Terms of Use

Terms of Service

These Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (collectively, “Terms”) create a legally binding agreement that governs your use of www.thebrieflab.com (the “Site”) and any online courses that you take through the Site (collectively, the “Services”) offered by Sheffield Company, LLC d/b/a the [brief] lab (“Sheffield,” “us” or “we”).

1. Your Acceptance

To access and use the Service, you agree to, and follow, the Terms set out here. By using the Site or any of the Services (including accessing any courses), you are agreeing to these Terms. We may amend these Terms at any time by posting the amended Terms here at the Site. These Terms govern your use of the Site. You are only authorized to use the Site if you abide by all applicable laws and to these Terms. Please read these Terms carefully. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Site.

2. Site Access and Use

If you are under the age of 18, you are not permitted to register for the Services. If you register for courses through the Site, you represent that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal authority to enter into a contract. If you use the Site, Sheffield is pleased to grant you a nonexclusive limited license to use the Services on the Site, provided that: (i) you use the Site only for your personal, noncommercial purposes; (ii) you will not copy or distribute any part of the Site in any medium; (iii) you will not alter or modify any part of the Site other than as may be reasonably necessary to use the Site for its intended purpose; and (iv) you will otherwise comply with these Terms. Sheffield reserves the right to change these Terms in any way and at any time. No amendment to these Terms would apply to a dispute of which Sheffield had actual notice on the date of amendment. We will notify you of any modifications to these Terms by posting the modifications on the Site and/or sending you an email informing you of the modified provisions and linking you to the Site posting. You agree to check for updates to these Terms each time you use the Site, and to read the messages we send you about any changes. You agree that you will be deemed to have notice of any modifications once we post them to the Site and that your continued use of the Service after such notice shall be deemed an acceptance of any changes. Sheffield reserves the right discontinue the Service or to change the content and nature of the Service in any way and at any time, with or without notice to you, without liability.

3. Online Courses

In order to take online courses as part of the Service, you will have to register by providing your full name, age and valid email address and information about the credit card that you will use to pay for the Services. You are not allowed to use any other person’s registration. When registering, you must provide accurate and complete information. You are responsible for the activity that occurs through your password, and you must keep your registration password confidential so that no one else may use your registration. You may change your password at any time by updating your Registration Profile page. In addition, you agree to immediately notify Sheffield when you learn of any unauthorized use of your password or registration or any other breach of security. Sheffield cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.

By registering from courses on the Site you represent that you are of legal age to form a binding contract and are not a person that is barred by any laws from using the Site and/or Service. You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself in all required fields of the registration registration form. If any of your information changes, you agree to update your registration information as soon as possible. If Sheffield suspects that your registration information is not complete, current, or accurate, or that you have otherwise violated these Terms, your registration may be suspended or terminated and you may be prevented from using the Site and/or Service.

You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or similar technological devices or programs, that access the Site in a manner that sends more request messages to the Site in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time by using a conventional Web browser. However, Sheffield grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Site for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices of the Site content, but not caches or archives.

You agree not to collect or use any personally identifiable information ("Personal Information") including other members’ names, email addresses, or other User Submissions (as defined below), from the Site, nor use the communication systems provided by the Site for any commercial solicitation purposes, including without limitation to solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Site.

3. Certification

In order to qualify for the Certified Partner Program, you will need to meet the prerequisites of the particular partner category as well as:

Complete all 12 video courses;
Complete all 13 homework assessments (graded on level of interaction and homework quality by our facilitator or project manager);
Attend all 3 online webinars; and
Complete all of the above in a 2-5 week timeframe.

4. Fees and Payment

In order to obtain courses through the Site, you will need to select the courses and pay for each through the Site prior to taking the course. There are no refunds.

5. User Content

The Service may include opportunities for you to chat or participate in blogs, message boards, online forums and other functionality and may provide you with the opportunity to create, submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute or broadcast content and materials to the Site, including, text, photographs, graphics, comments, suggestions or Personal Information or other material (collectively "User Content"). Any material you transmit to Sheffield will not be treated as confidential.

You agree that your User Content is original to you and you exclusively own the rights to it, including the right to reproduce, distribute and publicly display it on the Site as well as grant the rights and licenses to Sheffield which are contained in these Terms without Sheffield incurring any obligations or liability.

You grant to Sheffield the unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, fully-paid and royalty-free right and license to host, use, copy, distribute, reproduce, disclose, sublicense, display, perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, modify, make derivative works from, re-title, reformat, translate, archive, store, cache or otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your User Content, in any and all formats; on or through any and all media, software, formula or medium now known or hereafter known; and with any technology or devices now known or developed later and to advertise, market and promote it as well.

