1. Acceptance of Terms
2. Right to Modify Terms
3. Expert Representations and Covenants
4. Tests, Verifications and Other Requirements
5. Informational and Educational Purposes Only
6. Content and License
7. Fees
8. Non-Solicitation
9. Expert Accounts and Relationship to JustAnswer
10. Limited Exclusivity and Other Agreements
11. Confidentiality
12. Restrictions, Suspension and Termination of Accounts and Service
13. Indemnification
14. Miscellaneous
15. Survival
1. Acceptance of Terms
Welcome to www.JustAnswer.com ("Service" or "Site") owned and operated by JustAnswer (“JustAnswer”).
By applying to become an Expert on the Site, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the terms of this Agreement, the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Expert Community Guidelines, and all rules, policies and disclaimers posted on the Site or about which you are notified (collectively “Terms”). Capitalized terms not defined in this Agreement will have the meanings set forth in the Terms of Service. The provisions of the Terms of Service are incorporated herein by reference. If you do not agree with the Terms in their entirety, you must not use JustAnswer. Please review all of the Terms carefully before applying to become an Expert on the Site.
By applying to be an Expert on the Site, you (i) agree to be bound by the Terms and (ii) represent that you are over the age of 18 and able to form legally binding contracts.
2. Right to Modify Terms
JustAnswer reserves the right to change, revise or modify the Terms (including fees) at any time by posting the amended terms on the Site. All amended terms shall automatically be effective upon posting; provided, however, that material changes to the Terms will be effective upon the earlier of the agreement of the User or thirty (30) days after notice to the existing User either via email from info@justanswer.com or experts@justanswer.com or another @justanswer.com email address to your email address on file with JustAnswer or via other means including but not limited to a banner, message, or other conspicuous notice on the JustAnswer website. You agree to make any and all necessary arrangements so that you (and not your spam filter) receive all emails from these email addresses. Your continued use of the Service will signify your acceptance of the changes. If you do not accept the changes, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Service. The latest Terms will be posted on the Site, and you should always review them prior to using the Site.
3. Expert Representations and Covenants
By agreeing to this Expert Agreement and completing the online registration process, you are representing and agreeing that:
(a) All information you provide in your registration with JustAnswer relates to yourself only and is accurate, complete and not in any respect misleading. You accurately describe your background, skills, knowledge and your level of experience (including professional licenses, certifications, education, employment, etc.). You do not misrepresent yourself or create a misleading username. All photographs, view names and other information that you provide in your Expert profiles must appear professional. If your view name consists of a default JustAnswer Customer username, you shall replace it with a professional view name within ten (10) days of being admitted as an Expert on the Site.
(b) You will maintain and update such information within twenty-four (24) hours of any changes so that it remains true, accurate and complete. In addition, if any change to this information alters the status of any of your credentials that have been verified for purposes of being an Expert on the Site (e.g. active license becomes inactive or suspended; disciplinary investigation is opened, etc.), you will notify JustAnswer of such change by sending an email to experts@justanswer.com within twenty-four (24) hours of the change. In addition, if such change makes you ineligible to be an Expert on the Site, then you must immediately cease answering questions on the Site.
(c) You will not apply to, or answer questions in, any of the other categories or subcategories if you do not meet the requirements of those categories or subcategories. As an example, you will not apply to, or answer questions in, any of the Legal, Medical or Veterinary categories or subcategories unless you are a licensed attorney, MD/DO or veterinarian (or the local equivalent), respectively, with an active license in good standing. If you are unclear about the requirements for Experts in particular categories or subcategories, please email experts@justanswer.com. A listing of acceptable credentials for the categories is available on the category-specific "Become an Expert" page of the Site, accessible at http://www.justanswer.com/expert.aspx.
(d) You will provide competent answers that are within your realm of expertise and any applicable credentials only, and will use at least a reasonable standard of care in providing answers (a reasonable standard of care being the higher of (i) the standard you apply in your profession not conducted on the Site or on the Internet and (ii) the standard of care required by the applicable profession).
