ChurchLibrary is a ministry of Church of the Highlands, Inc. These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between the Customer and Church of the Highlands, Inc., through ChurchLibrary ("ChurchLibrary," "we," "us," or "our"), governing access to and use of the ChurchLibrary website, application, and related features and services (collectively, the "Service").
Please read these Terms carefully. They include important limitations of liability, requirements concerning rights in content submitted to the Service, and indemnification obligations.
If you create or use an account on behalf of a church, ministry, or other organization, that organization is the "Customer," you represent that you have authority to bind it to these Terms, and you and all other individuals permitted by Customer to access its workspace are "Authorized Users." Customer is responsible for its Authorized Users and their compliance with these Terms.
By creating an account, accepting these Terms, or accessing or using the Service, Customer agrees to be bound by these Terms.
1. The Service
ChurchLibrary is a sermon-content platform that allows Customers to upload, import, or provide links to sermon recordings and related materials; store and organize those materials; generate transcripts, tags, summaries, search indexes, embeddings, and related metadata; and search and interact with the resulting sermon library, including through AI-powered search and chat features.
We may add, modify, suspend, or discontinue features or functionality from time to time. We do not guarantee that any particular feature will remain available as we continue to advance and build the platform.
2. Accounts, Eligibility, and Authorized Users
Customer and its Authorized Users must provide accurate account information and keep it current. Authorized Users must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. Customer is responsible for designating its Authorized Users, assigning appropriate permissions, safeguarding account credentials, and promptly removing access that is no longer authorized.
Customer is responsible for activity occurring through its workspace and accounts, including activity by its Authorized Users. Authorized Users may not share credentials or permit unauthorized persons to access the Service. Customer must promptly notify us of suspected unauthorized access or security incidents involving its account.
3. Customer Workspace and Data Isolation
Customer Content is maintained within Customer's workspace. Customer controls which Authorized Users may access the workspace and the permissions granted to them. Depending on permissions, workspace administrators may access, upload, import, manage, export, delete, or otherwise administer Customer Content and Authorized Users on Customer's behalf.
ChurchLibrary is designed to segregate each Customer's workspace from other customer workspaces. Authorized Users of one Customer are not permitted to access another Customer's Customer Content unless separately authorized by that other Customer.
4. Customer Content
"Customer Materials" means sermon audio or video, speaking notes, documents, images, links, and other materials that Customer or its Authorized Users submit, upload, import, link to, or otherwise make available through the Service.
"Customer Output" means transcripts, tags, summaries, outlines, search results, and other content generated specifically from Customer Materials through the Service. "Customer Content" means Customer Materials and Customer Output. Customer Content does not include the Service, our software or technology, generalized prompts or methods, system-level models, technical telemetry, or Aggregated Insights described below.
As between Customer and ChurchLibrary, Customer retains all right, title, and interest it has in Customer Materials. We do not claim ownership of Customer Content. To the extent we acquire any rights in Customer Output solely as a result of generating it for Customer, we assign those rights to Customer, subject to applicable law, third-party rights, and our ownership of the Service and underlying technology.
5. Customer Responsibility for Content and Rights
Customer is solely responsible for Customer Content and for determining whether it is lawful and appropriate to submit, upload, import, link to, or process that content through the Service.
Customer represents and warrants that it owns, controls, or has obtained all rights, licenses, permissions, consents, notices, and other authorizations necessary to:
- submit, upload, import, link to, or otherwise make Customer Content available through the Service;
- authorize ChurchLibrary and its service providers to access, retrieve, copy, store, host, transmit, convert, transcribe, analyze, index, summarize, tag, create embeddings and other derivative data from, and otherwise process Customer Content as contemplated by these Terms;
- use any sermons, guest-speaker content, music, images, video, documents, quotations, or other third-party materials included in Customer Content; and
- comply with applicable intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, and other legal requirements relating to Customer Content.
Customer further represents and warrants that Customer Content and ChurchLibrary's authorized processing of it will not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any third-party right or applicable law.
ChurchLibrary does not review, monitor, investigate, or verify Customer Content for ownership, attribution, rights clearance, permissions, legal compliance, or accuracy, and we are entitled to rely on Customer's representations and instructions. The fact that content is technically capable of being uploaded, imported, linked, or processed does not mean that Customer has the right to do so.
Submitting, uploading, importing, linking to, or otherwise making Customer Content available through the Service does not transfer ownership of that content to ChurchLibrary. As between Customer and ChurchLibrary, Customer retains any right, title, and interest it has in Customer Content, subject to any rights of third parties. ChurchLibrary receives only the limited rights and license described in these Terms as necessary to provide and operate the Service.
