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Last Updated: March 3, 2022
Effective Date: June 3, 2022
These Terms of Use govern your use of Encyclopædia Britannica® Online and, unless other terms and conditions expressly govern, any other electronic services, including API and mobile application services, provided by or made available online by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., and its affiliates Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd., Encyclopædia Britannica Australia Ltd., Britannica Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., and Merriam-Webster, Inc. (collectively, "Britannica") that may be available from time to time (collectively, the "Services").
Your use of the Services constitutes your agreement to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, please do not use the Services. Britannica reserves the right to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time, and the modified Terms of Use will be effective when posted on the Services. Please check this page periodically for any modifications. Your use of any of the Services following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of the changes.
THESE TERMS OF USE CONTAIN DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY, A CHOICE OF LAW CLAUSE, AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER. THESE PROVISIONS AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH BRITANNICA. PLEASE READ THEM.
Britannica offers three types of access to its Services: (1) advertising-supported; (2) individual and family consumer subscriptions; and (3) institutional subscriptions. Section 1 of these Terms of Use applies to all individuals who use our Services – advertising-supported and subscription-based. Section 2 applies only to individuals with consumer subscriptions. Section 3 applies only to individuals who are Authorized Users under institutional subscriptions. Section 4 – Service-Specific Terms – applies only to users of a particular Service. Section 5 - Legal Notices – applies to everyone. These Terms of Use also incorporate the terms contained in our Privacy Policy, so please read.
Ownership. The content on the Services is the property of Britannica, its affiliated companies or licensors, and is protected by international copyright, patent, and trademark laws.
Advertising. Advertisements, promotions, and marketing messages may appear on the Services from time to time, unless you or your institution has a subscription-based or API Service. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
Use of Content. You may display, reproduce, print or download content on the Services only for your personal, non-commercial use. If you are a teacher, scholar or student, you may copy reasonable portions of the content for lesson plans, interactive whiteboards, reports, dissertations, presentations, school newspapers and for similar nonprofit educational purposes to the extent permitted by applicable law. In each case, however, you may not remove or alter any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary notices or legends. You may not publish, distribute, retransmit, sell or provide access to the content on the Services, except as permitted under applicable law or as described in these Terms of Use. Britannica works to ensure that all the content on its Services is in compliance with applicable U.S. copyright laws. However, in the case of works on the Services authored by parties other than Britannica, you may wish to check on their copyright status before downloading them if you are in another country. You may not use data mining, robots, screen scraping, or similar data gathering and extraction tools on the Services, except with our express written permission. You may not decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the Services, insert any code or product, or manipulate the content of the Services in any way that affects the user's experience.
If you want to reproduce or use content for any purpose or in any manner other than as described above, you will need Britannica's permission. Requests should be directed to this syndication form.
Use of Images. ImageQuest™ subscribers may use any image included on the ImageQuest™ Web site for non-commercial (not for sale), educational purposes only, and in accordance with these Terms of Use or as otherwise permitted in writing by Britannica. Educational purposes include: education, teaching, distance learning, private study, retrieving information and research.
User Generated Content. This section applies to the extent we have enabled posting of user-submitted comments, audio, video, text or other materials in the Services or otherwise allow you to send information or materials through the Services (collectively, “UGC”).
You are responsible for your own UGC and are responsible for the consequences of sending it through the Services. You must not do the following things: send or post UGC that is copyrighted, unless you are the copyright owner or have the permission of the copyright owner to post it; send or post UGC that reveals trade secrets, unless you own them or have the permission of the owner; send or post UGC that infringes on any other intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others or is otherwise unlawful; send or post UGC that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity; send or post a sexually-explicit image; send or post advertisements or solicitations of business; send or post chain letters or the like; or impersonate another person.
By sending or posting UGC, you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content and use of your UGC by Britannica will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party. By sending UGC, you automatically grant to Britannica, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display it alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology whether now known or hereafter developed, and to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees. You retain the right to reuse your UGC as submitted to Britannica.
