Terms of Service

Last updated on 18 July 2022

A quick summary:
These are the (legally binding) terms and conditions for Facepunch’s games and services (which we call the Facepunch Services – see section 1.2 below for how we define this). In particular please note the following:
* Rules. There are rules (and consequences) regarding what you can and cannot do with the Facepunch Services(please see section 3 and 9 below). In particular, if you are banned for cheating then you will lose access to the relevant game and any in-game purchases.
* Beta / Early Access. Some products and services we may release on a ‘alpha’, ‘beta’ or ‘Early Access’ basis – these may contain bugs and require server / progress resets – please see section 2.4 for more details.
* Liability and Disputes. There are rules and limits on liability and rules on dispute resolution (including mandatory arbitration and waiver of jury trial if you live in the USA) – see sections 9 and 12.
* Contact. You can contact us on legal@facepunch.com if you’ve got questions about this Agreement or general legal matters at Facepunch (polite note that email is only for legal matters, not general enquiries). For anything else,  please contact our support team at https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us. 

This Terms of Service (“Agreement”) explains what you can and cannot do with Facepunch games, products and services (which we explain below). We know legal wording is not much fun, so there’s also a quick summary of each section (but the full version is the legally binding one). Please also read our Code of Conduct (www.facepunch.com/legal/code-of-conduct), Fan Content and Broadcasting Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/ugc/), Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding), IP Policy and Community Server & Hosting Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/servers) and other legal guidance (www.facepunch.com/legal/). If you’d like to know more about our data practices, please see our Facepunch Privacy Policy (www.facepunch.com/legal/).

1. ABOUT THIS AGREEMENT

SUMMARY. We’re Facepunch, it applies to our games (like Garry’s Mod and Rust), this is a legally binding document, we can change it as explained below, also check out our Privacy Policy and other legal fun. 

1.1. What is this Agreement? This Agreement is a legally binding contract between you and Facepunch Studios Ltd, (incorporated and registered in England with company number 06848626) of Concept House Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands, WS3 2QW, United Kingdom, as well as the Facepunch group of companies (“Facepunch”). 

1.2. What does this Agreement apply to? All of our video games (e.g. Garry’s Mod, Rust, Chippy, Clatter and s&box), our websites, any game keys or codes, Facepunch Virtual Goods (defined below), our software development kits, forums, assets and tools, plus all other Facepunch products and services (e.g. user accounts, customer and technical support, wikis, blogs and social media services) – we will refer to “Facepunch Services” to cover all of these things.

1.3. When does this Agreement apply to you? As soon as you download, install or use any of the Facepunch Services. If you do not agree to it, please do not use any of the Facepunch Services.

1.4. What happens if we change this Agreement and/or the Facepunch Services? We may make changes to the Facepunch Services and/or this Agreement for various reasons – such as to reflect changes in applicable laws or regulatory requirements and/or to implement technical changes or improvements (e.g., to address a security issue or changes in our business practices). If we make minor changes, these should not impact your use of the Facepunch Services. If we make more significant changes to the Facepunch Services and/or this Agreement, then we will endeavour to notify you reasonably in advance. Changes will come into effect either as soon as they go live (in the case of minor changes) or following expiry of any applicablenotice period (if they are significant). If you do not agree to any significant changes, you may not continue to access the Facepunch Services (although we’re happy to discuss any appropriate next steps with you). 
 
2. USING THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES

SUMMARY. You have the personal right to use the Facepunch Services (but Facepunch owns them).  You need to be at least 13 to use Facepunch Services. There are technical requirements for using them.

2.1. Use of Facepunch Services. Your use of the Facepunch Services is for you alone, so you cannot give, ‘sell’, lend, gift, assign, sub-license or otherwise transfer it to someone else. Legally speaking, we give you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-assignable licence to display, view, download, install, play and use the Facepunch Services on authorised devices/platforms. If any of them require a user account then you are responsible for keeping them safe.