(e) Experts in the Medical, Health, Veterinary, Pet or Large Animal categories shall provide general information only, not medical or veterinary advice; shall not diagnose, treat or recommend treatment or a course of action that should only be performed after an in-person examination or meeting; and shall not act in a manner or engage in a form of communication that would establish a professional-client relationship on the Site.
Experts in the Legal categories must be attorneys licensed to practice law, and be in good standing, in at least one jurisdiction in the United States or foreign country. Such Experts shall provide general information only, such as providing descriptions of general principles of law, and shall not provide legal advice. In responding to questions, Experts in the Legal Category shall not apply their legal knowledge or skills to resolve or advise on the Customer's specific factual circumstances described in the question, such as by proposing a specific course of action (other than advising the User to seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in the relevant jurisdiction). Experts in the Legal Category shall not form an attorney-client relationship on the Site.
(f) You will not do anything to manipulate, undermine, or disrupt the integrity of any Customer, Expert or other feedback ratings, reports or systems on the Site, including but not limited to filing false reports about other Experts or communicating with other Experts about a plan of filing reports or making complaints about other Experts. You will not harass or threaten any other User of the Site.
(g) You will not post as an “Answer” (which a Customer will be prompted to rate) any information that is classified more aptly as an “Information Request”.
(h) You will abide by all the laws, rules, regulations, and ethical standards pertaining to your profession and/or the profession applicable to categories in which you are an Expert (including, if applicable, any ethical obligations relating to conflicts of interest).
(i) You will not engage in the Restricted Activities noted in the Terms of Service, including but not limited to copyright infringement (i.e. you may not copy and paste information from other websites or other Experts' answers on the Site into your Posts, unless you have received the necessary authorizations to do so).
4. Tests, Verifications and Other Requirements
As a condition of becoming or continuing to be an Expert on the Site, you may be required to and you agree to pass subject matter or other tests and/or provide information about yourself (e.g. professional licensing, certification, education and employment status and history) as requested by JustAnswer at any time. In such an event, you consent to JustAnswer's disclosure of information to third-parties in order to verify such information (if JustAnswer chooses to conduct or order such verification, which it is not obligated to do) or in order to comply with federal, state or local laws or regulations. JustAnswer may require that you pay for all or a portion of any verification fees. Neither passing a test nor paying for or agreeing to undergo verification creates any rights for the Expert to remain as an Expert on the Site – JustAnswer may still suspend or terminate an Expert’s service at any time, without notice, for any or no reason, and in its sole discretion.
5. Informational and Educational Purposes Only
The JustAnswer Site is a venue for informational and educational purposes only. The formation of a professional-client relationship on the Site is prohibited.
6. Content and License
Any information or communications provided in questions, answers, requests for information, responses, profiles, Expert signatures, qualifications, comments, and posts in the Expert Forum and other places where Users communicate with one another on the Site (“Posts”) will not be considered confidential and may be used by JustAnswer. This may include but is not limited to using your signature and/or profile information in emails sent to Customers alerting them to your postings to them. You understand and agree that JustAnswer may send Customers emails pertaining to their questions and your answers that are signed by your username (but sent on your behalf from a JustAnswer email address), for example, letting the Customer know that you have been sent an email alerting you to their question, have responded to their question, and/or have not been paid for an answer. As between you and JustAnswer, you will maintain whatever ownership interest you have in and to the Posts you provide on the Site. JustAnswer reserves the right to remove any or all of your Posts, in whole or in part.
You grant to JustAnswer a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights, including the right to use, reproduce, display, edit, copy, modify, transmit, publicly perform or create derivative works thereof, that you have in your Posts, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to any such Posts.
