Effective Date: September 19, 2025.
Welcome to Sossiety LLC (“sOSSiety,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the sOSSiety websites, mobile applications, products, and services (collectively, the “Service”). By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.
Quick Summary (non‑contractual): sOSSiety is a community for Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) practitioners to connect, post, and track their training sessions. A display name and, if applicable, your gym are required for sign‑up. Your city and gym are displayed publicly. Be respectful, don’t post illegal or harmful content, and assume responsibility for your own training and any in‑person meetups. We’re an MVP, provided “as is,” and we may update these Terms as the product evolves. See the legally binding terms below.
sOSSiety is a Delaware corporation. You can contact us at admin@sossiety.com.
2.1 Age. You may use the Service only if (a) you are 16 or older globally; or (b) if you are in the United States, 13 or older. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you must have your parent or legal guardian’s permission. The Service is not for children under 13.
2.2 Display name & gym. During sign‑up, you must provide a display name and, if applicable, your gym. Your city and gym are displayed publicly by default (see Section 5). We may introduce optional identity or credential verification (e.g., belt/instructor validation) in the future.
2.3 Account security. You’re responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for activity on your account. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use.
2.4 One person—one account. Do not create accounts for others without permission or otherwise misrepresent your identity.
2.5 Organization‑Managed Child Accounts (inactive). Certain organization customers (e.g., academies) may create and manage accounts for users under the age of 13 in the U.S. (or under the applicable age of digital consent elsewhere). Such organizations represent and warrant that they have obtained all required verifiable parental consent and will comply with applicable child‑privacy laws. sOSSiety is not a party to the relationship between the organization and the child user; organizations are solely responsible for notices and permissions required by law. This section is inactive unless we explicitly enable organization features.
3.1 Search & Profiles. The Service enables discovery of practitioners around the world, including professions and interests. Profile fields you choose to provide may be public. You control optional fields, but city and gym are displayed publicly by default (see Section 5).
3.2 Feed. Users can post, comment, react, and share content. Posts may be public or audience‑limited as the product evolves.
3.3 Planner. Users and instructors may log training sessions, notes, and class schedules and provide feedback/praise about training partners. The Service does not provide medical advice and is not a medical device (see Section 9). Instructors are not vetted or certified by sOSSiety (see Section 8.3).
3.4 Beta/MVP. The Service may change frequently and may contain bugs, latency, or feature gaps. Some features may be experimental, limited, or unavailable in certain regions or on certain devices.
Your use of the Service is subject to our Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”), which explains how we collect, use, and share personal data. The Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference.
5.1 Public fields. Your display name, city, and gym are displayed publicly. Other fields you provide may be public depending on your settings and future feature design.
5.2 Location safety. Do not post your home address or other sensitive location details. Use caution when sharing time‑stamped or routine information that could reveal your precise whereabouts.
5.3 Search visibility. Public profile fields and public posts may be discoverable by other users or third‑party search engines.
6.1 Your content. You own the content you post (text, images, videos, comments, profile info, schedules, notes, and other materials) (collectively, “User Content”), subject to existing rights of others.
6.2 License to operate the Service. You grant sOSSiety a non‑exclusive, worldwide, royalty‑free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, adapt (for technical formatting), transmit, display, perform, and distribute your User Content as reasonably necessary to operate, provide, and improve the Service, including safety and abuse prevention. This license ends when your content is deleted from our systems, subject to Section 6.4. For clarity, we may display your display name, city, and gym with your User Content where the Service shows such context, consistent with your settings.
6.3 Marketing use of public content (opt‑in). With your explicit consent (e.g., a setting or prompt), we may feature your public posts and display name in sOSSiety promotional materials. You may withdraw consent at any time via settings or by contacting admin@sossiety.com.
6.4 Backups and removals. Deleted content may persist in backups for a limited time and may be retained as required by law, to resolve disputes, or to enforce these Terms. Content shared publicly or with others may remain visible if copied, shared, or stored by others.
6.5 Feedback. You grant sOSSiety a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty‑free license to use suggestions or feedback you provide without restriction or compensation.
You agree not to do any of the following:
A. Safety & Integrity – Harass, bully, threaten, dox, or incite violence or self‑harm. – Post hateful or discriminatory content targeting protected classes. – Share sexual content involving minors or sexually exploitative content. – Share illegal content or instructions facilitating illegal activity. – Stalk or facilitate stalking; share private or confidential information without consent.