2.2. Are there any age restrictions? Legally, you must be at least 13 years old to use the Facepunch Services, but this might be older depending on whether or not a particular Facepunch Service has a required minimum age rating. If you are between 13 and 18 (or whatever is the age of adulthood in your country), please ask your parent or guardian to review and approve this Agreement and to supervise your use of the Facepunch Services.   

2.3. Technical requirements. Some Facepunch Services will have minimum requirements (e.g. minimum computer specifications or require an internet connection) and it is your responsibility to ensure you meet these requirements before downloading or using them. In order to protect Facepunch, Facepunch users and to enforce this Agreement, Facepunch may deploy anti-cheat and/or other software tools that run in the background of your device or related devices/peripherals when you use the Facepunch Services. We may patch, update or change the Facepunch Services over time (e.g. to add or remove game features). This may result in mandatory and/or automatic updates, meaning older or un-updated versions may become unusable over time as a result. We may also stop supporting older devices/platforms over time, but we will use reasonable efforts to notify this to you in advance.

2.4. Beta/Early Access release. We may release some Facepunch Services before their full commercial release to test the features, capabilities, and performance of the product. This could be in prototype, alpha, beta or Early Access or other pre-full release mode. Please remember that these versions might contain bugs, we might add or remove features and there may be server/progress resets (including for Virtual Goods). We might set other requirements too but these will be notified to you. 

2.5. What about third party access and content? We are not responsible for any third-party content on the Facepunch Services (e.g. links to third party sites on our social media) or third-party services which you access the Facepunch Services from (e.g. Steam). 

3. RULES FOR USING THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES

SUMMARY. This section sets out the rules for you to follow when using the Facepunch Services – e.g. no hacking, cheating, harmful conduct etc. Breaking these rules could result in suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Facepunch Services, including loss of access to any Virtual Goods you have purchased.

3.1. Please follow these rules carefully since failure will be considered a material breach of this Agreement, which could lead to suspension or cancellation (temporary or permanent) of your access to the Facepunch Services. Here are the rules – you must NOT:

i. Personal Enjoyment only: use the Facepunch Services for any commercial purposes (unless permitted in the Fan Content Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/ugc/) or Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding)) or political purposes; 

ii. Restricted Access: attempt to copy, rent, steal, sell, lend, lease, sublicense, distribute, publish or publicly display the Facepunch Services;

Iii. Technical Misuse: modify, merge, distribute, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to obtain or use source code of the Facepunch Services unless you are specifically allowed by applicable law;

iv. Interfering: hack, harm, grief, harass, threaten, interrupt, interfere with or misuse the Facepunch Services, accounts, network software and services or Facepunch’s other users, community members or staff.

v. Cheating: create, use, make available and/or distribute cheats, exploits, automation software, robots, bots, hacks, spiders, spyware, scripts, trainers, extraction tools, mining or other software that interact with or affect the Facepunch Services in any way. Mods are OK as long as they follow these rules, the Fan Content Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/ugc/) and the Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding).

vi. No Advertising: post any commercial advertisement, promotion, spam or unsolicited messages through the Facepunch Services.

vii. Names/Trade Marks: use Facepunch, the names of any Facepunch Services or other Facepunch names or logos or trademarks for any commercial purpose without our permission.

viii. Infringing Content: do anything in connection with the Facepunch Services that infringes any copyright, trade mark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity, or other right of Facepunch or others.

ix. Conduct: do or say anything unlawful, racist, harassing, threatening, abusive, hateful, xenophobic, sexist, discriminatory, abusive, defamatory, obscene, invasive of the privacy of another person or otherwise offensive. This includes in any chat or other communications with users. Facepunch reserves the right to monitor the content of any of your messages and prevent your use of any such chat or other communication systems for any reason.

4. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

SUMMARY. The Facepunch Services are owned/licensed by Facepunch.

