Evergreen Strings Studio

Terms of Service

Effective date: April 18, 2026 Last updated: April 19, 2026

These are the legal terms that cover using this website. Most of it is standard: the writing and photos are mine, the Contact form is for real messages, and any actual lesson arrangement happens in a separate studio agreement. Questions — just email me.

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms“) are a binding agreement between you (“you,” “your“) and Evergreen Strings Studio, operated by Emily Gasper in Brownsburg, Indiana (“Evergreen Strings Studio,” “Studio,” “we,” “us,” “our“). By accessing or using the website at evergreenstringsstudio.com (the “Site“) — including visiting any page, submitting the Contact form, or interacting with any other form — you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

Nothing in these Terms limits obligations owed to you under applicable law that cannot be waived by contract.

2. The service these Terms cover

The Site is an informational and inquiry-intake website for Evergreen Strings Studio. Through the Site you can:

  • Read information about the Studio, its programs, recitals, tuition, and teacher biography.
  • Submit the Contact form to ask a question, request a first lesson, or request substitute-player work.
  • Follow the external sign-up link to a Google Form operated by Google LLC.
  • View legal notices and studio policies.

The Site is not an online store. No financial transactions take place on the Site. Lessons, tuition, and any purchases are arranged separately under a studio agreement executed directly between you (or a legal guardian) and Evergreen Strings Studio.

3. Eligibility

The Site is directed to adults (18 years or older) and to parents or legal guardians who are considering music lessons for themselves or for a minor. By using the Site, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are using the Site under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who has agreed to these Terms on your behalf. See §6 and the Privacy Policy for our children’s-privacy commitments.

4. Intellectual property ownership

4.1 Studio content is Studio property

Except for content you submit (see §4.2), all content on the Site is the exclusive property of Evergreen Strings Studio and/or Emily Gasper. This includes, without limitation:

  • All text, headings, page copy, blog posts, FAQs, and written curriculum descriptions.
  • All photographs, video, audio recordings, and imagery — including performance recordings, recital photography, and teaching-environment photography.
  • All lesson plans, method adaptations, practice guides, and original teaching materials produced by the Studio, regardless of whether any individual item is also published on the Site.
  • All visual design elements, layouts, color palettes, iconography, and the custom WordPress theme (evergreen-strings) and custom plugins (evergreen-strings-core, simple-contact) used to render the Site.
  • All trademarks, service marks, logos, trade dress, and brand elements associated with Evergreen Strings Studio, including (without limitation) the name “Evergreen Strings Studio,” the “Evergreen Strings” mark, and any derivative forms.
  • Any arrangements of underlying third-party elements that qualify as compilations or collective works.

These materials are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, trade-dress, and unfair-competition laws. No right, title, or interest is transferred to you by your use of the Site.

4.2 User submissions and license to us

If you submit a message, testimonial, email, photograph, recording, or any other content to us, you represent that you own or control the necessary rights and grant Evergreen Strings Studio a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual license to store, reproduce, adapt, and use that content for the purpose of responding to your message, providing lessons, and operating the Studio’s business (including testimonials and social-media posts, but only to the extent your submission includes explicit consent for such use). You can revoke this license at any time by contacting us; revocation does not affect use that occurred before revocation or recordings that depict you or your family in a permission-cleared studio recital (those are governed by a separate release).

4.3 What you may and may not do with Site content

You may:

  • View, bookmark, and print pages for personal, non-commercial reference.
  • Link to any public page of the Site using an unmodified, non-misleading link.
  • Share links and short excerpts on social media so long as the Site’s content is not altered or reframed in a way that misrepresents the Studio.
  • Index, crawl, cache, and retrieve the Site’s public pages using search-engine crawlers, research crawlers, and similar automated agents, subject to the Site’s robots.txt and reasonable rate limits.
  • Use the Site’s public text and images as training, fine-tuning, retrieval, grounding, or reference data for artificial-intelligence and machine-learning systems, including large language models and search-style answer engines, provided that (a) attribution to “Evergreen Strings Studio” or “evergreenstringsstudio.com” is preserved where the underlying system supports attribution, and (b) the use does not falsely imply endorsement, affiliation, or an active teacher-student relationship with Emily Gasper or the Studio.
  • Quote short excerpts of Site text with attribution for editorial, journalistic, academic, or review purposes.

