Updated 9/7/2023

The following Terms of Use shall apply exclusively to the relationship between Creative Research Communications LLC, am Illinois S corp company ("Company") and the participants of the company online courses (“Purchaser” or “Customer” or “User”). Company and Purchaser may be referred to individually as a “Party” or, collectively, as the “Parties” herein.

1. Basic Terms

A. Company is the owner of the collection of intellectual properties, including “Blast Off to Stellar Slides”, “Captivate with Stellar Slides”, “The Presentation Design Masterclass Program/Series,” “Fail-Proof Slide Design”, “Visual Slide Design,” “Presenting Data with Slides,” “Captivate Any Audience,” “Visual Database add-on,” “The PPT Slide Master Workshop,” program (referred to as the “Program” or “Course”); and

B. Purchaser wishes to purchase and use the Program solely in connection with non-profit, educational purposes. The strategies taught in the Program are not intended for entrepreneurs or for sales, marketing, or for-profit purposes; and

C. Company is willing to grant to Purchaser a license to use the Program on the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement.

2. Subject matter of the contract

2.1   The Company offers to the Purchaser online courses (“Course”) via Teachable, Thinkific or related sites (“Platform”) which usually include access to various materials, videos, information, recordings that are made available and other digital content (“Materials”), coaching calls and other events held by the Company.

2.2   Prices, details and conditions for the individual Course can be found in the respective product descriptions at echorivera.com or stellarslides.com. The content of the Course is subject to modification at any time per sole discretion of the Company.

2.3   The presentation of Courses on the Company’s website does not constitute a legally binding offer but instead is an invitation to place an order. The service descriptions do not have the character of an assurance or warranty.

2.4   Unless stated otherwise, all offers are valid “while stocks last”, i.e. until the maximum number of participants is reached.

3. Ordering process and conclusion of contract

3.1   Users can purchase the Course on the Platform. During registration, the User must truthfully provide all the requested personal information.

3.2   After payment is received, the receipt and subsequently the access data for the Course shall be sent to the Purchaser’s e-mail address stated at the time of booking.  The Purchaser further agrees to ensure that the data they provide is kept up to date, especially their contact details.

3.3   The contract is concluded at the time the payment (or final payment) is received.

3.4   The Materials and access to the Purchaser’s account on the Platform shall be available to the Purchaser for the duration of the contract as determined by the respective Course description on the Platform.

4.  Prices and payment terms

4.1   Participation/booking fees can be found in the product description.

4.2   During the order process, the Purchaser can choose among the available methods of payment.

4.3   In the event that a Payment Plan is available and the Purchaser chooses it in contractual process at the Platform, the Purchaser is obliged to comply with terms set forth in scheduled payment plan. In the event of late payment the Company may terminate the contract. The Purchaser’s contractual obligations, particularly the obligation to pay remaining installments, exist regardless of whether the contract was terminated for any reason unless stated otherwise.

4.4 If the Purchaser cancels their Payment Plan (or if a payment fails to process), the Company reserves the right to remove access to all related products under the Payment Plan, without any refunds for prior payments. Failure to make all designated payments is a violation of the terms of the original agreement.

4.5   If third parties are used to process payment, e.g. Stripe or PayPal, their Terms and Conditions shall apply.

4.6   In the event that a subscription option is available and the Purchaser chooses it in contractual process at the Platform, the Purchaser is obliged to comply with terms set forth in the subscription. The subscription only is available only to those who have previously purchased that exact same course or bundle. Should a Purchaser somehow find the subscription link, the Company reserves the right to cancel their account, without refund. Subscription payments will continue until the Purchaser logins into their account and cancels the subscription.

5.  Technical requirements for accessing the course and participation in live events

5.1   When taking part in the Course, each participant must meet the minimum requirements (internet connection, current browser version, download a program from the video conferencing platform if necessary, speakers or headset) and test these before the Course or any of its part is started.

5.2   Failure to meet the technical requirements for which the Purchaser is responsible does not release the Purchaser from the contractual obligation to pay. In so far as a Purchaser does not report any technical problems during a coaching call and no such notifications are evident from the recording either, participation shall be considered to have taken place.

6. Purchaser conduct

6.1   The Purchaser’s right to access to the Purchaser account is personal, non-transferable and non-assignable, and is subject to any limits established by the Company.

6.2   The Purchaser agrees to conduct themselves within the Course in a respectful and professional manner and shall not engage in any activity that is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of other Course participants or the Company. Verbal, physical, written or other abuse (including threats) towards any participants of the Course or any third party is prohibited.

6.3   The Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that the Company reserves the right to terminate the contract and/or remove the Purchaser from the Course, without reimbursement, if the Company, in its sole discretion, determines that Purchaser’s behavior creates a disruption or hinders the Course, the Company, or the enjoyment of the Course by other participants or violates the Terms of Use.

