Terms of Use

Securities Arbitration Commentator, Inc. ("SAC") compiles, organizes, and maintains Arbitration Awards from various securities forums on its searchable proprietary database known as ARBchekARBchek provides access to SAC's Arbitration Awards Library ("LIBRARY"), a proprietary collection of PDF-formatted, securities/commodities Arbitration Awards, and it supports functionality on the Arbitrator Research Base WebSite ("ARB WebSite"), which includes the ARBchek search system, a docket search window, and an Awards Disclosure Sheet search window (also known as the LITE version). This Terms of Use Agreement applies to all of these functions and systems. SAC claims copyright protection as to the LIBRARY and all data and facilities on the ARB Website. Your access to ARBchek, the ARB WebSite, or the LIBRARY does not transfer any rights in ARBchek or in the LIBRARY to you.

You are requested to read these Terms of Use and to acknowledge below that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions.

FINRA Arbitration Awards are reproduced by permission of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) under a non-exclusive license. FINRA accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of the reproduction of the Arbitration Awards in ARBchek. Any advice or commentary given in ARBchek about the Arbitration Awards is the sole responsibility of SAC and does not reflect the views of FINRA. FINRA reserves the right to amend Arbitration Awards at its discretion.

SAC MAKES NO CLAIM TO THE ORIGINAL ARBITRATION AWARDS, ONLY TO THOSE COPIES IN THE LIBRARY. YOU ARE NEITHER RESTRICTED NOR PROHIBITED FROM REQUESTING A COPY OF ANY ORIGINAL AWARD FROM THE SOURCE OF SUCH AWARD. WE ARE REQUIRED TO INFORM YOU THAT FINRA CLAIMS A COPYRIGHT AS TO THE FORMATTING OF AWARDS ISSUED BY THE FINRA DISPUTE RESOLUTION FORUM.

The LIBRARY, all reports and data produced in using ARBchek, now or in the future, including but not limited to Arbitrator Search Reports ("ARBchek ASRs") and Arbitrator Comparison Reports (“ACRs”) are provided to you for your personal or professional use, to the extent not inconsistent with the following limitations. In no event may you offer any Arbitration Awards retrieved from the LIBRARY or any ARBchek ASRsACRsor other reports for commercial purposes or as a part of a service bureau, time-sharing, or other similar arrangement. You further agree that you will not use the Arbitration Awards retrieved from the LIBRARY or the ARBchek ASRs, ACRs or other reports in the development of a database of Awards to be sold, made available to, or licensed to others. In that connection:

  • You may not use search "robots" or other automated devices or processes to access ARBchek or the LIBRARY.
  • You may not download in bulk substantial portions of the LIBRARY.
  • You may not download, copy or store any substantial portion of the Arbitration Awards (in machine-readable form) or mirror any of the Arbitration Awards maintained on the LIBRARY on any other server.
  • You may not compile copies of any ASRs, ACRsor other reports for any purpose other than to review them individually and not collectively.
  • You may not extract data from any ASRs, ACRsor other reports with a view to building a database for Award searching purposes.

SAC reserves all rights not expressly granted to you, including, but not limited to the right to alter, modify, update, enhance or improve ARBchek or the LIBRARY.

Except as specifically provided under this Agreement, you acknowledge and agree that the LIBRARY,ASRs, ACRs and other reports, including, without limitation, the structure, sequence and organization thereof, and all other elements of, or aspects related thereto, such as, by way of example and not limitation, data fields, methods of processing, specific design and structure, the interaction of documents contained therein and unique design techniques employed therein, as well as document storage and quality assurance methodologies (excluding the text of the individual awards), constitutes the valuable, confidential, copyrighted and trade secret property of SAC.

Unless for your personal or professional use, as limited herein, you may not otherwise reproduce, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish, broadcast or circulate the Arbitration Awards in electronic form that you retrieve from the LIBRARY, or any ASRs, ACRs or other reports without the express written consent of SAC. If you wish to use the Arbitration Awards maintained in the LIBRARY or any ASRs, ACRs or other reports in any manner not expressly permitted by this Agreement, you may request permission from SAC by giving to SAC a written description of the intended use and such other information as SAC may request. Only an authorized representative of SAC may grant permission. The granting of such a request may entail an additional fee. Please submit requests to Patricia Hayes, Securities Arbitration Commentator, Inc., P.O. Box 112, Maplewood, NJ 07040.

SAC IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF LEGAL OR OTHER EXPERT ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT.

The Arbitration Awards maintained in the LIBRARY and the data presented in ARBchek ASRs, ACRsand any other reports generated by or through the ARBcheksearch system are provided "as is" and SAC makes no warranty as to its use, accuracy, or completeness. SAC does not and cannot warrant your results or that ARBchek will be delivered uninterrupted or error free. With respect to the arbitration awards maintained on the LIBRARY, SAC makes no warranties, express or implied, as to non-infringement of third party rights, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.

SAC operates in the State of New Jersey. The ARBchek WebSiteand its components are operated and maintained in New Jersey. The data in the ASRs, ACRsand other reports and the Arbitration Awards in the LIBRARYare processed, uploaded and, in the case of the reports, created, in New Jersey. You understand and acknowledge that any abuse of the privileges granted by these Terms of Use that you may cause, directly or indirectly, may irreparably harm SAC’s and SLC’s business.

Any dispute between you and SAC, relating to your subscription or arising from or relating to your use or misuse of ARBchek,ACRs, ASRs, other reports generated by ARBchek, or the Arbitration Awards maintained in the LIBRARY, or the misuse or use of a password, whether direct or indirect, authorized or unauthorized, shall be adjudicated by arbitration under the Consumer Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, with venue in Essex County, New Jersey. In the event that the American Arbitration Association is unavailable as a forum, the dispute shall be adjudicated in New Jersey by an arbitration forum agreed to by the parties or, if the parties cannot agree on an arbitration forum within thirty (30) days, then either party may petition to the Superior Court of New Jersey for appointment of an arbitration forum. In any case, the exclusive venue for filing and maintaining any action arising under this Agreement shall be within the State of New Jersey. This agreement to arbitrate disputes shall be interpreted under the Federal Arbitration Act and any Award rendered in connection with a covered dispute may be confirmed in any court of competent jurisdiction.

In no event will SAC be liable to you for any consequential, incidental or special damages, including any lost profits, lost data or lost savings, even if SAC has been advised of the possibility of the injuries or damages alleged.

The laws of the State of New Jersey, excluding the application of its conflicts of law rules, will govern this Agreement. This Agreement will not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is expressly excluded. The exclusive venue for filing and maintaining any action arising under this Agreement shall be within the State of New Jersey.

Any notice required under this agreement shall be effective upon mailing by certified mail, return receipt requested, or via facsimile transmission sent to the address or facsimile telephone number of the respective party.

If any part of this Agreement is found void and unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the balance of the Agreement, which shall remain valid and enforceable according to its terms.

SAC may at any time revise these Terms of Use by updating this posting. By clicking the "I Agree" button you confirm your agreement to be bound by these Terms of Use and any revisions and therefore you should periodically visit this page to determine the current Terms of Use to which you are bound.