Terms of Service

1. Introduction

This Terms and Conditions Policy outlines the rights, obligations, and restrictions applied to users of the articleOne platform, including individual users and organizations. These Terms and Conditions apply to all users regardless of service tier (e.g. Basic, Plus, Pro, or Gov). Our goal is to ensure that user data is managed responsibly, securely, and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all users of the articleOne (hereinafter "articleOne", "the Service", or "the Platform") platform or any associated service of Manitou Research Inc. (hereinafter "Manitou", "the Company", or "Manitou Research"). These Terms and Conditions apply regardless of service tier, but certain tiers may be subject to additional Terms and Conditions, which will be clearly identified.

Manitou Research Inc. employs generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) models provided by third parties, such as Microsoft OpenAI, to provide many of its services. Manitou Research Inc. transmits user data to these parties to process user queries, provide generative AI responses, and for related purposes. Manitou Research takes steps to anonymize, pool, aggregate, or otherwise remove identifying information before transmitting data, such as user queries, to these third parties. For information about Microsoft OpenAI's use of data originating from the articleOne platform, please see their Privacy and Data Policies, which can be found here. For additional information about Manitou's Privacy Policy, please see our Privacy Policy here.

Manitou Research does not intentionally request, process, or store protected health information. It is a violation of the Terms of Use to knowingly submit any Protected Health Information to Manitou Research Inc. For Government tier users: This restriction applies whether the Protected Health Information belongs to a user, organization, or to any third party and, as such, the articleOne platform is NOT currently intended for use with constituent casework that may include Protected Health Information such as veterans' benefit claims.

3. Definitions

• Data: Any information that is collected, stored, processed, or transmitted by Manitou Research Inc. to or from users or organizations that use the articleOne service or other services provided by Manitou Research. Publicly available data obtained from other sources, such as statements by Members of Congress, are in the public domain and are not subject to this Policy. Data may include, but is not limited to, name, affiliation, political party, role, profession, industry, optional organizational logo or imagery, optional user photo or avatar, congressional district, cookies, tags, beacons, financial and payment information, email address(es), Internet Protocol (IP) address(es), MAC address(es), Internet Service Provider, phone number, address, device information (e.g. browser and operating system), platform access history (e.g. logins) including the frequency and duration of such access, and more.
• Personal Data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual or organization, including political persons or organizations, that Manitou Research receives from the user or organization while providing services to the user or organization. For Government users, this may include data about elected officials and government employees.
• AI: Artificial Intelligence.
• Account: A unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
• Feedback: Feedback, recommendations, complaints, notifications, innovations or suggestions sent by You regarding the attributes, performance or features of our Service.
• Free Trial: A limited period of time that may be free when purchasing a Subscription.
• Discount Period: A limited period of time wherein services provided by Manitou Research Inc., such as the articleOne platform, may be offered at a reduced cost, whether in exchange for promotional consideration or otherwise.

4. Acknowledgment

• These are the Terms and Conditions governing the use of this Service and the agreement that operates between You and the Company. These Terms and Conditions set out the rights and obligations of all users, whether individually or as part of an Organization, regarding the use of the Service.
• Your access to and use of the Service is conditioned on Your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions apply to all visitors, users and others who access or use the Service.
• By accessing or using the Service You agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If You disagree with any part of these Terms and Conditions then You may not access the Service.
• You represent that you are over the age of 13. The Company does not permit those under 13 to use the Service. If you are in the United States and are under the age of 18, parental approval is required to use the service.
• Your access to and use of the Service is also conditioned on Your acceptance of and compliance with the Liability Waiver, Privacy Policy, Data Policy, and Ethical Use Policy of the Company.

