Terms of Service
Bithell Games - Terms of Service
Last updated on May 27, 2021
A quick summary:
1. These are the (legally binding) rules for Bithell Games games and services, including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume and Subsurface Circular.
2. You are given a personal licence to access, use and/or play them (but Bithell Games owns them).
3. There are rules regarding what you can and cannot do with Bithell Games Services (e.g. don’t cheat).
4. Depending on where you live, there are important rules regarding liability and dispute resolution (including mandatory arbitration and waiver of jury trial if you live in the USA).
5. Our Privacy Policy [https://www.bithellgames.com/privacy-policy] explains what information we collect and how we protect it.
This Terms of Service (or “Agreement” for short) explains what you can and cannot do with our games and other Bithell Games services (which we explain below). Because we know legal wording is not much fun, we have included a short and informal summary of each section (but the full version is the legally binding one).
1. ABOUT THIS AGREEMENT
This document explains who we are, what the Bithell Games Services are and how you can use them. This Agreement is binding as soon as you download, install or use any of the Bithell Games Services, including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume and Subsurface Circular. We can change this Agreement at any time, but if we do we will put the changed version online and normally it will take effect a reasonable time period afterwards. You should also read our Privacy Policy [LINK] and other Bithell Games Services may have other applicable documents (which we will notify to you).
1.1. What is this Agreement? This Agreement is a legally binding contract between you and Mike Bithell Games Limited, (incorporated and registered in England & Wales with company number 08395628) of C/O Affect Group, Simpsons Farm, Pentlow, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7JT, England (“Bithell Games”).
1.2. What does this Agreement apply to? This Agreement applies to our interactive entertainment products including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume, Subsurface Circular, Quarantine Circular, EarthShape and The Solitaire Conspiracy, our websites (including https://www.bithellgames.com/ and http://www.gamedevbizbook.com/), any game key or code giving you access to it or any parts of them, our audiobooks (including North Star Rising), plus all other Bithell Games products and services, including (but not limited to) our newsletters, customer and technical support, wikis, blogs and social media services (we will refer to “Bithell Games Services” to cover all of these things).
1.3. When does this Agreement apply to you? This Agreement will be binding on you and us once you download, install or use any of the Bithell Games Services. If you do not agree to it, please do not use any of the Bithell Games Services.
1.4. Will we ever change this Agreement? We may change this Agreement from time to time, for example to reflect changes in our services or to reflect applicable laws. If we do, we will make the changed Agreement available online. It will become legally binding on you immediately, but you are welcome to contact us at contact@bithellgames.com if you have specific questions about the changes. If you do not agree to those changes (regardless of whether you email us), then unfortunately you must cease using the Bithell Games Services: in order to make the Bithell Games Services work properly we need to have everyone using them under the same rules instead of different people having different rules.
1.5. Are there any other important documents you should read? Please also review our Bithell Games Privacy Policy [https://www.bithellgames.com/privacy-policy].
2. USING THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES
You have the personal right to play and use the Bithell Games Services.
Legally, you must be at least 13 years old to play and use the Bithell Games Services and if you are under 18 you need parental / guardian approval to use the Bithell Games Services.
Some Bithell Games Services may have minimum requirements and we might need to implement some anti-cheat tools / software. From time to time we may patch, update or change how the Bithell Games Services work in order to keep them running efficiently and fun to play.
2.1. We give you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-assignable licence to display, view, download, install, play and use the Bithell Games Services on authorised devices/platforms. This licence is for your personal use only (so you cannot give, ‘sell’, lend, gift, assign, sub-license or otherwise transfer it to someone else) and does not give you any ownership rights in the Bithell Games Services. We own or license all Bithell Games Services.
2.2. Are there any age restrictions? Legally, you must be at least 13 years old to use the Bithell Games Services. If you are between 13 and 18 (or whatever is the age of adulthood in your country), please ask your parent or guardian to review and approve this Agreement and to supervise your use of the Bithell Games Services. Some Bithell Games Services may have age ratings, which will be displayed when you purchase and/or download them.
2.3. Are there any minimum requirements? Some Bithell Games Services will have minimum requirements depending on your chosen device/platform, of which you will be notified at the time. It is your responsibility to ensure you meet these requirements before downloading or using the relevant Bithell Games Service. To access online parts of the Bithell Games Services you will need internet access too – again, this is your responsibility.
2.4. What about patches and updates? We may patch, update or change the Bithell Games Services over time (for example to add or remove features, to resolve software bugs or to balance games), which will result in mandatory and/or automatic updates. Therefore, older, un-updated versions may become unusable over time as a result. It is possible that older devices/platforms may cease to be supported over time (although we will use reasonable efforts to notify this to you in advance). As part of these patches, updates or changes, we may need to impose limits on, or remove/restrict access to, certain game features. We need these rights in order to keep the Bithell Games Services running efficiently and will not have any liability to you regarding use of them.
2.5. What about third party access and content? You might get links from us to third party websites or content through the Bithell Games Services. You may also access the Bithell Games Services through different platforms and devices. Your use of them is your responsibility – we cannot promise they will work, what they will be like or if they are free.
2.6. Are there any health & safety issues to be aware of? Please be aware the Bithell Games Services may contain flashing images which may potentially trigger seizures for people with epilepsy. Player discretion is advised.
3. BITHELL GAMES SERVICES EARLY ACCESS/BETA ACCESS
If you access any Bithell Games Services (e.g. one of our games) in beta or other pre-full release version, you accept that they may not be complete and may not work fully. You accept them ‘as is’. There may be server/progress resets/other changes during the process. We will not be responsible or liable for these matters (which are inherent to you being able to join in the beta process). Basically: you can get access to cool stuff early, but it might not work fully yet and that won’t be our fault!
Some Bithell Games Services may be released in alpha, closed beta, open beta, early access or other pre-release versions before their full commercial release (or “beta” for short). This is usually to test the features, capabilities, and performance of the product. These are the additional beta rules:
We will set the conditions and requirements for your beta access. Providing and maintaining a beta, and who can use a beta, is at our discretion.
We will likely ask you to register for the beta. There may be some waiting time depending on the number of people registering, the load on our servers and other technical aspects.
Betas will be time-limited and we will decide on when to end them and what happens next.
Between beta versions we may perform one or more complete server/progress reset(s). After the reset, your account will likely go back to a previous or new state. No cash refunds will be provided in connection with any reset or change.
