These Terms are operative. They were prepared with AI assistance under the founder's direction against established United States standards for a self-serve digital subscription, and have not been reviewed by an attorney. They are not legal advice. Where a term conflicts with a right you cannot waive under applicable law, that right controls and the rest of these Terms stays in effect.
Legal
Terms of Service
OAC Colophon is evidence and information infrastructure. It surfaces data from public records and applies a transparent, published methodology so that you can substantiate your own statements. These Terms set out the agreement between you and us. The principle that runs through them is simple: you own the claim, we supply the record.
1. Agreement to these Terms
By creating an account, subscribing, embedding the Storefront Badge, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you use the Service for an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind it. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. Definitions
- Service. The OAC Colophon platform, including the research tiers, the Arena, Under the Price (formerly the Spectacle Exposer) and $MMR, the Storefront Badge, the API, and (when released) Aura Tags.
- Evidence. The figures, provenance data, records, and analyses the Service produces, including data sourced from public ledgers (CITES, UN Comtrade) and outputs of the OAC Colophon methodology.
- Customer Claim. Any representation you make to your own customers, the public, or a regulator that uses, cites, or is derived from the Evidence.
- Claims & Wording Standard. The internal language standard of this stack, incorporated by reference.
3. What the Service is, and is not
The Service is evidence and information infrastructure. It surfaces data from public records and applies a transparent, published methodology so that you can substantiate your own statements.
You acknowledge and agree that the Service:
- is not a certification body, a conformity-assessment body, or an accredited verifier;
- does not certify, approve, or guarantee the sustainability, authenticity, quality, or legal compliance of any product;
- does not provide legal, regulatory, or professional advice, and is not a substitute for it;
- does not determine or guarantee your compliance with the EU Empowering Consumers Directive (2024/825), the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and Digital Product Passport, CSDDD, EUDR, or any other law or regime.
You own every Customer Claim you make. We supply the underlying Evidence and its working; the decision to make a claim, and responsibility for it, is yours.
4. Accounts
You must provide accurate registration information, keep your credentials secure, and are responsible for activity under your account. We may suspend accounts for breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy.
5. Acceptable use and the Claims & Wording Standard
Your use of the Evidence, including anything you display via the Badge, tags, or API, is subject to the Acceptable Use Policy and the Claims & Wording Standard. In particular, you must not represent that Colophon certifies, approves, or guarantees the compliance of your product, and you must not convert the Evidence into a claim prohibited by applicable law. Breach of the Standard or the Acceptable Use Policy is a material breach of these Terms.
6. Your content and Customer Claims
You retain ownership of content you upload. You grant us a limited license to process it to provide the Service. You represent that you have the rights to any content you submit, and that your Customer Claims comply with applicable law and the Claims & Wording Standard. You are solely responsible for your Customer Claims.
7. Intellectual property
We and our licensors own the Service, the methodology, the marks (including "OAC Colophon" and any Badge mark), and all Evidence outputs except your uploaded content. Subject to these Terms we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service and to display the Badge and Evidence only in the approved form and with the required disclosures set out in the Claims & Wording Standard. Misuse of the marks or removal of required disclosures terminates that license.
Ownership through assignment. All intellectual property in the Service, the methodology, the marks, and the Evidence outputs is owned by Objects of Affection Collection LLC. To the extent any of it was authored, held, or registered by the Collection's founder or any principal, contractor, or contributor, it has been, or will be, assigned to Objects of Affection Collection LLC under a written assignment, so that the LLC is the sole owner of record.
8. Third-party and public-record data
The Evidence incorporates data from public and third-party sources (including CITES and UN Comtrade). Such data is provided "as is." We structure and surface it but do not author it and do not warrant its underlying accuracy, completeness, or currency. Government sources change; figures are accurate as of their stated timestamp only.
9. Fees, billing, and refunds
Fees are as described at purchase and are read from our billing system at checkout. Subscription tiers (research T1 to T4, Storefront Badge Standard and Pro) bill in advance on a recurring basis; enterprise and API arrangements may bill by invoice under a separate order or Master Services Agreement. Taxes (including EU VAT where applicable) may be added. Refund terms vary by product and are set out at purchase. Prices are subject to change on notice for future terms.
