Please read these Terms carefully. By using Serious Email or signing up for an account, you’re agreeing to these Terms. This is a legal agreement.
We’ll start with the basics, including a few definitions that should help you understand this agreement. Serious Email (“Serious Email” or the “Service”) is an email service offered through the URL serious.email (we’ll refer to it as the “Website”) that allows you to create, send, and manage html email (each message is called an “Email”) to individual recipients. Serious Email is owned and operated by Serious Email, LLC d/b/a Serious Email, a Maryland limited liability corporation (“Serious Email,” “we,” or “us”). Serious Email has employees, independent contractors, and representatives (“our Team”). As a customer of the Service or a representative of an entity that’s a customer of the Service, you’re a “Member” according to this agreement (or “you”).
These Terms of Use (“Terms,” including our Privacy Policy define the terms and conditions under which you’re allowed to use Serious Email, and how we’ll treat your account while you’re a Member. If you have any questions about our terms, feel free to contact us.
In order to use Serious Email, you must:
By using Serious Email, you represent and warrant that you meet all the requirements listed above, and that you won’t use Serious Email in a way that violates any laws or regulations. (Representing and warranting is like making a legally enforceable promise.) Serious Email may refuse service, close accounts of any users, and change eligibility requirements at any time.
The Term begins when you sign up for Serious Email and continues as long as you use the Service. Clicking the button and entering your username means that you’ve officially “signed” the Terms. If you sign up for Serious Email on behalf of a company or other entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to accept these Terms on their behalf.
You or Serious Email may terminate this Agreement at any time and for any reason by giving Notice to the other party. We may suspend our Service to you at any time, with or without cause. If we terminate your account without cause, we’ll refund a prorated portion of your monthly prepayment or reimburse you for unused services. We won’t refund or reimburse you if there’s cause, like a violation of these Terms or our Acceptable Use Policy. Once terminated, we may permanently delete your account and all the data associated with it, including your emails from our Website.
We may change any of the Terms by posting revised Terms of Use on our Website and/or by sending an email to the last email address you gave us. Unless you terminate your account within ten (10) days, the new Terms will be effective immediately and apply to any continued or new use of Serious Email. We may change the Website, the Service, or any features of the Service at any time.
You’re responsible for keeping your account name and password confidential. You’re also responsible for any account that you have access to, whether or not you authorized the use. You’ll immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your accounts. We’re not responsible for any losses due to stolen or hacked passwords. We don’t have access to your current password, and for security reasons, we may only reset your password.
We don’t know the inner workings of your organization or the nature of your personal relationships, and we don’t arbitrate disputes over who owns an account. You won’t request access to or information about an account that’s not yours, and you’ll resolve any account-related disputes directly with the other party. We decide who owns an account based on the content of the emails in that account, and if multiple people or entities are identified in the content, then we’ll rely on the contact information listed for that account.
Our charges for monthly plans may be changed from time to time. If any part of a month is included in the Term, then payment is due for the full month. Payments are due for any month on the same or closest date to the day you made your first monthly payment (the “Pay Date”). If you go over your sending limit and reach another pricing level, then you’ll have to pay at the higher level on or before the next pay date. If the Term ends before that payment is due, you’ll still be required to make one payment at the higher level.
As long as you’re a Member or have an outstanding balance with us, you’ll provide us with valid credit card information and authorize us to deduct the monthly charges against that credit card. You’ll replace the information for any credit card that expires with information for a valid one. Anyone using a credit card represents and warrants that they are authorized to use that credit card, and that any and all charges may be billed to that credit card and won’t be rejected. If we’re unable to process your credit card order, we’ll try to contact you by email and suspend your account until your payment can be processed.
We’ll give you a refund for a prepaid month if we stop providing our Services to you for a reason that’s not laid out in these Terms. You won’t be entitled to a refund from us under any other circumstances. We may offer a refund if a Member applies for one based on the requirements posted on the Website.
We may change our fees at any time by posting a new pricing structure to our Website and/or sending you a notification by email.
You will respect our proprietary rights in the Website and the software used to provide Serious Email (proprietary rights include patents, trademarks, service marks, trade secrets, and copyrights).
You represent and warrant that you either own or have permission to use all of the material in your Emails. You retain ownership of the materials that you upload to the Service. We may use or disclose your materials only as described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
We may use and disclose your information according to our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy will be treated as part of these Terms.
We may view, copy, and internally distribute content from your Emails and account to create algorithms and programs (“Tools”) that help us spot problem accounts. We use these Tools to find Members who violate these Terms or laws.