We may change, modify or remove features as part of testing and improving the product.
If appropriate, we may apply confidentiality restrictions to the beta, which will be notified to you at the time.
We may ask you to provide feedback on the beta – this is optional (but appreciated!).
Betas will be provided 'as is' without any promises from us or any liability on us if it is not complete or does not work fully or causes issues.
You must not attempt to ‘sell’ or transfer your access to a beta. It is for you, not anyone else.
We may issue additional terms regarding Bithell Games Service betas. We will notify you in advance if so.
4. RULES FOR USING THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES
This section sets out the rules for you to follow when using the Bithell Games Services – e.g. no hacking, cheating, harmful conduct etc. Breaking these rules could result in suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Bithell Games Services.
In order to be able to use the Bithell Games Services, we ask you to follow some rules not limited to the following. Please read these rules carefully since failure to follow them (particularly those in relation to cheating) will be considered a material breach of this Agreement, which could lead to suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Bithell Games Services. Here are the main rules:
Personal Enjoyment. Only use the Bithell Games Services for your personal enjoyment and not for any commercial or political purposes.
Restricted Access. Do not attempt to copy, rent, sell, lend, lease, sublicense, distribute, publish or publicly display the Bithell Games Services, any user account or any of your rights under this Agreement to any other party in any way not expressly authorised under this Agreement.
Technical Misuse. Do not modify, merge, distribute, translate, reverse engineer, or attempt to obtain or use source code of, decompile or disassemble the Bithell Games Services unless you are specifically allowed by applicable law.
Hacking / Griefing. Do not hack, harm, grief, harass, threaten or misuse the Bithell Games Services, other Bithell Games users or Bithell Games’ products, games, services, community members or staff.
Cheating. Do not create, use, make available and/or distribute cheats, exploits, automation software, robots, bots, mods, hacks, spiders, spyware, cheats, scripts, trainers, extraction tools or other software that interact with or affect the Bithell Games Services in any way (including, without limitation, any unauthorised third party programs that intercept, emulate, or redirect any communication between Bithell Games or its partners and the Bithell Games Services and/or any unauthorised third party programs that collect information about the Bithell Games Services by reading areas of memory used by the Bithell Games Services to store information).
Account Misuse. Do not share, ‘buy’, ‘sell’, transfer, gift, lend, steal or misappropriate user accounts or access keys / codes (all of which are our property). If you are concerned that any of this has happened to you, contact customer support at contact@bithellgames.com.
Power-Levelling. Do not perform in-game services for others like power-levelling, boosting or ladder-climbing, whether or not in exchange for payment (real money or otherwise) from others.
No Advertising. Do not communicate or facilitate any commercial advertisement, promotion, spam or unsolicited messages through the Bithell Games Services.
Interference with Services. Do not deliberately or maliciously interrupt or interfere with Bithell Games services like customer or technical support or impersonate Bithell Games staff.
Interfering with Servers. Do not interfere with or disrupt Bithell Games or third party network software or servers, including via tunnelling, code injection or insertion, denial of service, modifying or changing the software, using any other similar software together with Bithell Games software, through protocol emulation, or through creation or use of private servers or any analogous services regarding the Bithell Games Services.
Accessing Servers. Do not access or attempt to access areas of the Bithell Games Services or servers that have not been made available to the public.
Data Mining. Do not intercept, mine or otherwise collect data or information from the Bithell Games Services using unauthorised third-party software.
Names / Trade Marks. Do not use Bithell Games, the names of any Bithell Games Services or other Bithell Games names or logos or trademarks for any unauthorised commercial purposes.
Infringing Content. Do not do anything in connection with the Bithell Games Services that infringes any copyright, trade mark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity, or other right of others, such as images, photographs, sound files, text files, graphics files, and any other material or information.
Malicious Code. Do not post or upload any files that contain any malicious code, including viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, intentionally corrupted data, any other files that contain malicious code or that may in any way damage or interfere with the operation of the Bithell Games Services.
Geographic / Regional Restrictions. You must follow any applicable geographic or regional, language or location-based restrictions, requirements or rules regarding the Bithell Games Services.
Conduct. Do not do or say anything that is or may be considered threatening, racist, harassing, xenophobic, sexist, discriminatory, abusive, defamatory or otherwise offensive or illegal. This includes in any chat or other communications with users. Bithell Games reserves the right to monitor the content of any of your messages and prevent your use of any such chat or other communication systems for any reason. Please report any behavior you think is in breach of this rule by sending a message to contact@bithellgames.com.
Self-Harm and Suicide. If you or someone you know through the Bithell Games Services is at risk of self-harm or suicide, please seek help as soon as possible by contacting agencies specialising in crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Please feel free to alert us on contact@bithellgames.com and we will also try to follow up where possible. Abuse of this system and/or submission of false reports will constitute a material breach of this Agreement.
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The Bithell Games Services are the owned/licensed property of Bithell Games.
Who owns the Bithell Games Services? The Bithell Games Services, including (but not limited to) their visual components, characters, story, items, music, graphics, computer code, user interface, look and feel, game mechanics, gameplay, audio, video, text, layout, databases, data and all other content and all Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) and other legal and exploitation rights regarding them, are either owned by us or we license them from third parties. All rights in the Bithell Games Services are reserved except as explained in this Agreement. No ownership right or interest or other rights in the Bithell Games Services or any part of it is transferred to you. The Bithell Games Services and their Intellectual Property Rights are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws worldwide.
“Intellectual Property Rights" means any and all copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, brand names, logos, goodwill, get up, trade, business or domain names, design rights, rights in characters, rights in get-up, database rights, patents, rights in inventions, know-how, trade secrets and confidential information, rights in databases, rights in computer software (including source code and object code), moral rights, author rights, rental and lending rights, publicity rights, performance rights, synchronisation rights, mechanical rights, publishing, rental, lending and transmission rights and other intellectual property and exploitation rights of a similar or corresponding character which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world, in all cases whether or not registered or registrable including all granted applications and all applications for registration, division, continuation, reissuance, renewals, extensions, restorations and reversions regarding any of the same.
6. USER GENERATED CONTENT AND COMMUNITY CONTENT
If you share content in-game via the Bithell Games Services (e.g. sending links), this is your responsibility.
