Terms of Service

The House and Tree · thehouseandtree.com Version: 1.0 Effective date: [Set at launch]

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of thehouseandtree.com (the "Site"), operated by The House and Tree ("we," "us," "our"). By creating an account or using the Site, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account. By registering, you confirm that you meet this requirement. The Site is intended for users in the United States.

3. Your Account

You may register with an email address and password, or by signing in through a supported third-party provider such as Google or Microsoft.
You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity under your account.
Your username must not impersonate another person or be offensive.
You may hold only one account.

4. How the Site Works

Each debate presents an image, a statement, and two opposing positions. Registered users may:

Submit one claim per debate, supported by a selected region of the image, a voice recording, and written text.
Submit one rebuttal per debate, responding to another user's claim.
Judge one claim-and-rebuttal pair per debate, where they are not a participant in that pair.

Submissions cannot be edited or withdrawn once posted. Guests may view debates but must sign in to participate.

5. Your Content

You own what you post. Claims, rebuttals, judgments, voice recordings, written text, and avatars you submit ("Your Content") remain yours.

You grant us a licence to use it. By submitting Your Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute Your Content for any purpose relating to the operation of the Site and the way it presents content. This includes displaying Your Content within debates, on your profile, and in moderation records.

This licence is perpetual and irrevocable for content in debates that have closed, because closed debates are preserved as a complete record. For content in open debates, the licence ends when that content is removed from the Site.

You are responsible for what you post. You confirm that you have the right to submit Your Content and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights.

6. Conduct Rules

You agree not to post content, or use the Site in any way, that:

Harasses, threatens, bullies, or demeans any person
Promotes hatred or violence against any group
Is sexually explicit or obscene
Shares another person's private information without consent
Infringes copyright, trademark, or other rights
Is spam, advertising, or unrelated to the debate
Impersonates another person
Attempts to manipulate judging or vote counts, including through multiple accounts
Interferes with the Site's operation or security

7. Moderation, Strikes, and Suspension

Any registered user may report content or an account. Reports are reviewed by the Site's moderators.
Moderators may remove content that breaks these Terms. Removed content is hidden from general view, and the reason for removal is shown in its place.
Each removal of your content following a report adds one strike to your account. Strikes do not expire.
An account that reaches two strikes is suspended automatically. Moderators may also suspend an account directly for a serious violation.
A suspended account cannot sign in. The suspension notice and its reason are shown on the account's public profile.
If your content is removed, you may submit one replacement in that debate.

Appeals. To appeal a removal or suspension, email contact@thehouseandtree.com. A successful appeal lifts the suspension and removes one strike.

8. Site Content

Debate images, statements, page text, logos, and the Site's design are provided by us and remain our property or the property of their respective owners. You may not copy or reuse them outside the Site without permission.

9. Copyright Complaints

If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, send a notice to contact@thehouseandtree.com that includes:

Your name and contact information
A description of the copyrighted work
The location of the allegedly infringing content on the Site
A statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised
A statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner
Your physical or electronic signature

We will review valid notices and remove infringing content where appropriate.

10. Deleting Your Account

You may delete your account at any time from your account settings.

Content in open debates is removed from the Site when your account is deleted.
Content in closed debates remains on the Site as part of the debate record, attributed to "Deleted user" instead of your username.

Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

11. Disclaimers

The Site is provided "as is" and "as available." We do not guarantee that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure. Opinions expressed in debates belong to the users who post them, not to us.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Site, or for any content posted by other users.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms. When we do, we will increase the version number and ask you to accept the updated Terms the next time you sign in. Continuing to use the Site after accepting means you agree to the updated Terms.

14. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms: contact@thehouseandtree.com