EXHIBIT 10.55
CERTAIN INFORMATION IN THIS
EXHIBIT HAS BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY WITH THE COMMISSION.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH RESPECT TO THE
OMITTED PORTIONS.
EXECUTION COPY
Master Distribution Agreement
This Master
Distribution Agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered
into as of February 2, 2005, among Homestore Inc., a Delaware
corporation (“HS”), Homestore Sales Company, Inc., a
subsidiary of HS (“HSC”) and NRT Incorporated, a
Delaware corporation (“NRT”). HS and HSC are
collectively referred to herein as Homestore.
Whereas, HS
provides, through HSC, online real estate media and technology
solutions;
Whereas, NRT owns
and operates real estate brokerage companies (“NRT Local
Operating Companies”) throughout the United States which do
business under the Coldwell Banker®, ERA®,
Sotheby’s International Realty®, The Corcoran
Group® and The Sunshine Group® brand names;
Whereas, Homestore
operates a Website located at the URL www.realtor.com
(“REALTOR.com”) which contains information regarding
homes and lots for sale, and generally charges real estate agents
or brokers a fee to display enhanced personal and company contact
and content on REALTOR.com in a variety of feature configurations
(“Advertisements”); and
Whereas, NRT
desires to purchase certain Advertisements as set forth
below.
NOW
THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and mutual agreements
contained herein, the parties hereto agree as follows:
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1.
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Description of HSC
Advertisements. The following is a current
description of the Advertisements to be provided by HSC to NRT
hereunder (examples of each Advertisement demonstrating the current
positioning, scaled size (not actual) and content type of each type
of Advertisement is attached hereto as Exhibit A). NRT
acknowledges and agrees that nothing set forth herein shall be
deemed to limit or restrict HSC’s ability to amend or modify
any of the features or functionality of the Advertisements so long
as HSC implements such amendments or modifications to all of its
customers:
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(a)
Company Showcase Enhanced Listing – property listing
which includes up to six (6) photographs of the property, one
or more fields of text describing the property, a photograph of the
real estate listing agent, contact information for the
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real
estate listing agent and company logo. This Advertisement currently
appears on the web page that appears when a consumer clicks on a
listing. The current size of (i) the top photograph is 300
pixels wide by 200 pixels high (ii) the photographs cascading
down on the left side of the web page are 120 pixels wide by 80
pixels high (iii) the photograph of the real estate agent is
80 pixels wide by 120 pixels high and (iv) the logo is 120
pixels wide by 80 pixels high. As part of the Company Showcase
Enhanced Listing, all NRT real estate sales agents, present and
future, will (i) be listed in the Find a REALTOR Directory on
Realtor.com in the same manner as if the NRT real estate sales
agent had purchased the Agent Showcase Enhancement (allows
consumers to find a real estate sales agent when searching for a
REALTOR® in a specific geographic area) and (ii) be
provided the functionality to access the agent control panel
feature for consumer usage reporting information, account
maintenance settings, and marketing information on Homestore
products and services.
Upon execution,
HSC will supply login credentials for NRT offices to NRT’s
Director of Electronic Marketing, broken out by NRT
office.
(b)
Featured Home – thumbnail photograph of a property
listing presented on the web page after a search is entered but
before the web page presenting the actual search results. The
current size of the thumbnail photograph is 120 wide by 80 pixels
high. Each Featured Home slot is assigned to a specific zip code
(as determined by the United States Postal Service) and is
classified into one of three tiers based on the volume of searches
on Realtor.com within that zip code. HSC offers four
(4) Featured Home slots within tier 1 and tier 2 zip codes.
HSC offers eight (8) Featured Home slots within tier 3 zip
codes. When a consumer searches on Realtor.com for property
listings, the geographic areas defined in their search criteria are
compared with the zip codes of all of the property listings
designated as a Featured Home. If four (4) or less Featured
Homes exist within the area of the search, those Featured Homes are
displayed. If more than four (4) Featured Homes exists within
the area of the search, the Featured Homes are grouped into sets of
four (4) and displayed randomly.
(c)
Featured Company/Companion Advertisement – (i) a
customizable banner advertisement located in the top right portion
of a web page and (ii) a customizable skyscraper advertisement
companion advertisement located on the right side of a web page.
The current size of (i) the banner advertisement in the top
right of a web page is 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high and
(ii) the skyscraper advertisement on the right side of a web
page is 120 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. Featured
Company/Companion Advertisements will (x) display at such time
when users during a session or searches may be geo-targeted and
(y) will then display on the home page, the initial search
page, the criteria selection page or the search results page. These
two advertisements together are referred to as a Companion
Advertisement. Each Featured Company/Companion Advertisement is
placed in one out of six hundred eighty one (681) local
markets. Local markets are based on Metropolitan Statistical Area
data sets as defined by
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the
U.S. Census Bureau except in certain large Metropolitan Statistical
Area data sets where each county is considered a local market
(“MSA”). There are ten (10) Featured
Company/Companion Advertisement slots per MSA, subject to a twenty
percent (20%) cap per MSA per company (it being understood and
agreed that separately branded NRT subsidiaries constitute separate
companies for the purpose of Companion Advertisements).
(d)
Animated Sign Rider – an animated advertisement
located within the thumbnail of a property listing on a search
results web page and links directly to the listing office’s
website or to the listing detail page on which the Advertisement
displays. The current size of an Animated Sign Rider is 75 pixels
wide by 50 pixels high.