You may not use the Services or other communication mechanisms to sell, to trade, or for other commercial purposes. You may not send UGC through the Services that violates the rights of any third party or contains a virus or other harmful component. Nor may you use language or engage in any activity that is threatening, abusive, vulgar, discourteous, disruptive, or unlawful.
Please be aware that once you post UGC, there is the potential for the general public to read your words, even years from now. Britannica suggests that you exercise caution when posting UGC on the Services and that you not disclose personal identifiable information like your location, medical record number, financial information, etc.
The opinions and/or views expressed in UGC represent the thoughts of individuals, and not those necessarily of Britannica or any of its affiliated companies or any of their respective directors, officers, attorneys, employees, or members of its board of directors. Accordingly, notwithstanding anything else in these Terms of Use, Britannica should not be seen as endorsing any UGC in any way. Britannica, its affiliated companies, any of their respective directors, officers, attorneys, employees, and/or members of its board of directors shall not be liable for any UGC posted or sent by users of the Services.
Britannica does not have any obligation to monitor, edit or delete UGC, but may do so in its sole discretion. UGC including, but not limited to, the following may be deleted or edited by Britannica:
By submitting UGC, you understand and acknowledge that this information is available to the public, and that we may use this information for internal and external promotional purposes. Please note that other visitors of the Services may use your posted UGC beyond the control of Britannica. If you do not wish to have the UGC you have made available via the Services used, published, copied and/or reprinted, please do not post UGC on the Services.
Linking to the Services. For details on how to link to the Services, click here. Please contact Britannica when you link to the Services, so that Britannica can better understand how its content is being accessed and so that you can be contacted when changes are made to the Services that could invalidate your links. Any linking to the Services will be at your own risk and expense.
By linking to the Services, you agree that you will not:
Mobile Application Services. You may download certain mobile applications from either Britannica Web sites or third party app stores. All of these Terms of Use, including our Privacy Policy, apply to the maximum extent relevant to your use of such Britannica mobile applications. Prices for our mobile applications may change at any time, and we do not provide price protection or refunds in the event of a price reduction or promotional offering.
Use of your Data. Please see our Privacy Policy for details about how we use and process the data we collect from our Services.
Service-Specific Terms. Some of our Services include additional, Service-specific terms that govern your use of the Service in question. Please click here to view our Service-specific terms. If you do not agree with the Service-specific terms, please do not use the Service in question.
Idea Submission Policy. I recognize that Britannica is always innovating and working on ideas, products, processes, and technologies for use in new and existing products. For this reason, Britannica does not accept or consider unsolicited ideas, including without limitation ideas for new or improved products, creative works, marketing plans, or product names (collectively, “Ideas”). Please do not submit any unsolicited Ideas in any form to Britannica. If, despite our request that you not send us Ideas, you still submit an Idea, then regardless of what you say in your submission, the following terms shall apply: You agree that:
Disclaimer of Warranties. THE SERVICES AND ALL INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER CONTENT INCLUDED IN OR ACCESSIBLE FROM THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE), ALL OF WHICH BRITANNICA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL BRITANNICA, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, OR CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE: (i) FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF BRITANNICA WAS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN CONTRACT, TORT, UNDER STATUTE, IN EQUITY, AT LAW, OR OTHERWISE; AND (ii) FOR ANY DAMAGES, LOSSES AND/OR CAUSES OF ACTION EXCEEDING ONE THOUSAND U.S. DOLLARS (US $1,000) IN THE AGGREGATE.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold Britannica, its directors, officers, shareholders, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of (i) the information or material you submit, including, but not limited to, liability for violations of copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, or any other intellectual property rights, or the privacy or publicity rights of others, or liability for information or material you provide that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity, or is fraudulent or deceptive, (ii) your use or unauthorized copying of the Services or any of their content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable laws or regulations.
