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Terms and Conditions for Submissions

You may interact with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street website (www.museumonmainstreet.org) on the following conditions:

  • You are solely responsible for the content that you submit and the consequences of submitting content.
     
  • You retain ownership of your submission.  However, by submitting content, you give the Smithsonian and those authorized by the Smithsonian permission to use it for any educational, promotional, or other standard museum purpose, in any media now known or later developed, without compensation to you.  You further give the public permission to use the content you submit for personal, educational, or non-commercial uses in any media now known or later developed without compensation to you. 
     
  • You will not submit content that is off-topic, partisan-political, contains personal attacks or expletives, or is otherwise abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, false, pornographic, or that infringes on the rights of any third party.
     
  • You only will submit content that you own or for which you have received permission from the person or entity that owns the content and intellectual property rights.
     
  • You understand that the Smithsonian monitors submitted content and is under no obligation to publish or otherwise use the content you submit.
     
  • By submitting content, you waive any privacy expectations you may have with regard to the submitted content.  The Smithsonian may make the content you submit available to the general public online, at its premises, in a traveling exhibition, or in educational projects created by partners authorized by the Smithsonian.  The content you submit also may be shared with third parties in response to law enforcement or congressional requests, in response to public requests for information from the Smithsonian under Smithsonian Directive 807 (available at www.si.edu/ogc) , and as the Smithsonian determines is required by applicable law or regulation.  Do not submit any content or personally identifiable information that you do not want made public.  If you submit material to the “Share Your Story” area of the website, the Smithsonian will take reasonable steps to avoid disclosing your email address, user name, and password to the public, but cannot guarantee your privacy.
     
  • If your content is selected by the Smithsonian for posting, website visitors may share your content via social media websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and applications such as “ShareThis.”  These sites operate independently of the Smithsonian and have their own privacy policies (any data that the Smithsonian collects on these sites is subject to www.si.edu/privacy).  In addition, comments with which you disagree may become associated with the content you submit.  
     
  • Smithsonian decisions are final and binding.
     
  • You are at least 18 years of age.  (If you are under 18 and wish to submit a student project, such as those completed under the Museum on Main Street Youth Access Grant Program, a teacher, parent, or guardian must register and submit stories on your behalf.)
     
  • Any content you are submitting on the website does not include photographs, full names, or any other personally identifiable information of children currently under the age of 18, without obtaining prior verifiable consent from the child's parent or guardian.  Photographs, videos, and/or audio recordings that include children under the age of 18 may only be shared if you (the submitter) are the parent or legal guardian of each child represented, or if you have obtained prior written consent from each child’s parent or legal guardian (and uploaded that consent through the "Upload Your Story Materials" page on the website). 
     
  • You agree to indemnify and hold the Smithsonian and its sponsors harmless against any claims asserted by any third parties that allege your submission violates their rights, or from any breaches by you of these terms and conditions.  You shall be responsible for any costs incurred by the Smithsonian or its sponsors for defense or settlement of third-party claims, including but not limited to reasonable attorney’s fees.
     
  • You agree to the Smithsonian’s website terms of use, available at www.si.edu/Termsofuse, which are incorporated here by reference.
     
  • All submissions are voluntary on your part.
     
  • To request removal of your user account, or to request removal of a story you have submitted that you no longer wish to be published or archived on the website, please contact the MoMS staff at 202.633.5335 or moms@si.edu.