1. Agreement and eligibility
These terms govern membership in and use of the World Podcast Network website, directory, account portal, and related services (the "Network," "WPN," "we," "us," or "our"). "The Podcaster" means the individual or legal entity registering or holding an account as a member of the Network and submitting or managing a podcast. The Podcaster is the member; membership does not confer ownership of the Network. An individual acting for a podcast, business, or other organization confirms authority to bind that entity, which is The Podcaster under these terms.
By checking the agreement box when submitting a podcast, The Podcaster agrees to these terms, including the dispute resolution and arbitration provisions in Section 16. An individual registering or managing an account must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into this agreement.
2. Eligibility and account registration
The Podcaster must satisfy Section 1, provide accurate and current account and podcast information, and keep contact details, RSS feeds, and payment information updated. The Podcaster must safeguard account credentials, prevent unauthorized account sharing, and promptly report suspected unauthorized access through our contact page. The Podcaster is responsible for activity authorized through The Podcaster's account and for ensuring that account representatives have appropriate authority. WPN may request information reasonably needed to verify eligibility, authority, or account ownership.
Submissions are subject to review; submitting a podcast does not guarantee acceptance, activation, continued listing, or a particular placement. False registration information, impersonation, or attempts to evade a suspension may result in rejection, suspension, or an account ban.
3. Network ownership and independent membership
Podcasters do not own the World Podcast Network. Joining, paying for a plan, submitting content, or receiving a listing gives The Podcaster no ownership, equity, voting rights, management authority, or interest in the Network, its business, website, trademarks, or other assets. Membership does not create a partnership, employment relationship, agency, joint venture, or franchise. The Podcaster may not enter into agreements or make promises on our behalf. Any virtual podcast stock symbols, prices, or rankings are entertainment or promotional features and do not represent actual securities, ownership, or a right to payment.
4. The Podcaster's content and permission to display it
The Podcaster retains ownership of The Podcaster's podcast and content. The Podcaster confirms that The Podcaster has the rights and permissions needed for The Podcaster's audio, video, music, artwork, names, descriptions, guest contributions, and other submitted material. The Podcaster grants us a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to access The Podcaster's submitted feeds and links, index and display The Podcaster's content, embed or stream authorized media, and use The Podcaster's podcast name, artwork, descriptions, and reasonable excerpts to operate and promote The Podcaster's listing and the Network. Service providers may exercise this permission only as needed to provide those services.
The Podcaster may request removal through our contact page. After removal, we will stop new promotional uses within a reasonable time; technical caches, backups, and previously distributed materials may remain where removal is impracticable or retention is legally required. This license does not transfer ownership of The Podcaster's podcast to us.
5. Auduence, downloads, results
We do not guarantee views, downloads, listens, subscribers, followers, rankings, search visibility, engagement, revenue, sponsorships, or any other outcome. This applies to free listings and paid services. Results depend on factors outside our control, including audience preferences, The Podcaster's content, third-party platforms, and search algorithms. Estimates, examples, past performance, and promotional statements are not promises of future results. Analytics may be delayed, estimated, incomplete, or different from The Podcaster's hosting provider's measurements. Results may also be affected by causes not attributable to World Podcast Network, including but not limited to the podcast's hosting platform, outages or bandwidth limits, RSS feed errors, how often episodes are released, content quality and promotion, mobile app bugs or compatibility issues, listener device settings, internet service provider (ISP) outages or throttling, cellular coverage, third-party platform policies or removals, search and recommendation algorithm changes, analytics filtering or tracking restrictions, geographic restrictions, and interruptions to third-party infrastructure.
6. Acceptable use and editorial decisions
The Podcaster must not submit unlawful, infringing, fraudulent, defamatory, or malicious material; impersonate others; harass, threaten, stalk, or dox anyone; promote violence or unlawful discrimination; exploit minors; violate privacy or publicity rights; distribute malware; send spam; manipulate traffic or metrics; hack systems; bypass access controls; or attempt unauthorized access to the Network. The Podcaster is responsible for legally required advertising, sponsorship, and other disclosures in The Podcaster's content.
WPN reserves the right, at its discretion and subject to applicable law, to take down, disable, decline, or remove from the Network any episode, podcast, artwork, description, link, or account that violates these terms or is offensive or unacceptable in nature, topics, subject matter, language, imagery, or presentation. This includes hateful or abusive material, threats, exploitation, sexually explicit material, graphic violence, deceptive content, and content that creates safety, privacy, legal, or reputational concerns or is otherwise unsuitable for the Network's editorial standards. WPN may act without prior notice where permitted by law. Removal from WPN does not mean removal from an independent hosting platform.