6. License to Process Customer Content
Customer grants ChurchLibrary, its affiliates, and service providers a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to access, retrieve, host, store, copy, transmit, convert, transcribe, index, analyze, summarize, tag, create embeddings and other derivative data from, display within Customer's workspace, and otherwise process Customer Content solely as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, support, maintain, and improve the functionality and reliability of the Service for Customer; comply with law; enforce these Terms; and exercise the rights expressly described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
This license is limited to the purposes described above and ends when the relevant Customer Content is deleted from active systems, subject to routine backup cycles, legal holds, security records, and other limited retention described in our Privacy Policy or required by law.
7. Platform Ownership and Feedback
ChurchLibrary and its licensors retain all rights in the Service, including its software, technology, features, design, and related intellectual property. Customer receives only the right to access and use the Service as permitted under these Terms. If Customer or an Authorized User provides feedback or suggestions about the Service, ChurchLibrary may use that feedback to improve or develop the Service without obligation to Customer.
8. Artificial Intelligence and No Generalized Model Training
The Service uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies to assist with transcription, tagging, summarization, search, and chat. AI-generated or AI-assisted output may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, misleading, or misattributed; may omit relevant context; and may fail to reflect the speaker's intended meaning or Customer's beliefs, doctrine, positions, or policies.
AI output is generated automatically and is not an official statement of Customer, any church or ministry, any pastor or speaker, or ChurchLibrary. Customer and Authorized Users are responsible for reviewing original source material before quoting, publishing, teaching from, or otherwise relying on AI output. AI output is not pastoral, theological, counseling, legal, medical, financial, or other professional advice.
ChurchLibrary does not use Customer Content to train or fine-tune generalized artificial intelligence models without Customer's express authorization. We may use user feedback and technical information to identify errors, improve code, evaluate features, and improve the Service without training generalized models on Customer Content.
9. Aggregated and Deidentified Information
We may create and use aggregated or deidentified information derived from use of the Service, including aggregated or deidentified information derived from Customer Content ("Aggregated Insights"), for internal analytics, security, service improvement, research, capacity planning, and understanding broad platform trends.
Aggregated Insights will not be used to permit one Customer to access another Customer's Customer Content and will not be disclosed in a manner that reasonably identifies a particular Customer, Authorized User, speaker, or specific sermon. We will not publish or commercially disclose cross-customer content-derived trends outside our organization unless we update our practices and provide any notice or choice required by applicable law or our agreements.
10. Acceptable Use
Customer and its Authorized Users must comply with the ChurchLibrary Acceptable Use Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms. Without limiting that policy, Customer and its Authorized Users may not:
- submit or direct ChurchLibrary to process content unless Customer has sufficient lawful authority to do so;
- use the Service to violate law or the intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other rights of any person;
- attempt to access another Customer's workspace or circumvent security, authentication, permissions, usage limits, or tenant isolation;
- introduce malware or harmful code, disrupt the Service, or conduct unauthorized security testing;
- reverse engineer, scrape, copy, resell, or commercially exploit the Service except as expressly permitted by law or written agreement; or
- use the Service to generate, store, or distribute unlawful or materially harmful content.
We may remove or disable access to Customer Content, restrict functionality, or suspend access when we reasonably believe content or activity violates these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, infringes or may infringe third-party rights, creates a security or legal risk, or may expose ChurchLibrary or others to liability.
11. Copyright Complaints and Takedowns
ChurchLibrary respects intellectual-property rights. We may remove or disable access to content in response to copyright or other rights complaints and may take action against repeat infringers or users who repeatedly submit content without sufficient rights. Our Copyright and DMCA Policy is incorporated into these Terms.
ChurchLibrary does not adjudicate ownership disputes and may take temporary or permanent action regarding disputed content without determining ultimate ownership or infringement.
12. Third-Party Services and Service Providers
The Service relies on third-party infrastructure and service providers for functions such as hosting, storage, media processing, transcription, artificial intelligence, authentication, email delivery, and analytics. We may permit those providers to process Customer Content and other information as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, support, and maintain the Service, subject to our agreements with them and our Privacy Policy.
The Service may also permit Customer to provide links to or import content from third-party services. Customer is responsible for its use of third-party services and for having sufficient rights to any content Customer directs us to retrieve or process from them. We are not responsible for third-party services Customer independently uses or connects.
13. Fees and Taxes
The Service may be offered free of charge, on a trial basis, or through paid plans. If Customer selects a paid plan, Customer agrees to pay the fees and taxes described in the applicable order form, checkout flow, pricing page, or other written terms presented at purchase. Unless otherwise stated, fees are non-refundable except as required by law.
