FOREWORD
Whether you are a customer, an Affiliate, or are considering becoming our Affiliate, you are very important to us. We do our best to treat you with the fairness and respect you deserve.
We are strong believers in straightforward and honest communication. The following Affiliate Agreement was created to ensure that you are fully conversant with what is expected of our Affiliates and what legal obligations are required.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. For quickest results please email us at info@signupsystems.com.
Best regards,
A Cage
President, Signup Systems Ltd.
AFFILIATE PROGRAM AGREEMENT
PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT.
YOU MAY PRINT THIS PAGE FOR YOUR RECORDS.
THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN SIGNUP SYSTEMS LTD. ("SIGNUPSYSTEMS," "WE," "US" OR "OUR,") AND YOU ("AFFILIATE," "YOU," "YOUR," "YOURS," OR "YOURSELF,") AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR THE ENTITY WHICH YOU REPRESENT. BY CHECKING THE BOX BESIDE THE AGREEMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WHICH SAYS, "I HAVE READ AND ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT," AND THEN CLICKING ON THE "JOIN THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM" BUTTON, YOU ARE AGREEING THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, THAT YOU AGREE TO BE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH EACH AND EVERY TERM AND CONDITION, AND THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO BIND YOURSELF OR THE ENTITY YOU REPRESENT.
1. OVERVIEW
1.1. This Affiliate Program Agreement ("Agreement") contains the complete terms and conditions that apply to your participation in the SignupSystems Affiliate Program (the "Program"). The purpose of the Program is to allow you to refer people or businesses to SignupSystems using special tracable web links and by word-of-mouth or direct introduction in a way that allows us to confirm which individuals or businesses you refer to us so that we can, under the terms of this Agreement, pay you the appropriate commission on commissionable fees (the "Fee" or "Fees").
2. AFFILIATE OBLIGATIONS
2.1. This Agreement will become effective upon your acceptance of the Agreement as indicated above. The fact that we auto-approve applications does not imply that we may not re-evaluate your application at a later time. We may reject your application at our sole discretion at any time after your acceptance. We may reject your application if we determine (at our sole discretion) that your website is unsuitable for the Program. Unsuitable websites include but are not limited to those that:
2.2. By participating in the Program you agree that you will not engage in any such activities. You should also note that if we accept your application and your website is thereafter determined (at our sole discretion) to be unsuitable for the Program, we may terminate your Agreement immediately.
3. RELATIONSHIP OF PARTIES
3.1. While the parties to this Agreement shall work hand-in-hand for the benefit of both parties, the parties acknowledge and agree that the Affiliate shall, from a legal perspective, act as and shall be an independent contractor and not an employee or agent of SignupSystems. Nothing in this Agreement shall create a partnership, joint venture, agency, or franchise between the parties in the legal sense of these terms. The Affiliate shall not sign any document in the name of, or on behalf of SignupSystems nor shall it hold itself out as being an agent of SignupSystems or as having apparent authority to contract for or bind SignupSystems.
4. AFFILIATE'SWEBSITE AND PROMOTIONAL METHODS
4.1. The Affiliate shall be solely responsible for all materials that appear on its website. It shall strictly adhere to all applicable laws and regulations in conducting its business and more specifically in marketing and advertising SignupSystems. You are solely responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of all materials posted on your website, and for ensuring that your activities, including materials posted on your website and communications with SignupSystems and our potential customers are not defamatory, in violation of copyright laws or otherwise illegal. You further agree that your activities, including communications with our potential customers and us, regarding or relating to SignupSystems in any way, are in full compliance with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
4.2. You agree not to use any predatory advertising methods designed to generate traffic from websites that they have not contracted with in the online promotion of SignupSystems products, services or Affiliate Program. Predatory advertising is defined as any method that creates or overlays links or banners on websites, spawns browser windows, or any method invented to generate traffic from a website without that website owner's knowledge, permission, and participation. Examples include, but are not limited to, keyword parsing, browser plugins such as TopText and Surf+, banner replacement technology such as Gator, browser spawning technology that is not website dependent. Participation in predatory advertising Programs will be cause for the Affiliate's immediate termination.
4.3. Without restricting the generality of the foregoing, the Affiliate shall not send unsolicited email and shall not send email or any other communication to a recipient if the recipient has requested that you discontinue such communication.
4.4. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold SignupSystems harmless for any violations of the foregoing. SignupSystems disclaims all liability for these matters.