B. BJJ Context & In‑Person Interactions – Glorify dangerous techniques or promote unsafe training practices without appropriate context and warnings. – Arrange in‑person activities that violate law or facility rules.
C. IP & Rights – Infringe others’ copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity, or privacy. – Impersonate others or misrepresent your identity, belt, or credentials.
D. Platform Integrity – Spam, manipulate engagement, run bots or scrapers, or interfere with the Service. – Reverse engineer, circumvent access controls, or probe for vulnerabilities. – Upload malware or attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts or data.
E. Commercial Conduct – Post deceptive ads, undisclosed affiliate content, or solicitations that violate law.
Additional prohibitions (clarity): You may not: (i) run chain letters, pyramid schemes, or multi‑level marketing; (ii) advertise or solicit where not expressly allowed; (iii) download or distribute files you know or should know cannot be lawfully distributed; (iv) falsify or remove author attributions or rights notices; (v) harvest email addresses or identifiers without consent; (vi) upload corrupted files or malware; (vii) interfere with others’ use of Interactive Features (e.g., feeds, forums, calendars, messaging).
Enforcement & Strikes. We may enforce these Terms at our discretion. For most violations we may use a three‑strike progression (warning; temporary restrictions; termination). For severe or repeat violations, we may suspend or terminate immediately, remove content, limit visibility, or report to authorities.
User moderators or community hosts are volunteers and not authorized representatives of sOSSiety; their views do not necessarily reflect ours.
8.1 Community validation. The Service may allow peer validation (e.g., belt rank, instructor status). Validation is community‑driven and may be inaccurate or incomplete. We do not guarantee the truth or reliability of validations.
8.2 No endorsement. Display of users, gyms, classes, or content does not constitute an endorsement by sOSSiety.
8.3 No credentialing. sOSSiety does not certify belts, instructors, gyms, or events. Always independently verify information before relying on it.
9.1 Planner. The Planner helps you log training sessions, notes, and schedules and to give/receive feedback. It is a general‑purpose tool and not a medical device.
9.2 No medical advice. sOSSiety does not provide medical or professional advice. User Content, including feedback/praise and training notes, is provided by the community “as is” and may be inaccurate. Always consult qualified professionals before starting or modifying training, especially if you have injuries or health conditions.
9.3 No HIPAA relationship. sOSSiety is not a covered entity or business associate under HIPAA. Do not submit protected health information you expect us to handle under HIPAA.
10.1 Ads & affiliates. We may show advertisements, sponsored content, or affiliate links. We do not endorse third‑party products. Disclosures will comply with applicable law.
10.2 Paid features (future). We may introduce subscriptions or paid features (e.g., instructor tools). Additional terms may apply and will be presented at purchase. Unless required by law or stated otherwise, fees are non‑refundable.
10.3 Cancellations & Refunds (future). You may cancel a paid subscription at any time, effective at the end of your current billing period. Unless required by law or stated otherwise at purchase, fees are non‑refundable. If required by local law (e.g., EU consumer withdrawal rights), additional terms will apply and will be presented at checkout.
11.1 Our IP. The Service and all content we provide (excluding User Content) are owned by sOSSiety or its licensors and protected by intellectual property laws. You may not use our trademarks without permission.
11.2 DMCA notices. If you believe content infringes your copyright, send a notice to our DMCA Agent (see Section 1) with: (a) your contact info; (b) identification of the copyrighted work; (c) identification of the infringing material and its location; (d) a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good‑faith belief the use is not authorized; (e) a statement that the information is accurate and you are the copyright owner or authorized agent; and (f) your physical or electronic signature.
11.3 Repeat infringers. We may terminate accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
12.1 Inherent risks. BJJ and related training involve physical contact and inherent risk of injury or worse. You acknowledge and assume all risks associated with training, sparring, traveling to/from gyms, attending events, and meeting others.
12.2 Release. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release sOSSiety and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from claims and liabilities arising out of or related to injuries, incidents, or disputes occurring on or off the Service, including in‑person interactions you arrange through the Service.
12.3 No duty to screen. We do not conduct criminal or background checks, and we are not responsible for users’ actions on or off the Service.
The Service may link to or integrate with third‑party services (e.g., calendars, payment processors, app stores). We are not responsible for those services, their content, or their terms and privacy practices.