We may introduce, change, or discontinue pricing or plans prospectively. We will provide notice before charging Customer a new or increased recurring fee as required by applicable law or the applicable purchase terms.
14. Suspension and Termination
Customer may stop using the Service at any time. Customer may request deletion of its workspace in accordance with functionality and procedures we make available.
We may suspend or restrict access to all or part of the Service when reasonably necessary to address a security threat; suspected unlawful, infringing, abusive, or unauthorized activity; a breach of these Terms; nonpayment; a material risk to the Service or another customer; a requirement of a service provider; or a legal or regulatory obligation. We will provide notice when reasonably practicable.
We may terminate Customer's access for material or repeated breach, prolonged nonpayment, discontinuation of the Service, or other grounds stated in an applicable order form. Upon termination, Customer's access will end. We will handle Customer Content in accordance with our Privacy Policy and any applicable DPA, subject to routine backup retention, security and audit logs, legal holds, and legal requirements.
Sections that by their nature should survive termination, including ownership, content responsibility, accrued payment obligations, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, dispute provisions, and general provisions, will survive.
15. Privacy and Data Processing
Our Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and retain personal information in connection with the Service. When we process personal data on Customer's behalf in a processor or service-provider capacity, the ChurchLibrary Data Processing Addendum ("DPA"), if applicable to Customer, governs that processing.
Customer is responsible for providing any notices and obtaining any consents or other legal basis required for Customer's collection and submission of personal information through the Service.
16. Disclaimer of Warranties
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.
WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; THAT CUSTOMER CONTENT WILL NEVER BE LOST; OR THAT TRANSCRIPTS, TAGS, SUMMARIES, SEARCH RESULTS, AI OUTPUT, OR OTHER RESULTS WILL BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.
17. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CHURCHLIBRARY, CHURCH OF THE HIGHLANDS, INC., AND THEIR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF CHURCHLIBRARY, CHURCH OF THE HIGHLANDS, INC., AND THEIR AFFILIATES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS CUSTOMER PAID FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).
These limitations apply regardless of the theory of liability and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
18. Indemnification
Customer will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ChurchLibrary, Church of the Highlands, Inc., their affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and service providers from and against third-party claims, demands, actions, damages, judgments, settlements, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:
- Customer Content;
- any allegation that Customer did not own, control, or have sufficient rights, licenses, permissions, consents, notices, or other authority to submit or authorize the processing of Customer Content;
- any allegation that Customer Content, or ChurchLibrary's authorized processing of Customer Content at Customer's direction, infringes, misappropriates, or violates intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other third-party rights;
- Customer's or an Authorized User's breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy; or
- Customer's or an Authorized User's violation of applicable law in connection with the Service.
We will provide reasonable notice of an indemnified claim and reasonable cooperation at Customer's expense. Customer may control the defense and settlement, but may not settle a claim in a manner that admits wrongdoing by, imposes non-monetary obligations on, or requires payment by an indemnified party without that party's prior written consent. We may participate in the defense with counsel of our choosing at our own expense.
19. Changes to the Service and Terms
We may modify the Service and these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes to these Terms, we will update the "Last updated" date and provide notice through the Service, by email, or by another reasonable method when appropriate. Unless a different effective date is stated, changes become effective when posted. Continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms to the extent permitted by law.
20. Assignment; Transfer of ChurchLibrary
Customer may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer these Terms, in whole or in part, without Customer's consent, to an affiliate, subsidiary, successor, purchaser, or other entity that acquires, assumes ownership of, or operates all or substantially all of ChurchLibrary or the assets or business associated with the Service, including in connection with an internal restructuring, reorganization, merger, consolidation, sale, transfer of assets, or similar transaction.
Any permitted assignee that assumes operation of the Service may succeed to our applicable rights and obligations under these Terms, and these Terms will bind and benefit the parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns.
21. Governing Law and Venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Alabama, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The state and federal courts located in Jefferson County, Alabama, will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts.
22. General
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, Copyright and DMCA Policy, any applicable DPA, and any applicable order form or written purchase terms, constitute the agreement between Customer and us regarding the Service. If an order form expressly conflicts with these Terms, the order form controls only for that conflict.
If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. The parties are independent contractors, and these Terms do not create a partnership, joint venture, fiduciary relationship, franchise, or agency relationship. There are no third-party beneficiaries except indemnified parties expressly identified in these Terms.
Neither party will be liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control, except for payment obligations.
23. Contact
Questions about these Terms may be directed to chase@vessel.org or Church of the Highlands, Inc., 3660 Grandview Pkwy, Birmingham, AL 35243.