Helium is a place to gain insight and share knowledge. Helium is a community where you can read, write and rate articles on a broad range of topics. You can learn from others and share what you know. This is the Helium User Agreement (the “Agreement”) that governs Helium.com. We hope you find these terms to be both clear and acceptable. By your use of the Site you signify your acceptance of this Agreement.
This Agreement applies to all users accessing the Site, is legally binding on you, and will affect your rights regarding information and material you post. If you upload or otherwise add any proprietary material to the Site, the terms applying to writers apply to you. The terms “you” and “your” refer to you, the writer/user. The terms “Helium,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Helium, Inc.
1. Your account
To contribute to Helium, you must join and create an account (“Account”). By creating an Account, you agree the information you provide is accurate, current, and complete, and that you will keep it up to date. After your Account is created, we give you the option to select a pen name (pseudonym); however we encourage our members to use their real name as it helps establish the credibility of your work and furthers your personal recognition. You are permitted to change your pen name only once after creating your account. Further changes must be requested through help@helium.com. You agree not to share or transfer your password or other Account access information with any other party, temporarily or permanently. You shall bear sole responsibility for all use of your Account and for the confidentiality of any passwords you create to access this Site.
All activities under your Account are your responsibility, and you agree not to share or transfer your Account in violation of this Agreement. Should you notice any unauthorized use of your Account, contact Helium immediately at help@helium.com. Helium will not be responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of someone else using your Account. Each person may only open one (1) Account. To contribute to the Site, you must be at least 13 years of age or older.
Once you have created your Account, we encourage you to fill out your “About Me” page with your background information and links to your favorite sites, including your blog or website. We also encourage you to include information about other publications or articles you have written, such as books you have authored, including information about how visitors can purchase your works, whether literary or non-literary. Included information must comply with this Agreement and applicable law.
In order to maintain Helium as a trusted platform, we reserve the right to cancel the Account of members who engage in fraudulent behavior or other unacceptable activities contrary to this Agreement. In the event that Helium cancels your Account or your access to this Site because of fraudulent or other unacceptable activities (as defined by Helium) contrary to this Agreement (including but not limited to registration with multiple accounts, posting copyright violations, posting duplicate articles under different titles on the site, attempted manipulation of the Helium rating system, generation of artificial traffic, or other violations of this Agreement, the law, or the legal rights of a third party), you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account and to any then accrued or future earnings from the Site or by Helium with respect to any material you previously submitted. If Helium cancels your account, and you feel this was done in error, please contact us at help@helium.com.
2. Your privacy on Helium
Our Privacy Policy can be found at http://www.helium.com/privacy. The Privacy Policy sets forth the standards for the way we handle your personal information. By using Helium, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of the information you give to us in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information about our information collection and use practices.
3. Rights to submitted articles and other content
Helium does not claim ownership of the content you publish on the Site. After publishing content on the Site, you (or a third party who permitted you to publish their content on the Site) continue to retain all ownership to the content, subject to the license terms described herein, and you continue to have the right to use the content in any way you choose. In exchange for your services and granting Helium a license to use your content, Helium provides you with earnings and recognition as defined herein.
4. Site usage requirements
When you read or in any other way use the content (that is not of your own creation) on Helium, you agree to the following site usage requirements:
5. Activity payment structures: Ad revenue share, Upfront Payments, Rating Bonus, Marketplace, Stock Content and Contests.
Helium offers several ways for members to earn through their participation: Revenue Share, Upfront Payments, Rating Bonuses, Writing Contests and Member Recruiting.
Ad Revenue Share: Helium shares its ad revenue with its active members based on their level of activity and value that each member brings to the Site. Helium’s revenue sharing model is based on the value you provide to Helium, and as such, Helium operates as a co-op. As the site continues to grow in quantity and quality of content, the ad revenue increases and the ad revenue share with our members increases.
As long as members remain active on the Site, their revenue share earnings continue to accrue. Members’ Accounts become “dormant” in the event that they fail to “participate” in the Site. “Participation” is defined as maintaining a minimum of 1 rating star. (A rating star requires a minimum of 40 quality rates within the last 90-day period. Please see the Helium Star Levels page for more information on rating stars.) If a member fails to maintain 1 rating star, his or her Account will become “dormant,” which means the member will cease to earn additional revenue share until such time as their Account is re-activated through participation. If an account is classified as dormant, prior earnings are not lost (other than as outlined herein), and the Account can be reactivated by the member at any time by participating as outlined herein.
Upfront Payments: Members with writing stars will earn Upfront Payments for the first five articles contributed to titles in approved content areas. Members earn writing stars via the voting of their peers (please see the Helium Star Levels page for more information on writing stars). For every eligible article contributed to approved content areas, members will earn a one-time, upfront publishing bonus from 50 cents to $2.50, depending on their writing star level.
For example, a one-star writer with 1 rating star who submits 10 articles in approved content areas in July will earn $5. We calculate monthly Upfront Payments on the last day of the month. Payments are based on eligible new articles submitted from the start-of-day on the 25th of the month to 23:59 GMT on the 24th of the following month, and will include any articles that were not eligible for payment the previous month.
