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  • The American Academy of Ophthalmology ("AAO") welcomes you to its website. By using this site or its services you agree to be bound by the Terms of Service (TOS) set forth below. You also agree that you have read and agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy.

    BY USING THIS WEBSITE YOU ARE AGREEING THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS OF SERVICE AND THAT YOU AGREE TO THEM. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, YOU MAY NOT USE THIS WEBSITE AND YOU MAY NOT REGISTER AS A USER.

    1. You Understand and Agree to these Definitions: The terms “You” and “User” as used here refer to all individuals and/or entities accessing this website for any reason. The term "Website" refers to aao.org and any AAO-affiliated website. The term “Website Content” refers to any content on the Website.

    2. You Are Responsible For Your Own Registration and Password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your information and password. You agree that you will not let anyone other than you use your registration or password. You agree to immediately notify the AAO of any unauthorized use of your registration or password by an email to webmaster@aao.org and member_services@aao.org.

    3. You Will Follow All Laws That Apply to Your Use of This Website. You agree that you will not use this Website in order to transmit, distribute, store or destroy material, including without limitation Website Content, (a) in violation of any applicable law or regulation, (b) in a manner that will infringe the copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others or violate the privacy, publicity or other personal rights of others, or (c) that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful.

    4. You Will Not Violate the Copyrights, Trademarks or Intellectual Property Rights of the AAO or Others.

    A. Copyrights: All of the content of this Website, including text, art, graphics, logos, buttons, images, pictures, audio clips, software, and code is the property of AAO, our partners or content providers and is protected by US and international copyright laws. Except as granted in the Limited License below, any other use of such content, including modification, transmission, presentation, distribution or re-publication is PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF AAO.

    B. Trademarks: All trademarks, trade names logos, brand names and service marks of AAO, whether registered or unregistered, are the property of AAO and are protected by the US and international trademark laws. These trademarks include, without limitation, AAO; AAOE; ACADEMY MOC ESSENTIALS; AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPHTHALMIC EXECUTIVES; AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPHTHALMIC PROFESSIONALS (AAOP); AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY; AMERICAN ACADEMY OF VISION; ANIMAL EYES; ART AND VISION: SEEING IN 3-D; BASIC AND CLINICAL SCIENCE COURSE; BCSC; DIGITAL-EYES; DISCOVER YOUR EYE Q!; EYECARE AMERICA; EYENET; EYESMART; EYEWIKI; FOCAL POINTS; Focus Design; IRIS; IRIS REGISTRY; LEO; LEO LIFELONG EDUCATION FOR THE OPHTHALMOLOGIST; MUSEUM OF THE EYE; MUSEUM OF VISION; OJOSSANOS; OKAP; ONE; ONE NETWORK; ONE NETWORK THE OPHTHALMIC NEWS & EDUCATION NETWORK; OPHTHALMIC CODING COACH; OPHTHALMOLOGY; OPHTHALMOLOGY GLAUCOMA; OPHTHALMOLOGY RETINA; OPHTHALMOLOGY SCIENCE; OPHTHALMOLOGY WORLD NEWS; OPHTHPAC; PREFERRED PRACTICE PATTERN; PROTECTING SIGHT. EMPOWERING LIVES.; PROVISION; THE EYE M.D. ASSOCIATION; THE OPHTHALMIC NEWS AND EDUCATION NETWORK; TRUHLSEN-MARMOR MUSEUM OF THE EYE; UNDER PRESSURE; and WHERE ALL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY MEETS. Except as set forth in the Limited License below, any use of these assets is prohibited without the express prior written consent of AAO. In no event may any such assets be used in connection with any product or service that is not the AAO's, in any matter likely to cause confusion as to the source of the product or service or in any matter that discredits, disparages or misrepresents the AAO. All other trademarks, trade names, brand names or logos appearing on this Website are the property of their respective owners.

    5. You Accept a Limited License. The AAO grants you a limited license to download the downloadable Website Content on this Website solely for your personal, noncommercial use. If you violate any provision of these TOS, your license to use such Website Content terminates and you must immediately destroy any copies you have made of any portion of the Website Content.