What is our position on ‘user generated content’? The Bithell Games Services may give you the ability to share content (for example to share text, photos or links with users) – we will call this “User Generated Content”. If you do share User Generated Content, then it is at your responsibility and risk. We have the right (but not the obligation) to check and remove any inappropriate or illegal User Generated Content. But to be clear: we do not assume any responsibility or liability for User Generated Content. As far as we and you are concerned, you own any User Generated Content you created but we need you to give us certain rights over it so that we can actually transmit it via the Bithell Games Services. So, when you make your User Generated Content available through the Bithell Games Services you give us a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free licence to use, modify, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, communicate and publicly display/perform your User Generated Content in connection with the Bithell Games Services.
7. FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS
Feedback and suggestions are great (thank you!) but at our discretion without responsibility/liability.
You are welcome to give us feedback and suggestions to improve the Bithell Games Services – in such case you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions, but we may choose not to use or accept them at our discretion. In any event the feedback/suggestions will be received by us without any obligations or liability to you, financial or otherwise.
8. WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY
We provide warranties (i.e. legally binding promises) about the Bithell Games Services, for example that we will take reasonable care regarding your use of the Bithell Games Services. We also explain a bit further how we are legally responsible to each other. We ask for certain legal protections from you (legally, this does not apply to EU users).
8.1. Our warranties. We represent and warrant that: (i) we have the right to enter into this Agreement and to grant you the licence to use the Bithell Games Services in section 2; (ii) we will take reasonable care regarding the Bithell Games Services and your use of them; and (iii) we will use reasonable efforts to comply with applicable laws under this Agreement.
8.2. Your warranties to us. You represent and warrant that you have the full power and ability to enter into this Agreement and will follow fully its terms. You also represent and warrant that any User Generated Content which you transmit via the Bithell Games Services does not infringe upon the Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. You further represent and warrant that you will not use or contribute User Generated Content that is unlawful, tortious, defamatory, obscene, invasive of the privacy of another person, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or racist.
8.3. Limitation of liability
The following section does not apply to you if you are resident in the European Union or countries whose laws specifically prohibit the following liability limitations, but it does apply to you if you are (for example) resident in the USA.
(i) OUR DISCLAIMERS. Except as we have set out elsewhere in this Agreement, BITHELL GAMES and its affiliates, partners and licensors disclaim any implied or express warranties or representations regarding THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. This includes without limitation any allegations of: (i) negligence; OR (ii) lack of satisfactory quality, merchantability or fitness for purpose; or (iii) the existence of any faults or errors; or (iv) infringement of any third party intellectual property rights. THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES ARE otherwise provided to you on an "as is", “AS AVAILABLE” basis without warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, which might apply to THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES, including without limitation: implied warranties of title, non-infringement, merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, any warranties that may arise from course of dealing or course of performance or usage of trade, freedom from viruses or errors OR DEFECTS, and/or any warranties as to the accuracy, LEGALITY, reliability or quality of any content or information contained within THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. We do not warrant that THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or THAT THEY WILL BE free of viruses or other harmful components.
(II) OUR LIABILITY LIMITATION. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, partners and licensors shall not be liable for any loss, damage or harm of any kind arising from the use or inability to use or ‘loss’ relating to THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, partners and licensors shall not be liable for any indirect, consequential, incidental, special, punitive or exemplary damages or any other damages arising out of or connected with THE SAME. This includes if you suffer damage because you cannot use them (either temporarily or permanently). None of the above will be affected in any way even if BITHELL GAMES or its affiliates, partners or licensors are at fault (whether through negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty or strict liability) and even if you or we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
(III) OUR LIABILITY CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID US (IF ANY) IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTERS UNDERLYING ANY CLAIM(S).
(IV) YOUR INDEMNITY TO US. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless on demand BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, licensors and partners from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including legal fees, in connection with: (1) any alleged or actual breach of this Agreement; (2) the use of THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES by you or any person on your behalf; (3) INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR OTHER PROPERTY OF BITHELL GAMES; and/or (4) YOUR USER GENERATED CONTENT. If claims are brought against us, then YOU WILL COOPERATE FULLY WITH US AND we reserve the right to take over their defenCe. YOU WILL NOT SETTLE ANY SUCH CLAIMS WITHOUT OUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.
(V) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. YOU AGREE THAT ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM YOU SUFFER IS NOT IRREPARABLE OR SUFFICIENT, and other remedies will be adequate, such that you are not entitled TO INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST US.
(VI) Residents of California. If you reside in the state of California you are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information: you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 400 R St., Suite 1080, Sacramento, California, 95814, or by telephone at 916.445.1254. California residents expressly agree to waive California Civil Code Sec. 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend the claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”
9. TERMINATION
You can terminate this Agreement by stopping use of all Bithell Games Services. We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Bithell Games Services if you seriously breach this Agreement.
9.1. When and how can you terminate this Agreement? You can terminate this Agreement by permanently stopping use of all Bithell Games Services at any time. Termination will not affect already existing rights or obligations of us or you.
9.2. When can we suspend or terminate your access to the Bithell Games Services? We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Bithell Games Services if you materially breach this Agreement, which includes but is not limited to a breach of this Agreement which is serious and/or which could cause real harm to the Bithell Games Services, other Bithell Games Services users, Bithell Games or other matters governed under this Agreement. In particular, it applies to the rules we specify in section 4 above (for example, no cheating or account misuse). If we cancel or suspend your account in this way, we will use reasonable efforts to explain why we have done this and what (if anything) you can do as a result. If we cancel or suspend your account under this section, then we will not have any obligations or liabilities to you at all.
If Bithell Games decides itself to stop providing any Bithell Games Services permanently, then we will try to give you at least sixty (60) days’ notice by posting an update on the applicable website. After that time period, we will not have any future obligations or liabilities to you (this does not affect any pre-existing obligations or liabilities).
10. FORCE MAJEURE
If unforeseen events beyond your or our control take place then neither of us will be liable to the other for any obligations which cannot be performed.
10.1. Neither of us will be liable to the other regarding any performance, or non-performance, or delay, in whole or in part, due to Force Majeure.
“Force Majeure” means any cause preventing a party from performing any or all of its obligations which arises from or is attributable to acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond the reasonable control of the party so prevented including strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes (other than any such dispute involving the workforce of the party so prevented), nuclear accident or acts of God, war or terrorist activity, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage (excluding malicious damage involving the employees of the affected party or its sub-contractors), compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, industrial action by employees of any providers of electrical power, failure of technical facilities, hacking, denial of service or other IT attack, deployment of IT virus malware or similar technology, fire, flood, or storm or default of suppliers or sub-contractors.