(e)
Office Standard Listing Enhancement – logo and office
contact information on the property detail page that currently
appears on the bottom right side of a search results web page. The
current size of the logo is 120 pixels high by 80 pixels
wide.
2.
Purchase. In consideration of the amounts to be paid to HSC
by NRT as set forth in Section 4, HSC will provide NRT with
the following during the Term hereof:
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(a)
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Company Showcase Enhanced
Listings — All NRT property listings
shall be displayed as Company Showcase Enhanced Listings. NRT real
estate sales agents currently subscribing to the Find a REALTOR
feature will remain as is and NRT real estate sales agents that do
not currently subscribe will be added to the Find a REALTOR feature
as soon as practicable but in no event later than June 30,
2005. After June 30, 2005 new NRT real estate sales agents
will be added within thirty (30) days of notification by NRT.
All NRT real estate sales agents will be provided immediate access
to the agent control panel feature.
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(b)
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Featured Home
— NRT will have
the ability to designate as a Featured Home any property listed for
sale by NRT within [*] Featured Home zip code slots listed
on Exhibit B attached hereto, subject to a cap on inventory of
two (2) Featured Home slots per NRT Local Operating Company
office location per zip code. With respect to Exhibit B, HSC
agrees to reasonably cooperate with NRT in NRT’s
identification of the [*] Featured Home zip code slots,
which identification shall be made by NRT within ten (10) days
of execution of this Agreement. When purchasing a Featured Home
product, (i) if NRT does not specify a listing to feature, HSC will
select the highest priced listing in NRT inventory that has a
photo, (ii) text, individual agent photos or office logos
shall not be featured in the Featured Homes spot, and (iii) in
the event NRT does not have any inventory to display, HSC will
place in NRT’s spot a placeholder image that will re-direct
to a NRT Local Operating Company website. [*] If at any time
during the Term of this Agreement HSC increases
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[*] CERTAIN
INFORMATION IN THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY
WITH THE COMMISSION. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH
RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS.
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the
number of Featured Home slots per zip code, HSC shall
proportionately increase the number of Featured Home slots provided
hereunder, at no additional charge, subject to any required
limitation set forth by the National Association of Realtors®
(“NAR”). The Featured Homes purchased hereunder shall
be displayed randomly and equitably based on neutral criteria
applied to all of HSC’s customers.
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(c)
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Companion Advertisements
– [*]
Companion Advertisements as listed on Exhibit D. With respect
to Exhibit D, HSC shall reasonably cooperate with NRT in
NRT’s identification of the [*] Companion
Advertisements, which identification shall be made by NRT within
ten (10) days of execution of this Agreement. NRT will provide
to HSC customizable graphical advertisements for each NRT Local
Operating Company. NRT may purchase up to two (2) Companion
Advertisements per MSA.
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a.
Frequency of Display of Companion Advertisements – The
Companion Advertisements purchased hereunder shall be displayed on
ten percent (10%) of the web pages or other geo-targeted inventory
(location within an MSA), per NRT Local Operating Company, for
searches within the MSAs that NRT has purchased Companion
Advertisements.
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(d)
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Animated Sign Rider
– all NRT listings
will be provided with Animated Sign Rider.
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(e)
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Office Standard Listing
Enhancement - all NRT listings will be provided
with Office Standard Listing Enhancement.
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3. Term
and Termination . The initial term of this Agreement shall
commence on April 1, 2005 (the “Effective Date”) and
shall terminate on March 31, 2006 (the “Initial
Term”); provided however that NRT shall have the option, in
its sole discretion, to extend the Initial Term for two successive
annual periods (each two annual periods, “Renewal
Term”, and collectively, the “Term”). NRT shall
exercise such renewal options by delivering at least sixty
(60) days written notice to HSC prior to the expiration of the
Initial Term or any Renewal Term. Pricing for the Term is as set
forth in Section 4, and all other terms and conditions shall
remain the same during the Term.
During the Term of
this Agreement, either NRT or Homestore shall have the right to
terminate this Agreement for cause in the event of any material
breach of this Agreement by the other party if such breach is not
cured within sixty (60) days after the breaching party
receives a written notice of such breach from the non-breaching
party. Termination of this Agreement for cause pursuant to this
section shall not relieve either party from any obligations
hereunder due and owing as of the date of such termination.
Additional termination rights are set forth in Sections 7, 8, 9, 17
(h) and 27 herein.
Any
party may terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other
party, and may regard the other party as in default of this
Agreement, if such party becomes
[*] CERTAIN
INFORMATION IN THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY
WITH THE COMMISSION. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH
RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS.
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insolvent, makes a general
assignment for the benefit of creditors, suffers or permits the
appointment of a receiver for its business or assets, becomes
subject to any proceeding under any bankruptcy or insolvency law
whether domestic or foreign, or has wound up or liquidated,
voluntarily or otherwise.
4.
Price . In consideration of the Advertisements to be
provided by HSC hereunder, NRT hereby agrees to pay to HSC the
following amounts in cash via wire transfer to such bank account as
directed by HSC:
(i) For April 1, 2005 through
March 31, 2006 – [*] Dollars ($ [*] )
payable in monthly installments of $ [*] per month, payable
by the 10 th
day of each month;
(ii) To the extent NRT exercises its
renewal option, for April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007
– [*] Dollars ($ [*] ) payable in monthly
installments of $ [*] per month, payable by the 10
th day of each month; and
(iii) To the extent NRT exercises its
renewal option, for April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008
– [*] Dollars ($ [*] ) payable in monthly
installments of $ [*] per month, payable by the 10
th day of each month.
