QT Bird

birds, blooms and back to basics

Terms of Service

QTBird.com is owned and operated by Sara Noel. I may change these Terms of Service at any time, and each visit you make to QTBird.com is subject to the current version published here. In these terms, “the Website” means QTBird.com and its related emails, newsletters, forums, and other online services.

General Terms of Use

By using QTBird.com, you agree to these Terms of Service and all applicable laws and regulations, and you are responsible for following any local laws that apply to you. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use this site. The materials on the Website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws.

Unless stated otherwise, the Website is intended for adults 18 years of age and older. Use by anyone younger is not permitted. See also my Child Safety Policy.

Not Professional Advice

The content on QTBird.com, including articles and community discussions, is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice. It is not medical, mental health, fitness, veterinary, legal, or financial advice. Health, wellness, fitness, and money-saving tips reflect personal experience and may not suit your situation. Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise, diet, or wellness routine, and consult a qualified professional about your own physical or mental health, pets, finances, or circumstances. Use care with plants, pesticides, wildlife, and recipes, including checking for allergies and following food safety guidelines.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S.) or call 911 in an emergency.

Online Etiquette

Forums, comments, and other community areas on QTBird.com have ground rules for posting. Please be considerate of others when you post. You may not impersonate another person or claim to act on behalf of QTBird.com or anyone else. Anything you post should correctly identify you as the sender. Any attempt to change the system configuration, breach the security of the Website, gain unauthorized access to other users’ accounts, or otherwise hack the Website is prohibited and will result in the immediate loss of all access and privileges, and may lead to criminal or civil charges.

Third-Party Links and Purchases

QTBird.com includes links to websites run by third parties, sometimes through advertisements or affiliate links. Linking to a site does not mean I endorse or sponsor it or the information, products, or services it offers. I do not operate or control any third-party site, product, or service. Please review their policies and terms to understand their practices.

If you buy something from a merchant through a link on QTBird.com, the purchase is between you and that merchant. The merchant may collect information you provide, and its privacy and data practices may differ from mine. I am not responsible for the quality, accuracy, or reliability of third-party products or services, and you agree not to make any claims against me arising from your purchase or use of them.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

THE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES OFFERED ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, I DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. I DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY OF ITS FUNCTIONS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING ITS FORUMS, OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

I DO NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ITS MATERIALS, OR THOSE OF THIRD-PARTY SITES, IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

The Website should not be relied on in any situation where an error could result in injury or damage to people, pets, property, the environment, or finances. You assume all risk for such use.

In no event shall QTBird.com, Sara Noel, or their service providers, affiliates, or partners be liable for any damages, including loss of data or profit, arising from the use of or inability to use the Website, even if notified of the possibility of such damages. This applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay, computer virus, communication failure, theft, or unauthorized access, whether for breach of contract, negligence, or any other cause of action. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above may not apply to you.

Information and opinions shared in the forums, comments, reviews, or other community areas are those of the people who post them, not necessarily those of QTBird.com or Sara Noel. I make no representations about that information and am not liable for any loss, damage, injury, or claim resulting from it.

Limited License

You may view, print, or download free content from the Website for personal, non-commercial, or educational use only. You may not use this content commercially, include it in any product you distribute, or copy or host it on any other website or server. Nothing in this license grants you any right to any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary property of QTBird.com or anyone else.

Copyright and Sharing

All material on this Website, including text, photos, illustrations, and multimedia, is protected by copyright owned by QTBird.com or by others who have licensed their material to QTBird.com. You may not copy, republish, upload, post, or distribute this material in any way without written permission.

You are welcome to share links to my posts on social media or your own website, and to quote a sentence or two, as long as you credit QTBird.com and link back to the original post.

Changes and Improvements

I may make changes or improvements to the content, features, and services on the Website, and to these Terms of Service, at any time without liability.

Governing Law

QTBird.com is operated by Sara Noel from Michigan. I make no representation that the materials on the Website are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access the Website from elsewhere, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for following your local laws.

These Terms of Service are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan and the United States, and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Michigan. If any part of these terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These terms are the entire agreement between you and QTBird.com on this subject and replace any earlier agreements.

Privacy

My Privacy Policy explains how user information is collected, used, and shared.

Submissions

The Website may include text, links, photos, videos, audio, and other material (“Content”), including Content you create or submit through your account. You confirm that (i) you own the Content you post or otherwise have the right to grant the license below, and (ii) posting it does not violate anyone’s privacy, publicity, copyright, contract, or other rights. You alone are responsible for your Content.

