Asset Usage and Licensing Terms

By checking “I agree” and downloading assets from this hub, you confirm that you are authorized to bind your organization and that your organization (“Partner,” “you”) agrees to the following terms governing use of the Here We Are campaign assets (“Assets”) provided by GROUND Media (“GROUND”).

1. Eligibility and Approval

Access to the Assets is limited to organizations that GROUND has reviewed and approved as campaign partners. You represent that you are an organization in good standing, that the individual accepting these terms has authority to bind you, and that the information you provided in requesting access is accurate. Approval may be withdrawn at GROUND’s discretion.

2. Permitted Use

Subject to these terms, GROUND grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide license to use the Assets on all media platforms — including social, web, email, streaming, broadcast, and out-of-home — for educational, advocacy, and outreach purposes that advance equality and support for transgender people and LGBTQ+ communities.

Your rights derive from GROUND’s rights in the Assets and cannot exceed them. Assets must be used in connection with the Here We Are campaign and must remain identifiable as campaign material. You may not detach an Asset from the campaign and present it as standalone content of your own.

3. Prohibited Uses

You may not use the Assets:

for resale, licensing, or any transfer of the Assets to a third party;
for any commercial purpose, including promotion of goods or services;
as the creative in a fundraising appeal or donation solicitation;
on merchandise or physical goods offered for sale or distribution;
as sponsored or branded content, or in any paid partnership or influencer arrangement;
in any paid media placement, absent GROUND’s express prior written consent under Section 8;
in any manner that misrepresents the campaign, its participants, or GROUND, or that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, or discriminatory.

You may not sublicense or transfer your rights under these terms, including to affiliates, subgrantees, coalition members, or vendors, without GROUND’s prior written consent. Vendors acting on your behalf and under your direction (for example, a social media agency posting to your channels) may handle the Assets solely for that purpose and remain your responsibility.

4. No Alteration

Assets must be used exactly as downloaded unless otherwise agreed in writing by GROUND. Without that written agreement, you may not edit, crop, re-cut, re-time, re-color, re-caption, overlay, remix, or otherwise modify the Assets, or strip or alter captions, subtitles, alt text, logos, or end cards. Standard platform-native functions that do not change the Asset itself — adding your own post copy, or platform-required aspect handling — are permitted.

Where GROUND has agreed in writing to permit clipping, excerpting, or other modification — for example, under a creator program — that permission applies only to the Assets, people, and uses it names, and every other provision of these terms continues to apply. In particular, no modification may alter a participant’s likeness, voice, or words, or place a participant in a context prohibited by Section 5.

If you need a version customized for your organization, contact GROUND. GROUND will produce approved customizations, including logo lockups and calls to action, and will provide them to you as a new download. Only GROUND-provided customizations may be used.

5. Participant Consent and Protection

The Assets feature real people who agreed to participate on defined terms and who may face safety, employment, or family risks from unintended exposure. You agree that:

No re-identification. You will not add, publish, or disclose any information about a participant that is not already contained in the Asset as delivered — including full name, employer, school, place of worship, neighborhood, street or specific location, contact information, or family members’ identities. Where you reference a participant by name or describe their background, you may use only the name and approved biography GROUND provides.
No context shifting. You will not place an Asset in any context that changes its meaning or increases risk to a participant. This includes pairing an Asset with content about a specific individual, incident, legal proceeding, or opposition figure; using it to illustrate a claim the Asset does not make; or placing it adjacent to content a reasonable person would find hostile to the participants.
No participant contact. You will not contact, or facilitate contact with, any participant depicted in an Asset.
Comment environments. Where an Asset is posted on a channel you control, you will make reasonable efforts to moderate abusive or doxxing comments directed at participants, consistent with your organization’s normal practice.

6. Participant Safety — Takedown on Notice

GROUND may determine, at its sole discretion, that an Asset must be withdrawn from circulation — most often because a participant’s circumstances have changed or a safety concern has arisen. If GROUND notifies you that an Asset is withdrawn, you will, within seventy-two (72) hours of that notice:

remove or unpublish every instance of the identified Asset from all channels you control, including organic posts, your website, email archives where feasible, and any active or scheduled placements;
cease all further use and delete local copies; and
confirm completion to GROUND in writing.

This obligation is immediate, is not subject to campaign timelines or media commitments, and survives termination of these terms. It is the one circumstance in which you will be required to remove content already published. GROUND will use withdrawal notices sparingly and only where genuinely warranted.