5. Subscription Period

• The Service or some parts of the Service are available only with a paid Subscription. You will be billed in advance on a recurring and periodic basis (such as monthly or annually), depending on the Service Tier and type of Subscription plan you select when purchasing the Subscription.
• At the end of each period, Your Subscription will automatically renew under the exact same conditions (including Service Tier and duration) unless You cancel it or the Company cancels it.
• You may cancel Your Subscription renewal either through Your Account settings page or by contacting the Company. For Organizations, the designated Administrative user is the only user who may cancel the Subscription for that Organization. In the event of such a cancellation, the cancellation will apply to all users belonging to that Organization. If you belong to an Organization and you wish to subscribe on an individual basis, please contact us no fewer than ten (10) days before the end of the billing period (monthly or annually).
• If you belong to an Organization and leave that Organization to join another Organization that is also a Subscriber, Manitou Research will attempt to transfer your account to the new Organization. We cannot guarantee such a transfer. Common reasons a transfer may not be possible include, but are not limited to, an Organization asserting that a User's queries, content generation, prompting, or other work product comprise proprietary or confidential information that must not be transferred to either an individual User account or to another Organization.
• Manitou Research Inc. has no obligation to attempt to separate such information to facilitate an account transfer and, in the event such a transfer is not possible, as determined at the sole discretion of Manitou Research, the User may experience an account deletion, partial deletion, or loss of access, and the creation of a new account may be necessary.
• You will not receive a refund for the fees You already paid for Your current Subscription period.
• You will be able to access the Service until the end of Your current Subscription period.
• The Company may, at its sole discretion, offer a Subscription with a Free Trial or a discount for a limited period of time.
• You may be required to enter Your billing and/or other information in order to sign up for the Free Trial.
• If You do enter Your billing information when signing up for a Free Trial, You will not be charged by the Company until the Free Trial has expired. On the last day of the Free Trial period, unless You have cancelled Your Subscription prior to the last day of the Free Trial period, You will be automatically charged the applicable Subscription fees for the type of Subscription You have selected.
• At any time and without notice, the Company reserves the right to (i) modify the terms and conditions of the Free Trial offer, or (ii) cancel such Free Trial offer.

6. Billing

• The User or Organization shall provide the Company with accurate and complete billing information including full name, organization name, address, state, zip code, telephone number, and a valid payment method information.
• Should automatic billing fail to occur for any reason, the Company will issue an electronic invoice indicating that you must proceed manually, within a certain deadline date, with the full payment corresponding to the billing period as indicated on the invoice. Restoration of a valid and functioning automatic billing method should occur as soon as reasonably possible.

7. Fee Changes

• The Company, in its sole discretion and at any time, may modify the Subscription fees. Any Subscription fee change will become effective at the end of the then-current Subscription period. Such fee changes may increase the cost of the service for the User or Organization.
• Such fee changes may include promotional or loyalty-based discounts that may temporarily lower the cost of the service for the User or Organization. Such promotional or loyalty-based discounts may not be universally available to all Users unless required by applicable rule, policy, statute, or law, contingent on the concurrence of applicability by Manitou Research Inc. in its sole discretion.
• The Company will provide You with reasonable prior notice of any change in Subscription fees to give You an opportunity to terminate Your Subscription before such change becomes effective.
• Your continued use of the Service after the Subscription fee change comes into effect constitutes Your agreement to pay the modified Subscription fee amount.

8. Refunds

• Except when and where required by law, paid Subscription fees are non-refundable. Certain refund requests for Subscriptions may be considered by the Company on a case-by-case basis and granted at the sole discretion of the Company.

9. Accounts

• When You create an account with Us, You must provide Us information that is accurate, complete, and current at all times. Failure to do so constitutes a breach of the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of Your account on Our Service.
• You are responsible for safeguarding the password that You use to access the Service and for any activities or actions under Your password.
• You agree not to disclose Your password to any third party. You must notify Us immediately upon becoming aware of any breach of security or unauthorized use of Your account.
• You may not use as a username the name of another person or entity or that is not lawfully available for use, a name that misrepresents a User's affiliation, position, or role, a name or trademark that is subject to any rights of another person or entity other than You without appropriate authorization, or a name that is otherwise offensive, vulgar or obscene. Manitou Research reserves the right to compel a User to change their username to comply with this provision.