6.4   The Purchaser shall not use any automated means, including, without limitation, agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to access or manage the Purchaser’s account with the Platform or to monitor or copy the Course or the Materials. Without limitation to the foregoing, the Purchaser further shall not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Platform.

6.5    The strategies taught in the program are not intended for sales, marketing, or for-profit purposes. Program strategies are to be used for “social good” purposes and must not be used to promote, encourage or endorse illegal activities, hate crimes/speech or cause harm to marginalized communities.

6.6    If a private community, group grouping calls, or similar services are provided through the Program they are an opportunity for Purchaser to obtain feedback and support with his/her presentations. However, a code of conduct will be enforced by Company in connection with the use of such feedback and support services. Any violation of this code of conduct may result in Purchaser’s removal from the private community, termination of the coaching calls and/or termination of Purchaser’s Program license granted hereunder, without refund.

7.   License, Acknowledgements, and Warranties of the Purchaser

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Company hereby grants to Purchaser a non-exclusive, single, limited, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable license to use the Program, which includes any and all copyrights, trademarks and other service marks associated with the Program, whether registered or unregistered, including the listed registrations and applications and any registrations which may be granted pursuant to such applications in connection with the Purchaser’s personal development of presentation skills solely in connection with Purchaser’s personal non-profit or educational purposes. 

7.1   The Purchaser submitting content within the Course grant the Company the rights to distribute, display, reproduce, reformat, translate, archive, license, edit, modify and create derivative works and/or excerpts of any such material for purposes of distributing the material as part of the Company’s products and services (and as promotion of same). The Company declares that it shall not abuse the Purchaser’s rights as it shall especially use the Purchaser’s content on anonymous basis as an example of the student’s work within the Course.

7.2   No member content submitted by the Purchaser shall contain any content that is obscene, libellous, slanderous or otherwise defamatory, false or misleading or which violates any copyright, right of privacy or publicity or other right of any person, and the member content will not contain any viruses, scripts, macros, or programs or links to macros, scripts, programs, or any code that alters, destroys or inhibits the operation of, or infiltrates, computer systems or data run through such computer systems.

7.3   Purchaser shall indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its affiliates, and employees, and those licensed or otherwise authorized by the Company to process, transmit or distribute User content from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising out of or relating to any breach by Purchaser of the foregoing representations and warranties or otherwise arising out of or relating to the contents or nature of the Purchaser content.

7.4   As a Purchaser you warrant that you are not an agent, owner, or employee of any other company offering products or services related to designing presentations, creating presentations, or professional development relating to presentations for professionals, and that you use the Platform and Materials solely for the purpose of increasing your personal skills.

7.5 Completing the program does not provide a "train-the-trainer" type license. In other words, using any of this information to train others on this topic is also a violation of these license and copyright terms. These terms also apply to sharing the Program information in a non-profit type of way (e.g., to Purchaser’s students). There is no exemption based on audience type, profit amount (or lack thereof), content, or context. 

7.6 Purchaser agrees that it shall not, directly or indirectly: (a)  take, omit to take, or permit any action which will or may dilute the Program or tarnish or bring into disrepute the reputation of or goodwill associated with the Program or Company, or which will or may invalidate or jeopardize any registration of the Program; or (b)  apply for, or obtain, or assist any Person in applying for or obtaining any registration of the Program, or any trademark, service mark, trade name, or other indicia confusingly similar to the Program in any country.

7.7 Purchaser agrees to purchase and complete the Program in good faith, with the assumption that all course fees and costs will be paid in full to the Company. Purchasers will not misuse, or attempt to misuse, the refund policy - where applicable - in order to obtain the materials for free. How “Misuse of the refund policy” is defined is up to the sole discretion of the Company.

7.8 Purchaser may not, directly or indirectly, assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights, or delegate or otherwise transfer any of its obligations or performance, under this Agreement. Any purported assignment, delegation, or transfer is void and shall be of no legal effect. Company may freely assign or otherwise transfer all or any of its rights, or delegate or otherwise transfer all or any of its obligations or performance, under this Agreement without Purchaser's consent.

8.  Copyright

8.1   The content of all Courses and all Materials are the intellectual property of the Company and are protected by copyright. They may be used exclusively by the registered Purchaser to whom they were made available. In particular, publication even if only in part, reproduction, distribution, editing and creation of derivative works and/or excerpts of the Course/Material are prohibited as is the recording of the Course in audio or video or by means of screenshots. Legal proceedings may be initiated in the event of any misuse. It is explicitly prohibited to download or otherwise screen record any portion of the Program’s video lessons. Sharing login details with others or showing any Program videos or related materials to other people or in a group setting, is a violation of this license. Please be aware that the Program’s online portal system does track certain information about location, user behavior, and uses this information to flag suspected copyright violations. The Company, at its sole discretion and using the available information provided to it about Purchaser behavior and activity, will determine whether Purchaser has violated copyright.