11. GOVERNING LAW
Any legal questions / complaints / claims regarding this Agreement are under English law and jurisdiction for users all around the world except users resident in the USA, who are under California law and jurisdiction.
11.1. If you are resident in the European Union and elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we agree that your use of the Bithell Games Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of England and any dispute regarding it will be exclusively under the jurisdiction of the courts of England. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side which wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses. This does not exclude any mandatorily applicable rules or remedies which would be available to you in a legal claim brought under the law of your EU Member State of residence.
11.2. If you are resident in the USA:
To the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, you and we agree that your use of the Bithell Games Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be deemed to be entered into in San Francisco, California and governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of California, USA (and, if applicable, US Federal law) without regard to choice of law principles. Any legal claim by you against Bithell Games, to the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, will be made exclusively in state or federal court located in San Francisco, California, which will have subject matter jurisdiction regarding the dispute between you and us and therefore we both consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts. Moreover, you waive any rights to argue that the state and federal courts in San Francisco, California are an improper venue. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side who wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses.
12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND BINDING ARBITRATION
If you have any concerns or issues you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. We hope we can resolve any complaints with you through informal dispute resolution.
12.1. If you have concerns or issues with us, we hope we can resolve them quickly and amicably – you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. However, we recognise that occasionally there might be legal disputes which are not so easily resolved. In this section we explain what happens if there is a legal dispute.
12.2. Informal dispute resolution:
We and you both agree to make reasonable and good faith efforts to resolve any dispute between us informally. Normally we would suggest that this dispute resolution period lasts 30 days unless exceptional circumstances exist. If it is not resolved during this time, the next steps depend on where you live. If you are resident in the European Union, you may be entitled to submit a complaint through the Online Dispute Resolution Platform operated by the European Commission, details of which can be found at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.
If we can't resolve a dispute with you informally, then this is what happens next.
IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY AS IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES BETWEEN US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
12.3. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we have the legal right to commence legal claims against each other if we consider it necessary. If you bring a claim against Bithell Games, you should address it to contact@bithellgames.com.
12.4. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the USA:
(a) Agreement to Arbitrate:
We and you agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us on an individual basis through binding arbitration, including without limitation any claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, any part of the relationship between you and us, or your use of the Bithell Games Services, except as set forth under “Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate” below. The US Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law applies to this agreement.
"Arbitration" is a consensual dispute resolution process where both sides present their case to a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge or jury. Arbitration is less formal than court litigation and review of an arbitrator’s decision by a court is limited. To be clear: by choosing arbitration you and we give up the right to have any dispute between us heard in court before a judge and/or jury.
Individual Arbitration Only: You and we agree that arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated or representative arbitration.
(b) How to start an arbitration:
Either of us can commence arbitration by filing an arbitration demand with the AAA that describes the claim and desired remedy. Notice sent to Bithell Games should be sent by mail and by email. You or Bithell Games may bring an arbitration at any American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) location within the United States.
(c) The rules for the arbitration:
The arbitration will be governed by the AAA under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.adr.org), as modified by this Agreement. The arbitrator will be bound by this Agreement.
The arbitration shall be conducted in English by a single arbitrator with substantial experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, selected pursuant to AAA rules. The arbitration hearing may be conducted through the submission of documents, by phone, or in person, and must commence within thirty (30) days from the appointment of the arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by you and Bithell Games. Judgment upon an award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as appropriate.
If you seek US $10,000 or less, Bithell Games will reimburse your filing fee and your share of the arbitration costs (but not your attorney’s fees or expert witness fees), at the end of the arbitration, unless the arbitrator decides your claims are without merit or your costs are unreasonable. Bithell Games will only seek its legal fees and costs if it prevails and the arbitrator determines your claims are meritless. If you seek more than US $10,000, then the arbitration costs, including arbitrator compensation, will be split between you and Bithell Games per the applicable AAA rules.
12.5. Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate
The dispute resolution and arbitration requirements do not apply to claims or disputes that relate to claims of intellectual property rights infringement or claims of Bithell Games use, piracy, theft or misappropriation.
12.6. Limitation on Claims
You and Bithell Games agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim arising out of or related to the Bithell Games Services must be made within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, such claim is permanently barred. You agree that these dispute resolution and binding arbitration provisions will survive any termination of your account or the Bithell Games Services.
If you live in the USA or the rest of the world (but not the EU), you and we agree not to bring any class action or similar collective legal action against each other. We will resolve legal disputes with each other through the process outlined above.
12.7. Waiver of collective action remedies:
To the maximum extent permitted by the national or state law applicable, you and we agree not under any circumstances to bring or participate in a class or representative action, private attorney general action or collective arbitration in relation to the Bithell Games Services or this Agreement. That means, to the full extent permitted by law: (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-wide basis or to utilise class action procedures; and (3) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
If the previous paragraph is found illegal or unenforceable for any reason, you and Bithell Games agree that any class, representative private attorney general action claim or dispute will be resolved in court.
13. OTHER LEGAL MATTERS
This section sets out a few additional, hopefully self-explanatory rules about how this Agreement works legally. For example, this Agreement is just between you and us, we might be required to comply with law enforcement requests etc.
If any part of this Agreement is found not to be legally enforceable, this will not affect any other part of it;
This Agreement governs our relationship with you (and vice versa). It does not create any rights for anyone else;
Please remember that we are subject to various laws and we may be required to comply with law enforcement or other legal requirements, including import/export controls;
You and we agree that the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to the Bithell Games Services or this Agreement;
We can assign, subcontract or transfer this Agreement to a third party or another member of our group if necessary for the support of the Bithell Games Services, as part of any reorganisation or merger or for other business reasons. We will notify you if this happens;
No failure or delay by us or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Agreement or by law will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other riBithell Games - Terms of Service
Last updated on [Date]A quick summary:
1. These are the (legally binding) rules for Bithell Games games and services, including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume and Subsurface Circular.
2. You are given a personal licence to access, use and/or play them (but Bithell Games owns them).
3. There are rules regarding what you can and cannot do with Bithell Games Services (e.g. don’t cheat).
4. Depending on where you live, there are important rules regarding liability and dispute resolution (including mandatory arbitration and waiver of jury trial if you live in the USA).