Prohibited conduct may result in immediate suspension or a permanent ban, depending on its severity and circumstances. WPN may also review, categorize, restrict, and change placements to protect the Network and enforce these terms. A listing does not mean WPN endorses the podcast or its statements.
7. Payment and subscriptions
Paid services are subject to the price, features, billing interval, renewal terms, and cancellation or refund conditions disclosed at purchase. Accepted payment methods are those displayed at checkout, including PayPal where offered; WPN is not required to accept methods that are not offered for the relevant purchase. The Podcaster must provide valid payment information and is responsible for authorized charges and applicable taxes. Where The Podcaster authorizes an automatically renewing subscription, recurring fees are charged at the disclosed billing interval until cancellation under the applicable purchase terms.
At the Network's discretion, prices, recurring fees, available plans, features, and accepted payment methods may change at any time, with or without notice, to the extent permitted by applicable law and the applicable purchase agreement. Where advance notice, renewed consent, or a cancellation opportunity is legally or contractually required, WPN will provide it before applying the change. A change does not retroactively increase a charge already incurred or override an agreed fixed-price period. The Podcaster may cancel future renewals through the applicable billing process if The Podcaster does not wish to continue under changed terms.
The Podcaster may contact us for help cancelling or resolving a billing error. Cancellation, refunds, and access through a paid period follow the purchase terms and applicable law; nothing here removes mandatory consumer rights. Changing a stored PayPal email does not itself cancel or modify a payment-provider subscription.
8. Third-party services and availability
Podcast hosts, social networks, payment providers, embedded players, and linked sites operate under their own terms and privacy practices. We do not control their availability or actions. The Podcaster must keep independent copies of The Podcaster's content; the Network is not a backup service. Features may change or be interrupted for maintenance, technical problems, security, or circumstances outside our reasonable control. Material changes to purchased services remain subject to The Podcaster's purchase terms and applicable law.
9. Privacy and communications
Our Privacy Policy explains our handling of personal information. Podcast information The Podcaster submits for publication may be publicly accessible. We may send account, security, billing, and service communications. Optional marketing communications remain subject to applicable consent and unsubscribe requirements.
10. Intellectual property
All WPN-owned website content, logos, trademarks, branding, designs, graphics, text, databases, software, and source code belong to World Podcast Network or its operating company and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Third-party materials belong to their respective owners. Except for The Podcaster's own content and uses expressly allowed by law, no permission is granted to copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, modify, sell, license, or use these materials or WPN's marks without prior written permission from the relevant rights holder. Membership does not grant a license to represent an endorsement or affiliation beyond the actual membership.
The Podcaster's ownership and the limited content license granted to WPN are described in Section 4. To report infringement, The Podcaster should use our contact page and identify the protected work, the specific material and its location, The Podcaster's contact details, and the basis for the claim. We may remove or restrict disputed material while reviewing a report and may terminate accounts for repeated infringement.
11. Cancellation and termination
The Podcaster may stop using the Network and request account closure or listing removal through our contact page. Any paid subscription must also be cancelled through the applicable billing process or payment provider; a listing removal or account closure request alone does not automatically cancel a separately managed payment subscription. The Podcaster should contact WPN if cancellation assistance is needed. Outstanding authorized charges remain payable, subject to applicable refund rights.
WPN may suspend access, remove a podcast, close an account, or permanently ban The Podcaster for violations of these terms, prohibited conduct, unlawful activity, security risks, repeated infringement, or nonpayment. WPN may act immediately and without prior notice where permitted by law and will provide any notice or opportunity to resolve an issue required by law. The Podcaster must not create replacement accounts to evade a ban. Ownership provisions, outstanding payment obligations, liability limits, indemnification, and dispute provisions survive termination to the extent applicable.
12. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, WPN and its operators are not financially responsible for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, lost profits, lost revenue, lost audience, lost data, or business interruption arising from use of or inability to use the Network, including service disruptions and third-party failures. WPN's aggregate liability arising from these terms or services is limited to the greater of US $100 or the amount The Podcaster paid WPN for the affected services in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.
These exclusions and limits do not apply to fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or liability or consumer protections that cannot legally be excluded or limited. A disclaimer does not eliminate a remedy that applicable law guarantees. Where a limitation is not permitted, it applies only to the maximum lawful extent.
