Terms of Service

Last Updated: 11/01/2020

Welcome to the Urban Institute website. Thank you for using our products and services (“Services” or the “Site”). The Services are provided by the Urban Institute (the “Institute,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a Delaware corporation with offices at 500 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20024.

1. General Rules and Definitions

1.1 If you access, browse and/or choose to use any features of this Site, including RSS, software, and other downloads, you are agreeing that you have read, understood, accepted, and are bound by all the terms and conditions (“Terms”) of these Terms of Service between you and the Institute. Please read these Terms carefully.

1.2 The Institute reserves the rights to change, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Service at any time without notice, which shall become effective immediately upon posting. Use of the Services after any changes have been posted will constitute your agreement to the modified Terms of Use.

1.3 The Institute may discontinue or modify Services, including the availability of any features, database, or content, at any time with or without notice and shall not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, or discontinuation of our Site and Services. If you do not accept these Terms (and therefore do not agree to be bound by them), please do not use this Site and Services.

2. Privacy

By using our Services, you understand and agree to comply with and be bound by the information collection, use, and disclosure practices described in our Privacy Policy.

Copyrights, Trademarks, and Licenses

3.1 You acknowledge that all content and materials contained within the Urban Institute website, including articles, text, photographs, graphics, video, audio content, images, visualizations, and computer code (the “Content”), are protected by copyright under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries.

3.2 You also acknowledge that all copyrights in the Content are owned by the Urban Institute or by our third-party licensors. Photography is copyrighted by license holders and is used with permission.

3.3 Unless otherwise marked or indicated, you may not publish, display, reproduce, modify, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, create new works from, distribute, or in any way exploit any of the Content or the Services in whole or in part unless expressly authorized by the Institute in writing. To obtain written consent to use a copyrighted work, please visit Copyright.com, search for the publications, choose from a list of licenses, and complete the transaction, or contact our Department of Communications.

3.4 You may download, store, or make a copy of the Content that is limited to personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Unless otherwise marked or indicated, copying or storing of any Content (including by linking or framing) for any purpose for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior permission from the Institute or the copyright holder identified. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content available.

3.5 Where indicated, permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of the computer code, software, and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so.

The Software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of, or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the Software.

3.6 All trademarks, logos, service marks, trade dress, slogans, and designs of the Services, whether or not appearing in large print or with the trademark symbol, belong exclusively to the Institute or its licensors and are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution, or confusing or misleading uses under the trademark laws of the United States and other countries. The use or misuse of these trademarks, except as authorized in writing, is expressly prohibited, and nothing stated or implied on the Services confers on you any license or right.

4. User Obligations

4.1 You may submit comments, reviews, questions, or other information concerning Site content so long as you do not upload to, or distribute, or otherwise publish any material that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, infringing on intellectual property rights, abusive, or otherwise illegal. You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish, materials that contain software viruses, political campaigning, advertising, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of “spam.”

4.2 You are solely responsible for the content of your submissions. The Institute reserves the right, but not the obligation, to remove or edit such content.

4.3 If you make any submissions to the Site, you grant the Institute a perpetual, nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, and fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You waive any rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you.

4.4 You may not access or use, or attempt to access or use, the Services to take any action that could harm the Institute or any third party, interfere with the operation of the Services, or use the Services in a manner that violates any laws. Violations of these Terms may result in civil or criminal liability. We may investigate violations of these Terms, and we may work with law enforcement authorities to prosecute users who violate the Terms.

5. Access and Availability of Third-Party Services and Links

5.1 The Services contain links to websites operated by persons other than the Institute that will let you leave the Urban Institute’s Site. The Institute is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, their contents, any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or update to such site.

5.2 The Institute provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply or mean endorsement by the Urban Institute of the site or its contents. If you decide to access these linked sites, you do so at your own risk.

6. Electronic User Communications

By visiting the Site and sending emails to the Institute, you are communicating with us electronically and therefore consent that the Institute reserves the right to send electronic mail to you. We will communicate with you by email or by posting notices on this site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

7. Unsolicited Email Policy

The presence of email addresses on this site is not an invitation for unsolicited commercial email. The use of spiders, robots, and other technologies to collect email addresses from this site is prohibited. Senders of email are expected to abide by all applicable state and federal laws.

8. Representations and Warranties

Access to, and use of, Services is provided by the Institute on an “as is” and “as available” basis. You expressly agree that any reliance upon any opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information distributed through the Services shall be at your sole risk. In no event will the Institute or its affiliates or any party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the services be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, special, or punitive damages arising out of your access, use, misuse, or inability to use the services or any linked sites.

The Institute does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Services by any user, information provider, or any other person or entity. The opinions posted on the Site are solely those of the author and not of the Urban Institute or its officers, staff, board, funders, or organizations with which it may have a relationship.

The Institute does not warrant that this Site or its servers, or email sent from the Institute are free of viruses or other harmful components. The Institute will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this site, including, but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Institute and its affiliates, and their respective members, directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any violation by you of these Terms and Conditions or any breach by you of your representations and warranties hereunder. The Institute reserves the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this Section. In such event, you shall provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us.

10. Termination

The Institute, in its sole discretion, may discontinue, terminate, or restrict your access to all or part of the Services at any time and for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of these Terms of Service, without notice and without any liability to you.

11. Applicable Laws

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of the United States and the District of Columbia without regard to conflict of law principles.

By using the Services, you agree that any action to enforce these Terms of Service shall be brought in the courts located in the District of Columbia.

If you are outside of the United States and use the Services, you are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws of your specific jurisdiction.

12. Severability

If a court finds any provision in these Terms of Use to be invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect, and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision.

13. Miscellaneous

13.1 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in these Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in policies or terms and conditions in addition to these Terms.

13.2 The failure of the Institute to enforce any provisions of the Terms or to respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive its rights to enforce subsequently any terms or conditions of the Terms or to act with respect with similar breaches.

13.3 The Institute and its affiliates respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide the Urban Institute’s copyright agent the written information specified below as required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3):

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Identification and description of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
Information reasonably sufficient to locate the allegedly infringing material on the site.
The address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address at which you may be contacted.
A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

The Urban Institute’s Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on its site can be reached as follows :

Office of the General Counsel

The Urban Institute

500 L'Enfant Plaza SW Washington, DC 20024

Phone: 202-833-7200