5. SIGNUPSYSTEMS RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
5.1. SignupSystems shall have the right to monitor the Affiliate's website at any time to determine if it is in compliance with the terms and conditions on this Agreement. We may notify you of any changes to your website that we feel should be made, or to make sure that your links to our website are appropriate and to notify you of any changes that we feel should be made.
5.2. SignupSystems reserves the right to terminate this Agreement and your participation in the Affiliate Program immediately and without notice to you should you commit fraud in your use of the SignupSystems Affiliate Program or should you abuse this Program in any way. If such fraud or abuse is detected, SignupSystems shall not be liable to you for any commissions on fees for such fraudulent sales.
6. AFFILIATE COMISSIONS, RIGHTS AND PAYMENT
6.1. Subject to all terms of this Agreement, SignupSystems will pay you a one-time commission on any commissionable Initial Lease Fee for new referrals. If a new customer you refer to us purchases a lease, which includes ongoing Monthly Usage Fees, we will pay you a commission on every commissionable Monthly Usage Fee paid to us for the life of that lease with the customer. If you are a Second Tier Affiliate in relation to a commissionable fee we will also pay you a commission. The percentage of commission paid on all commissionable fees is determined in accordance with the Affiliate Commission Schedule which follows this Agreement and which forms an integral part of this Agreement.
6.2. Monthly Usage Fees are largely based on, but not limited to, the number of new attendee records that a customer generates using SignupSystems software each month using our order form management system. SignupSystems reserves the right, at its full discretion, to determine what constitutes a Monthly Usage Fee and may make changes to the Monthly Usage Fee calculation without notifying Affiliates and without altering this Agreement.
6.3. SignupSystems does not pay commission on any revenue we generate for services or products we sell, such as but not limited to, training services, data migration services, web development, custom programming or administrative services. Affiliates are only paid commissions for Initial Lease Fees and ongoing Monthly Usage Fees for the customers they refer directly or indirectly. All other revenue generated is not commissionable under this Agreement.
6.4. SignupSystems will not pay commissions on commissionable fees from any individuals or businesses who have previously registered with SignupSystems, even if the registration contains a different email address, credit card number, or other information different from the individual's or business' previous registration. In the event that more than one Affiliate claims the same commission for a sale, SignupSystems shall select the Affiliate to receive the compensation based on our best efforts to determine which Affiliate was responsible for the initial referral. We may, entirely at our discretion, and only when a Second Tier Affiliate does not already exist, award a second tier commission to whichever Affiliate we determine was not responsible for the initial referral.
6.5. YOU SHALL NOT RECEIVE A SALES COMMISSION FOR A LEASE PURCHASE MADE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY YOURSELF.
6.6. You are strictly prohibited from signing yourself up as a Second Tier Affiliate of your own existing Affiliate account. Any Affiliate attempting such an arrangement will be instantly terminated and the Affiliate Agreement immediately cancelled. Any commissions accrued will remain the property of SignupSystems.
6.7. All commissions are based upon the paid price of a commissionable fee before tax. If any commission is paid on a commissionable fee, which is later refunded or determined to have been charged the customer in error, the amount paid as commission to the Affiliate will be deducted from future commissions if any are due, or an invoice in the amount of the commission paid to the Affiliate will be issued and payable by the Affiliate to SignupSystems within 30 days.
6.8. Payment of referral fees will be made on a monthly basis within 30 to 45 days following receipt of payment of a commissionable fee. Commissions will be paid by check, or some other method at the discretion of SignupSystems and acceptable to the Affiliate. Payment will be made in the currency of the original commissionable fee, unless a separate Agreement to convert the commission into a currency chosen by the Affiliate is established at the time the commission is to be paid. For administrative convenience, if the commission due in any currency is less than the currency exchange market equivalent of one hundred Canadian dollars in a month, SignupSystems will withhold commission payment until the amount due to be paid the Affiliate exceeds one hundred Canadian Dollars, at which time a check will be issued to the Affiliate during the regular commission payment period.
6.9. It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate payee information including tax ID or other applicable information as appropriate for your country of residence in order to receive payment. If this Agreement terminates, any commissions due at the time of termination will be paid within 45 days following termination.
6.10. The Affiliate shall be responsible for all taxes and other similar levies applicable to the commission pursuant to any law or regulation. The Affiliate shall report the commission to its taxation authorities as required by law. SignupSystems shall not be responsible for any taxes owed by you arising out of your relationship with SignupSystems as set forth in this Agreement.