5. Our Privacy Policy [link] explains what information we collect and how we protect it.
This Terms of Service (or “Agreement” for short) explains what you can and cannot do with our games and other Bithell Games services (which we explain below). Because we know legal wording is not much fun, we have included a short and informal summary of each section (but the full version is the legally binding one).
1. ABOUT THIS AGREEMENT
This document explains who we are, what the Bithell Games Services are and how you can use them. This Agreement is binding as soon as you download, install or use any of the Bithell Games Services, including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume and Subsurface Circular. We can change this Agreement at any time, but if we do we will put the changed version online and normally it will take effect a reasonable time period afterwards. You should also read our Privacy Policy [LINK] and other Bithell Games Services may have other applicable documents (which we will notify to you).
1.1. What is this Agreement? This Agreement is a legally binding contract between you and Mike Bithell Games Limited, (incorporated and registered in England & Wales with company number 08395628) of C/O Affect Group, Simpsons Farm, Pentlow, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 7JT, England (“Bithell Games”).
1.2. What does this Agreement apply to? This Agreement applies to our interactive entertainment products including John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, Volume, Subsurface Circular, Quarantine Circular, EarthShape and The Solitaire Conspiracy, our websites (including https://www.bithellgames.com/ and http://www.gamedevbizbook.com/), any game key or code giving you access to it or any parts of them, our audiobooks (including North Star Rising), plus all other Bithell Games products and services, including (but not limited to) our newsletters, customer and technical support, wikis, blogs and social media services (we will refer to “Bithell Games Services” to cover all of these things).
1.3. When does this Agreement apply to you? This Agreement will be binding on you and us once you download, install or use any of the Bithell Games Services. If you do not agree to it, please do not use any of the Bithell Games Services.
1.4. Will we ever change this Agreement? We may change this Agreement from time to time, for example to reflect changes in our services or to reflect applicable laws. If we do, we will make the changed Agreement available online. It will become legally binding on you immediately, but you are welcome to contact us at contact@bithellgames.com if you have specific questions about the changes. If you do not agree to those changes (regardless of whether you email us), then unfortunately you must cease using the Bithell Games Services: in order to make the Bithell Games Services work properly we need to have everyone using them under the same rules instead of different people having different rules.
1.5. Are there any other important documents you should read? Please also review our Bithell Games Privacy Policy [LINK].
2. USING THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES
You have the personal right to play and use the Bithell Games Services.
Legally, you must be at least 13 years old to play and use the Bithell Games Services and if you are under 18 you need parental / guardian approval to use the Bithell Games Services.
Some Bithell Games Services may have minimum requirements and we might need to implement some anti-cheat tools / software. From time to time we may patch, update or change how the Bithell Games Services work in order to keep them running efficiently and fun to play.
2.1. We give you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-assignable licence to display, view, download, install, play and use the Bithell Games Services on authorised devices/platforms. This licence is for your personal use only (so you cannot give, ‘sell’, lend, gift, assign, sub-license or otherwise transfer it to someone else) and does not give you any ownership rights in the Bithell Games Services. We own or license all Bithell Games Services.
2.2. Are there any age restrictions? Legally, you must be at least 13 years old to use the Bithell Games Services. If you are between 13 and 18 (or whatever is the age of adulthood in your country), please ask your parent or guardian to review and approve this Agreement and to supervise your use of the Bithell Games Services. Some Bithell Games Services may have age ratings, which will be displayed when you purchase and/or download them.
2.3. Are there any minimum requirements? Some Bithell Games Services will have minimum requirements depending on your chosen device/platform, of which you will be notified at the time. It is your responsibility to ensure you meet these requirements before downloading or using the relevant Bithell Games Service. To access online parts of the Bithell Games Services you will need internet access too – again, this is your responsibility.
2.4. What about patches and updates? We may patch, update or change the Bithell Games Services over time (for example to add or remove features, to resolve software bugs or to balance games), which will result in mandatory and/or automatic updates. Therefore, older, un-updated versions may become unusable over time as a result. It is possible that older devices/platforms may cease to be supported over time (although we will use reasonable efforts to notify this to you in advance). As part of these patches, updates or changes, we may need to impose limits on, or remove/restrict access to, certain game features. We need these rights in order to keep the Bithell Games Services running efficiently and will not have any liability to you regarding use of them.
2.5. What about third party access and content? You might get links from us to third party websites or content through the Bithell Games Services. You may also access the Bithell Games Services through different platforms and devices. Your use of them is your responsibility – we cannot promise they will work, what they will be like or if they are free.
2.6. Are there any health & safety issues to be aware of? Please be aware the Bithell Games Services may contain flashing images which may potentially trigger seizures for people with epilepsy. Player discretion is advised.
3. BITHELL GAMES SERVICES EARLY ACCESS/BETA ACCESS
If you access any Bithell Games Services (e.g. one of our games) in beta or other pre-full release version, you accept that they may not be complete and may not work fully. You accept them ‘as is’. There may be server/progress resets/other changes during the process. We will not be responsible or liable for these matters (which are inherent to you being able to join in the beta process). Basically: you can get access to cool stuff early, but it might not work fully yet and that won’t be our fault!
Some Bithell Games Services may be released in alpha, closed beta, open beta, early access or other pre-release versions before their full commercial release (or “beta” for short). This is usually to test the features, capabilities, and performance of the product. These are the additional beta rules:
We will set the conditions and requirements for your beta access. Providing and maintaining a beta, and who can use a beta, is at our discretion.
We will likely ask you to register for the beta. There may be some waiting time depending on the number of people registering, the load on our servers and other technical aspects.
Betas will be time-limited and we will decide on when to end them and what happens next.
Between beta versions we may perform one or more complete server/progress reset(s). After the reset, your account will likely go back to a previous or new state. No cash refunds will be provided in connection with any reset or change.
We may change, modify or remove features as part of testing and improving the product.
If appropriate, we may apply confidentiality restrictions to the beta, which will be notified to you at the time.
We may ask you to provide feedback on the beta – this is optional (but appreciated!).
Betas will be provided 'as is' without any promises from us or any liability on us if it is not complete or does not work fully or causes issues.
You must not attempt to ‘sell’ or transfer your access to a beta. It is for you, not anyone else.
We may issue additional terms regarding Bithell Games Service betas. We will notify you in advance if so.
4. RULES FOR USING THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES
This section sets out the rules for you to follow when using the Bithell Games Services – e.g. no hacking, cheating, harmful conduct etc. Breaking these rules could result in suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Bithell Games Services.