Rating Bonus: Because rating is critical to the community and the success of Helium, we want to reward our star raters. If you have 5 rating stars on the last day of the month when Upfront Payments are calculated, you will be paid a $3 bonus.
Marketplace: The Helium Marketplace offers writers the ability to compete for freelance writing assignments from publishers. On any given day, hundreds of assignments may be listed. Winning writers whose articles are selected are paid the specified upfront payment. No rating stars or writing stars are required for payment. Please note, some Marketplace writing assignments are restricted to Marketplace Premier writers, starred writers or other pre-qualified participants.
Stock Content: All content published on Helium is available for non-exclusive, limited rights licensing by publishers. If a publisher, such as a newsletter or newspaper wishes to use an article they find on Helium, Helium will license the work and make payments to the writer. Please note, this product offers non-exclusive, limited rights to the publisher. In the event of a transaction, the writer retains copyright for their work and maintains their rights to republish and resell their content.
Contests: Helium and its publishing partners typically run one or more writing contests each month. These contests allow our members to compete against each other for fun, bragging rights and some much appreciated cash bonuses. Winners are paid based on the quality of their work. No writing or rating stars are required for payment.
Additional details (fine print) regarding payments on Helium:
Members can view their current balance by logging into their account. You hereby agree that you have no legal right, and will not be paid any amount, unless and until your earnings balance reaches the minimum payout threshold (“Minimum Payout Threshold”) (which is currently set at $25, and is subject to change by Helium in its discretion). Once a member reaches the Minimum Payout Threshold, he/she is entitled to receive the amount set forth in the earnings balance and may withdraw his/her earnings from his/her Account. If you have achieved the Minimum Payout Threshold but you do not participate on Helium for at least 365 days (12 months), you understand and agree that you forfeit any and all right you have to any accrued but unclaimed earnings. In the event that your account has not reached the Minimum Payout Threshold, you agree that you are not entitled to payments from Helium.
So, in plain English: Helium is a site that depends on members writing and rating. If you lose your rating star, we will stop sharing revenue and Upfront Payments with you. If you return to Helium and regain a rating star within 12 months of the date of your last participation, your account balance will still be in place, and you will start earning again. However, if you do not participate by maintaining a rating star on Helium for a full 12 months, you will lose any accrued earnings in your account. The payment calculator we use to determine your earnings is based on proprietary technology we have developed. While we believe that this system will work for the foreseeable future, we want to continue to bring you the most up-to-date technology and calculation models possible. For that reason, we reserve the right to change the program, or the conditions of participation, at any time, with or without notice to you. Any changes will be reflected in this Agreement.
In the event of your death, your Account and the right to continue to receive earnings for the services and content you provided to Helium may be transferred to your heirs in accordance with this Agreement and applicable law; provided, however, in order to continue to receive earnings from your Helium contributions your heir(s) must remain active on the site and agree to be subject to this Agreement. The transfer to your heir(s) of the Account and the right to continue to receive earnings from your content is conditional upon your heir(s) providing Helium with legal proof of death, in its discretion, and your bequest of your Account within six months of your death. Failure to provide such proof in a form as agreed to by Helium will render any such transfer null and void.
6. Content submission requirements and terms
The following list outlines the rules for content submissions on this Site. Please follow these rules; if you don’t, Helium will likely be forced to cancel your Account.
7. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold Helium, Inc., and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and employees, harmless from any claim, damage, expense or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (a) materials that you submit, post, or upload to the Site, (b) your use of the Site, (c) your connection to the Site, (d) your violation of this Agreement, (e) your violation of any rights of another party, or (f) violations to this Agreement or the rights of a third party by your dependents.
8. Helium intellectual property and proprietary rights
You acknowledge and agree that the materials available on the Site, including art work, graphics, photographs, images, screen shots, text, music, digitally downloadable files, video clips, trademarks, logos, product and character names, slogans, the software used in connection with the Site, and any compilations of the foregoing (“Helium Content”) contain proprietary and confidential information that is the property of Helium and its licensors, and is protected by applicable U.S. and international intellectual property and other laws. Third-party content, including site user-posted content (including graphics, video clips, images, trademarks, trade names, characters), trademarks and copyrights is the property of the third parties that market or license that content, and is used by Helium subject to license, or subject to the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright or trademark law or such use is made permissible under other applicable law.
Unless expressly authorized in this Agreement or otherwise by Helium, you agree not to download, display, use, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works of the Helium content in whole or in part, in any publications, in public performances, on websites other than this site, for any commercial purpose, in connection with products or services that are not those of Helium, in any other manner that is likely to cause confusion among consumers, that disparages or discredits Helium and/or its licensors, that dilutes the strength of Helium’s or its licensor’s property, or that otherwise infringes Helium’s or its licensor’s intellectual property rights. You further agree to in no other way misuse any content which you do not own that appears on this Site.
Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, you are not granted any rights or license to any intellectual property with respect to the Helium Site or its contents. Helium reserves all rights not expressly granted to you under the terms of this Agreement and Helium retains exclusive ownership of the Helium Site, the software used in connection with Helium and all intellectual property associated therewith, including the name “Helium,” the Helium logos.
If you are a trademark or copyright owner and you believe that your trademark or copyright rights have been violated, please read our FAQs on policy and copyright for reporting infringements of intellectual rights. Users who believe that user-posted content includes infringing materials should report it to Helium.
9. Applicable law
This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without application of its principles of conflicts of laws. By using this Site, you hereby agree that any and all disputes regarding this Agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal, state and local courts for Boston, Massachusetts. This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from the remaining provisions of the Agreement and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Different countries have different regulations. Helium makes no representations that the materials on this site are appropriate or legally available for use in locations outside the United States. If you are accessing this Site from jurisdictions where the contents of this site may be illegal, you are solely responsible for complying with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content. By submitting information to this site, you understand and agree that by submitting your information you are transferring it from your country and submitting it to Helium’s servers in the United States.
BY ACCEPTING THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY AND YOU EXPLICITLY WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. YOU AGREE THAT REGARDLESS OF ANY STATUTE OR LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO USE OF THE SITE OR THIS AGREEMENT MUST BE FILED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER SUCH CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE OR BE FOREVER BARRED.
10. Modification to site or content
If we want to change the Site, our related services and functionalities, fees, payment structures, the terms of this Agreement, our selection of content, or the way we present content, we are free to do so at any time without any prior notice. Helium is a conduit for content you submit, and as such we have the right but not the obligation to screen or otherwise control any content posted on Helium. Helium retains the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse to post or remove any material submitted or posted on the Site for any reason, including if we believe it is in violation of this Agreement.
Notices to you regarding changes to the Site ad this Agreement may, but will not necessarily, be made via email, regular mail, links to notices on the Site, in a splash or other format upon the Site, depending on the character of message. We recommend you keep your eye on the Community Section (http://www.helium.com/community), where changes may be posted and discussed. Your input is also welcome! Your continued use of the Site indicates your acceptance of any changes to this Agreement.
11. Modification or cancellation of your account
Helium has the right to cancel your account (or any part thereof), or to exclude you from the Site, if due to fraudulent or other unacceptable activities, at any time in our sole reasonable discretion, with or without prior notice. In case of cancellation, you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account and to any then accrued or future earnings from the Site or by Helium with respect to any material you previously submitted. If we decide to cancel your account, the cancellation will not affect your remaining responsibilities to Helium according to this Agreement. If we cancel your account, you may not open a new one under your own or an alternate name/email address.
12. Disclaimer of warranties/limitation of liability
Helium makes no representations about the suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness, or lack of viruses or other harmful components of this Site, its content (whether Helium or user-submitted content), or its features, and disclaims all liability in the event of any service failure. You acknowledge that any reliance on such material and/or systems will be at your own risk, and Helium makes no warranties regarding any transactions entered into through the Site or any service. Helium also makes no representations regarding the amount of time that any content will be preserved.
THIS SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE MADE WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE OR ANY INFORMATION OR SOFTWARE THEREIN. YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL HELIUM OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. THIS INCLUDES A SPECIFIC WAIVER BY HELIUM OF ANY LIABILITY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL, OR ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR CONTENT. DAMAGES AS USED HEREIN INCLUDE WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE HELIUM OR ANY MATERIALS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED TO THE SITE, INCLUDING STATEMENTS OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
13. The entire agreement/no partnership
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Helium and governs your use of the Site and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals whether electronic, oral or written, between you and Helium with respect to the site and services. Both you and Helium acknowledge and agree that no partnership is formed and neither you nor Helium has the power or the authority to obligate or bind the other.
14. Waiver
The failure of Helium to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
15. Links to third-party websites
This Site may hyperlink to sites not maintained or related to Helium. Hyperlinks are provided as a service to users and are not sponsored by or affiliated with this Site or Helium, and Helium makes no representations or warranties about the content, completeness, or accuracy of those third-party sites. Information you submit at a third-party site accessible from this Site is subject to the terms of that site’s privacy policy, and Helium has no control over how your information is collected, used, or otherwise handled.
16. Software downloads and export controls
Software that may be available in connection with this Site is further subject to United States export controls. No software may be downloaded from this Site or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of United States export laws. Downloading or using the software is at your sole risk.
17. Act of God
The failure of Helium to comply with this Agreement because of an act of God, war, fire, riot, terrorism, earthquake, actions of federal, state or local governmental authorities or for any other reason beyond the reasonable control of Helium, shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement.
18. Headings
The headings in this Agreement are for your convenience and reference. These headings do not limit or affect this Agreement.
This Agreement constitutes a binding agreement between you and Helium, and is accepted by you upon your use of the Site. By clicking “I agree” you represent that you are capable of entering into a binding agreement, and that you have reviewed this Agreement and agree to be bound by its terms.