TERMS & CONDITIONS
Florida People News
FloridaPeopleNews.com
Effective Date: August 28, 2026
Last Updated: August 28, 2026
Welcome to Florida People News. These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of FloridaPeopleNews.com (the “Website”), including its news articles, commentary, photographs, graphics, videos, newsletters, user accounts, contributor services, comments, submissions, and other content and services.
By accessing, browsing, registering with, submitting content to, or otherwise using the Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms.
If you do not agree with these Terms, you should not use the Website.
1. About Florida People News
Florida People News is an independent digital news and information publication covering Florida, its people, communities, government, politics, business, culture, lifestyle, events, and other matters of public interest.
The Website may contain original journalism, news reports, analysis, commentary, opinion pieces, contributed articles, photographs, press releases, interviews, public records, syndicated or licensed material, and information obtained from third-party sources.
Florida People News retains editorial discretion regarding all content published through the Website.
2. Editorial and Informational Purpose
Content appearing on FloridaPeopleNews.com is provided for journalistic, editorial, educational, and general informational purposes.
News and public affairs develop rapidly. Information considered accurate when published may subsequently change or require clarification, supplementation, correction, or retraction.
Florida People News endeavors to publish accurate information but does not warrant that every article, quotation, statistic, photograph, source, third-party statement, public record, or other item will at all times be complete, current, or error-free.
Nothing appearing on FloridaPeopleNews.com constitutes legal, medical, financial, tax, investment, or other professional advice.
3. Editorial Independence
Florida People News maintains independent editorial authority over the Website.
Florida People News reserves the right to determine what material will or will not be published and may edit, fact-check, revise, update, annotate, correct, supplement, archive, restrict, decline, or remove content when appropriate.
Publication of an article, interview, guest commentary, press release, advertisement, sponsored article, opinion piece, or other third-party material does not necessarily constitute endorsement by Florida People News.
Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors, interviewees, or guest authors belong to the respective individuals unless expressly identified as an editorial position of Florida People News.
4. Corrections, Clarifications and Retractions
Florida People News is committed to addressing material factual errors brought to its attention.
A person or organization requesting a correction, clarification, or retraction should identify:
- the article or content at issue;
- the URL and, if available, publication date;
- the specific statement alleged to be inaccurate;
- an explanation of the alleged error; and
- supporting information or documentation reasonably available to substantiate the request.
Florida People News may investigate any such request and retains editorial discretion concerning whether a correction, clarification, editor's note, update, retraction, removal, or other response is appropriate.
Nothing contained in these Terms constitutes a waiver of any notice requirement, defense, privilege, limitation of liability, statutory protection, constitutional protection, or other right available to Florida People News or its personnel under applicable law.
This expressly includes applicable protections under Chapter 770, Florida Statutes, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Under Florida Statute §770.01, certain plaintiffs alleging libel or slander published in a newspaper, periodical, or other medium must provide written notice identifying the publication and allegedly false and defamatory statements at least five days before instituting the civil action. Florida law also contains provisions concerning qualifying corrections, apologies, and retractions.
5. Intellectual Property
Unless otherwise indicated, original content created by Florida People News, including its articles, graphics, logos, branding, photographs, videos, page designs, compilations, and other original materials, is owned by or licensed to Florida People News and is protected by applicable United States and international intellectual-property laws.
The names Florida People News, FloridaPeopleNews.com, FPN, and associated logos, designs, and branding are proprietary identifiers of Florida People News to the extent protected by applicable law.
No license to use Florida People News trademarks or branding is granted merely by accessing the Website.
6. Permitted Use of Our Content
Readers are welcome to share links to publicly accessible Florida People News articles.
Brief quotations from our articles may be used where permitted by applicable law, provided appropriate attribution is given to Florida People News and, where applicable, the author.
Unless otherwise authorized by law or by Florida People News in writing, you may not reproduce, republish, distribute, commercially exploit, sell, license, scrape, systematically download, modify, or create derivative works from substantial portions of Florida People News content.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to restrict rights available under applicable copyright law, including fair use.
7. Outside Contributors and Guest Authors
Florida People News may permit journalists, writers, academics, experts, community members, photographers, organizations, and other contributors (“Contributors”) to submit material for possible publication.
Submission of material does not guarantee publication.
Florida People News retains final editorial authority concerning whether, when, where, and how submitted material is published.
Florida People News may edit headlines, grammar, spelling, style, formatting, length, photographs, captions, metadata, links, categories, and other editorial elements and may request documentation, source material, corrections, or additional substantiation before or after publication.
Material substantive changes that could materially alter the meaning or factual assertions of an article should, where reasonably practicable, be addressed through the publication's editorial process.