In order to be able to use the Bithell Games Services, we ask you to follow some rules not limited to the following. Please read these rules carefully since failure to follow them (particularly those in relation to cheating) will be considered a material breach of this Agreement, which could lead to suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Bithell Games Services. Here are the main rules:
Personal Enjoyment. Only use the Bithell Games Services for your personal enjoyment and not for any commercial or political purposes.
Restricted Access. Do not attempt to copy, rent, sell, lend, lease, sublicense, distribute, publish or publicly display the Bithell Games Services, any user account or any of your rights under this Agreement to any other party in any way not expressly authorised under this Agreement.
Technical Misuse. Do not modify, merge, distribute, translate, reverse engineer, or attempt to obtain or use source code of, decompile or disassemble the Bithell Games Services unless you are specifically allowed by applicable law.
Hacking / Griefing. Do not hack, harm, grief, harass, threaten or misuse the Bithell Games Services, other Bithell Games users or Bithell Games’ products, games, services, community members or staff.
Cheating. Do not create, use, make available and/or distribute cheats, exploits, automation software, robots, bots, mods, hacks, spiders, spyware, cheats, scripts, trainers, extraction tools or other software that interact with or affect the Bithell Games Services in any way (including, without limitation, any unauthorised third party programs that intercept, emulate, or redirect any communication between Bithell Games or its partners and the Bithell Games Services and/or any unauthorised third party programs that collect information about the Bithell Games Services by reading areas of memory used by the Bithell Games Services to store information).
Account Misuse. Do not share, ‘buy’, ‘sell’, transfer, gift, lend, steal or misappropriate user accounts or access keys / codes (all of which are our property). If you are concerned that any of this has happened to you, contact customer support at contact@bithellgames.com.
Power-Levelling. Do not perform in-game services for others like power-levelling, boosting or ladder-climbing, whether or not in exchange for payment (real money or otherwise) from others.
No Advertising. Do not communicate or facilitate any commercial advertisement, promotion, spam or unsolicited messages through the Bithell Games Services.
Interference with Services. Do not deliberately or maliciously interrupt or interfere with Bithell Games services like customer or technical support or impersonate Bithell Games staff.
Interfering with Servers. Do not interfere with or disrupt Bithell Games or third party network software or servers, including via tunnelling, code injection or insertion, denial of service, modifying or changing the software, using any other similar software together with Bithell Games software, through protocol emulation, or through creation or use of private servers or any analogous services regarding the Bithell Games Services.
Accessing Servers. Do not access or attempt to access areas of the Bithell Games Services or servers that have not been made available to the public.
Data Mining. Do not intercept, mine or otherwise collect data or information from the Bithell Games Services using unauthorised third-party software.
Names / Trade Marks. Do not use Bithell Games, the names of any Bithell Games Services or other Bithell Games names or logos or trademarks for any unauthorised commercial purposes.
Infringing Content. Do not do anything in connection with the Bithell Games Services that infringes any copyright, trade mark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity, or other right of others, such as images, photographs, sound files, text files, graphics files, and any other material or information.
Malicious Code. Do not post or upload any files that contain any malicious code, including viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, intentionally corrupted data, any other files that contain malicious code or that may in any way damage or interfere with the operation of the Bithell Games Services.
Geographic / Regional Restrictions. You must follow any applicable geographic or regional, language or location-based restrictions, requirements or rules regarding the Bithell Games Services.
Conduct. Do not do or say anything that is or may be considered threatening, racist, harassing, xenophobic, sexist, discriminatory, abusive, defamatory or otherwise offensive or illegal. This includes in any chat or other communications with users. Bithell Games reserves the right to monitor the content of any of your messages and prevent your use of any such chat or other communication systems for any reason. Please report any behavior you think is in breach of this rule by sending a message to contact@bithellgames.com.
Self-Harm and Suicide. If you or someone you know through the Bithell Games Services is at risk of self-harm or suicide, please seek help as soon as possible by contacting agencies specialising in crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Please feel free to alert us on contact@bithellgames.com and we will also try to follow up where possible. Abuse of this system and/or submission of false reports will constitute a material breach of this Agreement.
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The Bithell Games Services are the owned/licensed property of Bithell Games.
Who owns the Bithell Games Services? The Bithell Games Services, including (but not limited to) their visual components, characters, story, items, music, graphics, computer code, user interface, look and feel, game mechanics, gameplay, audio, video, text, layout, databases, data and all other content and all Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) and other legal and exploitation rights regarding them, are either owned by us or we license them from third parties. All rights in the Bithell Games Services are reserved except as explained in this Agreement. No ownership right or interest or other rights in the Bithell Games Services or any part of it is transferred to you. The Bithell Games Services and their Intellectual Property Rights are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws worldwide.
“Intellectual Property Rights" means any and all copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, brand names, logos, goodwill, get up, trade, business or domain names, design rights, rights in characters, rights in get-up, database rights, patents, rights in inventions, know-how, trade secrets and confidential information, rights in databases, rights in computer software (including source code and object code), moral rights, author rights, rental and lending rights, publicity rights, performance rights, synchronisation rights, mechanical rights, publishing, rental, lending and transmission rights and other intellectual property and exploitation rights of a similar or corresponding character which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world, in all cases whether or not registered or registrable including all granted applications and all applications for registration, division, continuation, reissuance, renewals, extensions, restorations and reversions regarding any of the same.
6. USER GENERATED CONTENT AND COMMUNITY CONTENT
If you share content in-game via the Bithell Games Services (e.g. sending links), this is your responsibility.
What is our position on ‘user generated content’? The Bithell Games Services may give you the ability to share content (for example to share text, photos or links with users) – we will call this “User Generated Content”. If you do share User Generated Content, then it is at your responsibility and risk. We have the right (but not the obligation) to check and remove any inappropriate or illegal User Generated Content. But to be clear: we do not assume any responsibility or liability for User Generated Content. As far as we and you are concerned, you own any User Generated Content you created but we need you to give us certain rights over it so that we can actually transmit it via the Bithell Games Services. So, when you make your User Generated Content available through the Bithell Games Services you give us a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free licence to use, modify, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, communicate and publicly display/perform your User Generated Content in connection with the Bithell Games Services.
7. FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS
Feedback and suggestions are great (thank you!) but at our discretion without responsibility/liability.
