Terms of Service

Last updated August 20, 2026.

Reading a newspaper should not require a contract. But the modern web expects one, and there are a few things worth saying plainly about what this publication is and how its work may be used. Reading the site means you accept these terms; they are not onerous.

What this publication is

The Ashland Free Press is a journal of news, opinion, and commentary about Ashland, Oregon, published under the editorial standards described on our About page — which covers our corrections policy, our sourcing rules, and our masthead, and is incorporated here by reference.

Our house style is pointed. Reported pieces work from the public record — meeting transcripts, packets, filings — with figures as stated in open session and quotations conformed per the corrections policy. Opinion pieces are labeled by their section: Opinion and The Sunday Edition carry argument and judgment alongside reporting, and passages of evident satire and rhetorical exaggeration are exactly that. A reader who mistakes a deadpan joke for an assertion of fact is respectfully directed to context; a reader who spots an actual error of fact is urgently directed to the corrections process.

Copyright and quoting

Contents are copyright works of the Ashland Free Press and/or their respective authors and artists, from 2026 forward. Aside from fair use under 17 USC 107 and 108, the works may not be reprinted in whole or substantial part without permission.

Quoting with a link, though, is not reprinting — it is the point, and you may do it freely. Search engines and archives may index the site. Automated scraping to republish the work wholesale, or to train systems that will be passed off as having written it, is not licensed.

Pseudonyms

Authors may publish under pseudonyms, in the American tradition. A pseudonym is not a license to defame, and the publisher stands behind the work exactly as if the legal name were printed.

Submissions

By submitting work through the mail slot or by email, you grant the Ashland Free Press a non-exclusive right to publish, edit, and excerpt it, in the online edition and any future editions of this paper, with credit under the name or pseudonym you designate. You keep your copyright. You represent that the work is yours and does not knowingly defame or violate another's rights. We read everything; we print what deserves it; we do not return electrons.

No warranty, within reason

The site is provided as-is. We work hard to be accurate and we correct errors visibly, but we cannot warrant that any page is free of mistakes at any given moment — the corrections policy exists precisely because the record is imperfect. External links are provided for the reader's use; their contents belong to their owners. Nothing on this site is legal, financial, or engineering advice, including the arithmetic — check our work, which is the civic exercise we keep recommending.

Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Ashland Free Press and its contributors are not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from use of the site. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid to read the paper, which is zero.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon. Disputes belong in the courts of Jackson County, Oregon, which — given what this paper covers — would at least keep the commute short.

Changes

Changes appear here with a new date. Questions to [email protected].