8.2   The Purchaser agrees to respect copyright and only use the coaching calls / video courses individually for their own use under the terms of the contract.

8.3   The information related to the Course published on the Platform is subject to United States copyright and ancillary copyright. Each of the United States copyright and ancillary copyright laws shall require the prior written consent of the Company or their respective owners. This applies in particular to reproduction, adaptation, translation, storage, processing, and repetition of contents in databases or other electronic media and systems. Contents and rights of third parties are marked as such. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of individual contents or entire pages is prohibited and punishable. Only the production of copies and downloads for personal, private and non-commercial use is permitted.

8.4   The Company authorizes the User to view and download one copy of the Materials. Materials may be downloaded and a maximum of one copy of the Materials may be printed provided that the User makes no modifications to the Materials and the Company retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the original Materials on any copies of the Materials.

8.5   The Purchaser shall keep all Materials confidential, and will not sell, auction, loan, rent, give away, describe, summarize, or otherwise reveal the Materials or their contents, to any other person or entity.

8.6  Company hereby reserves all rights not expressly granted to Purchaser under this Agreement.

8.7 Acknowledgement of Ownership. Purchaser acknowledges that (a) Company is the owner of the Program throughout the world and all goodwill related thereto, and (b) all use of the Program under this Agreement and any goodwill accruing from such use will inure solely to the benefit of Company. If Purchaser acquires any rights in the Program, by operation of law or otherwise, Purchaser hereby irrevocably assigns such rights to Company without further action by any of the Parties. Purchaser agrees not to dispute or challenge, or assist any Person in disputing or challenging, Company's rights in and to the Program or the validity of the Program.

8.9 As a Purchaser you warrant that you are not an agent, owner, or employee of any other company (including self-employment and freelance) offering products or services related to presentation design and public speaking, and that you use the Course and Materials solely for the purpose of increasing your personal skills.

9.  Termination of the User’s participation in the Course

9.1   The Company, in its sole and entire discretion, has the right to suspend or terminate the contract, Purchaser’s account and participation in the Course for violation of these Terms of Use without refund. Reasons may include, but are not limited to:

a) Late payment of the installments based on 4.3 of Terms of Use;

b) Any breach of the Sec. 6 of Terms of Use related to Purchaser’s conduct;

c) Any breach of the Sec. 7 of Terms of Use related to Purchaser’s license, acknowledgement and warranties;

d) Any breach of the Sec. 8 of Terms of Use related to copyright and intellectual property;

9.2   Such termination of the contract will result in the deactivation or deletion of the Purchaser’s account or Purchaser’s access to the account, and the forfeiture and relinquishment of all content in their account.

10. Duration and termination of the contract

10.1  The duration of the contract is determined by the respective Course description. The Purchaser’s contractual obligations, particularly the obligation to pay, exist regardless of whether the Purchaser actually accessed the Platform and/or downloaded the Materials.

11. Rescheduling and cancellation of live events by the Company

11.1   The Company reserves the right to cancel any event scheduled in the Course for the absence of the instructor, force majeure or other unforeseeable events and there is no right to request the event to be held. The Purchaser shall be informed of the cancellation immediately in writing or via e-mail and the Provider shall schedule a substitute event. Fees already paid shall not be refunded for this reason.

11.2   If the instructor is absent, the Company reserves the right to appoint an equivalent substitute instructor. In this case there is no entitlement to a refund of Course fees.

12. Refund Policy

Company “products” are online courses that share knowledge. Knowledge cannot be returned and, therefore, all sales are final - there are no refunds.

13.  Limitation of Liability

13.1   The contents of the Courses are created with utmost care. The Company does not warrant the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the content provided. Use of the content of the Courses as well as of the Platform is at your own risk. Contributions identified by name reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Company.

13.2   In no event will the Company, its suppliers, or other third parties mentioned at this Platform be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, those resulting from lower test scores, interruption of services or inaccurate information) arising out of the use, inability to use, or the results of the use of this Platform, any websites liked to this Platform, or the Materials or information contained at any or all such sites, whether based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory and whether or not advised of the possibility of such damages.

14. No Warranty

14.1   The Materials provided at this site are provided “as is” without any warranties of any kind including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property. The Company further does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the Materials at this Platform.

14.2   The Company may make changes to the Materials at this Platform, or to the services and prices described in them, at any time without notice. The Materials at this Platform may be out of date, and the Company makes no commitment to update the Materials at this Platform.