In
addition, in the event that the number of Company Showcase Enhanced
Listings under Section 2(a) hereof exceeds (i) [*] from
April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006, (ii) [*]
from April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007, or (iii)
[*] from April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008,
then NRT’s monthly payment will increase by an amount equal
to [*] percent ( [*] %) of HSC’s then in effect
retail price for its enhanced listing product for each Company
Showcase Enhanced Listing in excess of the foregoing
maximums.
For
the Term of this Agreement, HSC will extend a [*] percent (
[*] %) discount to its then in effect retail rates to
NRT’s offices that purchase additional Advertisements other
than those purchased pursuant to this Agreement. HSC’s
current retail rates are set forth in Exhibit E attached
hereto, which may be amended by HSC in its sole discretion at any
time.
Any
purchases or renewals made by NRT or its Local Operating Companies
(but not including purchases made by NRT real estate sales agents)
shall be approved in writing by NRT’s Director of Electronic
Marketing or his designee (as designated in writing to HSC), and
are subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement (and no
additional terms and conditions except with respect to term). For
the purpose of clarity, the terms and conditions of this Agreement
shall survive as necessary to apply to the entire term of all
additional purchases or renewals under the Agreement regardless of
the term of such purchase or renewal. Any purchases or renewals
after the Term of this Agreement shall be subject to HSC’s
standard terms and conditions.
[*]
[*]
[*] CERTAIN
INFORMATION IN THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY
WITH THE COMMISSION. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH
RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS.
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5. Usage
Statistics. HSC makes no guarantees with respect to usage
statistics or levels of impressions for any Advertisement. NRT
acknowledges that delivery statistics provided by HSC are the
definitive and binding measurements of HSC’s performance on
any delivery obligation to the extent reasonably documented by
HSC.
6. No
Resale or Redistribution of Ad Space. Except as set forth
herein with respect to distribution to NRT subsidiaries, employees
and agents and as set forth in Section 21 (Assignment), NRT
may not resell or redistribute to a third party any of its
Advertisement rights hereunder.
7. Additional
Limitation of Liability for Advertisements. IN THE EVENT HSC FAILS
TO PUBLISH AN ADVERTISEMENT, THE SOLE LIABILITY OF HS AND HSC TO
NRT, AND NRT’S SOLE REMEDY, SHALL BE LIMITED TO, AT
NRT’S OPTION (i) INTEGRATION OR PLACEMENT OF SUCH
ADVERTISEMENT AT A LATER TIME OR (ii) TERMINATION OF THE AGREEMENT
UPON THIRTY (30) DAYS WRITTEN NOTICE.
8.
Provision of Advertising Materials; Specifications. NRT will
provide all materials for the Advertisements including, without
limitation, trademarks, service marks, tradenames, graphics, logos,
URL’s, domain names, brand features photographs, text, data,
pictures, communications, animation, images, digital and/or audio
clips or components or other content or material contained therein,
(collectively “Advertising Content”) in accordance with
HSC’s policies and specifications then in effect which HSC
may modify from time to time and at any time (collectively,
“Specifications”), which for the purpose of clarity
include (x) HSC’s Technical Standards and Procedures
attached hereto at Exhibit F and (y) the current
position, size, frequency and content type of the Advertisements
set forth herein and in effect from time to time. HSC shall publish
Advertising Content in the Advertisements in accordance with the
Specifications. HSC’s use of the Advertising Content in the
Advertisements in accordance with the current position, size,
frequency and content type set forth herein and in effect from time
to time. HSC shall not be required to publish any Advertisement
that is not received in accordance with such Specifications. HSC
shall provide NRT prior written notice of any material change or
material modification to the Specifications. For the purpose of
clarity, any material change or material modification to the
current positioning, size, frequency and/or content type of the
current Advertisements is a material change to the Specifications.
NRT shall provide HSC with written notice of any such change or
modification that adversely impacts NRT and HSC shall have thirty
(30) days from the date of such notification to cure such adverse
impact. If HSC fails to cure the adverse impact NRT may terminate
this Agreement upon thirty (30) days written notice. HSC shall
promptly notify NRT of any Advertisement Content that is not
received in accordance with such Specifications. HSC will accept
the Advertising Content via data feeds from NRT. NRT hereby grants
to HSC a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable,
revocable, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid license to store,
use, reproduce, modify, edit and display any Advertising Content in
accordance herewith for the sole purpose of appropriately
displaying Advertising Content within Advertisements
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pursuant to this Agreement.
Without limiting the foregoing restrictions, HSC will comply with
NRT trademark usage guidelines in connection with use of any NRT
marks, logos, and/or names pursuant to this Agreement attached
hereto as Exhibit G. This license granted hereunder to the
Advertising Content will terminate immediately upon termination of
this Agreement for any reason. Except for the rights and licenses
expressly granted to HSC in this Section 8, NRT retains all
right, title, and interest in the Advertising Content.