To allow JustAnswer to assist you in protecting your copyrights in your Answers, at its sole discretion, you grant JustAnswer the right to act on your behalf solely in submitting DMCA takedown notices to other websites to remove copies of your Answers on JustAnswer.com from other websites. You agree to notify JustAnswer at dmca-agent@justanswer.com within twenty-four (24) hours of posting any portion of your Answers on another website or granting permission to another person or entity to do so, so that JustAnswer does not submit a DMCA takedown notice for such content. If you do not wish JustAnswer to assist you in protecting your copyrights in this manner, please send an email to that effect to dmca-agent@justanswer.com. You agree that JustAnswer has no obligation to make any searches or submit any DMCA takedown notices on your behalf.
7. Fees
Customers on JustAnswer may be presented with one or two payment models: (1) pay-per-question (“PPQ”) model, and (2) subscription model. In both models, the value of the question available for Experts to receive from the Customer upon the Customer rating the answer 3 (out of 5) or higher, for that particular question at the time the Expert is viewing the question value, is displayed on your view of the Question List. Each question value is based on the Customer payment amount, the Expert’s Stage on the Site as described here, and other factors that mainly reflect Customer-related needs and estimated costs to JustAnswer, which factors are determined and may be changed from time-to-time by JustAnswer in its sole discretion. When a Customer rates an answer 3 (out of 5) or higher, the question value is placed into your Expert account. Payments to Experts from Customers do not accrue interest. You acknowledge that JustAnswer has no control over, and makes no representation or warranty of any kind, as to the ability or willingness of other Users to pay for the answers provided by Experts.
Once you have more than US$20 of payments from Customers in your account (you cannot place funds into your account to reach $20, it must be accumulated through Customer payments), you may request payment via the link in your tools menu. JustAnswer transfers properly requested Customer payments to Experts via PayPal by the 4th business day of the upcoming month (or in its discretion JustAnswer may choose to forward Customer payments even without an Expert’s request for payment). You agree that JustAnswer has the right to resolve Customer complaints as we deem necessary including, in our sole discretion, refunds to settle disputes, in which case JustAnswer may seek reimbursement of the amounts paid into your account for that transaction, or may offset any refunds against any future Customer payments to be forwarded to the Expert. JustAnswer also reserves the right to resolve accounting discrepancies in its sole reasonable discretion.
If we believe, in our sole discretion, that any Customer funds were paid to you under suspicious circumstances or that funds were derived from a suspect Customer account, we will continue to investigate the situation until we have adequate resolution, as determined by us, and which may require the involvement of certain third parties, including any applicable credit card company. We will make every commercially reasonable effort not to exceed ninety days hold on your account as we and/or a third-party investigates.
JustAnswer disclaims any warranty that its billing system is without error. Your sole remedy for any miscalculations, malfunctions, or other problems associated with Customer payments due to Experts is to notify JustAnswer by email to experts@justanswer.com within thirty (30) days of any problem that you allege has occurred and JustAnswer will in good faith work to remedy any alleged payment errors. If the discrepancies cannot be remedied to your satisfaction, then the dispute procedure set forth in the Terms of Service shall govern resolution of the dispute.
8. Non-Solicitation
You are prohibited from negotiating payment with a User regarding Your Answers posted to the Site, either on or off the Site, unless expressly allowed by JustAnswer, and you shall not discuss with other Users how much you are paid for answers you provide on the Site. In your communications with Customers on the Site, you are not permitted to post anything other than answers to questions, legitimate requests for information, polite replies prompted by Customer posts (for example, "You're welcome" to a post from a Customer stating "Thank you"), or communications letting the Customers know you are working on an answer (if you are, in fact, doing so without responding to any new questions not specifically addressed to you). You are not allowed to seek or provide contact information from or to other Users of the Site.
9. Expert Accounts and Relationship to JustAnswer
You may not share your account with, nor use the account of, anyone else. You will be solely and fully liable and responsible for all activities and answers provided under your username and password. In addition, if any JustAnswer account of yours has been suspended or terminated, you may not open another account on the Site.