You promise to follow these rules:
If you violate any of these rules, then we may suspend or terminate your account.
If you think anyone is violating any of these Terms, please notify us immediately. If you received spam you think came from a Serious Email user, please report it to our abuse team. (The best way to tell whether an email was sent through Serious Email is that every Serious Email campaign has an embedded Campaign Tracking ID in the header that makes it easy to report suspected spam.)
You may only use our bandwidth for your Serious Email emails. We provide image and data hosting only for your email campaigns, so you may not host images on our servers for anything else (like a website). We may throttle your sending or connection through our API at our discretion.
You represent and warrant that your use of Serious Email will comply with all applicable laws and regulations. You’re responsible for determining whether our Services are suitable for you to use in light of any regulations like HIPAA, GLB, EU Data Privacy Laws, or other laws. If you’re subject to regulations (like HIPAA) and you use our Service, then we won’t be liable if our Service doesn’t meet those requirements. You may not use our Service for any unlawful or discriminatory activities, including acts prohibited by the Federal Trade Commission Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or other laws that apply to commerce.
If you’re located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or send to anyone in the EEA, you represent and warrant that in creating your Email distribution list, sending Emails via Serious Email, and collecting information as a result of sending Emails, you:
The software that supports the Services (the “Software”) is subject to United States export controls. Export laws are set up by the government to keep certain goods and services from reaching other countries, usually because of security concerns or trade agreements. None of the Software may be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of United States export laws. You’re downloading and using the Software at your own risk.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, you assume full responsibility for any loss that results from your use of the Website and the Services, including any downloads from the Website. We and our Team won’t be liable for any indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages under any circumstances, even if they’re based on negligence or we’ve been advised of the possibility of those damages. Our total liability for all claims made about the Service in any month will be no more than what you paid us for the Service the month before.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we provide the material on the Website and the Service as is. That means we don’t provide warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Since people use Serious Email for a variety of reasons, we can’t guarantee that it will meet your specific needs.
You agree to indemnify and hold us and our Team harmless from any losses, including attorney fees that result from any claims you make that aren’t allowed under these Terms due to a “Limitation of Liability” or other provision. (Indemnity is an agreement to compensate someone for a loss.) You also agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any losses, including attorney fees, that result from third-party claims that you or someone using your password did something that, if true, would violate any of these Terms.
If we file an action against you claiming you breached these Terms and we prevail, we’re entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and any damages or other relief we may be awarded.
If you violate these Terms then we may seek injunctive relief (meaning we may request a court order to stop you) or other equitable relief.
If we have to provide information in response to a subpoena related to your account, then we may charge you for our costs. These fees may include attorney and employee time spent retrieving the records, preparing documents, and participating in a deposition.
We and our Team aren’t responsible for the behavior of any advertisers, linked websites, or other Members.
The Software and Website, including all documentation, are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, and consist of “Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation.” The Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are licensed to U.S. Government end users:
Published and Unpublished rights are reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. Manufacturer is Serious Email, LLC, PO Box 456, Sykesville MD 21784.
You may not assign any of your rights under this agreement to anyone else. We may assign our rights to any other individual or entity at our discretion.
The State of Maryland’s laws, except for conflict of laws rules, will apply to any dispute related to these Terms or the Service. Any dispute related to the Terms, the Privacy Policy, or the Service itself will be decided by the state and federal courts in Carroll County, Maryland, and each party will be subject to the jurisdiction of those courts.
We won’t be held liable for any delays or failure in performance of any part of the Service, from any cause beyond our control. This includes, but is not limited to, acts of God, changes to law or regulations, embargoes, war, terrorist acts, riots, fires, earthquakes, nuclear accidents, zombie apocalypse, floods, strikes, power blackouts, volcanic action, unusually severe weather conditions, and acts of hackers or third-party internet service providers.
Even if this Agreement is terminated, the following sections will continue to apply: Proprietary Rights Owned by Us, Proprietary Rights Owned by You, Compliance with Laws, Limitation of Liability, No Warranties, Indemnity, Choice of Law, Severability, and Entire Agreement.
If it turns out that a section of this Agreement isn’t enforceable, then that section will be removed or edited as little as necessary, and the rest of the Terms will still be valid.
The headers and sidebar text are provided only to make this agreement easier to read and understand. The fact that we wrote these Terms won’t affect the way this Agreement is interpreted.
Amendments or changes to these Terms won’t be effective until we post revised Terms on the Website. If we don’t immediately take action on a violation of these Terms, we’re not giving up any rights under the Terms, and we may still take action at some point.