You keep any ownership rights you have in your Content, but by posting or submitting it, you grant QTBird.com a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, adapt, create derivative works from, distribute, store, perform, and display your Content, along with any name, username, voice, or likeness connected with it, in all media now known or later developed (including for use with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, such as large language model development, training, testing, and operation, and retrieval-augmented generation systems, by QTBird.com and/or its partners). You also agree that metadata may be removed from your Content, and you waive any moral rights or claims to attribution.

Any ideas, suggestions, or feedback you share about QTBird.com are voluntary, and I may use them without compensation or obligation to you. You agree you have no recourse against Sara Noel for any alleged infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary right in your communications to QTBird.com.

Community Rules

To keep QTBird.com helpful and safe, and to prevent the harm that false, malicious, or abusive posts can cause, you may not:

  • Restrict or interfere with anyone else’s use and enjoyment of the Website.
  • Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with anyone.
  • Interfere with, disrupt, or overburden the servers or networks that run the Website, or ignore their requirements or policies.
  • Encourage others to commit illegal acts, cause injury or property damage, or interfere with anyone’s business or contracts.
  • Gain unauthorized access to the Website or any connected account, computer, or network through hacking, password mining, or other illicit means.
  • Obtain or try to obtain any material or information not intentionally made available on the Website.
  • Post anything unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, hateful, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, or offensive (including in relation to sex, race, religion, or otherwise), or anything that encourages criminal conduct, creates civil liability, or violates any law.
  • Post material that infringes on anyone’s rights, including privacy, publicity, copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights, without the owner’s permission.
  • Post anything containing a virus or other harmful component.
  • Use the Website for commercial purposes, advertising, or soliciting anyone to buy or sell products or services, visit a competing website, or make donations of any kind, without my written approval.
  • Access, search, or collect data from the Website by any means, including web scraping, violating the robots.txt file, or using automated tools or technologies (including artificial intelligence, machine learning systems, or large language models) to scrape, collect, train on, or otherwise process Content, except as allowed in these terms or by separate written agreement.

All Content posted by users reflects the opinions of the people who post it, not those of QTBird.com. I do not endorse or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, or reliability of any user Content. You agree to indemnify QTBird.com and Sara Noel, and their agents and affiliates, against any third-party claims, liabilities, costs, or expenses, including reasonable legal fees, resulting from your violation of these Terms of Service.

I have no obligation to monitor the forums, comments, or other community areas. However, I may disclose any information needed to comply with the law or a government request, and I may refuse to post or may remove any material that, in my sole discretion, is objectionable or violates these terms. I may also deny access to the Website, or any part of it, to anyone, for any reason, including violating these terms or interfering with others’ enjoyment of the Website.

Moderators

Moderating a forum on QTBird.com is an unofficial, volunteer role. Moderators are not employees, contractors, or agents of QTBird.com or Sara Noel, and QTBird.com and Sara Noel are not responsible for their actions or inactions. If you act as a moderator, you agree that:

  • You will always act in good faith and keep a calm, courteous manner.
  • You will not accept gifts, favors, or other compensation from third parties related to your moderating.
  • You will stay impartial and will not promote or advertise any product, brand, or service.
  • You will follow these Terms of Service and any moderating guidelines and content policies Sara Noel provides. You will act on content that violates these policies or promptly escalate it to Sara Noel, and you will contact Sara Noel if you are unsure what to do.
  • You are not authorized to act on behalf of Sara Noel and will not represent that you are.
  • You may have access to confidential or non-public information. You will not publish or share it, will keep it secure, and will use it only for moderating. If you believe it has been accessed inappropriately, you will contact Sara Noel promptly. This obligation continues after you stop moderating.
  • Sara Noel may remove your moderator role at any time, for any reason, and may overturn any of your decisions at her sole discretion.

Copyright Policy

QTBird.com follows a copyright policy in line with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. For details, please see my Copyright Policy. In appropriate circumstances, and at my sole discretion, I may disable or close the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of others.

Accounts and Passwords

Some features of the Website require a username and password, which you create when you register. You are responsible for keeping your password and account confidential and for all activity under your account, whether by you or others. Please notify me immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other security breach, and log out at the end of each session. I am not liable for any loss or damage resulting from your failure to protect your account information.

Affiliate Links

QTBird.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and other affiliated sites. I may replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetized links posted by users with my own tracking. You agree not to post content that contains affiliate marketing, referral codes, or unsolicited commercial advertising.

Termination

I may cancel or end your right to use the Website, or any part of it, at any time without notice. If that happens, you are no longer authorized to access the affected parts of the Website. The restrictions on material downloaded from the Website, and the disclaimers and limitations of liability in these Terms of Service, will continue to apply.