No relationship (such as partnership, agent, joint venturer, or employee) between you and JustAnswer is created by this Agreement or your participation on the Site. You acknowledge that you are not an employee or agent of JustAnswer but are, like Customers, only Users of the Site. You shall act in accordance with this status and shall not hold yourself out as an officer, employee or agent of JustAnswer, nor make any claim based on any right or privilege applicable to JustAnswer’s employees. Under no circumstances shall you look to JustAnswer as your employer, or as a partner, agent, or principal. Nothing regarding your participation on the Site will be considered as an endorsement, referral or recommendation by JustAnswer of you or the answers you provide and you will not, either on the Site or in any other forum or by any other means, suggest such an endorsement.
10. Limited Exclusivity and Other Agreements
By agreeing to this Expert Agreement and completing the online registration process, you are agreeing that:
(a) To the extent permissible by law, in any calendar month that you answer questions on the Site, you will not also answer questions on any other website that includes a fee-based question-and-answer component, unless the fee-based question-and-answer component is via the JustAnswer referral program or it is a website on which you are the only person answering questions.
(b) You will not post – or authorize anyone else to post – any portion of your answers on JustAnswer or any other fee-based question-and-answer website, unless that question-and-answer component is via the JustAnswer referral program or it is a website on which you are the only person answering questions. This does not prohibit you from providing the same substantive answer to a question, but only from providing it using the same words as used on the Site.
(c) The provisions of 10(a) and 10(b) are not intended to prevent you from practicing your profession, but only from engaging in the limited activity described therein.
(d) You will not use the Site in any way to solicit or contact any other Users to ask or answer questions on any other website.
(e) You will not make any statement that disparages JustAnswer, its services, products, directors, officers, employees, shareholders or agents (i) to any Customers on the Site or (ii) in any location outside of the Site, except as required by law or in communications exclusively to JustAnswer.
(f) You will not provide information on any other websites about JustAnswer, unless you expressly state that your statements are not made on behalf of and have not been approved by JustAnswer.
(g) You will not use any automated programs to automatically lock questions that are posted on the JustAnswer website.
11. Confidentiality
Experts are granted access to the Site beyond the access granted to other Users and, as such, have access to information not known by non-Expert Users of the Site ("Confidential Information"). Experts shall maintain all Confidential Information in confidence, shall use such Confidential Information in confidence, shall use such Confidential Information only in connection with their legitimate activities on the Site, shall not use Confidential Information for the purpose of developing, operating or participating in any competing service, and shall not disclose Confidential Information to non-Experts unless required by law.
12. Restrictions, Suspension and Termination of Accounts and Service
At any time, without notice, for any or no reason, and in its sole discretion, JustAnswer reserves the right to refuse service to anyone, or to put restrictions on, suspend or terminate an Expert’s account privileges or account.
At any time, without notice, for any or no reason, and in its sole discretion, JustAnswer reserves the right to modify or discontinue any portion or all of the Service. Expert has no rights in and to the Site and Services or in and to any use or continued use of such Site or Services.
13. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold JustAnswer, any and all parent, subsidiary and affiliate organizations, officers, directors, agents, shareholders, consultants, employees, successors and assigns harmless from and against all losses, costs, liabilities and expenses including reasonable attorneys' fees, asserted by any third party that are in any way due to or arising out of your use of or conduct on the Site, including, without limitation, that results from any answer provided or relied upon on the Site.
14. Miscellaneous
Failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement by JustAnswer shall not constitute a waiver of any provision by JustAnswer. If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be ineffective only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity without invalidating the remainder of such provision or the remaining provisions of the Agreement. All provisions not affected by the invalidity shall remain in full force and effect.
15. Survival
Sections 3(f), 6, 7 (with respect to amounts owed as of termination), 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 above survive any termination of this Agreement.