10. Content

• Our Service allows You to transmit Content to Manitou Research, such as through queries or prompts associated with content generation. You are responsible for the Content that You post to the Service, including its legality, reliability, and appropriateness.
• By posting Content to the Service, You grant Us the right and license to use, modify, reproduce, aggregate, analyze, and distribute such Content on and through the Service. Manitou Research will not sell or trade individually identifiable or attributable information submitted by a User. Please see our Data and Privacy Policies for more information.
• You represent and warrant that: (i) the Content is Yours (You own it) or You have the right to use it and grant Us the rights and license as provided in these Terms, and (ii) the posting of Your Content on or through the Service does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person.
• Manitou Research has no obligation to correct erroneous or inaccurate Content provided by a User except where required by law, in which case Manitou Research may, at its sole discretion, choose to delete or destroy the Content instead of amending it.
• The Company is not responsible for the content of the Service's users. You expressly understand and agree that You are solely responsible for the Content and for all activity that occurs under your account, whether done so by You or any third person using Your account.
• You may not transmit any Content that is unlawful, offensive, upsetting, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Examples of such objectionable Content include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Unlawful or promoting unlawful activity.
• Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including derogatory references or references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other groups.
• Content that is intended to confuse, corrupt, damage, or interfere with the AI models employed by Manitou Research. This includes, but is not limited to, any attempt to compel the AI models to execute commands, code, or directives or to cause the AI model to generate content that violates these Terms and Conditions.
• Information that is factually inaccurate if Manitou Research determines, in its sole discretion, that the intent of such information is to deceive, mislead, confuse, or cause harm to another party.
• Containing or installing any viruses, worms, malware, trojan horses, or other content that is designed or intended to disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of any software, hardware or telecommunications equipment or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any data or other information of a third person.
• Infringing on any proprietary rights of any party, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity or other rights.
• Impersonating any person or entity including the Company and its employees or representatives.
• Violating the privacy of any third person.
• The Company reserves the right, but not the obligation, to, in its sole discretion, determine whether or not any Content is appropriate and complies with this Terms, refuse or remove this Content. The Company further reserves the right to make formatting and edits and change the manner of any Content. The Company can also limit or revoke the use of the Service if You post such objectionable Content. As the Company cannot control all content posted by users and/or third parties on the Service, you agree to use the Service at your own risk. You understand that by using the Service You may be exposed to content that You may find offensive, indecent, incorrect, inaccurate, misleading, or objectionable, and You agree that under no circumstances will the Company be liable in any way for any content, including any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any content.

11. Intellectual Property (IP) and Copyrights

• We respect the intellectual property rights of others. It is Our policy to respond to any claim that Content posted on the Service infringes a copyright or other intellectual property infringement of any person.
• If You are a copyright owner, or authorized on behalf of one, and You believe that the copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement that is taking place through the Service, You must submit Your notice in writing to the attention of our copyright agent via email at dmca@manitouresearch.com and include in Your notice a detailed description of the alleged infringement.
• You may be held accountable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) for misrepresenting that any Content is infringing Your copyright.
• DMCA Notice and DMCA Procedure for Copyright Infringement Claims
• You may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by providing our Copyright Agent with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C 512(c)(3) for further detail):
• An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright's interest.
• A description of the copyrighted work that You claim has been infringed, including the URL (i.e., web page address) of the location where the copyrighted work exists or a copy of the copyrighted work.
• Identification of the URL or other specific location on the Service where the material that You claim is infringing is located.
• Your address, telephone number, and email address.
• A statement by You that You have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement by You, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in Your notice is accurate and that You are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
• You can contact our copyright agent via email at dmca@manitouresearch.com. Upon receipt of a notification, the Company will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged content from the Service.