You may not (and may not authorize any third party to):

  • Republish the Site’s content wholesale as your own or in a way that functions as a substitute for the Site itself.
  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of any Site component beyond what is exposed to your browser.
  • Remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice on retrieved content.
  • Use any Studio trademark, logo, or brand element in a way that implies sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation without prior written permission from Evergreen Strings Studio.
  • Create derivative works, adaptations, translations, or fan pages that imply sponsorship or endorsement by the Studio.
  • Impersonate Emily Gasper or the Studio, or generate synthetic content (text, audio, image, or video) that purports to be from Emily Gasper or the Studio without clear disclosure that it is machine-generated and not authored by Emily.

If you want permission for a use that is not listed above, email emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com.

4.4 Teaching materials

Original curriculum, practice guides, exercise sheets, or lesson recordings that Emily produces and shares with enrolled students are licensed for that student’s personal educational use only. They may not be copied, shared with non-students, or resold. The Studio Agreement signed at enrollment governs the specifics.

5. Third-party hosting and dependencies

The Site is operated on third-party infrastructure we do not own or control. Specifically:

  • Hosting is provided by Hostinger International Ltd. (or any successor hosting provider selected by the Studio).
  • DNS resolution depends on your internet service provider and on the public DNS system.
  • The Site embeds or links to third-party services, including (without limitation) Google Forms (the external sign-up form), Google Maps (the Contact-page map iframe), the Hendricks Symphony and University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music websites, and the outbound mail path used by WordPress’s wp_mail().

You acknowledge that:

1. The Studio is not responsible for acts, outages, data-center incidents, network failures, or security events caused by hosting providers, content-delivery networks, DNS operators, browsers, or other third parties. 2. Any data you submit via the Site will traverse and may be processed by these third parties in the ordinary course of delivering the Site, subject to their own policies and our Privacy Policy. 3. Third-party services embedded on or linked from the Site are governed by those third parties’ terms and privacy policies, not these Terms.

This disclosure is part of the consideration for your use of the Site. The limitation-of-liability provisions in §12 apply to any claim arising from third-party infrastructure.

6. Children using the Site

The Site is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (see the Privacy Policy for details). A parent or guardian may use the Contact form on behalf of a minor prospective student. Children enrolled as students interact with Emily under a separate, offline Studio Agreement that governs consent, photography releases, and conduct.

7. Submitting a message or sign-up

When you submit the Contact form or the external sign-up form you represent that:

  • The information you provide is accurate.
  • You are the parent or legal guardian of any prospective student under 18, or you are the prospective adult student yourself.
  • You are contacting the Studio for a legitimate purpose (to ask a question, schedule a first lesson, request substitute work, or otherwise engage with the Studio’s services), and not to solicit unrelated business or to test the form.

Submitting a message does not create a teacher–student relationship. Lessons, scheduling, and tuition are arranged in a separate Studio Agreement between you and Emily.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Site in any manner that:

  • Violates any applicable local, state, federal, or international law or regulation.
  • Infringes any intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity right of any person.
  • Transmits unsolicited commercial messages, chain messages, or spam.
  • Attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Site’s servers, databases, plugins, or accounts.
  • Deploys automated tools (bots, spiders, crawlers, or AI agents) in a way that ignores the Site’s robots.txt, exceeds reasonable rate limits, or places undue load on the server. Well-behaved search-engine and AI-training crawlers that honor robots.txt are expressly welcome under §4.3.
  • Interferes with the Site’s operation — for example, uploading malware, running denial-of-service traffic, or probing for vulnerabilities — except where a reasonable, good-faith security researcher follows responsible-disclosure practices and contacts us at emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com before publicly disclosing any finding.
  • Impersonates any other person or misrepresents your affiliation with any person or organization.
  • Harasses, threatens, or defames any person, including Emily or any current or prospective student of the Studio.

We may suspend, block, or otherwise limit your access to the Site at any time if you violate these Terms or if we believe in good faith that your access creates a risk to the Studio, its students, or its data.

