (vii) any other party’s access and use of the Services with your unique username, password or other appropriate security code.

8. No Warranty

The services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Use of the services is at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the services are provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from the csa or through the services will create any warranty not expressly stated herein. Without limiting the foregoing, the csa, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, and its licensors do not warrant that the content is accurate, reliable or correct; that the services will meet your requirements; that the services will be available at any particular time or location, uninterrupted or secure; that any defects or errors will be corrected; or that the services is free of viruses or other harmful components. Any content downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the services is downloaded at your own risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from such download or your use of the services.

The csa does not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any product or site advertised or offered by a third party through the services or any hyperlinked website or site, and the csa will not be a party to or in any way monitor any transaction between you and third-party providers of products or services.

Federal law, some states, provinces and other jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion and limitations of certain implied warranties, so the above exclusions may not apply to you. This agreement gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. The disclaimers and exclusions under this agreement will not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the csa, its affiliates, agents, directors, employees, suppliers or licensors be liable for any indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including without limitation damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses, arising out of or relating to the use of, or inability to use, these services. Under no circumstances will the csa be responsible for any damage, loss or injury resulting from hacking, tampering or other unauthorized access or use of the services or your account or the information contained therein.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the csa assumes no liability or responsibility for any (I) errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies of content; (ii) personal injury or property damage, of any nature whatsoever, resulting from your access to or use of our services; (iii) any unauthorized access to or use of our secure servers and/or any and all personal information stored therein; (iv) any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the services; (v) any bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or the like that may be transmitted to or through our services by any third party; (vi) any errors or omissions in any content or for any loss or damage incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available through the services, including without limitation any user content; and/or (vii) the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of any third party. In no event shall the csa, its affiliates, agents, directors, employees, suppliers, or licensors be liable to you for any claims, proceedings, liabilities, obligations, damages, losses or costs in an amount exceeding the amount you paid to the csa in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the liability hereunder or $100.00, whichever is less.

This limitation of liability section applies whether the alleged liability is based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other basis, even if the csa has been advised of the possibility of such damage. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction.

Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you. This agreement gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. The disclaimers, exclusions, and limitations of liability under this agreement will not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

The services are controlled and operated from facilities in the United States. The csa makes no representations that the services are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use the services from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are entirely responsible for compliance with all applicable united states and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to export and import regulations. You may not use the services if you are a resident of a country embargoed by the united states, or are a foreign person or entity blocked or denied by the united states government. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all materials found on the services are solely directed to individuals, companies, or other entities located in the United States.

10. Governing Law, Arbitration, and Class Action/Jury Trial Waiver

A. Governing Law. You agree that: (i) the Services shall be deemed solely based in New York; and (ii) the Services shall be deemed a passive one that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over us, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than New York. This Agreement shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of New York, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement evidences a transaction involving interstate commerce. Notwithstanding the preceding sentences with respect to the substantive law, any arbitration conducted pursuant to the terms of this Agreement shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16). The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in New York, New York for any actions for which we retain the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a our copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights, as set forth in the Arbitration provision below, including any provisional relief required to prevent irreparable harm. You agree that New York, New York is the proper forum for any appeals of an arbitration award or for trial court proceedings in the event that the arbitration provision below is found to be unenforceable.

B. Arbitration. READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT REQUIRES THE PARTIES TO ARBITRATE THEIR DISPUTES AND LIMITS THE MANNER IN WHICH YOU CAN SEEK RELIEF FROM THE CSA. For any dispute with the CSA, you agree to first contact us at [email protected] and attempt to resolve the dispute with us informally. In the unlikely event that the CSA has not been able to resolve a dispute it has with you after sixty (60) days, we each agree to resolve any claim, dispute, or controversy (excluding any claims for injunctive or other equitable relief as provided below) arising out of or in connection with or relating to this Agreement, or the breach or alleged breach thereof (collectively, “Claims”), by binding arbitration by JAMS, under the Optional Expedited Arbitration Procedures then in effect for JAMS, except as provided herein. JAMS may be contacted at www.jamsadr.com. The arbitration will be conducted in New York, New York, unless you and the CSA agree otherwise. If you are using the Services for commercial purposes, each party will be responsible for paying any JAMS filing, administrative and arbitrator fees in accordance with JAMS rules, and the award rendered by the arbitrator shall include costs of arbitration, reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses. If you are an individual using the Services for non-commercial purposes: (i) JAMS may require you to pay a fee for the initiation of your case, unless you apply for and successfully obtain a fee waiver from JAMS; (ii) the award rendered by the arbitrator may include your costs of arbitration, your reasonable attorney’s fees, and your reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses; and (iii) you may sue in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction without first engaging in arbitration, but this does not absolve you of your commitment to engage in the informal dispute resolution process. Any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed as preventing the CSA from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief from the courts as necessary to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of our data security, Intellectual Property Rights or other proprietary rights.

C. Class Action/Jury Trial Waiver. WITH RESPECT TO ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY HAVE OBTAINED OR USED THE SERVICES FOR PERSONAL, COMMERCIAL OR OTHER PURPOSES, ALL CLAIMS MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTIES’ INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THIS WAIVER APPLIES TO CLASS ARBITRATION, AND, UNLESS WE AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS. YOU AGREE THAT, BY ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND THE CSA ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING OF ANY KIND.

11. General

A. Delays. Neither party will be liable to the other for any delay or failure to perform its obligations hereunder (other than for the payment of amounts due) if such delay or failure arises from any cause or causes beyond the reasonable control of the affected party, including acts of God, flood, fire, loss of Internet access, electricity, or other utilities, epidemic, pandemic, act of a public enemy or terrorist, act of any military, civil, regulatory or governmental authority, change in law or regulation, labor problem or unavailability of supplies and any other cause, whether similar or dissimilar to any of the foregoing that could not have been prevented by such party with reasonable care.

B. Assignment. This Agreement, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by the CSA without restriction. Any attempted transfer or assignment in violation hereof shall be null and void.

C. Notification Procedures and Changes to the Agreement. The CSA may provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business-related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through posting of such notice on our website, as determined by the CSA in our sole discretion. The CSA reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to our Users, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in this Agreement. The CSA is not responsible for any automatic filtering you or your network provider may apply to email notifications we send to the email address you provide us. The CSA may, in its sole discretion, modify or update this Agreement, including without limitation the Membership Terms and Conditions, from time to time, and so you should review this page periodically. When we change the Agreement in a material manner, we will update the ‘last modified’ date at the top of this page and notify you that material changes have been made to the Agreement. Your continued use of the Services after any such change constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Use. If you do not agree to any of these terms or any future Terms of Use, do not use or access (or continue to access) the Services.

D. Entire Agreement/Severability. This Agreement, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with the CSA in connection with the Services, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and the CSA concerning the Services. If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect, except that in the event of unenforceability of the universal Class Action/Jury Trial Waiver, the entire arbitration agreement shall be unenforceable.

E. No Waiver. No waiver of any term of this Agreement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and the CSA’s failure to assert any right or provision under this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

F. California Residents. The provider of services is The Chief of Staff Association, 228 Park Ave South, PMB 79480, New York, New York 10003-1502, United States, email [email protected]. If you are a California resident, in accordance with Cal. Civ. Code §1789.3, you may report complaints to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Sites of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by contacting them in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112 Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210 or (916) 445-1254.