Effective Date: April 10, 2025

1. Agreement to Terms These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity ("you") and J.W. Hodge ("we," "us," or "our"), concerning your access to and use of the JWHodge.com website as well as any other media form, media channel, mobile website or mobile application related, linked, or otherwise connected thereto (collectively, the "Website"). The Website is built on the WordPress platform. You agree that by accessing the Website, you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by all of these Terms. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE TERMS, THEN YOU ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED FROM USING THE WEBSITE AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE USE IMMEDIATELY.  

2. Intellectual Property Rights Unless otherwise indicated, the Website is our proprietary property and all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics on the Website (collectively, the "Content") and the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the "Marks") are owned or controlled by us or licensed to us, and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, international copyright laws, and international conventions. The Content and the Marks are provided on the Website "AS IS" for your information and personal use only. Except as expressly provided in these Terms, no part of the Website and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever, without our express prior written permission. This includes, but is not limited to, book excerpts, cover art, character names, and plot summaries related to J.W. Hodge's literary works.  

3. User Representations By using the Website, you represent and warrant that: (1) you have the legal capacity and you agree to comply with these Terms; (2) you are not a minor in the jurisdiction in which you reside; (3) you will not access the Website through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script, or otherwise; (4) you will not use the Website for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and (5) your use of the Website will not violate any applicable law or regulation.  

4. User Contributions (e.g., Comments) (Note: Include this section only if comments or other user interactions are enabled on the WordPress site) The Website may provide you with the opportunity to create, submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or on the Website, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, graphics, comments, suggestions, or personal information or other material (collectively, "Contributions"). Contributions may be viewable by other users of the Website and through third-party websites. As such, any Contributions you transmit may be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. When you create or make available any Contributions, you thereby represent and warrant that:  

Your Contributions are not false, inaccurate, or misleading.

Your Contributions are not unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, pyramid schemes, chain letters, spam, mass mailings, or other forms of solicitation.

Your Contributions are not obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing, libelous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable (as determined by us).

Your Contributions do not ridicule, mock, disparage, intimidate, or abuse anyone. Your Contributions do not violate any applicable law, regulation, or rule. Your Contributions do not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party. Your Contributions do not contain any material that solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner.   Your Contributions do not violate any federal or state law concerning child pornography, or otherwise intended to protect the health or well-being of minors.  

Any use of the Website in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Website. We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to (1) monitor the Website for violations of these Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Terms; (3) in our sole discretion and without limitation, refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions or any portion thereof; (4) otherwise manage the Website in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Website.  

By posting your Contributions to any part of the Website, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to us an unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, fully-paid, worldwide right, and license to host, use, copy, reproduce, disclose, sell, resell, publish, broadcast, retitle, archive, store, cache, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, transmit, excerpt (in whole or in part), and distribute such Contributions (including, without limitation, your image and voice) for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such Contributions, and grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.  

5. Prohibited Activities You may not access or use the Website for any purpose other than that for which we make the Website available. The Website may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by us. As a user of the Website, you agree not to:  

Systematically retrieve data or other content from the Website to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database, or directory without written permission from us. Make any unauthorized use of the Website, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of users by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email, or creating user accounts by automated means or under false pretenses (if user accounts are enabled).   Use the Website to advertise or offer to sell goods and services not related to J.W. Hodge. Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Website, including features that prevent or restrict the use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on the use of the Website and/or the Content contained therein, including WordPress security plugins or protocols.   Engage in unauthorized framing of or linking to the Website. Use any information obtained from the Website in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person.

Use the Website as part of any effort to compete with us or otherwise use the Website and/or the Content for any revenue-generating endeavor or commercial enterprise.   Attempt to impersonate another user or person.  

Upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) viruses, Trojan horses, spam (especially in comment sections), or other material that interferes with any party's uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Website or modifies, impairs, disrupts, alters, or interferes with the use, features, functions, operation, or maintenance of the Website.   Engage in any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to send comments or messages, or using any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.   Use the Website in a manner inconsistent with any applicable laws or regulations. 6. Purchases and Payments [If selling books/merchandise directly, add terms here. If only linking to external retailers like Amazon, state that:] We provide links to third-party retailers (e.g., Amazon, Barnes & Noble) where you may purchase J.W. Hodge's books. All transactions made through these third-party sites are subject to their respective terms and conditions and privacy policies. We are not responsible for any issues arising from purchases made on external sites. Please review the applicable Return & Refund Policy on our Website for any items purchased directly from JWHodge.com [if applicable].  

7. Links to Other Websites The Website may contain links to other websites ("Third-Party Websites"). Such Third-Party Websites are not investigated, monitored, or checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites accessed through the Website or any content posted on, available through, or installed from the Third-Party Websites.  

8. Term and Termination These Terms shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Website. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THESE TERMS, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION AND WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY, DENY ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE WEBSITE (INCLUDING BLOCKING CERTAIN IP ADDRESSES), TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION FOR BREACH OF ANY REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR COVENANT CONTAINED IN THESE TERMS OR OF ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION.  

9. Governing Law These Terms and your use of the Website are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Idaho applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed within the State of Idaho, without regard to its conflict of law principles.  

10. Disclaimer THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS AND AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND OUR SERVICES WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE AND YOUR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE WEBSITE'S CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THE WEBSITE AND WE WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT AND MATERIALS, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE WEBSITE, (3) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (4) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE WEBSITE, (5) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE BY ANY THIRD PARTY (INCLUDING VULNERABILITIES POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORDPRESS PLATFORM OR THIRD-PARTY PLUGINS), AND/OR (6) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT AND MATERIALS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE WEBSITE.  

11. Limitations of Liability IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  

12. Indemnification You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, including our subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of our respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) your Contributions (if applicable); (2) use of the Website; (3) breach of these Terms; (4) any breach of your representations and warranties set forth in these Terms; or (5) your violation of the rights of a third party, including but not limited to intellectual property rights.  

13. Modifications and Interruptions We reserve the right to change, modify, or remove the contents of the Website at any time or for any reason at our sole discretion without notice. We also reserve the right to modify or discontinue all or part of the Website without notice at any time. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, price change, suspension, or discontinuance of the Website. We cannot guarantee the Website will be available at all times. We may experience hardware, software (including the WordPress core, themes, or plugins), or other problems or need to perform maintenance related to the Website, resulting in interruptions, delays, or errors.