Terms of Use for MLA Network
Last Updated: August 31, 2023
Welcome to the network of websites, which includes mla.org, maps.mla.org, profession.mla.org, style.mla.org, and mlahandbookplus.org (“Network”) operated by the Modern Language Association of America (“MLA,” “we,” “our,” “us”). These Terms of Use (“Terms”), which include our Privacy Policy, govern your use of our Network and services offered through our Network (“Services”).
By using our Network, you agree to these Terms, so please read them carefully. We may update these Terms from time to time, so please check back regularly. By using our Network after we have posted an update, you agree to the updated Terms. If you do not accept these Terms you do not have permission to use our Network. Certain sections of our Network contain additional terms and conditions that govern your use of products and services available through those sections. Those additional terms and conditions supplement, and are hereby incorporated into, these Terms.
If you are using our Network or any Services on behalf of an entity, you are agreeing to these Terms for that entity and are representing that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms (in which case “you” refers to you and the entity).
Network Content
The Network includes both User Content (as defined below) and MLA content (“MLA Content”) (together User Content and MLA Content is considered “Network Content”).
Copyright
Network Content is protected by copyright owned by the MLA and our licensors. Except where indicated otherwise in these Terms or on the Network, you may use the Network Content solely for your limited, personal, noncommercial use. You may not alter the Network Content or remove any trademark, copyright, or other notices displayed on the Network Content. To inquire about obtaining permission to use any Network Content for other purposes, please contact us at permissions@mla.org.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”)
If we believe anyone has posted User Content to the Network that may be infringing someone’s intellectual property rights, we reserve the right to remove it. If we believe someone is repeatedly infringing, we reserve the right to terminate that user’s access rights.
If you believe your copyright-protected content is being displayed without your authorization on our Network, please send a written notice with the information below to our Designated Copyright Agent identified below:
1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works to be covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you (including address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address);
5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Our Copyright Agent is:
Angela Gibson
Modern Language Association of America
85 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
E-mail: agibson@mla.org
Please note that under United States Copyright Act, 17 USC, sections 101 and following, fair use permits certain reproductions of copyrighted works for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research, and the Copyright Act contains other limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright. Before you send any Notice, be sure that you have considered any statutory exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright under 17 USC, sections 107–22.
When we receive a notice that complies with the Copyright Act, we may remove the identified material and make a good-faith effort to inform the user who posted the allegedly infringing material of the Notice and subsequent removal as soon as possible. The alleged infringer may then provide us with a counternotice that complies with the Copyright Act that the initial infringement notice was erroneous. Upon receipt of a compliant counternotice, we will notify the sender and restore the material within ten to fourteen business days after receipt, unless the sender of the notice informs us within that period that it has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing party from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the Network.
Trademarks
Our Network displays the marks “Modern Language Association,” “MLA,” the MLA logo and our other trademarks, service marks, logos, slogans, and indicators of source (“Trademarks”) owned by the MLA. You may not use our Trademarks in any manner that: (A) implies we sponsor, endorse or are otherwise the source of or affiliated with a product, service, entity, or activity without our prior written consent in each case; or (B) would be likely to cause confusion among the public. You may not use any MLA logo without prior authorization from the MLA. To request authorization, please contact operations@mla.org.
Accounts / Registered Users
To access certain Services and features on our Network, you must create an account to become a registered user (e.g., to become a member or subscriber or perform certain activities on the Job List) (collectively, “Registered User”). By creating an account, you warrant that you will: (A) provide accurate, truthful, and complete information and promptly update your information if it changes; (B) not use your account to pass yourself off as any other party; (C) not give another person access to your account; (D) have and maintain all permissions and approvals needed from other parties for your use of our Network; and (E) keep your access credentials confidential and secure. You are solely responsible for activity that occurs under your account, and you agree to notify us immediately if you become aware of any actual or attempted unauthorized use of your account. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, with or without notice, to suspend or terminate access to your account and our Network at any time.