    6. Reporting Violation of Copyrights. If you are requesting removal of Content because of a violation of your copyrights, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe that your own work, or the work of a third party for whom you may act, is featured on our Website or has been otherwise copied or provided on our Website in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please send us a notice of the alleged infringement including this information: 

    • an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
    • a description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed;
    • a description of where the material you claim is infringing is located on our Website (including the URL, title and/or item number if applicable, or other identifying characteristics);
    • your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, and, if you are not the owner of the copyright, the name of the owner;
    • a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
    • a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

    Our copyright agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:

    Copyright Agent
    American Academy of Ophthalmology, Inc.
    655 Beach Street
    San Francisco, California 94109
    415-561-8532
    copyright@aao.org

    Any notification by a copyright owner or a person authorized to act on its behalf that violates requirements of the DMCA will not be sufficient notice to confer on us actual knowledge of facts or circumstances from which infringing material or acts are evident.

    7. Reporting Violation of Trademarks. If you are a trademark owner you believe your rights have been infringed on the Website, please submit a notification of infringement to our agent in Section 6 above. To submit a notification, you must be the trademark owner or an authorized agent of the trademark owner. When submitting a notification of trademark or trade dress infringement, provide a copy of the relevant trademark or trade dress registration(s) from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Please also provide the location on the Website where you believe the infringement is occurring.

    8. User Generated Content

    A. User Submissions: The Website may permit the submission of text, graphics, photos, videos, material, information, comments, feedback, notes, messages, ideas, concepts, know-how, techniques, or other communications submitted by you and other users (“User Submissions”) and the hosting, sharing, and/or publishing of such User Submissions. You understand that whether or not such User Submissions are published or posted, AAO (1) guarantees no confidentiality regarding any User Submissions (except as described in our Privacy Policy [insert hyperlink to Privacy Policy here]), (2) pays no compensation for User Submissions, and (3) is under no obligation to respond to or post any User Submissions.

    B. Responsibility and Licenses for User Submissions: You will be solely responsible for your own User Submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them. By submitting the User Submissions, you automatically grant AAO and its successors, assigns, affiliates, and licensees a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers) and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, publish, broadcast, perform, make, use, import, offer to sell, sell, and otherwise transfer and exploit all copyrights, inventions, and other intellectual property rights in the User Submissions in connection with the Website and AAO’s (and its successors’, assigns’, and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Website (and works based on the Website) in any form and media formats and through any media channels, whether now known or developed in the future. You also automatically grant each user of the Website a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to access your User Submissions through the Website if permitted through the Website functionality and security settings, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform such User Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Website and under these TOS.

    C. Representations and Warranties for User Submissions: In connection with User Submissions, you represent and warrant you will not: (1) submit or post material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant AAO all of the license rights described in this Section 8; (2) publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage AAO or any third party; (3) submit or post material that involves gambling, gaming, sweepstakes, and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, or (4) submit or post material that is otherwise inappropriate. You agree to disclose in any User Submission any affiliation, sponsorship or other financial relationship within the healthcare industry that is material to your User Submission. In addition, you agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and other payments owed to any party due to your posting or submitting User Submissions.

    D. AAO Disclaimer and Right to Edit: AAO does not endorse any User Submission or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed in the User Submission, and AAO EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH USER SUBMISSIONS. AAO does not permit copyright infringing activities, infringement of rights of publicity, or infringement of other intellectual property rights on its Website, and AAO will remove all content (including User Submissions) if properly notified that such Content or User Submission infringes on another’s rights. (See Sections 6 and 7 above). AAO will not necessarily monitor User Submissions, but AAO reserves the right to monitor, alter, edit, or remove Content (including User Submissions) without prior notice and for any reason. AAO also reserves sole discretion to decide whether content (including a User Submission) is appropriate and complies with these TOS. 