Governing Law. You agree that all matters relating to your access to or use of the Services and these Terms of Use, including all disputes, will be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws, including the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
Class Action Waiver. YOU AND BRITANNICA AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING DISPUTES AGAINST THE OTHER PARTY ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, A FEDERAL OR STATE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. NEITHER YOU NOR BRITANNICA WILL SEEK TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION, OR IN ANY OTHER PROCEEDING IN WHICH EITHER PARTY ACTS OR PROPOSES TO ACT IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. Nothing in this paragraph limits your right or Britannica’s right to bring a lawsuit against each other as an individual plaintiff.
Claims or Disputes Must be Filed within One Year. To the extent permitted by law, any claim or dispute arising out of or related to use of the Services or these Terms of Use must be filed within one year after such claim or dispute arose. The one-year period begins when the notice of such claim or dispute first could be filed. If such a claim or dispute is not filed within one year, it shall be permanently barred. Any claim by you that may arise in connection with these Terms of Use will be compensable by monetary damages and you will in no event be entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief.
Opting Out of Pop Under Ads. Some of our pop-under ads are not detected by Safari and other browsers. To opt out of pop-under ads visit http://optmd.com.
Not Advice. Information contained in the Services is not intended to be medical, legal, tax, financial or other advice and should not be considered medical, legal, tax, financial or other advice, nor is it intended to replace consultation with a qualified physician, attorney or other professional.
Severability. If any provision of these Terms of Use shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Use and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Survival. The provisions of these Terms of Use which by their nature should survive the termination of these Terms of Use shall survive such termination.
Waiver. No waiver of any provision of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision, and your or our failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
Entire Agreement. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between Britannica and you, superseding any prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic).
Security of Subscription. Some of the Services are available only by subscription (the “Subscription Services”). Your right to use the Subscription Services for which you have subscribed is personal to you or members of your immediate family residing with you. If you are authorized only by an Institutional Subscriber (such as your employer, a school or library) to access and use any of the Subscription Services, your right to use the Subscription Services is not transferable to your family members; the Institutional Subscription-specific Terms of Use for individuals who benefit from an Institutional Subscription are at Section 3 below. You are responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your credentials for access to the Subscription Services (e.g., your username and password) and for complying with any guidelines prescribed by Britannica from time to time to prevent unauthorized access to the Subscription Services. You agree to immediately notify Britannica of any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. Britannica reserves the right to perform one-way encryption of passwords for account maintenance purposes.
Notice to Parents and Guardians. By granting your child permission to use the Subscription Services, you agree to these Terms of Use on behalf of your child. You are responsible for monitoring and supervising your child's use of the Subscription Service in question. If your child is using our Subscription Service and is either under 16 or does not have your permission, please contact us immediately so that we can disable his or her access. If you have questions about whether the Subscription Service is appropriate for your child, please review contact us.
Definitions. As used in these additional terms, "you" or "yours" refers to each person who establishes a subscriber account ("Account") or who is authorized to access and use any of the Subscription Services.
Account. You are responsible for all use of your Account under any user ID (username or email address) or password by any person and for ensuring that all use of your Account complies fully with the provisions of this Usage Agreement.
Subscription Fees and Changes. Subscription charges begin on the date your Services subscription is activated or, if applicable, on the date your free trial period ends, and will be billed to your credit or charge card each month (for monthly subscriptions) or year (for annual subscriptions) thereafter. You acknowledge and agree that you will not receive a bill in the mail for your subscription. Britannica reserves the right to increase subscription rates at any time. Changes to standard subscription rates will be posted at http://corporate.britannica.com/standard_rates.html or in a Britannica communication to you. Increases in subscription rates will apply to existing accounts at the time of their renewal and will not exceed the standard subscription rate that has been in effect and posted for at least 30 days. Reductions in the standard subscription rate will not necessarily be reflected in your renewal subscription rate. Customers subscribing at specially discounted promotional rates may be subject to varying rate increases, none of which shall exceed the standard posted subscription rate.