You are welcome to give us feedback and suggestions to improve the Bithell Games Services – in such case you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions, but we may choose not to use or accept them at our discretion. In any event the feedback/suggestions will be received by us without any obligations or liability to you, financial or otherwise.
8. WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY
We provide warranties (i.e. legally binding promises) about the Bithell Games Services, for example that we will take reasonable care regarding your use of the Bithell Games Services. We also explain a bit further how we are legally responsible to each other. We ask for certain legal protections from you (legally, this does not apply to EU users).
8.1. Our warranties. We represent and warrant that: (i) we have the right to enter into this Agreement and to grant you the licence to use the Bithell Games Services in section 2; (ii) we will take reasonable care regarding the Bithell Games Services and your use of them; and (iii) we will use reasonable efforts to comply with applicable laws under this Agreement.
8.2. Your warranties to us. You represent and warrant that you have the full power and ability to enter into this Agreement and will follow fully its terms. You also represent and warrant that any User Generated Content which you transmit via the Bithell Games Services does not infringe upon the Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. You further represent and warrant that you will not use or contribute User Generated Content that is unlawful, tortious, defamatory, obscene, invasive of the privacy of another person, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or racist.
8.3. Limitation of liability
The following section does not apply to you if you are resident in the European Union or countries whose laws specifically prohibit the following liability limitations, but it does apply to you if you are (for example) resident in the USA.
(i) OUR DISCLAIMERS. Except as we have set out elsewhere in this Agreement, BITHELL GAMES and its affiliates, partners and licensors disclaim any implied or express warranties or representations regarding THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. This includes without limitation any allegations of: (i) negligence; OR (ii) lack of satisfactory quality, merchantability or fitness for purpose; or (iii) the existence of any faults or errors; or (iv) infringement of any third party intellectual property rights. THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES ARE otherwise provided to you on an "as is", “AS AVAILABLE” basis without warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, which might apply to THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES, including without limitation: implied warranties of title, non-infringement, merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, any warranties that may arise from course of dealing or course of performance or usage of trade, freedom from viruses or errors OR DEFECTS, and/or any warranties as to the accuracy, LEGALITY, reliability or quality of any content or information contained within THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. We do not warrant that THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or THAT THEY WILL BE free of viruses or other harmful components.
(II) OUR LIABILITY LIMITATION. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, partners and licensors shall not be liable for any loss, damage or harm of any kind arising from the use or inability to use or ‘loss’ relating to THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES. BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, partners and licensors shall not be liable for any indirect, consequential, incidental, special, punitive or exemplary damages or any other damages arising out of or connected with THE SAME. This includes if you suffer damage because you cannot use them (either temporarily or permanently). None of the above will be affected in any way even if BITHELL GAMES or its affiliates, partners or licensors are at fault (whether through negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty or strict liability) and even if you or we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
(III) OUR LIABILITY CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID US (IF ANY) IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTERS UNDERLYING ANY CLAIM(S).
(IV) YOUR INDEMNITY TO US. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless on demand BITHELL GAMES, its affiliates, licensors and partners from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including legal fees, in connection with: (1) any alleged or actual breach of this Agreement; (2) the use of THE BITHELL GAMES SERVICES by you or any person on your behalf; (3) INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR OTHER PROPERTY OF BITHELL GAMES; and/or (4) YOUR USER GENERATED CONTENT. If claims are brought against us, then YOU WILL COOPERATE FULLY WITH US AND we reserve the right to take over their defenCe. YOU WILL NOT SETTLE ANY SUCH CLAIMS WITHOUT OUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.
(V) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. YOU AGREE THAT ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM YOU SUFFER IS NOT IRREPARABLE OR SUFFICIENT, and other remedies will be adequate, such that you are not entitled TO INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST US.
(VI) Residents of California. If you reside in the state of California you are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information: you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 400 R St., Suite 1080, Sacramento, California, 95814, or by telephone at 916.445.1254. California residents expressly agree to waive California Civil Code Sec. 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend the claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”
9. TERMINATION
You can terminate this Agreement by stopping use of all Bithell Games Services. We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Bithell Games Services if you seriously breach this Agreement.
9.1. When and how can you terminate this Agreement? You can terminate this Agreement by permanently stopping use of all Bithell Games Services at any time. Termination will not affect already existing rights or obligations of us or you.
9.2. When can we suspend or terminate your access to the Bithell Games Services? We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Bithell Games Services if you materially breach this Agreement, which includes but is not limited to a breach of this Agreement which is serious and/or which could cause real harm to the Bithell Games Services, other Bithell Games Services users, Bithell Games or other matters governed under this Agreement. In particular, it applies to the rules we specify in section 4 above (for example, no cheating or account misuse). If we cancel or suspend your account in this way, we will use reasonable efforts to explain why we have done this and what (if anything) you can do as a result. If we cancel or suspend your account under this section, then we will not have any obligations or liabilities to you at all.
If Bithell Games decides itself to stop providing any Bithell Games Services permanently, then we will try to give you at least sixty (60) days’ notice by posting an update on the applicable website. After that time period, we will not have any future obligations or liabilities to you (this does not affect any pre-existing obligations or liabilities).
10. FORCE MAJEURE
If unforeseen events beyond your or our control take place then neither of us will be liable to the other for any obligations which cannot be performed.
10.1. Neither of us will be liable to the other regarding any performance, or non-performance, or delay, in whole or in part, due to Force Majeure.
“Force Majeure” means any cause preventing a party from performing any or all of its obligations which arises from or is attributable to acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond the reasonable control of the party so prevented including strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes (other than any such dispute involving the workforce of the party so prevented), nuclear accident or acts of God, war or terrorist activity, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage (excluding malicious damage involving the employees of the affected party or its sub-contractors), compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, industrial action by employees of any providers of electrical power, failure of technical facilities, hacking, denial of service or other IT attack, deployment of IT virus malware or similar technology, fire, flood, or storm or default of suppliers or sub-contractors.
11. GOVERNING LAW
Any legal questions / complaints / claims regarding this Agreement are under English law and jurisdiction for users all around the world except users resident in the USA, who are under California law and jurisdiction.
11.1. If you are resident in the European Union and elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we agree that your use of the Bithell Games Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of England and any dispute regarding it will be exclusively under the jurisdiction of the courts of England. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side which wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses. This does not exclude any mandatorily applicable rules or remedies which would be available to you in a legal claim brought under the law of your EU Member State of residence.
11.2. If you are resident in the USA:
To the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, you and we agree that your use of the Bithell Games Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be deemed to be entered into in San Francisco, California and governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of California, USA (and, if applicable, US Federal law) without regard to choice of law principles. Any legal claim by you against Bithell Games, to the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, will be made exclusively in state or federal court located in San Francisco, California, which will have subject matter jurisdiction regarding the dispute between you and us and therefore we both consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts. Moreover, you waive any rights to argue that the state and federal courts in San Francisco, California are an improper venue. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side who wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses.
12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND BINDING ARBITRATION
If you have any concerns or issues you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. We hope we can resolve any complaints with you through informal dispute resolution.
12.1. If you have concerns or issues with us, we hope we can resolve them quickly and amicably – you can contact us at contact@bithellgames.com. However, we recognise that occasionally there might be legal disputes which are not so easily resolved. In this section we explain what happens if there is a legal dispute.
12.2. Informal dispute resolution:
We and you both agree to make reasonable and good faith efforts to resolve any dispute between us informally. Normally we would suggest that this dispute resolution period lasts 30 days unless exceptional circumstances exist. If it is not resolved during this time, the next steps depend on where you live. If you are resident in the European Union, you may be entitled to submit a complaint through the Online Dispute Resolution Platform operated by the European Commission, details of which can be found at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.
If we can't resolve a dispute with you informally, then this is what happens next.
IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY AS IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES BETWEEN US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
12.3. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we have the legal right to commence legal claims against each other if we consider it necessary. If you bring a claim against Bithell Games, you should address it to contact@bithellgames.com.
12.4. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the USA:
(a) Agreement to Arbitrate:
We and you agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us on an individual basis through binding arbitration, including without limitation any claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, any part of the relationship between you and us, or your use of the Bithell Games Services, except as set forth under “Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate” below. The US Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law applies to this agreement.
"Arbitration" is a consensual dispute resolution process where both sides present their case to a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge or jury. Arbitration is less formal than court litigation and review of an arbitrator’s decision by a court is limited. To be clear: by choosing arbitration you and we give up the right to have any dispute between us heard in court before a judge and/or jury.
Individual Arbitration Only: You and we agree that arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated or representative arbitration.
(b) How to start an arbitration:
Either of us can commence arbitration by filing an arbitration demand with the AAA that describes the claim and desired remedy. Notice sent to Bithell Games should be sent by mail and by email. You or Bithell Games may bring an arbitration at any American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) location within the United States.
(c) The rules for the arbitration:
The arbitration will be governed by the AAA under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.adr.org), as modified by this Agreement. The arbitrator will be bound by this Agreement.
The arbitration shall be conducted in English by a single arbitrator with substantial experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, selected pursuant to AAA rules. The arbitration hearing may be conducted through the submission of documents, by phone, or in person, and must commence within thirty (30) days from the appointment of the arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by you and Bithell Games. Judgment upon an award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as appropriate.
If you seek US $10,000 or less, Bithell Games will reimburse your filing fee and your share of the arbitration costs (but not your attorney’s fees or expert witness fees), at the end of the arbitration, unless the arbitrator decides your claims are without merit or your costs are unreasonable. Bithell Games will only seek its legal fees and costs if it prevails and the arbitrator determines your claims are meritless. If you seek more than US $10,000, then the arbitration costs, including arbitrator compensation, will be split between you and Bithell Games per the applicable AAA rules.
12.5. Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate
The dispute resolution and arbitration requirements do not apply to claims or disputes that relate to claims of intellectual property rights infringement or claims of Bithell Games use, piracy, theft or misappropriation.
12.6. Limitation on Claims
You and Bithell Games agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim arising out of or related to the Bithell Games Services must be made within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, such claim is permanently barred. You agree that these dispute resolution and binding arbitration provisions will survive any termination of your account or the Bithell Games Services.
If you live in the USA or the rest of the world (but not the EU), you and we agree not to bring any class action or similar collective legal action against each other. We will resolve legal disputes with each other through the process outlined above.
12.7. Waiver of collective action remedies:
To the maximum extent permitted by the national or state law applicable, you and we agree not under any circumstances to bring or participate in a class or representative action, private attorney general action or collective arbitration in relation to the Bithell Games Services or this Agreement. That means, to the full extent permitted by law: (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-wide basis or to utilise class action procedures; and (3) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
If the previous paragraph is found illegal or unenforceable for any reason, you and Bithell Games agree that any class, representative private attorney general action claim or dispute will be resolved in court.
13. OTHER LEGAL MATTERS
This section sets out a few additional, hopefully self-explanatory rules about how this Agreement works legally. For example, this Agreement is just between you and us, we might be required to comply with law enforcement requests etc.
If any part of this Agreement is found not to be legally enforceable, this will not affect any other part of it;
This Agreement governs our relationship with you (and vice versa). It does not create any rights for anyone else;
Please remember that we are subject to various laws and we may be required to comply with law enforcement or other legal requirements, including import/export controls;
You and we agree that the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to the Bithell Games Services or this Agreement;
We can assign, subcontract or transfer this Agreement to a third party or another member of our group if necessary for the support of the Bithell Games Services, as part of any reorganisation or merger or for other business reasons. We will notify you if this happens;
No failure or delay by us or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Agreement or by law will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy by us or you will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy; and
This Agreement does not create any exclusive relationship between us nor any partnership, joint venture, employment or agency.
Bithell Games © 2020 Bithell Games. “THOMAS WAS ALONE”, “VOLUME” and “EARTHSHAPE” are registered trade marks of Bithell Games and “NORTH STAR RISING”, “SUBSURFACE CIRCULAR”, “QUARANTINE CIRCULAR”, “THE SOLITAIRE CONSPIRACY” and the logos of all our games and audiobooks are unregistered trade marks of Bithell Games. All rightsght or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy by us or you will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy; and
This Agreement does not create any exclusive relationship between us nor any partnership, joint venture, employment or agency.
Bithell Games © 2020 Bithell Games. “THOMAS WAS ALONE”, “VOLUME” and “EARTHSHAPE” are registered trade marks of Bithell Games and “NORTH STAR RISING”, “SUBSURFACE CIRCULAR”, “QUARANTINE CIRCULAR”, “THE SOLITAIRE CONSPIRACY” and the logos of all our games and audiobooks are unregistered trade marks of Bithell Games. All rights