    E. User Acknowledgement: You understand that when using the Website, you may be exposed to User Submissions from a variety of sources, and that AAO is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User Submissions. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Submissions that are inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and YOU AGREE TO WAIVE, AND DO WAIVE, ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE RIGHTS OR REMEDIES YOU HAVE OR MAY HAVE AGAINST THE AAO PARTIES WITH RESPECT THERETO, AND AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD THE AAO PARTIES, HARMLESS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW REGARDING ALL MATTERS RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE.

    9 Restrictions on Use

    A. User Prohibitions: In your use of the Website, you will not:

    • use the Website for any purpose other than for using the features we intentionally make available to you for personal, noncommercial purposes;
    • upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other form of solicitation;
    • post, transmit or submit any information that AAO, in its sole discretion, determines is confidential (including social security or alternate national identity numbers, sensitive personal information, non-public phone numbers or non-public email addresses, or information protected under medical information disclosure laws, such as HIPAA), false, misleading, unlawful, infringing, threatening, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, discriminatory, obscene, offensive, inflammatory, scandalous, pornographic or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate the law, including but not limited to naked or semi-naked photos or images;
    • upload, download, post, email or otherwise transmit any material that may infringe copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights of any party;
    • copy, download or distribute any part of the Website in any form or medium for any public or commercial purposes without the prior written authorization of AAO;
      1. using, submitting, copying, inputting, or uploading any Academy content into external software applications, bots, or websites including those using artificial intelligence technologies, such as large language models (such as ChatGPT) and other generative artificial intelligence, deep learning and machine learning models;
    • remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices on the Website or on any copies you make for personal, noncommercial purposes;
    • alter, modify or make derivative works from any part of the Website for any public or commercial purposes without the prior written authorization of AAO;
    • provide false personal information or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission;
    • create another account without our permission, if we have disabled your account;
    • let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account;
    • assign or transfer your account or login information to anyone;
    • use web crawlers, web robots, web scutters, ants, automatic indexers, bots, worms, and other such devices for the Website; provided, however, that general purpose Internet search engines and non-commercial public archives that use tools to gather information for the sole purpose of displaying hyperlinks to the Website are granted a limited exception from the foregoing exclusion, provided that they do so from a stable IP address or range of IP addresses using an easily-identifiable agent;
    • use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Website or interfere with any other party’s use of the Website;
    • obtain or attempt to obtain any content through any means not intentionally provided for through the Website;
    • facilitate gambling, gaming, raffles, lotteries, sweepstakes, and/or any other activity featuring the award of a prize;
    • impersonate or misrepresent any person or entity or your affiliation with someone else;
    • collect personally-identifiable information of other users;
    • harvest information about users to send, or to facilitate or encourage sending , unsolicited bulk or other communications;
    • remove, modify, disable, block, obscure or otherwise impair any advertising in connection with the Website;
    • solicit other users to join, become members of, or contribute money to any online service or other organization;
    • post or transmit any worms, viruses, Trojans, or other harmful, disruptive, or destructive files, code, or programs to the Website;
    • stalk or otherwise harass any person or entity;
    • harm minors in any way; or
    • use any discussion forum on the Website to advertise or perform any commercial solicitation.

    B. AAO Cooperation with Authorities: AAO will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing AAO to disclose the identity of anyone violating these TOS.

    C. No Information on Children Under 13 Years Old: AAO believes in children’s online safety and does not wish to receive information regarding children under 13 years old. Therefore, you may not post, transmit or submit any personally-identifiable information of a child under 13 years old or information sufficient to locate such a child on or through the Website. If you are under 13, then please do not attempt to submit any information to or use the Website.

    10. You Agree That the AAO Is Not Liable For Your Use of this Website

    A. No Warranty. ALL INFORMATION MATERIALS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONATAINED ON THIS WEBSITE OR PROVIDED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING ALL TEXT, GRAPHICS, LINKS, ANIMATION, JAVA SCRIPT, COOKIES OR DOCUMENTS, ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, AAO AND ITS CONTENT PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS AND AFFILIATES DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDED BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS STRAINS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE.