No-refund disclosure, presented clearly before purchase. Except where a refund is required by applicable law or is expressly stated at checkout, all fees are non-refundable, including for partial subscription periods and for one-time evidence, data, and advisory purchases. This disclosure is presented clearly and conspicuously at or before the point of purchase, and completing a purchase confirms you have seen and accepted it. Nothing here waives a non-waivable consumer right (see section 11).
Refunds. A first subscription to a self-serve tier may be cancelled for a full refund within 14 days of purchase. Enterprise, dataset and advisory purchases are non-refundable. Cancel from your account settings; refunds are issued to the original payment method.
10. Disclaimer of warranties
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE AND ALL EVIDENCE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Evidence is accurate, complete, current, or sufficient for any regulatory, compliance, or commercial purpose, or that use of the Service will satisfy any legal obligation.
If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms limits any right that cannot be limited under applicable law.
11. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, REGULATORY FINES OR PENALTIES, OR REPUTATIONAL HARM, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE, THE EVIDENCE, OR ANY CUSTOMER CLAIM. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE FEES YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.
Consumer-law rights preserved. Nothing in these Terms, including the warranty disclaimer in section 10, the limitation of liability in this section 11, or the no-refund disclosure in section 9, waives, excludes, or limits any right or remedy that applicable consumer-protection law makes non-waivable. For consumers, this preserves any non-waivable rights under the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, the Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act, and, for any consumer product supplied with a written warranty, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Where any provision of these Terms conflicts with such a non-waivable right, that right controls to the extent of the conflict, and the rest of these Terms stays in effect.
12. Indemnification
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Colophon and its officers, agents, and affiliates from any claim, loss, or liability (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) your Customer Claims; (b) your use of the Evidence, Badge, tags, or API; (c) your breach of these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or the Claims & Wording Standard; or (d) your violation of any law, including the EU Empowering Consumers Directive, ESPR and the Digital Product Passport, CSDDD, or EUDR. This reflects the core allocation of risk: you make and own your claims; you bear the responsibility for them.
13. Term, suspension, and termination
These Terms apply while you use the Service. Either party may terminate per the applicable plan or order. We may suspend or terminate for material breach (including breach of the Claims & Wording Standard or the Acceptable Use Policy). Upon termination your license to the Service, the Badge, and the marks ends and you must cease displaying the Badge and Evidence.
14. Changes to the Service and Terms
We may update the Service and these Terms. Material changes will be notified by email or by posting a notice on the Service. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
15. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
Governing law and venue. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts sitting in Indiana. There is no arbitration requirement and no class-action waiver.
16. Copyright complaints and DMCA agent
We respect intellectual-property rights and respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. section 512.
Designated agent. We have designated an agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement, at Objects of Affection Collection LLC, at the agent name, mailing address, email, and phone published here once the agent is registered.
Until a designated agent is registered with the United States Copyright Office, send infringement notices to the contact address above. We do not claim safe-harbour protection under 17 U.S.C. 512(c) until that registration is complete.
Notice procedure. A valid notice of claimed infringement must include the elements required by 17 U.S.C. section 512, including identification of the copyrighted work, identification of the material claimed to be infringing and enough information to locate it, your contact information, a statement of your good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the rightsholder, its agent, or the law, a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate and that you are the rightsholder or authorized to act on its behalf, and your physical or electronic signature.
Counter-notification and repeat infringers. We may remove or disable access to material claimed to be infringing, notify the affected user, and restore material following a valid counter-notification under the DMCA. In appropriate circumstances we will terminate the accounts of repeat infringers. This section works together with the notice-and-takedown procedure in the Acceptable Use Policy.
17. Miscellaneous
These Terms, together with any order or Master Services Agreement and the policies they incorporate, are the entire agreement between us on their subject. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. A delay in enforcing a term is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them to a successor in a merger or sale of the business. Neither of us is liable for a failure to perform caused by events outside our reasonable control. We give notice by email to the address on your account; you give notice to the contact address above.