Termination of Subscription and Free Trial. Either party shall have the right to terminate your subscription at any time by providing notice of termination to the other. In the event of termination of your subscription by either party, you shall have no claims against Britannica or its affiliates. Termination of your subscriptions or free trial automatically terminates your license to use the Subscription Services and any content or other material contained therein. If you acquired an annual subscription to one of the Subscription Services and you terminate your subscription within 30 days of the date of activation of your Account, you are eligible to receive a refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica; you must contact Britannica Customer Support to receive this refund. If you are a resident of the Netherlands, you can terminate at any time during your annual subscription, on 30 days notice, and receive a pro-rated refund. If you acquired a monthly subscription to the Subscription Services or if your subscription is acquired with a Promotion Certificate and you terminate your subscription, you will not receive any refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica. If your subscription to the Subscription Services was acquired with a Gift Certificate and you terminate your subscription within 30 days of the date your Gift Certificate was acquired from Britannica, you are eligible to receive either: (a) a refund of the subscription fee paid to Britannica (available only to the party acquiring your Gift Certificate from Britannica); (b) a credit towards the price of acquiring other Britannica products or services; or (c) a credit towards the future subscription fee for an existing Subscription Services subscription. You must contact Britannica Customer Support to receive these remedies. If Britannica terminates your subscription, other than as a result of your breach of this Agreement, Britannica will refund to you a pro rata portion of the subscription fee paid to Britannica, if any, for the unexpired portion of your subscription.
Subscription Changes. If you acquired an annual subscription to the Subscription Services and you wish to change to another Subscription Service offering you may do so without penalty within 30 days of the activation of your Account. You must contact Customer Service to request this or other changes from one Subscription Service to another. If you acquired a monthly subscription to the Subscription Services and you wish to change to another Subscription Service offering, contact Customer Service, the change will be made effective when your current monthly term ends.
Renewals and Cancellations. Your subscription will renew automatically unless we terminate it or you notify us by telephone or email (receipt of which must be confirmed by email reply from us) of your decision to cancel your subscription. You must cancel your subscription before it renews in order to avoid billing of subscription fees for the renewal term to your credit card. Instructions on how to cancel your subscription are available at http://account.britannica.com. In the event that you cancel your subscription, unless otherwise required by law, subscription fees will not be refunded, applied to another subscription, or transferred to anyone else and are not convertible to cash or other form of credit. Payments made as part of a monthly subscription cannot be used as credit toward annual subscription charges and are non-transferable.
Credit Cards or Charge Cards. You agree that you will provide a major credit or charge card (e.g., MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover) that Britannica may charge for all subscription fees or other amounts payable to Britannica. With respect to such charges, you give the following authorization:
I authorize automatic credit or charge card billing by Britannica. I agree that the charges described above will be billed by Britannica to the credit or charge card that I have provided to Britannica in my Account information, or otherwise when I applied for the Subscription Services. I understand that all fees and charges are nonrefundable. I agree that Britannica will not be responsible for any expenses that I may incur resulting from overdrawing my bank account or exceeding my credit limit as a result of an automatic charge made under this Agreement.
Account Information. You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate information for your Account in order to receive access to the Subscription Services. You agree to promptly update all Account information to keep your account current, complete, and accurate (such as a change in billing address, credit or charge card number, or credit or charge card expiration date) and you must promptly notify Britannica if your credit or charge card is cancelled (for example, for loss or theft) or if you become aware of a potential breach of security, such as the unauthorized disclosure or use of your log-in and password. Changes to such information can be made by going to the Account Maintenance area at http://account.britannica.com. If you fail to provide Britannica any of the foregoing information, you agree that Britannica may assume that your credit or charge card is either still valid or that it has been renewed and may continue charging you for the Subscription Services to which you have subscribed, unless you have cancelled your subscription.
Definitions. Institutional Subscribers may be a business (“Business”), government agency ("Agency”), school and related facilities (“School”), college or university (“University”) or public library (“Library”). “Authorized Users” are the following: (i) employees, agents or representatives in the case of Businesses and Agencies; (ii) students of Subscriber, its faculty members, administrators, and employed staff in the case of Schools; (iii) full or part-time students of Subscriber, its faculty members, administrators and employed staff in the case of Universities; and (iv) patrons, employees, agents or representatives in the case of Libraries.
