Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding legal agreement between you (“you,” “your”) and The Fringe (“The Fringe,” “we,” “us,” “our”) governing your access to and use of the website located at alleymap.com, any associated mobile applications, APIs, emails, and related services (collectively, the “Service”).

By accessing, registering for, or using the Service, you represent that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not access or use the Service.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a company, venue, label, or other entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that entity, and “you” and “your” refer to that entity.

The Fringe is an independent, editorially curated discovery platform for live music and cultural events in the New York City area. The Service aggregates factual event information (dates, times, venues, lineups, ticketing URLs, pricing) from publicly available sources and authorized data providers, and presents it in a unified interface so visitors can find shows they'd like to attend. The Fringe is a commercial service supported by paid placements from venues, artists, labels, promoters, and live-music-related businesses; all paid placements are clearly labeled. We do not run third-party ad trackers, behavioral profiling, or DSP-based advertising.

The Fringe is not a ticket seller, event producer, venue operator, promoter, or agent. We do not organize, host, manage, control, insure, or stand behind any event listed on the Service. When you click a link to buy a ticket or confirm an event, you are sent to a third-party site and enter a direct relationship with that third party.

Event information displayed on the Service is compiled from sources including but not limited to: official venue websites and calendars that are published on the open web, ticketing platform APIs and data feeds made available for discovery and distribution, licensed data partnerships, direct submissions from venues and promoters, and metadata services (including Spotify's public Web API for artist-identification purposes). We aim to use sources in a manner consistent with each source's terms, robots exclusion rules, and applicable law, and we respond promptly to any source that requests a change in how their information is handled.

Factual event data (date, time, venue, performer, price, ticket link) is not subject to copyright protection under Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991), and is treated by the Service as public, factual information.

Event posters, promotional images, album art, and venue photography remain the property of their respective rights-holders. Such images are displayed on the Service to identify the event they refer to, to enable commentary and reference, and to help readers recognize shows they already know about, which we believe constitutes fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107 considering (a) the transformative, referential nature of the use, (b) the factual/reference purpose of the overall page, (c) the limited portion displayed, and (d) the lack of market harm to the original. Rights-holders who disagree may use the takedown process described below and we will act promptly.

We make reasonable efforts to keep event information current, but we do not warrant or guarantee its accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability. Show times shift, lineups change, tickets sell out, venues relocate, events get cancelled, and our ingestion of third-party data can lag behind reality.

• Event dates, times, locations, and lineups may change without notice.
• Ticket prices shown may not reflect service fees, taxes, dynamic pricing, or door-price adjustments.
• Availability and sold-out status can change at any time, even between page load and click.
• Age restrictions, accessibility details, and venue policies are set by each venue and may differ from what we show.
• Events labeled “Free” may still require an RSVP, donation, minimum purchase, or ID at the door.

You may browse much of the Service without an account. Certain features (saving events, building a match list, receiving personalized recommendations) require you to create an account using your email address and a password, along with optional profile details such as your first and last name, date of birth, neighborhoods, and genres. You may also sign in by one-time email link (a “magic link”) instead of a password.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. You represent that the information you provide at registration is accurate and that you will keep it current.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password (if you set one) and the email account associated with your The Fringe account, and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at contact.alleymap@gmail.com if you suspect unauthorized access. We are not liable for any loss that results from your failure to keep your password or email secure.

You may delete your account at any time from your profile page. Deletion removes your personal profile data from our production systems on a rolling basis, subject to retention exceptions described in the Privacy Policy.

When you save events, follow artists, pick neighborhoods and genres, report a listing, or send us a message, you may submit information to the Service (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content. You grant The Fringe a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting and display), display, and distribute your User Content solely to operate, provide, improve, and promote the Service.

You represent and warrant that (a) you have all rights necessary to submit the User Content and grant the license above, (b) the User Content does not violate any third-party right, including intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or contractual rights, and (c) the User Content does not violate any applicable law.

We may remove, modify, or refuse any User Content at our discretion, with or without notice, for any reason, including suspected violation of these Terms.

We offer sponsored placements (featured rows, splash takeovers, newsletter callouts) to venues, promoters, artists, labels, and related businesses. The terms governing any specific placement are set out in a separate written insertion order (“IO”) that you sign before the campaign runs. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and an executed IO, the IO controls for that placement.

Sponsored content is clearly labeled (“Featured,” “Sponsored,” or equivalent) and is held to the content standards described in the IO. The Fringe reserves the right to accept, reject, remove, or modify any creative at any time. Advertisers represent that all creative assets and claims are owned or licensed by them and comply with applicable law.

Placement fees are non-refundable once a campaign is live, except where The Fringe fails to deliver the placement or voluntarily removes the creative for editorial reasons unrelated to advertiser conduct. Refunds, when due, are pro-rated based on the portion of the campaign not yet delivered.

