Terms of Use

Using punkaficionado.com means you're agreeing to what's on this page. It's short, it's in plain English, and none of it is designed to trick you. If you don't agree with it, don't use the site.

1. Who this is between

These Terms are an agreement between you and Punk Aficionado ("we," "us," "our") covering punkaficionado.com, our newsletter The Dispatch, any podcast or messaging service we run, and anything else we point at from here. If you're under 18, you need a parent or guardian's permission to use the site.

2. What you can do with the site

Read it, share it, quote it, link to it, screenshot it, send it to your friends. We want that. You may use the site for personal, non-commercial purposes.

What you may not do:

• Scrape, crawl, or bulk-harvest the site or our database, including for training machine learning models, without written permission.
• Republish substantial portions of our writing as your own. Quote us, credit us, link back — that's fine. Copy-paste an entire review onto your own site — that's not.
• Break, overload, probe, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, its APIs, or its database.
• Use the site to harass anyone, or to do anything illegal.
• Sign up for the newsletter with an address that isn't yours.

3. What you send us

You can submit bands, shows, reviews, photos, tips, and corrections. Here's the deal on those:

You keep your rights

You own what you write and shoot. Nothing here transfers your copyright.

You give us a license to run it

By submitting anything, you grant Punk Aficionado a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, edit for length and clarity, publish, distribute, and display it on the site, in the newsletter, in a podcast, and on our social accounts — with credit where you've given us a name to credit.

You promise it's actually yours

By submitting, you represent that: it's your original work or you have permission to send it; it doesn't infringe anyone's copyright, trademark, or privacy; and it isn't defamatory or unlawful. If you send us a photo you found on someone's Instagram, you're the one on the hook for it — not us.

We don't have to publish anything

We review submissions and we run what we want. We can edit, decline, or remove any submission at any time, for any reason, without notice or explanation. Sending something to us doesn't mean it will appear, and there's no payment for submissions unless we've agreed one in writing.

No confidentiality

Don't send us secrets. Submissions are not confidential, and we're under no obligation to keep them so.

4. Our content

The writing, reviews, timelines, maps, artwork, layout, and the Punk Aficionado name and logo are ours (or used with permission) and are protected by copyright and trademark law.

Album covers, band photos, flyers, and logos that appear on the site are the property of their respective owners. Where we use them, we use them editorially — to illustrate reviews, history, and news coverage — which we believe constitutes fair use. We're not claiming ownership of anyone's artwork. If you own something here and want it down, see our Copyright & Takedown Policy; we'll handle it promptly and without drama.

5. Show listings, links, and third parties

Our shows pages aggregate publicly announced gigs. Always verify with the venue or the official ticket seller before you make plans. Dates move, supports drop off, venues change, tours get cancelled, and listings go stale. We don't sell tickets, we're not affiliated with the venues or promoters, and we're not responsible if you drive four hours to a show that isn't happening.

The site links out constantly — to bands, labels, ticket sellers, Spotify, Instagram, news outlets. We don't control those sites and we don't endorse everything on them. Once you click through, you're on their turf and their terms apply.

6. Newsletter and messages

Signing up for The Dispatch is opt-in, and there's an unsubscribe link in every issue. How we handle your email is covered in the Privacy Notice. If we ever launch text alerts, those have their own SMS Terms and a separate opt-in.

7. Opinions are opinions

We review records. Reviews are opinion, and criticism is protected as such. Historical and news content is researched in good faith and we correct mistakes when we find them — email hello@punkaficionado.com if we got something wrong and we'll fix it. But nothing on this site is professional, legal, financial, or medical advice, and you shouldn't treat it as the last word on a factual dispute.

8. The site comes as-is

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the site and everything on it is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or accuracy. We don't promise the site will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that any information on it is complete or current.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Punk Aficionado and anyone working on it will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or lost opportunities, arising out of your use of the site — even if we were told such damages were possible.

Where liability can't be excluded, our total liability to you for any claim relating to the site is limited to one hundred US dollars ($100.00) or the amount you paid us in the preceding twelve months, whichever is greater.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain exclusions, so parts of §8 and §9 may not apply to you. Nothing here limits liability for fraud or anything else that can't lawfully be limited.

10. Indemnity

You agree to defend and indemnify Punk Aficionado against claims, damages, and reasonable legal fees arising from content you submit or from your misuse of the site.

11. Suspension

We can remove content, block access, or unsubscribe an address at any time if we reasonably believe these Terms have been broken. We don't have to warn you first.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in California, and you consent to that jurisdiction — except that either of us may bring a claim in small claims court.

13. Everything else

• If any part of these Terms is held unenforceable, the rest still stands.
• Not enforcing something once doesn't mean we've given up the right to enforce it later.
• These Terms, plus the Privacy Notice, Cookie Notice, SMS Terms, and Copyright Policy, are the whole agreement between us.
• We may update these Terms; the date at the top shows the current version. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept it.

14. Contact