Except as
expressly provided hereunder or as a feature or function of any
Advertisements, and without limiting the terms of any licenses
granted hereunder, HSC shall not either during or after the Term of
this Agreement: (i) make any representations, either express
or implied, or create an appearance that a visitor to an HSC
Distribution Channel (as defined below) is visiting a website of
NRT or any of its affiliated real estate brands (collectively
“NRT Websites”), including without limitation,
“framing” any page of an NRT Website; (ii) send
e-mails using NRT’s, and/or its affiliated real estate
brands, names, logos, trademarks, service marks, website
URL’s, domain names listed on Exhibit H (collectively
“NRT Marks”);(iii) purchase or otherwise contract with
a third party to exploit any NRT Marks, or variation or misspelling
thereof, as a keyword for the purpose of causing any Homestore web
site to appear as a search result in any search engine or for any
other reason ; (iv) use or otherwise incorporate NRT Marks or
variations or misspellings in the domain name(s) of any Homestore
web site; (v) use, or permit others to use, NRT Marks in a
manner that infringes upon, misappropriates, and/or otherwise
violates NRT’s intellectual property rights in the NRT
Marks.
9.
Positioning of Advertisements; Distribution Channels. Except
as specifically stated herein, the positioning of Advertisements
within the HSC Distribution Channels, as defined below, or on any
page thereof is at HSC’s sole discretion. For the purpose of
clarity, any material change or material modification to the
current positioning of the Advertisements is a material change to
the Specifications. HSC may, at its sole discretion, modify or
remove any portion of the HSC Distribution Channels, provided
however that in the event HSC modifies or removes any HSC
Distribution Channel resulting in significantly less viewing
traffic of Advertising Content and which results in HSC decreasing
its retail rates then in effect for enhanced listings, NRT and HSC
will, in good faith, renegotiate the pricing set forth in this
Agreement. In the event the parties cannot mutually agree on
satisfactory pricing, NRT may terminate this Agreement upon thirty
(30) days prior written notice. As used herein, “HSC
Distribution Channels” shall mean Internet sites (including
co-branded and mirrored versions thereof) and other media
(including any and all print media) owned and operated by HSC or
its affiliates including but not limited to REALTOR.com®, and
third-party Internet sites where Advertisement Content may be
distributed and/or electronically displayed (including, e.g. AOL
and MSN).
10.
HSC’s Right to Reject, Cancel or Remove
Advertisements. Except as specifically stated herein, HSC
reserves the right to reject, cancel or remove any Advertisements,
URL, link, space reservation or position commitment, at any time,
for any reason whatsoever in its reasonable editorial discretion
and without any abatement in
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NRT’s payment obligation
hereunder. HSC shall provide at least twenty four (24) hours
written notice prior to removing any Advertisement. The fact that
HSC has not rejected any Advertisement shall not in any way reduce,
limit or otherwise affect NRT’s responsibilities and
obligations under this Agreement.
11.
Advertisement. The procedure for each Advertisement shall be
as follows: (a) NRT shall provide HSC with the Advertising
Content in accordance with the Specifications; (b) upon
receiving the Advertising Content, HSC is authorized to produce the
selected Advertisement by incorporating the Advertising Content.
Subject to Section 14 (Content and Linking Guidelines), HSC
grants NRT permission to incorporate links to the HSC Site from
NRT’s Advertisements. NRT will retain a copy of the
Advertising Content provided to HSC for as long as such listing is
an active listing. HSC reserves the right to omit or remove
Advertising Content in whole or in part if HSC, in its reasonable
discretion, finds any part of it to be in violation of the
Agreement or otherwise inappropriate. NRT understands that
Advertising Content or provision thereof is not
confidential.
12. User
Data . For purposes of this Agreement, “User Data”
means all data and information collected from or generated about
individual(s) who visit the web sites on which the Advertisement is
hosted, or data and information collected from consumers that are
referred to NRT through the Advertisement. All User Data collected
by HSC shall constitute HSC’s proprietary and confidential
information. NRT agrees to be bound by the HSC privacy policy
located at http://www.homestore.com/AboutUs/Privacypop.asp, as
amended from time to time, for User Data. NRT also agrees to use
information received from consumers solely for the purpose of
responding to their inquiry and to provide services requested by
the consumer. NRT will indemnify, defend and hold HSC harmless from
and against third party claims alleging that User Data has been
improperly used by NRT, NRT employees or agents, or by unauthorized
users that obtained such data by penetration of NRT’s web
sites or facilities, but solely to the extent that NRT fails to
employ commercially standard security measures to protect such
websites or facilities from such unauthorized access, or any party
to whom NRT discloses the User Data. This indemnity shall be
subject to the procedures set forth in Section 18
(Indemnification) hereof.
13.
Proprietary Rights. As between the parties hereto, HSC
exclusively owns and retains all right, title and interest in and
to the Advertisement in perpetuity throughout the Universe;
provided, however that NRT shall retain all its right, title and
interest in the Advertising Content. Notwithstanding anything to
the contrary contained herein, and subject to HSC’s receipt
of payments specified in this Agreement, the Advertisement is
licensed (not sold) to NRT by HSC. HSC does not transfer title to
the Advertisement to NRT. This non-exclusive license only gives NRT
the right to use and display the units of the Advertisement that
are licensed to NRT hereunder in accordance with the terms hereof.
NRT hereby agrees that to the maximum extent permitted by law, NRT
will not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise
reduce the Advertisement to a human-perceivable form, in whole or
in part, and, except as provided for in this license, NRT will not
copy, modify, network, rent, lease, sublicense, or otherwise
distribute the
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Advertisement in whole or in
part. All rights in and to the Advertisement not expressly granted
to NRT in this Agreement are reserved by HSC. For the avoidance of
doubt, the terms of this Section 13 shall not in any way limit
or restrict NRT’s ownership or usage rights in the
Advertising Content. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
herein, NRT retains sole and exclusive discretion over its usage of
Advertising Content, provided that such usage does not otherwise
violate the terms of this Section 13.