4.1. Who owns the Facepunch Services? Facepunch owns or licences the Facepunch Services in their entirety (e.g. their visual components, characters, story, items, music, graphics, computer code, user interface, look and feel, game mechanics, gameplay, audio, video, text, layout, databases, data and all other content and all intellectual property and other legal and exploitation rights regarding them), including any improvements or updates. All rights in the Facepunch Services are reserved except as explained in this Agreement. 

5. FAN CONTENT, MODS AND COMMUNITY SERVERS 

SUMMARY. We are pretty open about user generated content and stuff like that but there are some basic rules - you can read our Fan Content Guidelines here (www.facepunch.com/legal/fancontent) and our Modding Guidelines here (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding). You are responsible for any content you share via the Facepunch Services.

5.1. What is our position on mods, community servers and fan content? You can read our Fan Content Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/ugc/) for our position on user generated content including fan art and videos/streams/Let’s Plays (“User Generated Content”). By posting any User Generated Content on the Facepunch Services you are giving us permission to use it (legally, you give us a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free licence to use, modify, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, communicate and publicly display/perform your User Generated Content in connection with the Facepunch Services). If you do not agree to this, please do not post any User Generated Content. For Mods and standalone tools/products based on our games, please see our Modding Guidelines at www.facepunch.com/legal/modding. For community servers, please see our Community Server & Hosting Guidelines at www.facepunch.com/legal/servers.

5.2. What if someone is infringing my intellectual property rights? Please refer to our IP Policy (www.facepunch.com/legal/ip/) if you think someone is infringing your intellectual property rights. 

6. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KITS

SUMMARY. You can use our SDKs to make mods and other content for use in the Facepunch Services. Some basic legal rules apply.

6.1 Using our software development kits. You are welcome to use our publicly available software development kits, assets and tools (‘SDKs’) to enrich your experience with our games (such as our Rust World SDK found at https://github.com/Facepunch/Rust.World). 

6.2 Who owns the SDKs? The SDKs, including any improvements or updates to them, belong to Facepunch. Any mods made using the SDKs belong to you, subject to our Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding).

6.3 Are there any additional requirements you should know about? Yes, some SDKs may be subject to additional terms (such as an open source licence). Any additional legal terms will be detailed in the SDK’s description. If you are not sure, please contact us at legal@facepunch.com before you use our SDKs.

7. VIRTUAL GOODS

SUMMARY. You may be able to buy and/or otherwise obtain things like cosmetics or in-game enhancements or and there are some additional legal rules for them. They do not have any “real world” monetary value and you cannot buy, sell or trade these with other users.

7.1. Do the Facepunch Services offer virtual goods? Certain Facepunch Services may let you purchase and/or otherwise obtain virtual, in-game digital items and content including cosmetic and in-game enhancements and other downloadable content (“Virtual Goods”). 

7.2. Are there any additional payment requirements you should know about? If you buy Virtual Goods, you agree to the pricing, payment and billing policies applicable to them, as notified to you at the time of purchase. You are responsible for applicable fees and taxes. All payments are non-refundable and non-transferable except as expressly provided in this Agreement.

7.3. What are the legal requirements regarding Virtual Goods? Virtual Goods are digital items only with no cash-value or real world existence and they generally cannot be ‘bought’, ‘sold’, gifted, transferred, traded or redeemed in any way. There may be some platforms where the Virtual Goods do have some limited transfer rights, which will be explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform (e.g. via the Steam marketplace). In legal terms, you receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, revocable licence to use Virtual Goods solely for your personal entertainment and non-commercial use in the relevant Facepunch Service (except where explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform), but Facepunch remains the legal owner of Virtual Goods at all times. 

7.4. Will these Virtual Goods expire, change or be revoked? Virtual Goods do not generally expire (unless they’re stated to expire or are consumables). Facepunch is entitled to revoke from users (without notice or compensation) any Virtual Goods that have been obtained by way of (e.g.) bug, hack, breach, or exploitation of the Facepunch Services. We are entitled to manage, regulate, control, discontinue, vary, modify and/or remove Virtual Goods at our discretion if we consider (acting reasonably) that this is necessary for the ongoing operation or protection of the Facepunch Services or for other legitimate business, legal or technical reasons. We will try to give you reasonable advance notice of any such changes where appropriate and discuss any appropriate next steps with you.