We can’t change these Terms for any one Member or group.
You’ll provide all documents and take any actions necessary to meet your obligations under these Terms.
In the event of a security breach that may affect you or anyone on your Email distribution lists (each a “List”), we’ll notify you of the breach and provide a description of what happened. If we determine, and notify you, that you need to forward all or part of that information to anyone on your Lists, you’ll promptly do so.
Any notice to you will be effective when we send it to the last email or physical address you gave us or posted on our Website. Any notice to us will be effective when delivered to us along with a copy to our legal counsel: Attn. Legal Department, Serious Email, PO Box 456, Sykesville, MD 21784, or any addresses as we may later post on the Website.
These Terms, and our Privacy Policy make up the entire agreement and supersede all prior agreements, representations, and understandings. Any Additional Terms will be considered incorporated into these Terms when you activate the feature.
Where there’s a conflict between these Terms and the Additional Terms, the Additional Terms will control.
All Serious Email users must follow this Acceptable Use Policy in their use of Serious Email and any other Serious Email products. If you violate this policy, we may suspend or terminate your account. We may also suspend or terminate accounts where we see behavior, content, or other factors that poses a threat to our system.
Please don’t use Serious Email to send anything offensive, to promote anything illegal, or to harass anyone. You may not send:
Some industries have higher-than-average abuse complaints, which can jeopardize the deliverability of our entire system. Nothing personal, but in order to maintain the highest delivery rates possible for all our customers, we can’t allow businesses that offer these types of services, products, or content:
We’ve also found that certain types of content may cause higher-than-average abuse rates. In general, hard bounce rates should be under 5%, and spam complaint rates should be less than 0.1%. For that reason, we may closely review, suspend, throttle, or disable accounts that exceed these rates and/or offer the following services, products, or content:
We work hard to maintain the positive reputation of our system, but we count on our customers to pitch in too. You may not:
Serious Email has an API that you can access. The API make it possible for developers to better use the Services and build integrations that help other people use the Services in new ways (each an “Integration”). We provide this API to allow people to build on and benefit from Serious Email. At the same time, we have to protect our system, as well as our users’ rights. That’s why this API Use Policy (the “Policy”) exists. Your use of the API must comply with both our Terms of Use.
You’ll only access the API using an API key.
You won’t use the API to send spam or, if you’re using Serious Email’s API, take any actions that violate our Acceptable Use Policy. You’ll follow all documentation. You won’t attempt to hack or change the way the Services function. We may throttle your use of the APIs at any time. We may monitor your use of the APIs for compliance with these rules, and we may deny You access to the API or shut down your Integration if you try to go around or exceed the limitations we set.
You’ll respect the privacy of our users. Your Integration must display a privacy policy for users, detailing the information you’ll collect from them when they use the Integration.
We own all worldwide rights, titles, and interest in the Services and the API, including all intellectual property rights, marks, code, and features. You won’t infringe or copy our code, design, or content. Any rights not expressly granted by this policy are withheld, so if you don’t see it here, then it’s not a right we’re giving you. You own all worldwide rights, titles, and interest in the Integration, except for the APIs, our marks, and the Services, including all intellectual property rights. If you give us comments about the APIs or the Services, we may copy, modify, create derivative works, display, disclose, distribute, and use that feedback without any obligation to compensate you.
You may only use our name and marks (meaning our logos, mascots, and copyrighted images.) You may not alter or remove any proprietary notices in our marks. You won’t use our name or marks in your Integration name or logo, or in any way that implies an endorsement by us. If you use our marks to create your logo or name, you’ll immediately assign those rights to us at no expense.
You represent and warrant that you’ll maintain all the licenses required for your Integration, and that your Integration won’t violate any law or regulations in any way.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, We provide the API as-is. That means we don’t provide warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
We may update or modify the API and this Policy from time to time by posting the changes on this site or notifying you via email. These changes may affect your use of the APIs or the way your Integration interacts with the API. If we make a change that’s unacceptable to you, you should stop using the APIs. Continued use of the APIs means you accept the change.
You may have access to confidential, proprietary, and non-public information specific to the API (“Confidential Information”). You may use this information only to use and build with the API. You won’t disclose the Confidential Information to anyone without our written consent, and you’ll protect the Confidential Information from unauthorized use and disclosure in the same way you’d protect your own confidential information.
You’ll indemnify and hold us and our Team harmless from any losses (including attorney fees) that result from third-party claims that relate to your use of the API.
This policy is part of our Terms of Use. This policy doesn’t create or imply any partnership, agency, or joint venture.
Thank you.