13. Disclaimer of warranties
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Network and its services are provided "as is" and "as available," without express or implied warranties except for commitments expressly made in an applicable purchase agreement. WPN disclaims implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement to the extent permitted by law. WPN does not guarantee uninterrupted, secure, timely, or error-free service, correction of every defect, compatibility with every device or platform, or any particular audience or commercial result. Nothing in this section excludes a warranty or statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded.
14. Indemnification
To the extent permitted by law, The Podcaster agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless WPN, its operators, and their officers, employees, and agents against third-party lawsuits and claims arising from The Podcaster's unlawful content or conduct, infringement of others' rights, or material breach of these terms. This obligation includes paying reasonable defense costs and attorneys' fees and covered judgments or approved settlements, including when the claim proceeds in court. It does not cover losses caused by WPN's own misconduct or obligations that applicable law prohibits.
WPN will give reasonably prompt notice of a claim and reasonable cooperation at The Podcaster's expense. The Podcaster must use qualified counsel reasonably acceptable to WPN, and WPN may participate with separate counsel at its own expense. Neither party may settle a claim in a way that imposes an admission or nonmonetary obligation on the other without that party's written consent, which must not be unreasonably withheld.
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by New Jersey law, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable law requires otherwise. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement to the extent applicable. Subject to Section 16 and mandatory legal protections, court proceedings permitted under these terms must be brought in the state courts located in New Jersey or the federal courts located in New Jersey with jurisdiction, and The Podcaster and WPN consent to those courts' jurisdiction. This venue provision does not override the small claims option or a forum that applicable law guarantees.
16. Dispute resolution and arbitration
The Podcaster and WPN agree that disputes arising from these terms, membership, or the services will be resolved through binding individual arbitration instead of a lawsuit before a judge or jury, except for eligible individual small claims cases and claims that applicable law does not allow to be arbitrated. By accepting these terms, both parties waive the right to sue in court and the right to a jury trial for claims covered by this arbitration agreement.
Either party may bring an eligible individual claim in a small claims court with jurisdiction rather than arbitration. Neither party is prevented from reporting concerns to a government agency or exercising rights that cannot legally be waived. A court of competent jurisdiction decides whether this arbitration agreement exists, is enforceable, or covers a claim.
Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) before one neutral arbitrator under its applicable rules, including its Consumer Arbitration Rules when applicable, or its Commercial Arbitration Rules for a qualifying business dispute. A party starts arbitration by filing a demand with AAA under the applicable rules and providing a copy to the other party. Notices to WPN may be sent through our contact page; WPN will provide an appropriate address for formal service when needed. Notices to The Podcaster may be sent to the account contact address, subject to applicable service requirements.
Fees, fee waivers, hearing format, and hearing location follow the applicable AAA rules and law. WPN will pay fees allocated to the business under applicable consumer rules; The Podcaster will not be required to bear costs that make the agreement unenforceable. Hearings may occur remotely where the rules permit. Any in-person location must comply with applicable consumer protections and must not require a consumer to travel to New Jersey when the applicable rules or law provide a more convenient location. The arbitrator may award the individual remedies available under applicable law and will issue a written award; judicial review is limited as provided by law.
To the extent permitted by law, The Podcaster and WPN may bring claims only in their individual capacities, not as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative action, whether in arbitration or in court. Both parties waive participation in such proceedings to that extent. This does not waive relief or proceedings that cannot lawfully be waived. If a class or representative-action restriction is unenforceable for a particular claim or remedy, that claim or remedy will proceed in a competent court rather than class arbitration, and any remaining enforceable individual claims remain subject to arbitration where lawful.
If AAA cannot administer the dispute, the parties may agree on another neutral provider. If no agreement can be reached, either party may seek lawful court relief, including appointment of an arbitrator where permitted. If arbitration cannot proceed because WPN fails to pay required fees or comply with applicable consumer rules, The Podcaster retains any right those rules or the law provide to proceed in court.
17. Changes and general provisions
We may update these terms and will post the revised text and update date. For material changes, we will provide notice and obtain renewed agreement where required by law. Changes do not retroactively alter accrued rights. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain effective. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. These terms and applicable purchase terms form the agreement for the services they cover; specific purchase terms control a conflict about that purchase. Neither party is responsible for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control, except for payment obligations already incurred.
18. Contact us
For questions about these terms, The Podcaster's listing, account closure, billing, or content rights, contact World Podcast Network.