Terms of Use

Welcome to cocoscrabble.org. This site is owned by the Collins Coalition (CoCo) and is operated by and on behalf of the CoCo. These terms of use apply to the CoCo’s digital platforms, including this website and other online content offerings; to information submitted by users and players through the CoCo website; and to participation in CoCo events and tournaments, including online and in-person tournaments and clubs. For questions about these terms, please contact us at info at cocoscrabble.org.


PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE OR PARTICIPATING IN A COCO EVENT.

By using this site, you signify your agreement to these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, please do not use this site. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, add, remove or otherwise modify portions of these Terms of Use at any time. Please check these Terms of Use periodically for changes. Your continued use of this site following the posting of changes to these Terms of Use means you accept those changes.

1. OWNERSHIP AND TRADEMARKS

Scrabble™, the design of the distinctive Scrabble brand game board, and the distinctive letter tile designs are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. in the United States and Canada. In all other countries, Scrabble and associated trademarks and trade dress are owned by J.W. Spear & Son’s Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. In some territories, Collins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Limited. The Collins Coalition and the content on this website is NOT affiliated with nor endorsed by Hasbro, Mattel, HarperCollins Publishers, or their subsidiaries, except where explicitly indicated on an individual tournament’s page.

All other trademarks that appear on this site, except those owned by the CoCo, are the property of their respective owners, which may or may not be affiliated with or connected to the CoCo. All content on this site not trademarked by one of the entities described in the preceding paragraph, or attributed to another source, including, without limitation, text, graphics, images, logos, audio or video clips, digital downloads, data compilations and software, is the property of the Collins Coalition or the CoCo’s content suppliers or licensors and is protected by the laws of the United States and other countries and international treaties, except where otherwise noted. The compilation of all content of this site is the property of the CoCo and is protected by the laws of the United States and other countries and international treaties. Coco and Collins Coalition are trademarks of the Collins Coalition. 

2. LICENSE AND SITE USE

The CoCo grants you a limited license to access and make personal, non-commercial use of this site. In accordance with these Terms of Use, you are not permitted to download any material (including, without limitation, software, text, graphics or other content), except for printing tournament resources for non-commercial use provided that all copyright and proprietary notices are maintained. You may not modify all or part of the site without our express written consent. You may not redistribute, sell, de-compile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce to a human-readable form software that you are permitted to download from the site hereunder, except as may be permitted by law. Except only as expressly provided herein, this site (or any derivative work version of it), its contents (including, without limitation rankings, tournament scores and standings) and any community member or account information may not in any form or by any means now known or hereafter developed be reproduced, displayed, downloaded, uploaded, published, repurposed, posted, distributed, transmitted, resold, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without our prior express written consent. All rights not expressly granted to you above, including ownership and title, are reserved for the owner and not transferred or licensed to you.

3. SUBMISSIONS

Any information or materials you transmit, post, publish, upload or otherwise submit to any CoCo site (including, without limitation, comments, reviews, postings to chat, email messages or materials directed to any Forum, Slack channel, or Discord channel) or any creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts or other information sent to the CoCo via our website, through email, through web form submission, through any CoCo social media page, app or other means of transmission or delivery, shall be collectively referred to as "Submissions." If you transmit or otherwise deliver Submissions to the CoCo, you grant the CoCo a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable (or the longest period permitted under law) license (with the right to sublicense and assign) to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and display, transmit, make, sell, create derivative works from and distribute such Submissions or incorporate such Submissions into other works in any form or medium and through any means or modes of distribution or technology now known or hereafter developed. 

You hereby agree and represent to the CoCo that you own or have been granted the necessary intellectual property and other rights in the Submissions (including, without limitation, a waiver of any applicable moral rights) to grant such license to the CoCo, that no such Submissions are, or shall be, subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of the CoCo and that the CoCo shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Submissions. Without limitation of the foregoing, the CoCo shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the provider of the Submissions. You agree that no Submission made by you will contain libelous, abusive, obscene or otherwise unlawful material and you acknowledge and agree that you are exclusively liable for the content of any Submission made by you.

For information on the collection of information from children and compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), see the CoCo Privacy Policy.