Sheffield has no obligation to accept, display, review, monitor, or maintain any User Content. We have the right to delete User Content from the Site and Service without notice, for any reason, at any time. Sheffield may move, re-format, edit, alter, distort, remove or refuse to exploit User Content without notice to you and without liability; provided, however, that Sheffield reserves the right to treat User Content as content stored at the direction of users for which Sheffield will not exercise editorial control except to enforce the rights of third parties and the Content Restrictions set forth below when violations are brought to our attention.

You acknowledge that you do not rely on Sheffield to monitor or edit the Service and that the Service may contain content that you find offensive and so you hereby waive any objections you might have with respect to viewing such content.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

The content on the Site, except all User Submissions (defined below), including the text, graphics, and photos created by and for Sheffield, and the Site’s interactive features (collectively, "Content") and our trademarks, service marks and logos contained in the Site ("Marks"), are owned by or licensed to Sheffield, subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under United States and foreign laws and international conventions. Content on the Site is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only and may not be used, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any purpose whatsoever. We reserve all rights not expressly granted in these Terms.

You agree not to use, copy, or distribute any Content except as permitted in these Terms, including any use, copying, or distribution of others’ User Submissions (as defined below) obtained through the Site for any commercial purposes. If you download or print a copy of Content for personal use, you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices that it contains. You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security related features of the Site or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on use of the Site or the Content therein.

7. User Submissions

The interactive nature of postings on the Site makes it impossible for us to assume responsibility for any of the materials posted by users. The ideas, suggestions, opinions, comments, and observations made by Site users, and any text, data, photographs, video, music, sound, chat, messages, files or other material provided to us by users (collectively "User Submissions") are not endorsed by Sheffield, and we make no representations regarding the reliability, accuracy, or quality of any User Submission that is posted on the Site. You acknowledge that you will evaluate and bear any risks related to your use of any User Submission, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such User Submission. All User Submissions posted to the Site are the sole responsibility of the person who originally posted the User Submission, and your sole recourse for any damage you may suffer as a result of User Submissions shall be from such individual(s).

You shall be solely responsible for your own User Submission and the consequences of posting, displaying or publishing them. You retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions. However, by submitting the User Submissions to Sheffield, you hereby grant Sheffield a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable, and transferable right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the User Submissions in connection with the Site and Sheffield’s business, including for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Site (and derivative works based on it) in any media now known or later developed. The foregoing license granted by you ends when you remove or delete your User Submission from the Site.

If you choose to post User Submissions on the Site, Sheffield requires that you adhere to generally accepted rules of etiquette and standards of behavior, and that your use of the Site reflects your respect for the legal rights of other visitors and Service users. You understand that no User Submission will be subject to any obligation, whether confidentiality, attribution or otherwise, by Sheffield and Sheffield will not be liable for any use or disclosure of User Submissions.

Sheffield expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with User Submissions. Sheffield reserves the right to remove Content and User Submissions in its sole discretion and without prior notice. Sheffield also reserves the right to terminate a user's access to the Site at any time in its sole discretion and without prior notice.

8. Rules of Conduct

The following rules of conduct apply to your use of the Site and to all User Submissions whether they are included in blogs, discussion groups, emails, profiles, comments, or any other portion or feature of the Site or Service. You may not upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any User Submission that:

is libelous or defamatory, pornographic, sexually explicit, unlawful or plagiarized
breaches a duty of confidentiality by which you are bound due to a contractual or fiduciary relationship (such as inside information, or proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
a reasonable person would consider harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, profane, obscene, excessively violent, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or offensive in any way;
breaches of any person’s privacy or publicity rights, a misrepresentation of facts, or hate speech;
violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation;
promotes software or services that deliver unsolicited e-mail; or
contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, or other similar harmful programming routines.

infringes or violates any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret or other property right;

You may not use the Site to:

upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any User Submission that provides any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs or email address;
engage in commercial activities within the Site or Service;
harm or attempt to harm minors in any way;
solicit personal information from anyone under 18;
provide false or deceptive information;
use Content to engage in commercial activities;
delete, add or change other people’s entries or other Content if you are not authorized to; or
allow others to use it in such a way as to violate the Terms.