If you are granted access to an account that makes confidential or otherwise restricted documents and information available to you, you agree to keep the documents and information confidential and to use them solely for the purposes for which you are provided access.
User Content / Licenses
Our Network may contain features that permit users to submit content that will be displayed on our Network (e.g., Job List information) (“User Content”). When you submit any User Content you are solely responsible for the User Content and you represent and warrant that: (A) you have the right and authority to submit it; (B) you have or have obtained all rights and consents necessary to display the User Content and to grant rights to the MLA (and others, as applicable) to use your User Content as described in these Terms and elsewhere on the Network; (C) your User Content will not violate any third party’s copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right to privacy or publicity, or any other proprietary, personal, or other right of any kind; (D) you are under no obligation that would in any way interfere with the disclosure or use of your User Content; (E) your User Content does not contain any material or information considered confidential or provided to you with the understanding that it would not be disclosed or published; and (F) you have identified any material in your User Content that has been taken from another source.
We have the right, but not the obligation: (A) to monitor, publish (or not publish), delete, and edit User Content at any time for any reason; and (B) to attribute your User Content to you. We do not endorse and are not responsible for User Content.
Unless you have entered into a separate written agreement with the MLA regarding specific User Content, you hereby grant to the MLA an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive, sublicenseable, transferable, royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly display and perform the User Content (including rights to any third-party material included in your User Content) in all media now known or later developed in connection with MLA’s educational mission and activities. In addition, if you submit User Content on certain websites in the Network (e.g., see the MLA Style Center below), you also grant rights concerning your User Content to other users of the Network or as otherwise described on that website. If you submit any User Content that is subject to specific guidelines and implied and express terms on our Network, you hereby agree to comply with those guidelines and terms, which are incorporated into these Terms.
User Conduct
By accessing our Network, you agree that you will not:
(A) transmit: (i) any content or information that is unlawful, fraudulent, threatening, harassing, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable or that infringes on our or any third party’s intellectual property or other rights; (ii) any spam, advertisements, solicitations, chain letters, or other unsolicited commercial communication (unless expressly permitted by us in writing in each case); (iii) any virus, worm, time bomb, Trojan horse, or other harmful or disruptive element that would interfere with our Network or networks; (iv) any content that violates the privacy or confidentiality of anyone; (v) any content for any unlawful purpose or that would violate any applicable laws, rules, or regulations; or (vi) any content that in our good faith judgment is otherwise inappropriate or objectionable;
(B) use any robot, spider, site search or retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device or process to retrieve, extract, index, or “data mine” any data or content on our Network or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of our Network or Network Content;
(C) use Network Content for the development of any software program, including but not limited to training large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence (AI) programs; or
(D) take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our or our third-party providers’ infrastructure.
Reporting Violations or Concerns
If you have reason to believe that any User Content or user conduct on our Network violates these Terms or is illegal or inappropriate, please contact us by e-mail at operations@mla.org or write to Terry Callaghan, MLA Director of Administration and Finance, at 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004. The MLA reserves the right to bar any user’s access to the Network or any portion of it for any suspected or actual unauthorized use of the Network or any Network Content. If you believe any material posted on the Network infringes your copyright, you may notify us in accordance with the DMCA as described in these Terms.
Job List
The MLA offers the Job List as a service for scholars, students, and practitioners in humanities fields, as well as for other interested readers. The Job List is intended to allow employers to post and job seekers to search available positions. The MLA does not control the quality, safety, accuracy or legality of the jobs listed or the ability of job seekers to fulfill job responsibilities. Employers are solely responsible for drafting job listings and making all hiring decisions. Accordingly, the MLA will not be considered an employer or coemployer in connection with any listing or any use of the Job List.
Job List accounts are open to anyone working in or searching for employment or offering employment opportunities in humanities fields. Only Registered Users of the Job List will be able to perform certain functions, such as saving search criteria for later use. For employers, much of your content on the Job List, including the job(s) that you post and your employer profile, will be made available to the general public.