8. Contributor Representations and Warranties
By submitting content for publication, a Contributor represents and warrants, to the best of the Contributor's knowledge and subject to any separate written Contributor Agreement, that:
the Contributor owns the submitted material or possesses the necessary rights and permissions to submit it;
the work is original except for properly attributed or licensed material;
the Contributor has not knowingly included materially false or fabricated information;
quotations have not knowingly been materially misrepresented;
sources identified as factual sources are genuine to the Contributor's knowledge;
photographs, graphics, documents, videos, and other submitted media are owned, licensed, used with appropriate permission, or otherwise lawfully usable;
the submission does not knowingly infringe another person's copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other legal rights;
the Contributor has disclosed material financial or personal conflicts of interest relating to the subject of the submission; and
the Contributor has disclosed any material sponsorship, compensation, gift, consulting relationship, political relationship, business relationship, or other arrangement that could reasonably affect the independence of the submission.
Florida People News may require additional representations through a separate Contributor Agreement.
9. Copyright Ownership of Contributor Material
Unless a separate Contributor Agreement provides otherwise, submission of content does not automatically transfer ownership of the Contributor's copyright to Florida People News.
By submitting material and authorizing its publication, however, the Contributor grants Florida People News a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, reproduce, display, distribute, archive, format, promote, excerpt, and make reasonable editorial adaptations to the accepted material in connection with Florida People News and its distribution channels.
Any transfer or assignment of copyright ownership between a Contributor and Florida People News must be governed by a separate written agreement where required by applicable law.
This distinction is intentional. Under federal copyright law, a transfer of copyright ownership generally must be in writing and signed by the copyright owner, so Florida People News should not rely solely on a generic website submission provision when acquiring full ownership of freelance work.
10. Contributor Responsibility
Contributors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, sourcing, permissions, and representations associated with material they submit, except to the extent a disputed statement or other material was independently created or materially introduced by Florida People News after submission.
Florida People News may request evidence supporting factual assertions, photographs, quotations, statistics, documents, or other submitted material.
Refusal or inability to provide reasonable substantiation may result in rejection, correction, suspension, or removal of content.
11. Contributor Indemnification
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, a Contributor agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Florida People News and its owners, officers, directors, employees, editors, contractors, agents, successors, and assigns from third-party claims, losses, liabilities, judgments, settlements, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees arising directly from:
the Contributor's material breach of these Terms or a separate Contributor Agreement;
the Contributor's knowing submission of material that infringes third-party intellectual-property rights;
unauthorized photographs or other copyrighted material supplied by the Contributor;
materially false representations by the Contributor concerning ownership, authorization, authenticity, or licensing of submitted material; or
the Contributor's failure to disclose a material financial relationship or conflict of interest where disclosure was required.
A Contributor shall not be responsible under this provision for material independently added by Florida People News after submission without the Contributor's involvement.
12. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Content
Florida People News may establish editorial standards concerning the use of artificial intelligence, automated writing systems, image-generation technology, transcription systems, translation systems, or other automated tools.
Contributors must comply with any AI disclosure or usage policy communicated by Florida People News.
Contributors may not knowingly submit fabricated quotations, nonexistent sources, fictitious documents, materially manipulated evidence, or invented factual claims and represent them as authentic journalism.
Florida People News reserves the right to reject or remove material that violates these standards.
13. Plagiarism
Florida People News does not knowingly permit plagiarism.
Contributors may not submit another person's work as their own or reproduce copyrighted material beyond what is permitted by law or authorized by the rights holder.
Florida People News may remove content and suspend or terminate contributor privileges when credible evidence of plagiarism or copyright infringement is established.
14. Copyright and DMCA Complaints
Florida People News respects the intellectual-property rights of others.
Anyone who believes material available through FloridaPeopleNews.com infringes a copyright may submit a copyright complaint containing the information required by applicable law.
Where applicable, Florida People News intends to process valid copyright notices and counter-notices consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512.
Florida People News may remove or disable access to allegedly infringing material while evaluating a claim.
Where legally applicable, Florida People News may maintain and reasonably implement a policy concerning repeat copyright infringers.
If Florida People News relies upon a DMCA safe harbor requiring designation of an agent, the applicable designated-agent information should be maintained with the U.S. Copyright Office and displayed in the Website's separate Copyright & DMCA Policy.
15. User Accounts
Certain Website features may permit users or Contributors to create accounts.
Users are responsible for safeguarding their login credentials and activities conducted through their accounts.
Users must provide materially accurate registration information and may not impersonate another person or organization.
Florida People News may suspend, restrict, or terminate an account when reasonably necessary because of suspected fraud, unlawful activity, security concerns, repeated violations of these Terms, copyright infringement, abusive conduct, or misuse of the Website.
16. Comments and User-Generated Content
If Florida People News permits comments or other user-generated content, users remain responsible for material they submit.
Users may not knowingly submit content that is unlawful, threatening, defamatory, fraudulent, infringing, harassing, malicious, or that unlawfully violates another person's privacy or intellectual-property rights.
Florida People News may moderate, restrict, edit, disable, or remove user-generated content at its discretion.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to waive protections available under 47 U.S.C. §230 or other applicable laws concerning information provided by third-party content providers. Federal law generally provides that an interactive computer service provider or user is not treated as the publisher or speaker of information supplied by another information content provider.