14.
Content and Linking Guidelines. During the Term, website(s)
to which any of NRT’s Advertisements link shall not contain
any real estate listing information, listings of real estate agents
or brokers or home search listings, including Advertisements or
links thereto; provided that NRT’s Advertisements may link to
NRT Local Operating Company websites or the website of any NRT real
estate sales agent.
If
NRT ordered an Advertisement that includes as a feature of the
Advertisement the right to create a link from such Advertisement to
the HSC Site, HSC hereby grants to NRT a limited, revocable,
royalty-free right and license to link to the HSC Site from NRT
Local Operating Company websites during the Term, subject to the
following provisions: (a) any and all links to the HSC Site
(“Authorized Links”) must be configured according to
the Specifications; (b) aside from linking to the home page at
http://www.REALTOR.com , NRT may not link to or frame any
other page in any web site of HSC or its affiliates without
HSC’s prior written permission; (c) NRT may not
configure any web page in such a way as to require users to
register, sign up for services, or otherwise submit personal
information as a condition of accessing any web page or service of
HSC or its affiliates without HSC’s prior written permission
and (d) HSC grants NRT a non-exclusive, non-transferable,
non-sublicenseable, royalty-free, revocable, worldwide right and
license to use the graphic images, and text and other such images
for which HSC grants NRT express permission to use, solely for the
purpose of establishing the Authorized Links. Except for the rights
and licenses granted to NRT under this Agreement, HSC reserves all
of its rights in the graphic images and text, any other images, its
trade name and trademarks, and all of its other intellectual
property rights. NRT will at all times comply with HSC’s
Trademark Usage Guidelines, a copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit I, which HSC may modify upon reasonable written notice
to NRT. In the event NRT fails to adhere to the Specifications
(which includes Trademark Usage Guidelines), HSC may revoke
NRT’s license to create Authorized Links at any time by
providing NRT prior written notice of such revocation.
15. HSC
Reporting Requirements. Within fourteen (14) days of the
end of each month during the Term of this Agreement, HSC shall
provide NRT with consolidated reports for that month containing
(i) the number of impressions and click-throughs for each
Featured Company advertisement, broken out by MSA (ii) the
number of impressions of each Featured Home within the Featured
Home slot, broken out by NRT Local Operating Company, zip code, and
multiple listing service listing ID (iii) for each property
listing, the number of total property views, and the number of
property inquiries (when available), broken out by branch office,
multiple listing service listing ID, and date and (iv) the
total number of telephone calls received by HSC from NRT real
estate sales
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agents and abandonment rate of
those calls. The form of each report is set forth in Exhibit
J.
16.
Confidentiality and Public Announcements. (a) During
the Term of this Agreement, it is anticipated that the parties will
learn confidential and/or proprietary information about the other.
NRT and HSC will keep confidential such information and any other
information which NRT and HSC may acquire with respect to the
other’s (including their respective subsidiaries’)
business, including, but not limited to, information developed and
relating to new products, customers, pricing, know-how, processes,
and practices (collectively, “Confidential
Information”), and the receiving party shall not (without the
prior written consent of the disclosing party) disclose or permit
disclosure of such Confidential Information to any third party,
unless and until the other party consents in writing to disclosure,
or unless such knowledge and information otherwise becomes
generally available to the public through no fault of the other
party but provided further that, notwithstanding the above, the
receiving party may disclose, on a need-to-know basis, such
Confidential Information to its third party subcontractors who have
signed non-disclosure agreements with the receiving party, and/or
to its current employees, officers, or directors, or legal or
financial representatives. NRT’s Confidential Information
also shall include any proprietary and/or confidential information
related to NRT’s employees, franchisees, sales associates,
brokers.
In
addition, neither party shall distribute any press release or
notices to third parties or other publicity concerning this
Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby without the
prior written consent of the other party. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, NRT may generally advertise the volume of the products
purchased hereunder and the retail value related thereto, but not
financial terms related thereto.
Neither party will
disclose to any third party, without the other party’s prior
written consent (except on a need-to-know basis to its third party
subcontractors who have signed non-disclosure agreements with the
receiving party, and/or to its current employees, officers, or
directors, or legal or financial representatives), the subject of
this relationship without first providing the other party with the
opportunity to review and offer reasonable objection to the
contemplated publication. It is understood, however that the
restrictions listed in this Section 16 shall not apply to any
portion of Confidential Information which: (i) was previously
known to a receiving party without obligations of confidentiality;
(ii) is obtained after the effective date of this Agreement
from a third party which is lawfully in possession of such
information and not in violation of any contractual or legal
obligation to a disclosing party, or in breach of this Agreement,
with respect to such information; (iii) is or becomes part of
the public domain through no fault of the receiving party;
(iv) is independently ascertainable or developed by the
receiving party or its employees without any breach of this
Agreement by the receiving party; (v) is required to be
disclosed by applicable law, rule or regulation, (vi) is
required to be disclosed by administrative or judicial action
provided that the receiving party immediately after receiving
written notice of such action notifies disclosing party of such
action to give disclosing party the opportunity to seek any other
legal remedies to
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maintain such confidential
information in confidence; or (vii) is approved for release by
written authorization of the disclosing party.