A job posting may not include more than one job or job description, more than one location, or more than one job category unless expressly permitted. All job postings must comply with applicable local, national, and international laws.
Certain aspects of the Job List are provided for a fee and you agree to the displayed pricing and payment terms on our Network, as they may be updated from time to time. You agree to pay all amounts owed by payment method authorized on the Job List. You will not be entitled to any refunds for any reason.
You warrant that you will use the Job List and all personal information you provide or collect in connection with your use of the Job List in compliance with all applicable privacy and data protection laws.
Each institution that posts on the Job List: (A) warrants that it will include in each post all statements as required by law; postings for positions in the United States will include a statement confirming the employer is an equal opportunity employer; and (B) acknowledges that it is solely responsible for all due diligence concerning any candidate and MLA is not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any employment screening or decision.
From time to time, we may enter into an agreement with a third-party service provider to enhance the Job List experience or extend its reach. These agreements may include the provision of metadata about your User Content to aggregating or indexing services or the ability for you to integrate external user information into your profile. Your use of the Job List indicates your acceptance of such arrangements.
MLA Style Center
The MLA Style Center (“Center”) provides writing resources for scholars, students, practitioners, and other interested readers.
The Center allows users to submit a variety of User Content, such as questions and comments and resources for teaching and learning. Some User Content may need to meet additional requirements before posting.
Unless indicated otherwise, MLA Content in the Center may be used as indicated on the Center for the particular MLA Content. Unless expressly prohibited, you may: (A) print any portion of the MLA Content from the Center for personal or classroom use; (B) display the MLA Content on a screen or monitor for the purpose of face-to-face instruction in a classroom or face-to-face reference assistance in a library; or (C) download resources that are expressly made available for download, provided you do not remove or modify any copyright, trademark, or other notice on any MLA Content.
Handbook Plus Site
The MLA publishes the MLA Handbook Plus (“Handbook Plus”) as an online resource made available by annual subscription. Institutions may subscribe to the Handbook Plus by entering into the MLA’s Handbook Plus Agreement (“Handbook Plus Agreement”), which will grant the subscribing organization and its authorized users the right to access and use the licensed materials in accordance with the terms of the Handbook Plus Agreement.
Transactions
If you make any purchase (e.g., subscribing to a publication) or donation on our Network, please refer to the applicable terms for the offer, which are deemed part of these Terms. We reserve the right to change our prices and will provide notice of any increase before you are charged. By making a purchase or donation you consent to receive our notices, receipts, and other communications electronically. When you provide payment information to the MLA or its payment processor, you represent that you are an authorized user of the payment card. The MLA reserves the right to correct any errors (even if payment has been requested or received).
Release
You irrevocably release (on behalf of yourself and your heirs, family members, executors, successors and assigns) the MLA (and its directors, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates) from any claim of any nature that you have or may ever have (based on any cause of action, including rights of publicity or privacy, trademark, copyright, libel, or defamation) arising out of the MLA’s use, as described in these Terms, of: (A) your User Content; and (B) use of your name (including your institution’s name) and, as applicable, likeness in connection with your User Content. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code, section 1542, which says, “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” If you reside in any other jurisdiction that places similar restrictions on a general release, you waive those restrictions to the maximum extent permissible under the applicable law.
Privacy
Please read our Privacy Policy carefully as you agree to its terms when you use our Network.
Third-Party Websites / Social Media and Third-Party Services
Our Network contains links to websites controlled by third parties, including social media platforms and features (“Third-Party Sites”). We are not responsible for Third-Party Sites or their content, activities or privacy practices. Any information you share or actions you take on Third-Party Sites are governed by their respective terms of use and privacy policies, which you should review carefully to learn about their practices. By including links, we do not endorse Third-Party Sites, their content, or any associated organization or activity. We make no representation or warranty whatsoever about the nature of Third-Party Sites and if you decide to access any other websites linked to or from our Network, you do so entirely at your own risk.