9. Copyright Infringement

Sheffield respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. So, in your use of and interactions with Sheffield, the Site and/or Service, you may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any User Submission without obtaining the prior written consent of the copyright owner(s). Sheffield reserves the right, in its discretion, to remove any User Submission if we believe it may infringe the copyright rights of others, and/or to terminate the registrations of users who we believe to be infringers.

If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied or posted on the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you must send a written communication that includes substantially the following (please consult your attorney or see Section 512(c)(3) of the Copyright Act to confirm these requirements):

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. Providing URLs in the body of an email is the best way to help us locate content quickly.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Such written notice should be sent to our designated agent as follows: DMCA Complaints, Sheffield Company, LLC, 1311 Butterfield Road, Suite 300, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be subject to liability.

10. Disputes with Others

We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor and/or manage disputes between you and other users of the Service. If you have a dispute with other users, you release Sheffield and agree to indemnify Sheffield from claims, demands, liabilities and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such dispute.

11. Disclaimers; Limitations; Waivers of Liability

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE AND ALL COURSE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE (EXCEPT ONLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED UNDER THE LAWS APPLICABLE TO TERMS WITH ANY LEGALLY REQUIRED WARRANTY PERIOD TO THE SHORTER OF 30 DAYS FROM FIRST USE OR THE MINIMUM PERIOD REQUIRED). WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER SHEFFIELD NOR ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, OR ANY OF THEIR MEMBERS, MANAGERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ATTORNEYS, LICENSEES OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, "SHEFFIELD PARTIES") WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

IN NO EVENT WILL ANY SHEFFIELD PARTY BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM OF ANY NATURE, WHETHER DIRECT OR INDIRECT, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO CONTENT ON THE SITE OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE OR LOSS OR DAMAGE INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE SERVICE OR ADVISORS.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE DISCLAIMERS CONTAINED HERE APPLY TO ANY AND ALL DAMAGES AND INJURY CAUSED BY OR RELATED TO USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE UNDER ANY CAUSE OR ACTION WHATSOEVER IN ANY JURISDICTION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ACTIONS FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY, BREACH OF CONTRACT OR TORT AND THAT THE SHEFFIELD PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE. YOU FURTHER SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SHEFFIELD PARTIES ARE NOT LIABLE, AND YOU AGREE NOT TO SEEK TO HOLD ANY OF THEM LIABLE, FOR THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES, INCLUDING OTHER USERS OF THE SERVICE AND OPERATORS OF EXTERNAL SITES, AND THAT THE RISK OF THE SERVICE AND EXTERNAL SITES AND OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Sheffield Parties from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees and costs, arising out of your use of the Site and/or Service and/or your breach or alleged breach of any term, condition, obligation, representation or warranty in these Terms. You agree that the provisions in this Section will survive any termination of your registration(s) or the Service.

13. Governing Law and Venue

This Agreement and all aspects of the Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the United States and the State of Illinois without regard to conflict of laws provisions, regardless of your location. You agree not to commence or prosecute any action in connection therewith other than in the state and federal courts located in or for Dupage County, Illinois, and you consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens with respect to, venue and jurisdiction in those courts.

14. Waiver/Severability

The failure of Sheffield to require or enforce strict performance by you of any provision of these Terms or to exercise any right under them shall not be construed as a waiver or relinquishment of Sheffield's right to assert or rely upon any such provision or right in that or any other instance.

You and Sheffield agree that if any portion of these Terms is found illegal or unenforceable, in whole or in part by any court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such determination of invalidity or unenforceability without affecting the validity or enforceability thereof in any other manner or jurisdiction and without affecting the remaining provisions of the Terms, which shall continue to be in full force and effect.

15. Assignment

These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be assigned, transferred, delegated, and sublicensed by you, but may be assigned, transferred, delegated, and sublicensed by Sheffield without restriction.

16. Copyright Notice

The Site is © Sheffield Company, LLC – All Rights Reserved. No portion of the Site may be copied, reproduced, transmitted, derived, or otherwise used for any purpose without the prior written permission of Sheffield.

17. Trademarks

Sheffield owns the following service and trademarks: THE [BRIEF] LAB; BRIEF MAP; NARATIVE MAPPING, and SHEFFIELD YOUR STORY. OUR BUSINESS. These marks may not be used for any purpose without the prior written permission of Sheffield.

18. Violations of These Terms

Please report any violations of the Terms, including objectionable User Submissions or behavior, to us immediately. Please state the reasons for your concern and provide a link to the User Content or, if appropriate, the behavior in question. Upon receiving such a report of a possible violation, we may, in our discretion, investigate the matter and take such action as we determine to be appropriate.