You may only use the Service in compliance with applicable export controls and sanctions. You represent you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions and are not on any U.S. government restricted list.
14.2 International Users. The Service is controlled from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the U.S., you are responsible for complying with local laws. We make no representation that the Service is appropriate or available in all jurisdictions.
You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, remove content, or reclaim usernames at any time, including for violations of these Terms, risk to users, or legal/compliance reasons. Upon termination, Sections that by their nature should survive (including 6.5, 9–12, 14–21) will survive.
We may modify the Service or these Terms. If we make material changes, we will provide notice (e.g., email, in‑app, or by posting). Continued use after the changes become effective constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Service.
THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SOSSIETY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON‑INFRINGEMENT, AND ACCURACY. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE UPTIME, SECURITY, OR ERROR‑FREE OPERATION.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SOSSIETY AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) $100 OR (B) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO SOSSIETY FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those cases, the above limitations apply to the fullest extent permitted.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless sOSSiety and its affiliates, officers, agents, and employees from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to your User Content, your use of the Service, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.
20.1 Governing law. These Terms (and any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Delaware.
20.2 Dispute resolution mechanism. You agree that the procedures set forth in this Section 20 shall be the exclusive mechanism for resolving any dispute, controversy, or claim of any nature between you and Sossiety that may arise out of or in relation to these Terms or the Service.
20.3 Notice and informal resolution. In the event of any dispute that may arise out of or in relation to these Terms, or the Service, you agree to provide Sossiety with written notice of such dispute by emailing admin@sossiety.com. You and Sossiety shall first attempt in good faith to resolve such dispute by negotiation and consultation. In the event we cannot resolve the dispute on such an informal basis within 60 days from receipt of written notice of the dispute, either party may, in its discretion, seek resolution of the dispute in accordance with Section 20.4 below.
20.4 Arbitration. Any unresolved dispute between us arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, that has been subject to and exhausted the informal resolution procedures of Section 20.3, will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect at the time the arbitration is commenced. A single arbitrator shall conduct proceedings under the Consumer Arbitration Rules. If there is a conflict between the applicable AAA rules and procedures and this arbitration agreement, this arbitration agreement shall control. The seat of arbitration will be Delaware, and the language will be English. All pleadings, information and documents exchanged, and the arbitrator’s ruling shall be treated as confidential and have no precedential value. However, if either of us seeks to confirm the arbitrator’s decision in court, we agree that the documents necessary for such confirmation need not be filed under seal. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
20.5 Small claims. The only exception to arbitration of disputes is that both you and Sossiety have the right to pursue an individual action in small claims court in a small claims court in New Castle County, Delaware, or in the U.S. county where you live, if the claim qualifies, instead of arbitration.
20.6 CLASS ACTION WAIVER. YOU AND SOSSIETY AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator shall not have authority to consolidate claims of more than one person, entertain any claim on behalf of a person who is not a named party, nor shall any arbitrator have authority to make any award for the benefit of, or against, any person who is not a named party to the arbitration.
20.7 Injunctive relief. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction only to protect intellectual property or to prevent unauthorized access or use of the Service.
If you access the Service via the Apple App Store or Google Play, you also agree to their applicable terms. Apple and Google are not parties to these Terms and are not responsible for the Service. Apple has no obligation to furnish maintenance or support. To the extent any third‑party terms conflict, these Terms control as between you and sOSSiety.
22.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms presented for specific features, are the entire agreement between you and sOSSiety.
22.2 No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
22.3 Severability. If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect, and the unenforceable provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to be enforceable.
22.4 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or by operation of law.
22.5 Notices. We may send notices to the email associated with your account, by in‑app message, or by posting within the Service. You consent to receive communications from us electronically, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
22.6 Contact. Questions about these Terms? Email admin@sossiety.com.
22.7 Printed version admissible. A printed version of these Terms and any electronic notices is admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings to the same extent as other business documents generated and maintained in printed form.
Appendix A – Reporting & Appeals (Moderation) – Report content/users: Use in‑product tools where available or email admin@sossiety.com. – Appeal: If your content is removed or account restricted, you may request review by contacting admin@sossiety.com. Provide context and any relevant URLs or screenshots. – Repeat infringers: Accounts engaging in repeated violations (including IP infringement) may be terminated under our repeat‑infringer policy.
Thank you for helping us build a safe, respectful BJJ community on and off the mats.