17. News Tips and Confidential Information
Florida People News may accept news tips, documents, photographs, or other information from members of the public.
Submitting information through ordinary email, contact forms, social media, or the Website does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship, confidential relationship, fiduciary relationship, reporter-source privilege, or contractual obligation of confidentiality.
Individuals seeking confidential-source treatment should communicate that request to Florida People News before transmitting particularly sensitive material.
Florida People News does not guarantee that electronic communications are secure.
18. Third-Party Sources and External Links
FloridaPeopleNews.com may contain links to government agencies, social-media platforms, businesses, organizations, studies, court records, documents, news organizations, and other third-party resources.
Links are provided for reference, attribution, reporting, or reader convenience.
Florida People News does not control third-party websites and is not responsible for their content, security, availability, accuracy, products, privacy practices, or services.
A link does not necessarily constitute endorsement.
19. Advertising, Sponsored Content and Affiliates
Florida People News may display advertisements, sponsored content, promotional material, affiliate links, or other commercial communications.
Where required or appropriate, paid or sponsored content may be identified using labels such as “Advertisement,” “Sponsored,” “Paid Content,” “Partner Content,” or similar disclosures.
The appearance of an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement by Florida People News unless expressly stated.
Transactions between users and advertisers or other third parties are solely between those parties.
20. Prohibited Uses
You may not use FloridaPeopleNews.com to engage in unlawful activity; introduce malware or malicious code; interfere with Website security; attempt unauthorized access to accounts, databases, servers, or systems; impersonate another person or organization; fraudulently manipulate engagement or traffic; unlawfully collect personal information; or use automated systems in a manner that materially disrupts or places an unreasonable burden upon the Website.
Florida People News may take reasonable technical or legal measures to prevent misuse of its Website and content.
21. Availability and Modification of the Website
Florida People News may modify, suspend, restrict, discontinue, or temporarily interrupt any portion of the Website.
We do not guarantee that FloridaPeopleNews.com, particular articles, archives, user accounts, or other services will remain continuously available.
22. Disclaimer of Warranties
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, FLORIDAPEOPLENEWS.COM AND ITS CONTENT AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.
FLORIDA PEOPLE NEWS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETELY SECURE, OR FREE FROM TECHNICAL DEFECTS.
Nothing in this provision eliminates obligations or liabilities that cannot legally be excluded.
23. Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, FLORIDA PEOPLE NEWS AND ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, EDITORS, CONTRACTORS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to waive, diminish, or limit any constitutional, statutory, common-law, journalistic, or other defense, privilege, immunity, notice requirement, limitation of liability, or protection otherwise available to Florida People News or its personnel.
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that applicable law prohibits the parties from excluding.
24. Privacy
Use of FloridaPeopleNews.com is also subject to the Florida People News Privacy Policy, which describes how certain information may be collected, used, disclosed, and protected.
25. No Waiver of Journalistic Rights
Nothing contained in these Terms shall be interpreted as a voluntary waiver by Florida People News, its journalists, editors, Contributors, or personnel of any right or protection available under the United States Constitution, Florida Constitution, applicable reporter's privilege or shield law, public-records law, copyright law, defamation law, or other applicable federal or state law.
26. Governing Law
These Terms and disputes arising from or relating to use of FloridaPeopleNews.com shall, to the extent permitted by applicable law, be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, together with applicable federal law.
27. Jurisdiction and Venue
Subject to mandatory jurisdictional or venue requirements imposed by applicable law, legal proceedings arising from these Terms or use of FloridaPeopleNews.com shall be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction located in the State of Florida.
Users agree to the personal jurisdiction of such courts to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Nothing in this section is intended to override a jurisdictional, venue, removal, or procedural right that cannot lawfully be modified by agreement.
28. Severability
If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that any provision of these Terms is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent legally permissible or severed where appropriate, and the remaining provisions shall continue in effect.
29. No Waiver
Failure by Florida People News to enforce a provision of these Terms on one occasion does not constitute a waiver of that provision or the right to enforce it in the future.
30. Changes to These Terms
Florida People News may revise these Terms periodically because of changes in the Website, editorial operations, contributor programs, technology, business practices, or applicable law.
The current version will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.
Continued use of the Website following the effective date of revised Terms constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Material changes affecting Contributors may also be addressed through a separate Contributor Agreement or additional notice where appropriate.
31. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional agreement expressly applicable to a particular service, account, or Contributor relationship, constitute the applicable agreement concerning use of FloridaPeopleNews.com.
Where a separate written Contributor Agreement conflicts with these general Terms regarding the Contributor's submission or relationship with Florida People News, the specific Contributor Agreement shall control with respect to that conflict.
32. Contact
Questions concerning these Terms & Conditions, correction requests, copyright matters, or other legal inquiries may be submitted through the appropriate contact information provided on FloridaPeopleNews.com.
Florida People News
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