Terms of Service

1.1Who runs this

You Should Hear This is run by its site owner, an individual in California ("we" and "us" in these Terms). The way to reach us about anything here is hello@youshouldhearthis.com.

1.2Agreeing to these Terms

By buying a billboard, a Hype or a Heckle, or otherwise using the site, you agree to these Terms, including the Rules in section 3 (also at /rules), and to our Privacy Policy. At checkout you tick a box saying so, and we keep a record of when you did and which version of these Terms you agreed to.

1.3You must be 18 to buy

You must be at least 18 to buy anything here. The site isn't for children under 13 at all.

1.4When these Terms change

We'll post any change here with a new date at the top. Each purchase is governed by the version you agreed to when you made it. New purchases follow the version in place at the time.

2.1Days run midnight to midnight Pacific

Every billboard day runs from 12:00am to 11:59pm Pacific time, wherever you are. If you book today, your billboard runs from when your payment goes through until midnight Pacific. Today's spots stop selling at last call, which the calendar shows.

2.2Billboards go up automatically

Before you can pay, your billboard goes through automated checks: our word list, an AI review of your words and photo, and a comparison against images we've banned. If it passes and you pay, it goes up on its day without a person reviewing it first. We look at every purchase after the fact.

2.3Booking limits

One booking covers a limited number of days, and each email address can only hold so many upcoming days at once. The calendar shows the current limits. They keep any one buyer from locking up the billboard, and we may reject bookings that look like a way around them.

2.4Hypes and Heckles are part of the game

Anyone can buy a Hype or a Heckle and stick it on a live billboard, unless the billboard's owner added a Bouncer, which keeps Heckles out. You don't get a refund because you didn't like a Hype or a Heckle on your billboard. If we remove one, its buyer gets the refund.

2.5"Forever" means while the site runs

After its last day, a billboard moves to The Basement and keeps its short link. "Forever" means for as long as we run the site.

2.6No guarantees about views

We don't promise any number of views, shares or results. The "heard" counter is an estimate, not an audit.

3.1No gambling or betting

No betting tips, odds, casinos, sportsbooks or anything else that pushes people to gamble. Cheering for your team is fine. Telling people to bet on them isn't.

3.2Nothing sexual or explicit

No nudity, sexual content or innuendo that goes past a wink. If you wouldn't say it in front of a grandparent, it doesn't go up.

3.3No hate, harassment or slurs

No slurs, and nothing that attacks people for who they are: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or anything like it. No harassing anyone, public figures included.

3.4Opinions welcome, no campaigning or cruelty

Say what you think about your town, your schools, the roads, a new stadium or a law you love or hate. Thanking an official or disagreeing with their decision is fine.

What can't go up: telling people to vote for or against a candidate, party or ballot measure (paid election ads come with legal disclosure rules); claims about when, where or how to vote, or whether an election was fair; accusing a real person of a crime or corruption as if it's fact; insults, mockery or personal attacks on anyone, officials and candidates included; and anything meant to start a fight or paint the other side as enemies.

3.5No threats or violence

No threats, even as a joke, and nothing that celebrates or encourages violence or self-harm.

3.6No drugs or illegal activity

Nothing that promotes illegal drugs, selling weapons, or anything else that's against the law.

3.7No scams

No get-rich-quick schemes, fake giveaways, phishing, or offers designed to trick people out of their money or information.

3.8No impersonation

Sign it as yourself. Don't pretend to be another person, a business, a team or an official, and don't make it look like they're behind your billboard when they aren't.

3.9No one else's private information

No phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses, license plates or other private details about anyone other than you.

3.10Don't go after private people

Roasting a friend is fine if it's friendly. Calling out a private person in a way that could embarrass or hurt them isn't.

3.11No logos, characters or images you don't have rights to

Only use images you took yourself or have permission to use. That means no sports team or league logos, no brand logos you don't own, no cartoon or movie characters, and no photos taken by someone else: pro sports photos, stock photos, screenshots of TV, movies or broadcasts.

Naming a team in your words is fine ("Padres fans"). Using their logo isn't. If we get a complaint about an image, it comes down.

3.12Don't try to sneak past the checks

No hidden characters, deliberate misspellings to dodge our word list, text in your photo that says what your words can't, or instructions aimed at our AI checker.

4.1You keep what you make

Your words and your photo stay yours. By posting them, you give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to show them on the site, in The Basement, in share images and in posts promoting the site, for as long as the site runs. If you ask us to take a billboard out of The Basement, we will, and we'll stop using it in anything new.

4.2You're responsible for what you post

You promise you have the right to post everything on your billboard, and that it doesn't break these Terms or the law. If something you post gets us into legal trouble, you agree to cover our resulting costs, including reasonable legal fees. (Lawyers call this indemnification.)

5.1We can reject anything, anytime

We can take down any billboard, Hype or Heckle at any time, for any reason, including after it's run. If we reject something you bought, you get a full refund of that purchase. Rejected content doesn't come back.

5.2Edits and takedowns

If you ask, we can fix the words on your billboard or move it to another open day. We can also remove just your photo if someone complains it infringes their copyright or trademark. We don't redesign billboards.

5.3Prices, payment and refunds

Prices are in US dollars, and you pay through Stripe. Your card details go to Stripe, never to us. You pay the price shown at checkout, even if prices change later.

If your days get taken while your payment is going through, we refund you in full automatically. Otherwise, purchases are final unless we reject them (see above), so check your days before you pay.

5.4If the site goes away

We can change the site or shut it down. If we shut down before a day you've paid for, we'll refund the days that didn't run.

6.1Reporting a copyright problem

If you think something on the site infringes your copyright, email our designated agent, the site contact, at hello@youshouldhearthis.com. Include: your name and contact information; the work you think was copied; the link to where it appears here; a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized by you, your agent or the law; a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you own the copyright or are authorized to act for the owner; and your physical or electronic signature.

We'll take the material down and let the person who posted it know.

6.2If your content was taken down by mistake

You can send a counter-notice to hello@youshouldhearthis.com. Include: your name, address and phone number; what was removed and where it appeared; a statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith it was removed by mistake or misidentification; your consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for your address (or, if you're outside the US, any judicial district where we can be found) and to accept service from the person who complained; and your physical or electronic signature.

If the person who complained doesn't tell us within 10 business days that they've gone to court, we may put the material back.

6.3Repeat infringers

If content you posted is removed for infringement more than once, we'll block your email address from buying anything here again.

6.4Trademark complaints

The copyright process above doesn't cover trademarks. If you think a billboard misuses your trademark, like your logo, email hello@youshouldhearthis.com with the link and what's wrong, and we'll look at it quickly.

7.1The site comes as is

We work hard to keep the site up and your billboard looking right, but we provide the site "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, to the extent the law allows.

7.2Limits on our liability

To the extent the law allows, we're not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits. Our total liability for any claim about the site is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.

7.3California law

California law governs these Terms, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute goes to the state or federal courts in San Diego County, California, and we both agree to their jurisdiction. Either of us can take a dispute to small claims court instead if it qualifies.

7.4The whole agreement

These Terms (with the Rules) and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the site. If a court throws out one part, the rest still stands. If we don't enforce something right away, we haven't given up the right to.

7.5Contact

Questions, complaints or requests: hello@youshouldhearthis.com.