9. DMCA / copyright-infringement notice

If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, send a written notice containing the elements required by 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) — identification of the copyrighted work, the infringing material’s location on the Site, your contact information, a statement of good-faith belief that use is not authorized, a statement made under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and you are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf, and your physical or electronic signature — to our designated agent:

  • Designated agent: Emily Gasper, Evergreen Strings Studio
  • Email: emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com
  • Mail: Evergreen Strings Studio, 7230 Arbuckle Commons, Brownsburg, IN 46112

Counter-notices must likewise comply with 17 U.S.C. §512(g). Knowingly materially misrepresenting infringement in a notice is subject to liability under 17 U.S.C. §512(f).

10. Third-party links

Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience. We do not endorse, monitor, or control those sites, and we are not responsible for their content or practices. Your use of linked sites is at your own risk and subject to those sites’ terms and privacy policies.

11. Disclaimers

THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EVERGREEN STRINGS STUDIO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT ANY INFORMATION ON THE SITE IS CURRENT, ACCURATE, OR COMPLETE. CONTENT IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL, MEDICAL, LEGAL, OR OTHER ADVICE.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so the exclusions in this section may not apply to you. In that case, any implied warranties are limited to the shortest period permitted by law.

12. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL EVERGREEN STRINGS STUDIO, EMILY GASPER, OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO THE STUDIO IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE (THROUGH A SEPARATE STUDIO AGREEMENT, NOT THROUGH THE SITE ITSELF), WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

THIS LIMITATION APPLIES REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, AND SURVIVES ANY FAILURE OF AN ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations or exclusions of certain damages; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Evergreen Strings Studio, Emily Gasper, and their agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or in any way connected with (a) your access to or use of the Site, (b) your violation of these Terms, (c) your violation of any rights of another person, or (d) your user submissions. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense.

14. Governing law; venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Except where prohibited by law, you and Evergreen Strings Studio agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hendricks County, Indiana (or, if arbitration under §15 applies, in the venue designated there). You and the Studio consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts and waive any objection to venue.

If you are a consumer residing in a jurisdiction whose mandatory law entitles you to the protection of the courts and law of your residence, this section does not limit that right.

15. Dispute resolution

15.1 Informal resolution first

Before filing any claim, please email emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com describing the issue and the relief you are seeking. We will respond within 30 days and try in good faith to resolve the matter informally.

15.2 Binding arbitration

If informal resolution does not succeed within 60 days, any dispute (except those carved out in §15.3) will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration will take place in Hendricks County, Indiana, or by videoconference at the consumer’s option. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitrator, and not any court, has exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of this arbitration clause — except that a court may decide whether a claim falls within §15.3.

You and Evergreen Strings Studio waive the right to participate in any class, collective, or representative action. Disputes will be resolved only on an individual basis.

15.3 Carve-outs

Notwithstanding §15.2, either party may:

  • Bring an action in small-claims court for disputes within that court’s jurisdiction.
  • Seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect intellectual-property rights or to enforce confidentiality obligations.

15.4 30-day opt-out

You may opt out of §15.2 by emailing emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com with your name, the email you used to submit a message, and the phrase “Arbitration Opt-Out,” within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.

15.5 Statute of limitations

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of these Terms or the Site must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose, or it is permanently barred.

16. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including any violation of these Terms. Sections 4 (Intellectual Property), 5 (Third-Party Hosting), 8 (Acceptable Use), 11 (Disclaimers), 12 (Limitation of Liability), 13 (Indemnification), 14 (Governing Law), 15 (Dispute Resolution), and 17 (Miscellaneous) survive termination.

17. Miscellaneous

  • Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any separate Studio Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Evergreen Strings Studio with respect to the Site.
  • Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect.
  • No waiver. A failure or delay by us to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
  • Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a business transfer.
  • Force majeure. Neither party is liable for failure to perform due to events beyond reasonable control (natural disasters, network failures, governmental action, pandemics, and the like), provided the affected party resumes performance as soon as reasonably practicable.
  • Relationship. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship.
  • Notices. Notices to us must be sent to emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com. Notices to you may be sent to the email you provided via the Contact form or to any address on file under a Studio Agreement.
  • Headings. Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
  • Modification. We may revise these Terms at any time by posting the updated version on the Site. Material changes will be highlighted at the top of the page. Your continued use of the Site after an update constitutes acceptance.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms?

  • Email: emily@evergreenstringsstudio.com
  • Mail: Evergreen Strings Studio, 7230 Arbuckle Commons, Brownsburg, IN 46112