(b) With
respect to personally identifiable information of NRT’s
employees, franchisees, sales associates, brokers, and/or customers
(including, but not limited to, names, phone numbers, e-mail
addresses, and/or postal addresses) of such individuals that is not
the subject of any of the exclusions of Confidential Information as
specified in Section 16(a) above, but provided that HSC uses such
information solely for the purposes of the applicable exclusion
(“NRT Personal Data”), HSC agrees that it shall not,
and shall not authorize others to, (a) sell or rent Personal
Data to any other entity, or (b) use or disclose Personal Data
except as necessary (i) to perform the services required by
NRT hereunder and/or the applicable individual(s) to whom the
information belongs (the “Services”), (ii) for HSC
or its affiliates to send marketing and informational e-mail
communications to NRT sales associates solely of a nature
reasonably related to the Services and/or real estate services. In
addition to the foregoing, HSC shall not otherwise use or disclose
NRT Personal Data without the prior written consent of NRT and the
applicable individual(s) to whom the information belongs, and in
such case HSC shall only use such NRT Personal Data to the extent
expressly permitted by NRT and such individuals(s). Without
limiting the foregoing, HSC shall only use NRT Personal Data in
accordance with applicable law. Solely with respect to e-mail
communications using NRT Personal Data sent to NRT sales
associates, HSC shall be permitted to use its current third party
e-mail provider (the “Third Party Provider”) solely for
purposes set forth in subsection (ii) of the foregoing
sentence, provided that the Third Party Provider has agreed in
writing to maintain the confidentiality of NRT Personal Data. HSC
shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless NRT and its parent and
affiliates and their officers, directors, employees,
representatives and agents, from and against any and all Losses (as
defined below), pursuant to the terms of Section 18, arising
out of, related to or in connection with any acts or omissions of
the Third Party Provider.
(c) The terms
of this Section 16 shall survive any expiration or termination
of this Agreement.
17.
Representations and Warranties; HSC Obligations.
(a) Each of
the parties represent, warrant and covenant that (i) this
Agreement constitutes its legal, valid and binding obligation,
enforceable against it in accordance with its terms; (ii) the
execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement has been
authorized by all necessary corporate action and will not violate
any agreement, order, constituent document, law or regulation to
which it is bound or subject and (iii) it will perform its
obligations hereunder at all times in accordance with all
applicable laws, rules and regulations, including but not limited
to the CAN-SPAM Act.
(b) NRT
represents, warrants and covenants that to the best of its
knowledge after reasonable inquiry and investigation (i) the
Advertising Content is true, complete and accurate and that it has
the right to provide the Advertising Content and to permit
HSC’s use of the Advertising Content in accordance with the
terms of this Agreement; (ii) the
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Advertising Content is in
compliance with the Technical Standards and Procedures and does not
otherwise interfere with the function or performance of HSC’s
Site; (iii) the Advertising Content will not:
(A) infringe, violate or misappropriate any
third-party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or
other proprietary or intellectual property rights or right of
publicity or privacy, or breach any agreements or licenses to which
NRT is bound; (B) violate any law or regulation, including
without limitation those governing export control; (C) be
defamatory or trade libelous; (D) be pornographic or obscene
or contain any nudity or other sexual materials; (E) contain
(and NRT shall not introduce into HSC’s and/or its
affiliates’ or parent company’s computer systems,
databases, or software) viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs,
or other similar harmful or deleterious programming routines;
(F) contain material that is threatening, abusive, harassing,
defamatory, obscene, profane, indecent, or otherwise objectionable
or offensive; (G) contain content promoting or encouraging a
raffle, contest, game, or pyramid scheme requiring payment of a fee
by participants; (H) contain hate propaganda or fraudulent
material or activity; (I) contain any property owner
information, including but not limited to name and phone number,
and for sale by owner listing information or (J) contain NRT
confidential information or trade secrets or the confidential
information or trade secrets of a third party.
(c) HSC
represents, warrants and covenants that to the best of its
knowledge after reasonable inquiry and investigation the
Advertisements, the publishing of the Advertisements through the
HSC Distribution Channels, and Technical Standards and Procedures
including all content contained therein (with the exception of
Advertising Content displayed in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement), and the services relating thereto provided by HSC
(collectively, the “HSC Materials”) will not
(A) infringe, violate, or misappropriate any third
party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other
proprietary or intellectual property rights or right of publicity
or privacy, or breach any agreements or licenses to which HSC is
bound (collectively, any breach of this Section 17(c)(A) shall
be referred to hereinafter as “Infringement”),
(B) violate any law or regulation, including without
limitation those governing export control; (C) be defamatory
or trade libelous; (D) be pornographic or obscene or contain
any nudity or other sexual materials; (E) contain (and HSC shall
not introduce into NRT’s and/or its affiliates’ or
parent company’s computer systems, databases, or software)
viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, or other similar harmful
or deleterious programming routines; (F) contain material that
is threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, profane,
indecent, or otherwise objectionable or offensive; (G) contain
content promoting or encouraging a raffle, contest, game, or
pyramid scheme requiring payment of a fee by participants;
(H) contain hate propaganda or fraudulent material or
activity; (I) unless permitted by its operating agreement with
NAR, contain any property owner information, including but not
limited to name and phone number, and for sale by owner listing
information. HSC further represents, warrants and covenants that it
has the right to provide the Advertisements and services set forth
herein.
(d) HSC will
use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that any and all
third party owners and/or operators of websites which contain
Advertising, comply with the applicable terms and conditions of
this Agreement.