7.5. Can you refund purchases of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods?

Your refund rights will depend on the terms of any applicable device/platform via which you access the Facepunch Services on, in relation to Facepunch itself:

If you are resident in the United Kingdom or the European Union: By law you have the right to withdraw from a purchase of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason. HOWEVER, when you make a purchase of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods, the relevant platform (e.g. Steam) will obtain your consent to the immediate supply of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods and your acknowledgement that you will lose your withdrawal right as soon as that supply begins. This means that you lose your right of withdrawal as soon as your account is provided with access to the relevant Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods (which is typically straight away). You may also have statutory refund (and other) rights if we supply you Facepunch Services which are in breach of our statutory obligations (e.g. it’s not fit for purpose or not as described).

If you are resident elsewhere in the world outside the United Kingdom or European Union (including the USA): All purchases are final and no refunds will be made or returns accepted (except where you have a legal entitlement to this, if applicable).  

8. FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS

SUMMARY. Feedback and suggestions are great (thank you!) but at our discretion without responsibility/liability.

We always welcome and appreciate feedback and suggestions (you can send these to legal@facepunch.com) but we may choose not to use or accept them at our discretion. In any event the feedback/suggestions will be received by us without any credit, compensation, obligations or liability to you. If you provide Facepunch with any feedback or suggestions, you hereby grant Facepunch a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, and transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, publicly perform, publicly display, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise exploit any and all feedback and / or suggestions for any purposes, for all current and future methods and forms of exploitation.  

9. LIABILITY

SUMMARY. Here we explain a bit further how you and we are legally responsible to each other. We ask for certain legal protections from you.

9.1. Limitation of liability (UK, EU).

This section applies to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union. If you are resident in the United States of America or other non-UK/EU territory, please see section 9.3 below.

1. We do not exclude or limit (or seek to exclude or limit) our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes our liability for:
* death or personal injury caused by our negligence (or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors);
* fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
* breach of your statutory rights as a consumer; or
* other liability which may not be excluded by applicable law.

2. We only supply the Facepunch Services for domestic and private use. If you use the Facepunch Services for any commercial, business or re-sale purposes we will have no liability to you for any loss of profits, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.

3. If we fail to comply with this Agreement, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this Agreement, or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the Agreement was agreed to, both we and you knew it might happen. We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.

4. If the Facepunch Services damage a device or digital content belonging to you, and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill, we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation. However, we will not be liable for damage which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply an update offered to you free of charge or for damage which was caused by you failing to correctly follow installation instructions or have in place the advised minimum technical requirements.

9.2 Subject always to 9.1. above: (i) the total liability of Facepunch (and its group companies) arising out of or in connection with this Agreement will not exceed the total amount you have paid to us under this Agreement during the twelve (12) months immediately prior to the event which caused the liability; and (ii) the Facepunch Services are provided on an “as is” basis and we make no specific warranty or representation in relation to the quality, completeness or accuracy of the Facepunch Services.

9.3. Limitation of liability (USA). 

The following section does not apply to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union or countries whose laws specifically prohibit the following liability limitations, but it does apply to you if you are resident in the USA. 

(I) OUR DISCLAIMERS. THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES (INCLUDING ANY UPDATES) ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN "AS IS", “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE GAME WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE OR ‘LOSS’ RELATING TO THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES.

(II) OUR LIABILITY CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID US (IF ANY) IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTERS UNDERLYING ANY CLAIM(S).