You agree not to, and not to permit any third party to:

• Access the Service through automated means that exceed normal human browsing, place an undue load on our infrastructure, or interfere with other users' access, including by means of bots, spiders, crawlers, headless browsers, or similar tools not expressly authorized by us in writing.
• Systematically copy, reproduce, scrape, harvest, aggregate, mirror, or redistribute content from the Service (including event data, artwork, or editorial text) for commercial purposes or to build any competing or derivative product without our prior written permission.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code of any part of the Service.
• Attempt to circumvent, disable, or defeat any security, authentication, rate-limiting, or access-control mechanism.
• Access or use any non-public area of the Service, our servers, our vendors' systems, or the computer systems of third parties accessible through the Service.
• Impersonate another person or entity, misrepresent your affiliation, or submit false information to the Service.
• Use the Service to transmit spam, malware, phishing content, or any unlawful, infringing, defamatory, harassing, or abusive material.
• Use the Service in violation of any applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation, including export control laws.
• Remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice displayed on the Service.

We may investigate, suspend, or terminate any user believed to have violated these rules, with or without notice, at our sole discretion, and without liability to you. We may report suspected illegal conduct to law enforcement and cooperate with any lawful investigation.

The The Fringe name, logo, site design, typography, color system, editorial voice, original written content, code, and compilations of data are owned by The Fringe or used under license, and are protected by U.S. and international intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you a license to use any The Fringe mark or content except as strictly necessary to use the Service as intended.

All other trademarks, service marks, and trade names referenced on the Service (venue names, artist names, ticketing-platform marks, etc.) are the property of their respective owners. Their appearance on the Service does not imply endorsement or affiliation.

The Fringe respects intellectual property rights and complies with the safe-harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512). If you believe material on the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent at contact.alleymap@gmail.com containing all six statutory elements:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on the owner's behalf.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or a representative list, if multiple).
3. Identification of the allegedly infringing material, with enough detail to let us locate it (include URLs).
4. Your contact information: name, address, telephone number, and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on its behalf.

Upon receipt of a facially valid notice, we will promptly remove or disable access to the material, typically within 48 hours, and notify the party who submitted it where possible. We may also remove material proactively at our discretion. Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated.

Counter-notices may be submitted to the same address and must include all the elements required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).

Misrepresentations in a DMCA notice or counter-notice may subject the sender to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

The Service contains links to third-party websites and services, including ticketing platforms (e.g., Ticketmaster, DICE, Eventbrite, Resident Advisor), venue sites, streaming services (e.g., Spotify), map and location services, and payment processors. We do not control, endorse, or assume responsibility for any third-party content, product, service, policy, or practice.

Your use of any third-party site or service is governed solely by that third party's terms and privacy policy. Any transaction you enter into with a third party is solely between you and that third party. The Fringe is not a party to, and has no liability for, any such transaction.

Some outbound links on the Service may be affiliate or referral links. If you purchase a ticket or product through such a link, The Fringe may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships do not influence which events appear on the Service, how they are ranked, or what we say about them editorially. We will disclose material affiliate relationships as required by FTC guidelines.

Attending live events involves inherent risks, including risks related to crowds, noise, travel, weather, alcohol service by venues, public health, and the conduct of other attendees. The Fringe has no role in the production, organization, security, or operation of any event listed on the Service. You voluntarily assume all such risks when you attend any event you discover through The Fringe.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The Fringe and its operators, contributors, licensors, suppliers, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your access to or use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property, publicity, confidentiality, or privacy right; or (e) any claim that your use of the Service caused damage to any third party.

Mandatory informal resolution (30 days). Before initiating any formal proceeding of any kind — including any lawsuit, arbitration, small-claims action, regulatory complaint, or administrative filing — you agree to first send a written description of the dispute to contact.alleymap@gmail.comand to negotiate with us in good faith, privately, for a period of at least thirty (30) days (the “Informal Resolution Period”). You agree that you will not file, commence, or participate in any formal proceeding during the Informal Resolution Period. All communications exchanged during that period are confidential, are offered solely for purposes of settlement under Federal Rule of Evidence 408 and equivalent state rules, and are inadmissible in any later proceeding except as required by law. The statute of limitations and any contractual time-to-file limit is tolled during the Informal Resolution Period. A formal proceeding filed before this 30-day period concludes must be dismissed without prejudice on application by either party.

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 New Jersey, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, and, where applicable, the laws of the United States.

Exclusive venue. Subject to the Informal Resolution Period above, you and The Fringe agree that any dispute shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of New Jersey. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts and waive any objection based on inconvenient forum or residency.

Class action waiver. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you and The Fringe 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, collective, or representative proceeding.

Jury waiver. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you and The Fringe each waive any right to a jury trial in any proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service.

Time limit. Any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, it is permanently barred.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. You may stop using the Service or delete your account at any time. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including the licenses you grant us over User Content, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Dispute Resolution, and these general provisions) will survive.

The Fringe is not liable for any delay or failure to perform caused by events outside our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil disturbance, labor disputes, epidemic, pandemic, government action, power or internet outages, or failures of third-party vendors or infrastructure.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable insertion order, constitute the entire agreement between you and The Fringe regarding the Service and supersede all prior communications and proposals.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction.

Notices. We may provide notices to you via email, in-product notifications, or postings on the Service. Notices to us should be sent to contact.alleymap@gmail.com.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

Changes. We may revise these Terms at any time by posting an updated version on this page. Material changes will be communicated to registered users before they take effect where reasonably practicable. Your continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.