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(e) HSC
agrees to ensure a commercially reasonable response time for users
accessing REALTOR.com and agrees to respond to any page delivery
problems reported by users of the web site within one
(1) business day after notice of such problem is received by
HSC.
(f) NRT
agrees to assign one (1) person from its Information
Technology department as its NRT Project Manager and HSC agrees to
assign one (1) person from its Information Technology
department as its HSC Project Manager. Such Project Managers shall
communicate with each other in the event there are issues related
to the service or functionality of REALTOR.com.
(g) HSC
agrees to provide a dedicated toll free telephone number Monday
through Friday from 6 am to 5 pm PST to answer questions from NRT
sales associates, including but not limited to password reset
inquiries. The average abandoned call rate for inbound calls to HSC
from NRT real estate sales agents shall not exceed [*]
percent ( [*] %). For each month in which the abandonment
rates exceeds [*] percent ( [*] %) HSC shall refund $
[*] to NRT.
(h) Within
[*] ( [*] ) [*] of receipt of notice, HSC
agrees to use commercially reasonable efforts to correct all
errors, bugs, derivations or failures in the performance of
REALTOR.com so that it performs in accordance with specifications.
In the event of any outage of REALTOR.com which (a) continues
unabated for a period of [*] ( [*] ) [ *] ,
and/or (b) in the aggregate lasts more than [*] during
any thirty (30) day period (excluding outages for scheduled
maintenance or overall general outage of Internet connectivity),
NRT shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agreement
upon ten (10) days written notice to HSC.
(i) HSC
agrees to provide an immediate telephone response from a trained
technical representative to an NRT representative in the
Information Technology department in the event HSC is notified or
becomes aware of an emergency, including but not limited to power
outage or a material decrease in functionality of
REALTOR.com.
18.
Indemnity. Each party agrees, at its own expense, to
indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other party and its parent
and affiliates and their officers, directors, employees,
representatives and agents (“Indemnified Parties”),
from and against any and all third-party (which shall include
employees, agents, representatives of the Indemnified Party)
claims, damages, expenses, losses, costs (including reasonable
attorneys’ fees and costs) or liability or expenses of any
kind (collectively “Losses”) incurred by the
Indemnified Parties arising out of, related to or in connection
with (a) the breach by the indemnifying party of its
representations or obligations under this Agreement or (b) the
Advertising Content (provided that NRT’s obligations
hereunder shall only apply to the extent HSC (and/or any other
Indemnified Parties related to HSC) use(s) the Advertising Content
in accordance with the terms of this Agreement) or (c) any
material, product or service provided by the indemnifying party to
any party (including without limitation,
[*] CERTAIN
INFORMATION IN THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY
WITH THE COMMISSION. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH
RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS.
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any warranty claims, consumer
protection claims and claims of trademark or copyright
infringement, defamation, breach of confidentiality, privacy
violation, false or deceptive advertising or sales practices) or
(d) the indemnifying party’s willful misconduct and/or
intentional or grossly negligent actions or breaches hereunder.
Each party agrees to promptly notify the indemnifying party in
writing of any indemnifiable claim. The indemnified party shall
cooperate in all reasonable respects with the indemnifying party
and its attorneys in the investigation, trial, defense and
settlement of such claim and any appeal arising therefrom. The
indemnified party may participate in such investigation, trial,
defense and settlement of such claim and any appeal arising
therefrom, through its attorneys or otherwise, at its own cost and
expense. No settlement of a claim that involves a remedy other than
the payment of money by the indemnifying party shall be entered
into without the consent of the indemnified party, unless the
settlement includes an unconditional general release of the
indemnified party which consent will not be unreasonably withheld.
For the purpose of clarity, HS and HSC agree that they are jointly
and severally liable for the representations, warranties and
agreements contained herein by such parties, and that in all cases
HS guarantees any performance obligations of HSC including without
limitation the indemnification provisions set forth
herein.
19.
Disclaimer of Warranties. EXCEPT FOR THE REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN, ALL
ADVERTISEMENTS PROVIDED BY HSC HEREUNDER ARE PROVIDED “AS
IS” AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE. EXCEPT FOR THE REPRESENTATIONS,
WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN, HOMESTORE, ON
ITS OWN BEHALF AND ON BEHALF OF ANY THIRD PARTIES, INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES: (a) EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT OF ANY ADVERTISEMENT CONTENT
(BUT WITHOUT LIMITING THE TERMS OF SECTION 17(c)(A)), AND ANY
IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARISING FROM THE COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF
PERFORMANCE ; (b) DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPERATION
OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE;
(c) DOES NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE
RESULTS DERIVED FROM THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS,
ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, LEAD GENERATION, INCREASE IN BUSINESS OR
OTHERWISE; AND (d) SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES THAT
THE ADVERTISEMENTS WILL FUNCTION OR ARE COMPATIBLE WITH SUCH
COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE WITH WHICH NRT OR OTHERS MAY USE TO
USE OR ACCESS THE ADVERTISEMENTS, SUBJECT TO THE SPECIFICATIONS.
NRT IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT ANY COMPUTER HARDWARE
OR SOFTWARE NRT USES IS COMPATIBLE WITH AND/OR FUNCTIONS WITH THE
ADVERTISEMENTS.
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20.