(III) YOUR INDEMNITY TO US. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS ON DEMAND FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS FROM ALL LIABILITIES, CLAIMS AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING LEGAL FEES, IN CONNECTION WITH ANY ALLEGED OR ACTUAL BREACH BY YOU OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF CLAIMS ARE BROUGHT AGAINST US, THEN YOU WILL COOPERATE FULLY WITH US AND WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE OVER THEIR DEFENCE. YOU WILL NOT SETTLE ANY SUCH CLAIMS WITHOUT OUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT. 

(IV) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. YOU AGREE THAT ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM YOU SUFFER ARE NOT IRREPARABLE OR SUFFICIENT, AND OTHER REMEDIES WILL BE ADEQUATE, SUCH THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST US.

(V) Residents of California. If you reside in the state of California you are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information: you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 400 R St., Suite 1080, Sacramento, California, 95814, or by telephone at 916.445.1254. California residents expressly agree to waive California Civil Code Sec. 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend the claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

10. TERMINATION

SUMMARY. You can terminate this Agreement by stopping use of all Facepunch Services. We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services if you seriously breach this Agreement (including cheating in our games).

10.1. When and how can you terminate this Agreement? You can terminate this Agreement at any time by permanently stopping use of all Facepunch Services. Termination will not affect already existing rights or obligations of us or you.

10.2. When can we suspend or terminate your access to the Facepunch Services? 

- We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services (including access to Virtual Goods) if you materially breach this Agreement (e.g.  the rules in section 3 above, our Code of Conduct or any other breach which is serious and/or which could cause real harm to Facepunch, the Facepunch Services or other Facepunch Services users. If we cancel or suspend your account in this way we will not have any obligations or liabilities to you at all. Regarding bans:
- If you have questions about any game ban or suspension we have issued, then you can contact our support team (https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us) and we will use reasonable efforts to explain why we have done this (though we will not be obliged to do so) and what (if anything) you can do as a result. 
- If your ban has been issued by Easy Anti-Cheat and you would like to appeal, please visit: https://www.easy.ac/en-us/support/game/contact/appeal/. 
- If your ban has been issued by Valve (VAC), please visit: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/571A-97DA-70E9-FF74. 

10.3. If Facepunch decides itself to stop providing any Facepunch Services permanently, we will try to give you at least sixty (60) days’ notice. 

11. GOVERNING LAW

SUMMARY. Any legal questions / complaints / claims regarding this Agreement are under English law and jurisdiction for users all around the world except users resident in the USA, who are under California law and jurisdiction.

11.1. If you are resident in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of England and any dispute regarding it will be under the jurisdiction of the courts of England. This does not exclude any mandatorily applicable rules or remedies which would be available to you in a legal claim brought under the law of your country of residence.

11.2. If you are resident in the USA:
To the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, you and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be deemed to be entered into in San Francisco, California and governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of California, USA (and, if applicable, US Federal law) without regard to choice of law principles. Any legal claim by you against Facepunch, to the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, will be made exclusively in state or federal court located in San Francisco, California, which will have subject matter jurisdiction regarding the dispute between you and us and therefore we both consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts. Moreover, you waive any rights to argue that the state and federal courts in San Francisco, California are an improper venue. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side who wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses.

12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND BINDING ARBITRATION

SUMMARY. If you have any concerns or issues you can contact us at legal@facepunch.com. We hope we can resolve any complaints with you through informal dispute resolution. If we can't resolve a dispute with you informally, if you are in the UK or EU you can bring formal proceedings against us and if you are in the US, in most cases you can commence arbitration through the American Arbitration Association.

12.1. Informal dispute resolution:
We and you both agree to make reasonable and good faith efforts to resolve any dispute between us informally - you can contact us at legal@facepunch.com. Normally we would suggest that this dispute resolution period lasts 30 days unless exceptional circumstances exist. If it is not resolved during this time, the next steps depend on where you live. 

12.2. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA): 
You and we have the legal right to commence legal claims against each other if we consider it necessary. If you bring a claim against Facepunch, you should address it to legal@facepunch.com.

IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY (I.E. THE REST OF SECTION 11) AS IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES BETWEEN US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.