4. FORUMS AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION 

"Forum" means a chat area, message board, Slack channel, Discord channel, social media site, app, email function or other function which allows you to transmit or submit material to the CoCo for display, storage, or distribution, offered as part of any CoCo site or by an affiliated company/organization and/or service provider of the CoCo, including CoCo tournament and club rooms hosted by Woogles or the Internet Scrabble Club. Where the Forum is provided on a site other than a CoCo site, you may be bound by the terms of service and privacy policy of the third-party site. If you participate in any Forum affiliated with the CoCo or its events, tournaments, or clubs, you must not, and agree that you will not, through the use of any Submission or otherwise:

  • defame, abuse, harass, intimidate, or threaten others;

  • make any bigoted, hateful, misogynist, homophobic, or racially offensive statements;

  • advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;

  • post or distribute any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law;

  • post or distribute any obscene or pornographic language or images;

  • advertise or sell to, or solicit, others;

  • use the Forum for commercial purposes of any kind; or

  • post or distribute any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful component.

In addition, you agree that you will not use a false email address, impersonate any person or entity or otherwise mislead others as to the source of origin of a Submission.

The CoCo reserves the right to remove or edit content from any CoCo Forum at any time and for any reason. Any material transmitted, submitted or otherwise delivered to a Forum shall constitute a Submission and is hereby governed by the terms applicable to Submissions as described herein.

When participating in a Forum, never assume that people are whom they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated with in any chat room, message board or other user-generated content area. Information obtained in a Forum may not be reliable, and we are not responsible for the content or accuracy of any information.

5. DISCLAIMER

THE MATERIALS IN THIS COCO SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, THE COCO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE COCO DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS ON ANY COCO SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY COCO SITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE COCO DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON ANY COCO SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

We explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, content or availability of information found on sites that link to or from any CoCo site. We cannot ensure that you will be satisfied with any products or services that you purchase from a third party site that links to or from any CoCo site or third party content on our sites. We do not endorse any of the merchandise (if any) except as expressly provided, nor have we taken any steps to confirm the accuracy or reliability of any of the information contained in such third party sites or content. We do not make any representations or warranties as to the security of any information (including, without limitation, credit card and other personal information) you might be requested to give any third party, and you hereby irrevocably waive any claim against us with respect to such sites and third party content. We strongly encourage you to make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties.

6. INDEMNIFICATION

You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your Account Information and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold the CoCo and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents harmless from and against any third-party claims, demands, actions, suits, proceedings, liabilities, damages, losses, judgments and expenses (including the costs of collection, reasonable attorney’s fees and other reasonable costs of defense or enforcing your obligations hereunder) resulting from or arising out of any breach of any of your representations or misuse of this or any other CoCo site or of any site linking to this or any other CoCo site. You shall use your best efforts to cooperate with us in the defense of any claim.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL THE COCO BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, ANY COCO SITE OR MATERIALS OR FUNCTIONS ON ANY SUCH SITE, EVEN IF THE COCO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE COCO.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COCO BE LIABLE FOR ANY BREACH IN TRANSACTION SECURITY CAUSED BY A THIRD PARTY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY PURCHASE OR ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE MERCHANDISE.

8. JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES

Unless otherwise specified, the materials in any CoCo site are presented solely for the purpose of promoting tournament Scrabble play and related products and services available in the United States and its territories, possessions and protectorates. The CoCo makes no representation that materials on any CoCo site are appropriate or available for use in any particular location. Those who choose to access a CoCo site do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

9. TERMINATION

These Terms of Use are effective until terminated by either party. Your access to any and all CoCo sites may be terminated immediately without notice from us if, in our sole discretion, you fail to comply with any term of these Terms of Use. Upon such termination, you must cease use of the CoCo site. You may terminate at any time by discontinuing use of all CoCo sites.

10. NOTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR MAKING CLAIMS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

For claims of copyright infringement pursuant to Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2), you may contact us at info at cocoscrabble.org.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

By visiting this site you agree that the Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law, and that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in King County, Washington and you hereby consent and submit to the venue and personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of such action. If any provision of these Terms of Use shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Use and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between us relating to the subject matter herein and shall not be modified except in writing, signed by both parties.

12. NOTIFICATION

We may amend our Terms of Use from time to time; please review the Terms periodically. We will provide electronic notice by posting any changes on our website at cocoscrabble.org/terms-of-use.

13. LIABILIITY WAIVER AND RELEASE FOR TOURNAMENTS

By registering for a tournament, you agree and understand that participation in CoCo tournaments involves certain risks, including the possibility of rage quitting and personal injury. You are voluntarily participating in the CoCo tournament with knowledge of the dangers involved and agree to accept all risks of participation. You release and forever discharge and hold harmless the Collins Coalition and its successors and assigns and directors from any and all liability, claims, and demands of whatever kind or nature, either in law or in equity, which may arise from your participation with the Collins Coalition and its tournaments.

Last updated: March 16, 2023