12. Feedback

• You assign all rights, title and interest in any Feedback You provide the Company, regardless of format. If for any reason such assignment is ineffective, You agree to grant the Company a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to use, reproduce, disclose, sub-license, distribute, modify and exploit such Feedback without restriction.
• If the Feedback is specific to only a single User or Organization, or if it includes or necessarily contains confidential or proprietary information, that Feedback will instead be subject to the Agreement governing the relationship between the User or Organization in question and Manitou Research, unless the Feedback results in improvements, modifications, or corrections that are broadly applicable to the Platform's Users.

13. Data Transfers

• International Transfers: All United States user and organizational data are stored on servers physically located in the United States. Whenever possible, all processing and transmittal of United States user data will occur within the United States, but Manitou Research cannot ensure that data will not pass through international servers.

14. Termination

• We may terminate or suspend Your Account immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if You breach these Terms and Conditions.
• Upon termination, Your right to use the Service will cease immediately. If You wish to terminate Your Account, You may simply discontinue using the Service.

15. Limitation of Liability

• Notwithstanding any damages that You might incur, the entire liability of the Company and any of its suppliers under any provision of this Terms and Your exclusive remedy for all of the foregoing shall be limited to the amount actually paid by You through the Service.
• To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the Company or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, loss of data or other information, political or reputational consequences or injury, violations or contraventions of external policies such as organizational data use and privacy policies, for business interruption, for personal injury, loss of privacy arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the Service, third-party software and/or third-party hardware used with the Service, or otherwise in connection with any provision of this Terms), even if the Company or any supplier has been advised of the possibility of such damages and even if the remedy fails of its essential purpose.
• Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or limitation of liability for incidental or consequential damages, which means that some of the above limitations may not apply. In these states, each party's liability will be limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

16. Restricted Information

• For all Users and Organizations, but especially Government Users and Organizations, by using the articleOne platform or any other service provided or facilitated by Manitou Research, the User or Organization accepts and acknowledges that articleOne, or any other service provided or facilitated by Manitou Research, cannot and must not ever obtain, retain, process, or otherwise be exposed to United States Government Classified information. If Manitou Research, its employees, or its contractors discover what is reasonably believed to be Classified information, Controlled Unclassified Information, or For Official Use Only information, Manitou Research has an obligation to and will immediately report such information to relevant authorities, regardless of the potential consequence to the User or Organization responsible for providing such information. In such cases, Manitou Research will comply with all legal obligations related to intentional or inadvertent disclosure of restricted information including, but not limited to, full cooperation with any resulting investigation, criminal or civil procedure, or review, including the Company's voluntary and proactive disclosure to appropriate parties of the identity, affiliation, or any other relevant information about a User or Organization associated with the data in question.

17. United States Federal Government End Use Provisions

• If You are a U.S. federal government end user, our Service is a "Commercial Item" as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101.

18. United States Legal Compliance

• You represent and warrant that (i) You are not located in a country that is subject to the United States Government embargo, or that has been designated by the United States Government as a "terrorist supporting" country, and (ii) You are not listed on any United States Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

19. Severability

• If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, such provision will be changed and interpreted to accomplish the objectives of such provision to the greatest extent possible under applicable law and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

20. Policy Review and Updates

• Regular Review: This policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains current and effective.
• Updates: This Policy will be updated as necessary to maintain and improve the articleOne platform. Any updates to this Policy will be posted on the Manitou Research and/or articleOne platform website(s) in a timely manner.
• We reserve the right, at Our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is materially significant, We will make reasonable efforts to provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new terms taking effect. What constitutes a materially significant change will be determined at Our sole discretion.
• Any non-clerical changes to this Policy will be communicated in writing, via email, to affected users or organizations, at which point that user's or organization's continued use of the articleOne platform constitutes consent and concurrence with the Policy changes.