Remote Access. Only Authorized Users are permitted to access the Services remotely. Authorized Users are (a) in the case of Schools: its students, its faculty members, administrators, and employed staff; (b) in the case of Universities: its full or part-time students, its faculty members, administrators and employed staff; (c) in the case of Businesses and Government Agencies: employees, agents and representatives; and (d) in the case of a National, State or Public Library, its Library patrons, Library customers, and Library users, employees, agents and representatives. Only these individual persons are permitted to access the Services remotely. Schools, Universities, Businesses and Government Agencies who are members of a National, State or Public Library are not Authorized Users under a Library’s license agreement with Britannica.
Nglish™ and Britannica English Arabic Translation
The following additional terms apply to your use of the Nglish™ and Britannica English Arabic translation services, which are powered by our subsidiary, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, including any related mobile application services (the “Translation Products”). Your use of the Translation Products, is your acceptance of these Terms of Use, including, specifically, these additional terms.
Ownership. All rights to the content contained in the Translation Products, including any words, definitions, idioms, expressions, translations (in English, Spanish, Arabic or any other language), diacritics and vowel signs, links between words’ voice files, grammatical inflections, topical word lists, graphic and game content, and any other content that appears in the Translation Products, are the sole property of Britannica, its affiliated companies or licensors.
Prohibited Uses. The Translation Products are intended solely for translations of single words and expressions. You may not run word lists consecutively through the Translation Products, whether using software or manually, nor may you create any files, lists or databases using the Translation Products. You may not use systems to extract any data from the Translation Products, including data pertaining to any entries, translations, voice files, grammatical declensions, or registered user subscription details. Britannica reserves the right to block a user whose pattern of use of the Translation Products violates these Terms of Use.
User Registration. With respect to Nglish™ specifically, in order to save words in your personal file, you must register for “Nglish Dictionaries.” Registration to “Nglish Dictionaries” may be done through an online account you may have with a third party social networking site, using your email address, or any other valid registration process offered from time to time by Britannica. By registering with a Translation Product, you grant Britannica your explicit consent to notify you of version upgrades and changes to and promotions for the Translation Products provided by or through Britannia. If you wish to cease these notifications, please email your request to Britannica using the contact information provided within the related Translation Product.
Copyrights
All contents of the Services are © Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. Encyclopædia Britannica is copyrighted 1994-2022 by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Britannica Books of the Year are copyrighted 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively, by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Britannica claims no compilation copyright in images or materials that are subject to the GNU Free Documentation License or similar licenses.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary (Eleventh Edition), Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, and Merriam's Webster's Student Dictionary (Third Edition), are all copyrighted by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Photographs and illustrations are copyrighted by their respective owners, as noted in the credits.
Trademarks
"Encyclopædia Britannica" and other marks that appear throughout the Services belong to Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., its affiliates, or third-party trademark owners.
Google Drive™ is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions.
Except as permitted by applicable laws, you are prohibited from using any of the marks appearing on the Services without express written consent from Britannica or the respective trademark owners.
Copyright Infringement Claims
If you believe that any copyright infringement exists on any of the Services, please use the following process to notify Britannica. We will act expeditiously to remove infringing material once informed. All claims of copyright infringement should be in writing and should be directed to our Designated Agent below:
Carmen E. Pagán, Copyright Manager
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
325 North LaSalle Street, Suite 200
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Fax: 312/294-2118
Phone: 312/347-7000
E-mail: copyrightnotice@eb.com
Your notice must contain the following information:
Britannica has a policy of terminating in appropriate circumstances the subscriptions of users who are infringers of copyrights held by others. If your material is removed or access to it is disabled and you believe in good faith that a claim has been wrongly made against you, you may submit a counter-notification to Britannica. Your counter-notification must be in writing and sent to:
Carmen E. Pagán, Copyright Manager
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
325 North LaSalle Street, Suite 200
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Fax: 312/294-2118
Phone: 312/347-7000
E-mail: copyrightnotice@eb.com
Your counter-notification must contain the following information: