Welcome to the Poets.org Forum, an on-line community to discuss poetry, seek advice, and share poems. To provide a comfortable and respectful space for all, a place that fosters conversation and creativity, we have developed guidelines for posting and conduct. Please read them closely. Failing to comply with the Conduct Guidelines and the Terms of Use may lead to the deletion of posts, personal warnings, and possible removal from the board.

If you have a problem with another forum user, or general complaint or suggestion, please address it in a Private Message to the forum moderator, site administrators, or send an email to forums@poets.org. Do not post complaints or addresses to the moderators within the forum. Be respectful of the moderators and administrators, even if you disagree with their decisions.

Please keep in mind that Poets.org assigns moderators to each area and must rely heavily on these good volunteers to supervise the discussion boards. The forum administrators are staff members of the Academy of American Poets who have as their primary mandate the development, design, editing, and updating of new material for Poets.org as a whole—a site that has hundreds of content areas, of which the forums are one piece. Please respect the scope of the Administrator's responsibilities and the generous contributions of the volunteer moderators.

YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES WHEN USING THE POETS.ORG DISCUSSION FORUM—PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Last Updated: June 30, 2005

Acceptance of Terms
Your use of the Poets.org Discussion Forum is subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this agreement. By submitting material to the Forum, you acknowledge that you have read, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. Poets.org may deny service to you or delete posts at any time, including in the event that you do not adhere to the Terms of Use.

Posts
We welcome you to post your thoughts, views, and criticism to the Forum. We welcome disagreement and spirited debate. However, in order to operate the Forum in a productive way, we require you to adhere to the following Terms of Use:

You agree to:

• Abide by copyright and intellectual property laws. Post only those poems which you are the author and copyright owner. By posting any material, you agree that you are the author of that material or you have permission from the proper third-party to distribute and publish the material.
• Post only short excerpts of poems for which you do not own the copyright, as allowed by the "Fair Use" doctrine.
• Respect other users. Do not attack, abuse, harass, intimidate, or threaten other users in the Forum.
• Acknowledge that Poets.org has the right to modify or remove any posts that violate the Terms of Use.

You agree not to:

• Post any content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, or that intentionally discriminates against or harasses particular individuals or groups.
• Post any content that infringes any third-party's copyrights, intellectual property rights, or other rights.
• Use the Forum for advertisements, spamming, chain letters, or junk mail.
• Use the Forum for any unlawful purpose or make available material that could give rise to criminal or civil liability.

Links
The Forum allows users to link to third-party websites. However, the linkage, inclusion, or appearance of third-party material on the Forum does not indicate any approval or endorsement from the Academy of American Poets, nor does the Academy accept any responsibility for the content of such a website.

Disclaimer
THE MATERIAL IN THIS FORUM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS DOES NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS IN THIS FORUM IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS MAY MAKE CHANGES TO THIS WEBSITE AT ANY TIME.

Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS, ITS EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, AFFILIATES, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE FORUM, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AHEAD OF TIME. BY USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY, AND HOLD HARMLESS THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS AGAINST ALL CLAIMS, DAMAGES, AND LIABILITIES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE FORUM.