Terms of Service

The Central Kentucky Bonsai Society (“CKBS,” the “Society,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a volunteer-run club based in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, formed to cultivate the art of bonsai and a community of growers. The site offers club information, educational resources, a member forum, a plant library, events, and shows.

You may browse the public areas of the site without an account. To use member features — the plant library, the forum, event registration, or show submissions — you must create an account and provide accurate, current information.

Signing in works by a one-time code emailed to your address, so keeping control of that email account is keeping control of this one. You are responsible for all activity under your account. Tell us promptly at contact@ckbs.info if you suspect unauthorized use. If you are under 18, you may use the site and youth membership only with the involvement and consent of a parent or guardian.

Some features require a paid membership. Membership tiers, benefits, and current dues are described at sign-up and are billed on a recurring basis through our payment processor. Your membership renews automatically until you cancel.

Billing, cancellations, and refunds are covered in our Payments & Refunds policy, which forms part of these Terms.

The forum, comments, and other shared spaces are meant to be welcoming and useful. When you post, you agree not to:

• post content that is unlawful, harassing, hateful, defamatory, or invasive of another's privacy;
• impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with anyone;
• upload spam, advertising, or malicious code, or attempt to disrupt the site;
• infringe anyone's intellectual property or share images you don't have the right to share;
• collect or harvest other members' personal information.

We may remove content or suspend accounts that violate these Terms, at our reasonable discretion, to keep the community healthy.

You keep ownership of the photos, descriptions, care logs, forum posts, and other material you submit (“Your Content”). By posting Your Content, you grant the Society a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, display, and share it as needed to operate the site and to promote the Society and its shows — for example, showing an accepted show entry on the site or in club materials. You can remove Your Content or close your account at any time; some copies may remain in backups for a limited period.

You are responsible for Your Content and confirm you have the rights to post it.

Care guides, advisor feedback, the plant library, and forum discussions are shared in good faith for general educational purposes. Living trees respond to countless local factors, so we can't guarantee any particular result, and nothing on the site is a substitute for your own judgment. You use this information at your own risk.

Event registration and show submissions may be subject to capacity limits, fees, deadlines, and eligibility rules described at the time. For shows, assigned judges score and rank entries, and acceptance, backup, and decline decisions rest with the Society and its judges. By submitting an entry, you allow us to display it and its photos in connection with the show.

The Society's name, logo, wordmark, page designs, and original content are owned by the Society or its licensors and are protected by law. You may not use them without our prior written permission, except as needed to use the site normally.

We rely on trusted third parties to run the site — for example, a payment processor for dues and fees, an avatar service, email delivery, and mobile wallet passes. Your use of those features may also be subject to the third party's own terms. We aren't responsible for third-party services or websites we link to.

The site and member services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. The Society is a volunteer-run club; to the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the site, and our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Society, its officers, and its volunteers from claims arising out of Your Content or your misuse of the site or violation of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.

You may stop using the site and close your account at any time. We may suspend or end access for conduct that violates these Terms or harms the community or the site. Sections that by their nature should survive — such as content licenses already granted, disclaimers, and limitations of liability — continue after termination.

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we'll revise the “last updated” date above and, for significant changes, provide reasonable notice. Your continued use of the site after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any disputes will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Kentucky.

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at contact@ckbs.info.