12.3. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the USA (only):

(a) Agreement to Arbitrate: 
We and you agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us on an individual basis through binding arbitration, including without limitation any claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, any part of the relationship between you and us, or your use of the Facepunch Services, except as set forth under “Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate” below.  The US Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law applies to this agreement. 

"Arbitration" is a consensual dispute resolution process where both sides present their case to a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge or jury.  Arbitration is less formal than court litigation and review of an arbitrator’s decision by a court is limited.  To be clear: by choosing arbitration you and we give up the right to have any dispute between us heard in court before a judge and/or jury. 

Individual Arbitration Only: You and we agree that arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated or representative arbitration.  

(b) How to start an arbitration:
Either of us can commence arbitration by filing an arbitration demand with the AAA that describes the claim and desired remedy. Notice sent to Facepunch should be sent by mail and by email. You or Facepunch may bring an arbitration at the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) located in San Francisco, California.  

(c) The rules for the arbitration:
The arbitration will be governed by the AAA under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.adr.org), as modified by this Agreement. The arbitrator will be bound by this Agreement. 

The arbitration shall be conducted in English by a single arbitrator with substantial experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, selected pursuant to AAA rules. The arbitration hearing may be conducted through the submission of documents, by phone, or in person, and must commence within thirty (30) days from the appointment of the arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by you and Facepunch.  Judgment upon an award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as appropriate.  

If you seek US $10,000 or less, Facepunch will reimburse your filing fee and your share of the arbitration costs (but not your attorney’s fees or expert witness fees), at the end of the arbitration, unless the arbitrator decides your claims are without merit or your costs are unreasonable.  Facepunch will only seek its legal fees and costs if it prevails and the arbitrator determines your claims are meritless. If you seek more than US $10,000, then the arbitration costs, including arbitrator compensation, will be split between you and Facepunch per the applicable AAA rules.

12.4. Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate
The dispute resolution and arbitration requirements do not apply to claims or disputes that relate to claims of intellectual property rights infringement or claims of unauthorised use, piracy, theft or misappropriation. 

12.5. Limitation on Claims
You and Facepunch agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim arising out of or related to the Facepunch Services must be made within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, such claim is permanently barred.  You agree that these dispute resolution and binding arbitration provisions will survive any termination of your account or the Facepunch Services.

SUMMARY. If you live in the USA or the rest of the world (but not the UK or EU), you and we agree not to bring any class action or similar collective legal action against each other. We will resolve legal disputes with each other through the process outlined above.

12.6. Waiver of class action and collective action remedies:
To the maximum extent permitted by the national or state law applicable, you and we agree not under any circumstances to bring or participate in a class or representative action, private attorney general action or collective arbitration in relation to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement. That means, to the full extent permitted by law, (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-wide basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (3) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons. 

If the previous paragraph is found illegal or unenforceable for any reason, you and Facepunch agree that any class, representative private attorney general action claim or dispute will be resolved in court.

13. OTHER LEGAL MATTERS

SUMMARY. This section sets out a few additional, hopefully self-explanatory rules about how this Agreement works legally. For example, this Agreement is just between you and us, we might be required to comply with law enforcement requests etc.

i. If any part of this Agreement is found not to be legally enforceable, this will not affect any other part of it;
ii. This Agreement does not create any rights for anyone else; 
iii. Please remember that we are subject to various laws and we may be required to comply with law enforcement or other legal requirements, including import/export controls;
iv. You and we agree that the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement;
v. We can assign, subcontract or transfer this Agreement to a third party or another member of our group if necessary for the support of the Facepunch Services, as part of any reorganisation or merger, or for other business reasons provided that this does not negatively affect your rights under this Agreement (or alternatively with your consent). 
vi. No failure or delay by us or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Agreement or by law will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy by us or you will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy; and
vii. This Agreement does not create any exclusive relationship between us nor any partnership, joint venture, employment or agency.