7. Nonprofit and 501(c)(3) Compliance

The Assets are funded and produced as charitable, educational activity. Regardless of your organization’s tax status, you agree that the Assets will not be used:

to support or oppose any candidate for public office, political party, or political committee, or in any way that could be characterized as intervention in a political campaign;
in connection with any ballot measure, referendum, or initiative campaign;
in support of any lobbying activity — including grassroots lobbying urging the public to contact legislators about specific legislation — without GROUND’s prior written approval;
by, or transferred to, any affiliated 501(c)(4), PAC, or political entity, or used in any activity conducted by or on behalf of such an entity.

If you are uncertain whether a planned use falls within these limits, contact GROUND before publishing. GROUND can often approve a modified approach.

8. Paid Media

The Assets may not be used in any paid placement — including paid social, search, programmatic, broadcast, streaming, print, or out-of-home — without GROUND’s express prior written consent. This applies to every Asset and every partner, without exception. Clearing music rights, securing your own budget, or obtaining any other approval does not substitute for GROUND’s written consent, and GROUND may decline for any reason.

Where GROUND does consent to a paid deployment, that consent will be in writing, will name the specific Assets, placements, and flight dates it covers, and will not extend to any other paid use. You will also need an expanded music license, because the music in the Assets is licensed for organic digital use only; securing it is your responsibility unless GROUND agrees otherwise in writing.

9. Artificial Intelligence

You may not use the Assets, in whole or in part, to train, fine-tune, or otherwise develop any artificial intelligence or machine learning model, and you may not upload the Assets to any service that reserves such rights. You may not generate derivative, synthetic, or modified versions of the Assets by any means, including AI-based editing, upscaling, translation, dubbing, voice cloning, face or body modification, or any technique that alters a participant’s likeness, voice, or words.

10. Trademark, Attribution, and Endorsement

“Here We Are,” the campaign logo, and GROUND Media’s name and marks are the property of their respective owners. You may use them only in the approved lockups GROUND provides, and only in connection with permitted use of the Assets. Where format allows, credit the Here We Are campaign.

Nothing in these terms grants you any other right in these marks or implies that GROUND or the Here We Are campaign endorses your organization, its other programs, or its positions. You will not issue a press release, public statement, or fundraising material that names GROUND or characterizes your relationship to the campaign without GROUND’s prior written approval.

11. Reporting

You agree to report back to GROUND on your use of the Assets, including which Assets you used, where and when they ran, and available digital engagement data (impressions, views, reach, engagements, click-throughs, and equivalent platform metrics). GROUND will request reporting no more than quarterly and will provide a simple format. Reporting supports campaign measurement and future funding; it is not used to evaluate your organization.

12. Term and Termination

This license begins when you download an Asset and continues until terminated.

Organic use already published stays up. If this license terminates for any reason other than a takedown notice under Section 6 or a material breach of these terms, you may leave organic content already published in place. You will not be required to take it down.

GROUND may terminate at any time. GROUND may terminate this license, or your access to the hub, at any time and for any reason, on written notice. On termination you will stop downloading, distributing, and deploying Assets in any new placement, including scheduled placements not yet live.

Material breach. If you materially breach these terms, GROUND may terminate immediately and require removal of published content. Sections 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 15 survive termination.

13. Enforcement

GROUND’s goal is a working partnership, not policing. If GROUND believes a use falls outside these terms, GROUND will contact you first and give you a reasonable opportunity — ordinarily ten (10) business days — to correct it. Section 6 takedown requests are the exception and take effect immediately.

If a use is not corrected, GROUND may suspend or terminate your access to the hub and require that the use be discontinued. You agree to notify GROUND promptly if you become aware of any unauthorized use of the Assets by a third party, or of any safety concern involving a participant.

14. No Warranty; Responsibility

The Assets are provided “as is.” GROUND makes no warranty that the Assets are suitable for any particular use, platform, or jurisdiction, and you are responsible for confirming that your use complies with applicable law, platform policy, and your own organization’s legal and tax obligations. GROUND is not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Assets. You are responsible for your organization’s use of the Assets and for any claim arising from a use outside the scope of these terms.

15. Governing Law and Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The parties will attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute informally. Any dispute not resolved informally will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the District of Columbia, and both parties consent to that jurisdiction and venue.

16. Amendments

GROUND may update these terms from time to time. Updated terms will be posted to the hub and will apply to Assets downloaded after posting. If GROUND makes a material change affecting Assets you have already downloaded, GROUND will provide notice, and your continued use of those Assets after that notice constitutes acceptance.

17. Entire Agreement

These terms are the complete agreement between you and GROUND regarding the Assets, unless you and GROUND have signed a separate written agreement, in which case that agreement controls where it conflicts. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.