15. External Links

15.1   The Platform contains links to other websites. These websites are subject to liability of the respective owner. When making the first connection to the external links, the Provider checked its content for legal violations. At the time no violations were found. The Company has no influence on the current and future design and the content of linked pages. The inclusion of external links does not mean that the Provider adopts the reference or link content as its own. Constant monitoring of these external links is not reasonable for the Provider without evidence of legal violations. With knowledge of statutory violations, such external links will be deleted immediately.

16.  Force Majeure

16.1   If the Course/Materials are prevented or delayed in or from performing any of its obligations under the contract due to circumstances beyond its control, including but not limited to governmental acts, war, riots, strikes or trade disputes (including by and with our own employees), technical failure, general availability of the internet, power failure, communications failure, weather, flood, fire or explosion, natural or local emergency, the Company shall not be liable for any resulting failure to provide services hereunder.

18. Privacy Policy

18.1  Privacy policy is available at https://www.echorivera.com/privacy-policy.

19. Effective Date and Updates

19.1  The Terms are effective as of May 13, 2021 and are subject to change without notice by the Company at any time. Please check for changes regularly. Your use of this Platform after such changes constitutes your agreement to such changes.

20. Miscellaneous

20.1 Further Assurances. Each Party shall, upon the reasonable request of the other Party, promptly execute such documents and perform such acts as may be necessary to give full effect to the terms of this Agreement.

20.2 Notices. All notices, requests, consents, claims, demands, waivers, and other communications hereunder (other than routine communications having no legal effect) must be in writing via email to admin@echorivera.com. Such communications must be sent to the respective Headings. The headings in this Agreement are for reference only and do not affect the interpretation of this Agreement.

20.3 No Third-Party Beneficiaries. This Agreement is for the sole benefit of the Parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns and nothing herein, express or implied, is intended to or will confer upon any other person any legal or equitable right, benefit, or remedy of any nature whatsoever, under or by reason of this Agreement.

20.4 Binding Agreement. This Agreement is binding upon and inures to the benefit of the Parties hereto and their respective permitted successors and assigns.

20.5 Amendment and Modification; Waiver. This Agreement may only be amended, modified, or supplemented by an agreement in writing signed by each Party hereto. No waiver by either Party of any of the provisions hereof will be effective unless explicitly set forth in writing and signed by the waiving Party. Except as otherwise set forth in this Agreement, no failure to exercise, or delay in exercising, any rights, remedy, power, or privilege arising from this Agreement will operate or be construed as a waiver thereof; nor will any single or partial exercise of any right, remedy, power, or privilege hereunder preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, remedy, power, or privilege.

20.6 Severability. If any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability will not affect any other term or provision of this Agreement or invalidate or render unenforceable such term or provision in any other jurisdiction. Upon a determination that any term or other provision is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the Parties hereto shall negotiate in good faith to modify this Agreement so as to effect the original intent of the Parties as closely as possible in a mutually acceptable manner in order that the transactions contemplated hereby be consummated as originally contemplated to the fullest extent permitted under applicable Law.

20.7 Governing Law; Submission to Jurisdiction. This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the internal Laws of the State of Colorado without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Colorado or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of Laws of any other. Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or related to this Agreement will be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of Colorado, in each case located in the City and County of Denver, and each Party irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any such suit, action, or proceeding. Service of process, summons, notice, or other document by mail to such Party's address set forth herein will be effective service of process for any suit, action, or other proceeding brought in any such court.

20.8 Waiver of Jury Trial. EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY CLAIM, SUIT, ACTION, OR PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.

20.9 Equitable Relief. Purchaser acknowledges that a breach by Purchaser of this Agreement may cause Company irreparable harm, for which an award of damages would not be adequate compensation and agrees that, in the event of such a breach or threatened breach, Company will be entitled to equitable relief, including in the form of a restraining order, orders for preliminary or permanent injunction, specific performance, and any other relief that may be available from any court, and Purchaser hereby waives any requirement for the securing or posting of any bond or the showing of actual monetary damages in connection with such relief. These remedies will not be deemed to be exclusive but are be in addition to all other remedies available under this Agreement at Law or in equity, subject to any express exclusions or limitations in this Agreement to the contrary.

20.10 Attorneys' Fees. In the event that any claim, suit, action, or proceeding is instituted or commenced by either Party hereto against the other Party arising out of or related to this Agreement, the prevailing Party will be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs from the non-prevailing Party.

20.11 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will be deemed to be one and the same agreement. A signed copy of this Agreement delivered by facsimile, e-mail, or other means of electronic transmission (to which a signed PDF copy is attached) will be deemed to have the same legal effect as delivery of an original signed copy of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the Effective Date by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized.

Created: April 1, 2017