RESTORATION, PRESERVATION & ARCHIVING

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using this website or the services offered by Sebastian Wintermute, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with these Terms, you may not use this website or its services. These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Sebastian Wintermute.

Sebastian Wintermute is an independent creative services provider and reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service at any time for artistic, creative, ethical, technical, legal, or personal reasons.

Copyright and Customer Responsibilities

By submitting photographs, documents, artwork, or any other materials for restoration, reproduction, or archiving, you represent and warrant that you either own the copyright or have obtained all necessary permissions to authorize the requested work.

You agree to indemnify and hold Sebastian Wintermute harmless from any claims, damages, expenses, or legal costs arising from copyright infringement or any other unauthorized use of materials submitted by you.

Website Content and Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise stated, all content on this website, including photographs, restored images, text, graphics, logos, designs, source code, and other materials, is the intellectual property of Sebastian Wintermute and is protected by United States and international copyright laws.

No material from this website may be copied, reproduced, modified, distributed, published, displayed, or otherwise used without prior written permission.

Unauthorized use of any intellectual property may result in legal action.

Sebastian Wintermute assumes no responsibility for content that has been reproduced, altered, or published by third parties without written authorization.

Credits and Commercial Use

Whenever practical and customary, appropriate credit should be given to Sebastian Wintermute when his work is published, displayed, or otherwise used in books, magazines, exhibitions, documentaries, television, websites, presentations, or other media.

If restoration or reproduction work is commissioned for commercial publication or distribution, Sebastian Wintermute may request a complimentary copy of the final published work for archival and portfolio purposes.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing before work begins, fees quoted cover only the services described in the estimate. Any additional licensing or commercial usage rights may require a separate written agreement.

Portfolio Rights

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, Sebastian Wintermute reserves the right to display restored images, before-and-after comparisons, and other completed work for promotional, educational, exhibition, competition, lecture, portfolio, website, or advertising purposes.

If submitted materials contain confidential, sensitive, or private information, or if the client prefers that the work not be displayed publicly, the client must notify Sebastian Wintermute in writing before work begins. Every reasonable effort will be made to honor such requests.

Original Restoration Work

Restoration often involves significant artistic judgment and creative interpretation.

To the extent permitted by applicable copyright law, substantial original restoration, reconstruction, or artistic enhancement performed by Sebastian Wintermute may constitute a copyrightable derivative work. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of the underlying original photograph or document or affects any existing copyrights owned by the client or another copyright holder.

Estimates, Instructions, and Client Approval

Clients are responsible for providing clear instructions and responding promptly to requests for clarification, proofs, or approvals.

If a client does not respond within a reasonable period of time, Sebastian Wintermute may:

• complete the project using professional judgment
• suspend work until instructions are received
• or terminate the project and return the original materials

Deposits are generally non-refundable once work has begun.

Quality of Service

Sebastian Wintermute strives to provide restoration and reproduction services of the highest professional quality.

Because restoration is both a technical and artistic process, specific aesthetic results cannot be guaranteed. Minor differences in appearance, interpretation, texture, grain, or color may occur.

Exact color matching cannot be guaranteed due to differences in original materials, scanning equipment, printers, inks, photographic processes, monitors, lighting conditions, and viewing environments.

Limitation of Liability

Original photographs and historical documents are handled with reasonable professional care.

However, Sebastian Wintermute shall not be liable for loss, damage, delay, or deterioration caused by circumstances beyond reasonable control, including but not limited to:

• shipping or courier services
• fire
• flood
• theft
• equipment failure
• power outages
• computer or storage failures
• acts of God, or other unforeseen events.

In no event shall liability exceed the amount actually paid by the client for the services performed.

Shipping and Risk of Loss

Clients assume the risk of loss or damage while materials are being shipped to or from the studio.

Clients are encouraged to use reputable carriers that provide tracking, insurance, and signature confirmation.

Additional insurance may be requested at the client's expense.

If materials arrive damaged due to inadequate packaging or mishandling by the carrier, Sebastian Wintermute reserves the right to revise the estimate or decline the project.

Payment

Unless otherwise agreed in writing:

• New clients, remote clients, and out-of-state projects may require full payment before work begins.
• Deposits are generally non-refundable once restoration has commenced.
• Final work will not be released until all outstanding balances have been paid.

Storage of Materials

Reasonable efforts will be made to return all original materials promptly after completion of the project.

Original materials and digital files will normally be retained for up to 90 days following project completion unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the client before materials are discarded or otherwise disposed of.

If materials remain unclaimed after the applicable retention period, they may be handled in accordance with applicable law.

Refusal of Service

Sebastian Wintermute reserves the right to decline any project involving materials that are unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, or that promote hatred, discrimination, or violence.

Historical materials containing offensive imagery may be accepted when submitted for legitimate educational, scholarly, museum, journalistic, documentary, or historical purposes.

Where required or appropriate by law, suspected illegal activity may be reported to the appropriate authorities.

Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles.

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Changes to These Terms

Sebastian Wintermute reserves the right to revise these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice. The most current version will always be posted on this website. Continued use of the website or services constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.