Terms of use

CivicCatch (the "Service") is a product of SAUERAPPLE LLC, a California limited liability company ("SAUERAPPLE," "we," "us," or "our"). CivicCatch is independent software — it is not a newsroom product and is not an official government service. These Terms of Use ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and SAUERAPPLE.

By accessing or using the marketing site, buyer application, place subdomains, digests, public API, or related services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. If you create an account or purchase a subscription on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization, and "you" includes that organization.

CivicCatch is independent early-warning software. Meeting times, packets, and decisions are controlled by the responsible public agency. You must verify information against official agency sources before speaking, voting, or taking other action. We do not invent vote outcomes from agendas alone. Capsules, digests, place sites, and API responses are not government records and must not be presented as official publications of any public body.

Buyer accounts require a valid email address and completion of our authentication flow. You are responsible for activity under your account and for maintaining control of the email address used to sign in. The Service is intended for individuals 18 years of age or older (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction). Residents may subscribe to email digests on place sites that offer them without creating a buyer account.

You agree to provide accurate registration information and to notify us promptly of any unauthorized use of your account. You are responsible for API keys issued to your tenant, including prompt revocation if a key is lost or exposed.

Paid plans are monthly subscriptions processed by Stripe. Prices are stated in U.S. dollars on our pricing page and at checkout, and may be updated for subsequent billing periods. We will provide notice of material price changes as required by law or as stated at checkout.

You may cancel a paid subscription at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the then-current billing period unless Stripe checkout, your receipt, or applicable law provides otherwise. Preview tenants may display a place site with limited search-engine indexing. Public digest delivery and full product entitlements require an active paid subscription or a written activation we approve.

Except where required by law, fees paid for a billing period are non-refundable. For billing questions, contact hello@civcatch.com.

Subject to these Terms and your paid plan (if any), we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your internal civic-communication purposes. We reserve all rights not expressly granted.

You agree not to:

• Impersonate a government body or misrepresent Service content as an official government record or publication.
• Access, scrape, or use the Service in a manner that violates law or that unreasonably burdens or interferes with the Service or other users.
• Probe, reverse engineer, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to systems or data beyond ordinary use of the product interfaces and documented API we provide.
• Upload unlawful content or use the Service to infringe others' rights.
• Resell, sublicense, or provide the Service to third parties except as we expressly permit in writing.
• Share API secrets, embed them in public client-side code, or exceed published rate limits.

The Service — including software, design, product copy, and CivicCatch branding — is owned by SAUERAPPLE or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy the Service wholesale, create derivative works from it, or remove branding required by your plan.

You retain ownership of configuration and materials you submit (such as place names, branding choices, and source URLs). You grant SAUERAPPLE a worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, process, transmit, and display that material as needed to operate and improve the Service for your tenant and its residents.

Official agenda packets and other third-party materials linked from the Service belong to their respective owners. Links are provided for convenience and are not endorsements.

If you provide ideas, suggestions, or other feedback about the Service, you grant SAUERAPPLE a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use that feedback without restriction or compensation to you.

We aim to provide timely, cited early-warning summaries with links to official packets when available. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SAUERAPPLE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. CivicCatch is general information tooling and is not legal, financial, or official government advice.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue features of the Service. Where practical, we will give paying customers reasonable notice of material discontinuations. We may suspend or terminate access immediately for non-payment, violation of these Terms, or risk to the Service, other users, or third parties.

Upon termination, your license ends. Sections that by their nature should survive (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, governing law, and this survival language) will survive.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SAUERAPPLE AND ITS MEMBERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF — OR INABILITY TO USE — THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO SAUERAPPLE FOR THE SERVICE IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM OR (B) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS (US$50) IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID FEES.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those places, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

If you are a paying customer, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SAUERAPPLE and its members, officers, employees, and agents from and against claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to your misuse of the Service, your content, or your breach of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.

Our collection and use of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms.

By creating an account or purchasing a subscription, you consent to receive electronic communications from us related to the Service (including transactional notices, billing, and security messages) at the email address associated with your account.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Exclusive venue for any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service lies in the state or federal courts located in San Bernardino County, California, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any order or checkout terms presented at purchase, are the entire agreement between you and SAUERAPPLE regarding the Service and supersede prior or contemporaneous agreements on that subject. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Notices to you may be sent to your account email; notices to us must be sent to hello@civcatch.com.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The effective date above will be revised when we do, and material changes will be noted on this page or communicated by email when appropriate. Continued use of the Service after the updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, stop using the Service and cancel any paid subscription.

Questions about these Terms: hello@civcatch.com. SAUERAPPLE LLC, California, United States.

Related: Privacy Policy.