Department of Natural Resources Terms of Service For Social Media and Community Rules

Our Right to Use Materials You Submit or Post

When you submit or post any material via the Department of Natural Resources Web site (Site), you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, copy, modify, transmit, sell, exploit, create derivative works from, distribute, and/or publicly perform or display such material, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium (whether now known or hereafter developed), for any purpose that we choose. The foregoing grant includes the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such posting or submission, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark or patent laws that exist in any relevant jurisdiction. Also, in connection with the exercise of these rights, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, the right to identify you as the author of any of your postings or submissions by name, email address or screen name, as we deem appropriate. You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Site, including content submitted by you, may involve transmissions over various networks, and may involve changes to the content to conform and adapt it to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. You will not receive any compensation of any kind for the use of any materials submitted by you.


Responsibility for User- Provided Content

The Department of Natural Resources Web site may include a variety of features, such as discussion forums, blogs, photo- and video-sharing pages, email services and social networking features that allow feedback to us and allow users to interact with each other on the Site and post content and materials for display on the Site. This Site also may include other features, such as personalized home pages and email services that allow users to communicate with third parties. By accessing and using any such features, you represent and agree: (i) that you have read and agree to abide by our Community Rules; (ii) that you are the owner of any material you post or submit, or are making your posting or submission with the express consent of the owner of the material; (iii) that you are making your posting or submission with the express consent of anyone pictured in any material you post or submit, (iv) that you are 13 years of age or older; (v) that the materials will not violate the rights of, or cause injury to, any person or entity; and (vi) that you will indemnify and hold harmless us and our and respective directors, officers, managers, employees, agents, representatives and licensors, from and against any liability of any nature arising out of or related to any content or materials displayed on or submitted via the Site by you or by others using your username and password. You also grant us a license to use the materials you post or submit via such features, as described above under the header "Our Right to Use Materials You Submit or Post."

Responsibility for what is posted on discussion forums, blogs, photo- and video-sharing pages, and other areas on the Site through which users can supply information or material, or sent via any email services that are made available via the Site, lies with each user.  You alone are responsible for the material you post or send. We do not control the messages, information or files that you or others may transmit, post or otherwise provide on or through the Site.

You understand that we have no obligation to monitor any discussion forums, blogs, photo- or video-sharing pages, or other areas of the Site through which users can supply information or material. However, we reserve the right at all times, in our sole discretion, to screen content submitted by users and to edit, move, delete, and/or refuse to accept any content that in our judgment violates these Terms or is otherwise unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons.

You acknowledge and agree that we may preserve content and materials submitted by you, and may also disclose such content and materials if required to do so by law or if, in our sole judgment, such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce these Terms of Service; (c) respond to claims that any content or materials submitted by you violate the rights of third parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of our Site, us, our affiliates, our officers, employees, representatives, our licensors, other users, and/or the public.


Notice of Copyright Infringement

If you are a copyright owner who believes your copyrighted material has been reproduced, posted or distributed via the Site in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please inform our designated copyright agent by sending written notice by U.S. Mail to Department of Natural Resources, 500 Lafayette Rd, St. Paul, MN  55155-4046, Attn: Sheila Deyo, or by email to [email protected]. Please include the following information in your written notice: (1) a detailed description of the copyrighted work that is allegedly infringed upon; (2) a description of the location of the allegedly infringing material on the Site; (3) your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and, if available, email address; (4) a statement by you indicating that you have a good-faith belief that the allegedly infringing use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (5) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, affirming that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf; and (6) an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or someone authorized on the owner's behalf to assert infringement of copyright and to submit the statement. Please note that the contact information provided in this paragraph is for suspected copyright infringement only. Contact information for other matters is provided elsewhere on the Site.

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