Frames; Metatags
Unless you obtain our prior written consent in each case, you may not: (A) frame any Network Content; or (B) use metatags or any other “hidden text” that incorporates our Trademarks or other marks confusingly similar to our Trademarks.
No Warranty / Disclaimers
ALL USER CONTENT REPRESENTS THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF THE AUTHOR WHO IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USER CONTENT. OUR NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, AND ALL SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR NETWORK ARE AVAILABLE “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES: (A) THAT THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; (B) ABOUT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY, OR NONINFRINGEMENT OF THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY SITES. IF YOU RELY ON OUR NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR SERVICES YOU DO SO ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
WE DO NOT OFFER ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES REGARDING THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR SERVICES INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE (EVEN IF THAT PURPOSE HAS BEEN DISCLOSED), AND DISCLAIM SUCH WARRANTIES TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER LAW.
ALTHOUGH WE INTEND TO TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO PREVENT THE INTRODUCTION OF VIRUSES, WORMS, “TROJAN HORSES,” OR OTHER MALICIOUS CODE TO THE NETWORK, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR SERVICES ARE FREE FROM SUCH DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR HARM ATTRIBUTABLE TO SUCH FEATURES.
Limitation of Liability
THE MLA AND ITS TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, REPRESENTATIVES, AGENTS, ADVISORS AND VOLUNTEERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER FOR ANY LOSS OR INJURY BASED ON USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT OR SERVICES (E.G., ARISING FROM ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, INACCURACIES OR OTHERWISE) INCLUDING ANY LOSS OR INJURY FROM YOUR BREACH OF THESE TERMS.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE MLA OR ITS TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, REPRESENTATIVES, AGENTS, ADVISORS OR VOLUNTEERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING MONETARY LOSSES, LOST REVENUES OR PROFITS, OR LOSS OF DATA) ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT, OR SERVICES WHETHER BASED UPON TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY.
OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE NETWORK, NETWORK CONTENT AND SERVICES IS LIMITED TO $25. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR THESE KINDS OF DAMAGES, SO THESE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend (if requested) the MLA and its trustees, directors, officers, employees, contractors, representatives, agents, advisors and volunteers against all liabilities, losses, damages, and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that they may incur based on claims arising out of your use of (or inability to use) our Network, Network Content, or Services or from your violation of these Terms. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which we are entitled to indemnification. You agree to provide us with cooperation we reasonably request.
Modification or Termination of our Network, Network Content or Services
We may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of our Network, Network Content or Services or impose limits on certain Network Content or Services or your access to them without notice or liability at any time.
General
These Terms (which include the Privacy Policy and other additional terms as noted) constitute the complete agreement regarding your use of the Network and are governed by applicable federal laws and the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and performed there. The Network Content, Third-Party Websites, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, and General sections of these Terms (along with any other provision that by its terms contemplate survival) will survive any termination of these Terms and our Network. You irrevocably agree to bring any claim or dispute relating to your use of our Network and these Terms exclusively in the state and federal courts located in New York County, New York, to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts, and to waive any objection to those courts based on an inconvenient forum or any other reason. Section headings are for convenience only and should not be used to interpret any provision. The word “including” in these Terms is illustrative and means “including, but not limited to.” The failure of the MLA to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms will not constitute a waiver of any right or provision. If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that any provision of these Terms is unenforceable for any reason, then that provision will be deleted and the remaining provisions will be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.
BY USING OUR NETWORK, YOU IRREVOCABLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO BRING ANY CLAIM IN ANY CLASS ACTION FORMAT THAT RELATES TO A DISPUTE UNDER THESE TERMS OR ARISES FROM YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) OUR NETWORK.
Questions
Please e-mail us at operations@mla.org with any questions you may have about these Terms.