6.11. You may, through separate Agreement with SignupSystems, waive a percentage, or all of your own commission on commissionable fees for customers you refer directly as First Tier Affiliates on a case-by-case basis so long as you are not an employee, owner, director, or officer of the customer. By waiving part or all of your commission, you will cause SignupSystems to discount your referral's commissionable fees before tax by the amount of the commission you agree to waive. For example, if you are due to be paid $2,000 as a Commission on an Initial Lease Fee, but agree to waive your Commission, your referral will only be charged the original price of the Initial Lease Fee minus $2,000, with tax applied to the remainder. If a Second Tier Affiliate exists when a First Tier Affiliate waives any part of their commission, the Second Tier Affiliate commission will be calculated before the discount, to not affect the amount they are paid.
7. MODIFICATION
7.1. SignupSystems may modify any of the terms and conditions in this Agreement, including terminating this Agreement or the Affiliate Program at any time at its sole discretion. Modifications may include, but are not limited to, changes in the scope, percent of commissionable fees, payment procedures, and the Affiliate Program rules. IF ANY MODIFICATION IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT AS SET FORTH BELOW. YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF THE CHANGE NOTICE OR NEW AGREEMENT ON THE SIGNUPSYSTEMS' WEBSITE WILL CONSTITUTE YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE CHANGES.
8. TERMS AND TERMINATION
8.1. The term of this Agreement will begin upon your acceptance of the Agreement as indicated above and will end when terminated by either party. Either SignupSystems or the Affiliate may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, by giving the other party written notice of termination. Upon the termination of this Agreement for any reason, all licenses granted hereunder shall immediately terminate and you will immediately cease use of, and remove from your website or websites, all references to SignupSystems and all links to the SignupSystems' website.
8.2. SignupSystems will, however, continue to pay you commissions on commissionable fees for existing customers verifiably referred by you for a certain period following termination. The current policy is to pay for three months following termination; however, we may pay entirely at our own discretion for as many or as few months as we choose depending on the conditions of termination. Violation of the terms of this Agreement by the Affiliate may result in the forfeiture of all future or pending commissions on commissionable fees.
9. DISCLAIMER
9.1. SIGNUPSYSTEMS MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING SIGNUPSYSTEMS SERVICE AND WEBSITE OR THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED THEREIN. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF SIGNUPSYSTEMS' ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED. IN ADDITION, WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION THAT THE OPERATION OF OUR WEBSITE OR OF OUR REFERRAL TRACKING LINK TECHNOLOGY WILL BE FREE FROM DEFECT OR WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, AND WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANY DEFECTS, INTERRUPTIONS OR ERRORS.
10. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
10.1. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT, SIGNUPSYSTEMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU WITH RESPECT TO ANY SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF GOODWILL OR ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED REVENUE, PROFITS OR LOST BUSINESS), EVEN IF SIGNUPSYSTEMS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT, IN NO EVENT SHALL SIGNUPSYSTEMS' CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY) BREACH OF WARRANTY OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY, EXCEED THE TOTAL COMMISSIONS PAYABLE TO YOU UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.
11. REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS
11.1. You represent, warrant and covenant that:
12. INDEMNIFICATION
12.1. You hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless SignupSystems, and its subsidiaries and Affiliates, and their directors, officers, employees, agents, shareholders, partners, members, and other owners against any and all claims, actions, demands, liabilities, losses, damages, judgments, settlements, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) (any or all of the foregoing hereinafter referred to as "Losses") insofar as such Losses (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based on any claim that our use of the Affiliate trademarks infringes on any trademark, trade name, service mark, copyright, license, intellectual property, or other proprietary right of any third party, any misrepresentation of a representation or warranty or breach of a covenant and Agreement made by you herein, or any claim related to your website, including, without limitation, content therein not attributable to us.
13. CONFIDENTIALITY
13.1. In connection with the activities contemplated by this Agreement, you may acquire confidential technical or business information of SignupSystems, which is not generally known to the public, including without limitation proposals, ideas or research related to possible new products or services; financial statements and other financial information; any reporting information required by the Agreement; and the terms of this Agreement and the relationship between the parties (collectively, "Confidential Information"). You agree not to disclose the Confidential Information or use the Confidential Information for your own benefit or for the benefit of any third party. Your obligations in this Section shall not apply to any information that you can prove: was in the public domain at or subsequent to the time it was communicated to you through no fault of yours; was rightfully in your possession free of any obligation of confidence owed to SignupSystems at or subsequent to the time it was communicated to you by SignupSystems; was in response to a valid order by a court or other governmental body or was otherwise required by law. Upon the termination or expiration of this Agreement, you shall return upon SignupSystems' request or otherwise destroy all Confidential Information of SignupSystems in your possession.
