Terms of Use

Using the Site

You may read, listen to and share links to our stories for your personal, non-commercial use. Please don’t misuse the Site: no attempts to break or overload it, no collecting other people’s information, no automated scraping or bulk copying, and nothing unlawful.

Copyright

Stories, editions, photos, video, audio, graphics, design and the name and nameplate of The Balboa Local are owned by The Balboa Local or by the people who license them to us, and are protected by copyright and trademark law. © 2026 The Balboa Local. All rights reserved.

• You may share links, and quote a short excerpt with credit to The Balboa Local and a link to the original story.
• You may not republish whole stories, photos or audio, remove credits, or present our work as your own, without our written permission. Write to hello@balboalocal.com for permission.
• Automated use. You may not scrape, crawl, copy in bulk, or use our content for text and data mining or to develop, train or improve any artificial intelligence or machine-learning system, without our written permission. This applies whether or not a site robots file or other technical measure is in place.

Copyright complaints

If you believe something on the Site infringes your copyright, email hello@balboalocal.com with: your contact information, a description of the work, where it appears on the Site, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized, a statement that your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act for the owner, and your signature.

Notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) should be sent to our designated copyright agent: Copyright Agent, The Balboa Local, hello@balboalocal.com, with “Copyright notice” in the subject line. When we receive a valid notice, we will remove or disable access to the material and notify the person who posted it where appropriate. If your material was removed and you believe that was a mistake, you may send a counter-notice with the information the law requires. We may end access to the Site for repeat infringers.

What you send us

When you send us a tip, comment, photo, recording or other material, you confirm you have the right to share it, and you give The Balboa Local a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide permission to use, edit, publish and distribute it in connection with our journalism, with credit where appropriate. We decide what to publish. We may contact you to verify what you sent. This permission covers every format we publish in, including the Site, email newsletters, social media, audio and video, and promotion of our journalism, and lets us edit for length, clarity and accuracy. You keep ownership of what you send. Invited contributors, including experts who send written or recorded comments through a private link, agree that we may quote, excerpt, edit for length and publish their comments with their name and title. Do not send anything you do not have the right to share, or that is false, defamatory or unlawful.

News and information, not advice

Our reporting is for general information. It is not legal, financial, medical or safety advice. During emergencies, follow official instructions from the City of Newport Beach and public-safety agencies. Stories, updates and weekly editions reflect the information available when they were published and may change.

Links, ads and other services

The Site links to other websites and shows advertising and sponsored content. We are not responsible for other websites or for advertisers’ products and services. Sponsored content is labeled.

Disclaimers and limits of liability

The Site and everything on it are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, The Balboa Local disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement, and does not promise that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free or free of harmful components.

To the fullest extent the law allows, The Balboa Local and its owners, staff, contributors and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits or goodwill, arising from or related to your use of, or inability to use, the Site, even if we were told such damages were possible. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Site will not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100). Some places do not allow certain of these limits, so some may not apply to you.

Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Balboa Local and its owners, staff, contributors and service providers from any claims, losses and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your misuse of the Site, your violation of these terms, or material you send us.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed. Continuing to use the Site means you accept the updated terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Before filing any claim, you agree to email us at hello@balboalocal.com and try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. Any claim that is not resolved must be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, California, and you and we consent to the jurisdiction of those courts. Any claim relating to the Site must be brought within one year after it arises.

General

These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and The Balboa Local about the Site. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our failure to enforce any part of these terms is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights under these terms; we may transfer ours, for example if the Site changes ownership.

Contact

hello@balboalocal.com