    B. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL AAO NOR ANY OF ITS MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, AFFILIATES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE, OR, IF NO PURCHASE PRICE WAS PAID OR CHARGED, THE SUM OF $100.00. IN ADDITION, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL AAO NOR ANY OF ITS MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, AFFILIATES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY KIND NOT LIMITED TO PERSONAL INJURY, WRONGFUL DEATH, LOSS OF USE, LOST PROFITS, INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE OR LOSS OF DATA, WHETHER IN ANY ACTION OR CLAIM INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CLAIMS FOR NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR TORT, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH USE OF THIS WEBSITE, THE INABILITY TO ACCESS THIS WEBSITE OR USE OF ANY MATERIAL, INFORMATION OR SERVICES, OR PRODUCTS, CONTAINED ON, OR OBTAINED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE.

    C. Links to Other Sites. This Website contains links to third party web sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by the AAO of the contents on such third-party Web sites. The AAO is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and does not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such third party Websites. If you decide to access linked third party Websites, you do so at your own risk.

    11. DISCLAIMER OF MEDICAL LIABILITY: You understand and agree that AAO does Not Provide Medical Advice or Endorsements.

    A. This Website Does Not Provide Medical Advice. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all content on this website is the opinion or information of its author, not the AAO. This website is not a substitute for medical advice. Always contact your own eye doctor or other professional healthcare provider if you have a question concerning your or your family's health.

    RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION ON THIS WEB SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. AAO IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY ADVICE, COURSE OF TREATMENT, DIAGNOSIS, DRUG AND DEVICE APPLICATION OR OTHER INFORMATION, SERVICES, OR PRODUCTS THAT YOU OBTAIN THROUGH THIS SITE.

    B. The AAO Does Not Recommend or Endorse the Products or Services of Others. The AAO does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, drugs, devices, products, services, physicians, or medical institutions that may be mentioned or referenced on this Website. Any advertisers who purchase banners or otherwise support AAO and this Website have no influence on the editorial content or presentation and any such advertisements are not implied or express endorsements of any product, service, or company.

    12. You Agree that AAO Can Terminate Your Account. AAO reserves the right to refuse service and terminate accounts, including, but not limited to, if AAO believes user conduct violates applicable law or is harmful to the interests of AAO, its members, partners, suppliers, affiliates or other users, or for any other reason at AAO's sole discretion, with or without cause.

    13. You Understand and Agree to the Following General Legal Provisions:

    A. Governing Law and Jurisdiction: These Terms of Service will be governed by California law for all purposes, including Website and services use and product purchases, without regard to or application of choice of law rules or principles. You hereby consent to the jurisdiction and venue of the courts of California.

    B. Export Laws: The U.S. export control laws regulate the export and re-export of technology originating in the United States. This includes the electronic transmission of information and software to foreign countries and to certain foreign nationals. You agree to abide by these laws and their regulations, including but not limited to the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act, and not to transfer, by electronic transmission or otherwise, any materials or information derived from the Web site to either a foreign national or a foreign destination in violation of such laws.

    C. Indemnification: You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless AAO, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers, and affiliates from and against any claims, actions or demands, liabilities, and settlements, including but not limited to, reasonable legal and accounting fees resulting from, or alleged to result from, your violation of these TOS or any activity related to your account (including infringement of third parties' worldwide intellectual property rights or negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing AAO Website using your account.

    D. Entire Agreement: These TOS and all other legal notices (including but not limited to the Privacy Policy) posted by AAO on this Web site constitute the entire agreement between you and AAO with respect to the use of the Website and services. Your use of the AAO Website and services is also subject to the AAO Privacy Policy. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate services, third-party content, or third-party software.

    E. Waiver: Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Service or other legal notices posted by AAO on this Website shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. No waiver of any of these Terms of Service or of any other legal notices posted by AAO on this Website shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.

    F. Severability: If any provision of the TOS or of any other legal notices posted on this Website is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOS should remain in full force and effect.

    G. Assignment: AAO may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you and/or your approval.

    H. Headings: The section titles in this TOS Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

    I. Notices: If you have questions or comments regarding this Website, contact us at webmaster@aao.org, or by post at Legal Department, AAO, 655 Beach St., San Francisco, CA 94109.