14. MISCELLANEOUS
14.1. You may not assign your rights or obligations under this Agreement to any party.
14.2. You may not create, publish, distribute, or permit any written or electronically transmitted publicity material (including without limitation, advertisements and press releases) that makes reference to SignupSystems, or the SignupSystems' website without first submitting the material to SignupSystems and receiving its approval, authorization and consent in writing. You shall not issue any public statement(s) regarding the relationship with SignupSystems without the prior written approval of SignupSystems.
14.3. This Agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the laws of Canada, (you're also dealing with website matters in which are governed by Federal law) without regard to the conflicts of laws and principles thereof.
14.4. You may not amend or waive any provision of this Agreement unless in writing and signed by both parties.
14.5. This Agreement represents the entire Agreement between you, and us, and shall supersede all prior Agreements and communications of the parties, oral or written.
14.6. The headings and titles contained in this Agreement are included for convenience only, and shall not limit or otherwise affect the terms of this Agreement.
14.7. SignupSystems reserves the right, at its full discretion, to disqualify any individual it suspects of undermining or manipulating the registration and/or qualifying process, the operation of the Affiliate Program by attempting to circumvent the Affiliate commission schedule or artificially increasing your commissions or by other fraudulent methods or results, or to be acting in violation of this Agreement. SignupSystems may, at its sole discretion, cancel the Affiliate Program. In the event of your non-compliance with any requirement stated herein, SignupSystems may withhold or reduce any payments due to you until resolution of all disputes.
14.8. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent necessary such that the intent of the parties is effectuated, and the remainder of this Agreement shall have full force and effect.
15. GENERAL CONDITIONS
YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY AND UNDERSTAND AND HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONSULT WITH COUNSEL AND ACCEPT THE OBLIGATIONS, WHICH IT IMPOSES UPON YOU WITHOUT RESERVATION. YOU HAVE ALSO TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND WARRANTY DISCLAIMER PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT PRIOR TO ACCEPTING THIS AGREEMENT. NO PROMISES OR REPRESENTATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO YOU TO INDUCE YOU TO ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT. YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT VOLUNTARILY AND FREELY.
EXHIBIT A - DEFINITIONS
As used in this Agreement, the terms set forth below shall have the following meanings:
Commissionable Fee means fees with commissions available to be paid to an Affiliate from an Initial Lease Fee or Monthly Lease Fee paid by a customer who was referred to SignupSystems by an Affiliate.
First Tier Affiliate means an Affiliate that is directly responsible for referring a customer that pays a commissionable fee.
Initial Lease Fee means a one-time fee paid by a customer of SignupSystems in order to lease an installation of the SignupSystems software for their use.
Monthly Usage Fee means the fee paid by a customer of SignupSystems as part of an ongoing Lease Agreement in which they are charged each month for continued use of the SignupSystems software based on a calculation of many factors, which collectively determine the amount of "usage."
Second Tier Affiliate means an Affiliate who is indirectly responsible for referring a customer that pays a commissionable fee as a result of having referred an Affiliate who is a First Tier Affiliate. (For example, if Affiliate "A" puts a trackable link on their website which enables Affiliate "B" to join our Affiliate Program, and then Affiliate "B" directly refers a customer to SignupSystems who pays a commissionable fee, Affiliate "B" will be the First Tier Affiliate and Affiliate "A" will be the Second Tier Affiliate with regard to the commissionable fee.)
EXHIBIT B - AFFILIATE COMMISSION SCHEDULE
Our Lease Agreements have three basic structures:
1) - Initial Lease Fee only
2) - Monthly Lease Fee only
3) - Initial Lease Fee plus Monthly Lease Fees.
As an Affiliate, you can refer a customer, or refer an Affiliate who then refers a customer and earn a one-time commission, ongoing monthly commissions, or earn both a one-time commission plus ongoing monthly commissions. The percentage of the commissionable fee you are paid depends on whether you are a First Tier Affiliate or a Second Tier Affiliate.
This Schedule is in effect:
First Tier Affiliate Commission = Commissionable Fee x 20%
Second Tier Affiliate Commission = Commissionable Fee x 5%