Limitation of
Liability . IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY PARTY BE
LIABLE HEREUNDER FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF
USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY
KIND, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, NEGLIGENCE), WARRANTY, GUARANTEE OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR
EQUITABLE GROUNDS, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL SURVIVE AND
APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE VALIDITY OF THE LIMITED REMEDIES PROVIDED
FOR IN THE AGREEMENT. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL
NOT AFFECT A PARTY’S INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS UNDER
SECTION 18 (Indemnification) HEREOF.
21.
Assignment . Except as set forth in this Section, neither
NRT or Homestore may assign any portion of this Agreement or any
licenses granted hereunder, voluntarily or involuntarily, including
without limitation by operation of law, without the prior written
consent of the other party, except that either party may assign
this Agreement without the other party’s consent in the case
of a merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of
the assignor’s assets with or to an unaffiliated third party.
Any attempt to otherwise assign this Agreement shall be null and
void, except that NRT may assign this Agreement to an affiliate of
NRT in connection with a corporate reorganization; provided that
(i) NRT shall remain liable as a guarantor of the payment
obligations hereunder and (ii) no such assignment shall extend
NRT’s rights hereunder to third parties, including
franchisees of its parent corporation. No person or entity not a
party hereto shall have any interest herein or be deemed a third
party beneficiary hereof, and nothing contained herein shall be
construed to create any rights enforceable by any other person or
third party.
22. Independent
Contractor. NRT and Homestore are, and will be deemed to be,
independent contractors with respect to the subject matter of this
Agreement, and nothing contained in this Agreement will be deemed
or construed in any manner whatsoever as creating any partnership,
joint venture, employment, agency, fiduciary or other similar
relationship between the parties. Neither party nor any of its
agents or employees shall have any right or authority to assume or
create obligation of any kind, whether express or implied, on
behalf of the other party.
23.
Binding Agreement . This Agreement shall be binding upon and
inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective permitted
successors and assigns.
24.
Captions Headings . Captions and paragraph headings used in
this Agreement are for convenience only and shall not be used to
interpret any provision hereof.
25.
Entire Agreement . This Agreement, together with the
Exhibits, constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the
parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and is intended
as the parties’ final expression and complete and exclusive
statement of the terms thereof, superseding all prior or
contemporaneous agreements,
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representations, promises and
understandings, whether written or oral, and may be amended or
modified only by an instrument in writing signed by both
parties.
26.
Notices . Any notice required or permitted to be given
hereunder shall be (a) in writing, (b) effective on the
first business day following the date of receipt, and
(c) delivered by one of the following means: (i) by
personal delivery; (ii) by prepaid, overnight package delivery
or courier service; or (iii) by the United States Postal
Service, first class, certified mail, return receipt requested,
postage prepaid. All notices given under this Agreement shall be
addressed, in the case of Homestore, as follows:
Attn:
General Counsel
Homestore Inc.
30700 Russell Ranch Road
Westlake Village, California 91362
All notices given under this
Agreement shall be addressed, in the case of NRT, as
follows:
NRT
Incorporated
339 Jefferson Road
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Attn: Bruce Zipf, President
With
copies to: same address
Attn: Ken Hoffert, General Counsel
Attn: Rob Campbell, Director, Electronic Marketing
or
to such other addresses of which the parties have been advised in
writing by any of the above-described means. Personal delivery to a
party or to any officer, partner, agent, or employee of such party
at its address herein shall constitute receipt. The following shall
also constitute receipt: (i) a party’s rejection or
other refusal to accept notice, and (ii) the inability to
deliver to a party because of a changed address of which no notice
has been received by the other party. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, no notice of change of address shall be effective until
ten (10) days after the date of receipt thereof. This Section
shall not be construed in any way to affect or impair any waiver of
notice or demand herein provided.
27. Force
Majeure . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in
this Agreement, the failure or delay in performance by a party
(other than the payment of money) shall be excused to the extent it
is caused by an event beyond that party’s control, provided
that the party prevented from or delayed in rendering performance
notifies the other party immediately in writing and in detail of
the commencement and nature of such cause, and provided further
that such party uses its best efforts to render performance in a
timely manner, utilizing to such end all resources reasonably
required in the circumstances. If such event continues beyond
ninety (90) days, either party may terminate this
Agreement.
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28.
Governing Law . This Agreement shall be governed by and
construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California,
without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. With
respect to any litigation arising out of or relating to this
Agreement, the parties agree that it shall be exclusively filed in
and heard by the state or federal courts with jurisdiction to hear
such suits located in Los Angeles County, California and each party
hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of such
courts.
29.
Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in multiple
counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original and all of
which taken together shall constitute one and the same
Agreement.
30.
Severability. In the event that any provision of this
Agreement shall be held to be void or unenforceable, the remaining
portions shall remain in full force and effect.
31.
Survival. Any provision of or obligation under this
Agreement which contemplates performance or observance subsequent
to any termination or expiration of this Agreement shall survive
any such termination or expiration, and shall continue in full
force and effect. In addition, all provisions of this Agreement
shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement to
the fullest extent necessary to give the parties the full benefit
of the bargain expressed herein and of the intent contemplated
hereunder.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each party has executed or caused its
duly authorized officer to execute this Agreement the day and year
first above written.
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Homestore
Sales Company, Inc.
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/s/ W. Michael Long
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W. Michael
Long, CEO
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Homestore,
Inc.
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/s/ Allan Dalton
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Allan Dalton,
President & CEO of Realtor.com
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NRT
Incorporated
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/s/ Bruce Zipf
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Bruce Zipf,
President
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Exhibit A
Examples of Positioning, Size and Font of
Advertisements
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