Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) apply to meritbadgy.com and everything on it (the “Site”). By using the Site, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy & youth safety policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the Site.

If you're under 18, please read these Terms with a parent or guardian. They agree to these Terms on your behalf.

Merit Badgy is run by 1456 Media, LLC (“Merit Badgy,” “we,” “us”). You can reach us at hello@meritbadgy.com.

Merit Badgy is independent. We're not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America), any council or district, or any class organizer.

Merit Badgy is a directory of merit badge classes. We gather class listings from organizers and from public web pages, review them and make them searchable.

We don't:

• Run, teach, host or supervise any class.
• Handle registration, sign-ups, payments or refunds. “Register with organizer” takes you to the organizer's own site, and your registration is between you and the organizer.
• Register, approve, screen or verify merit badge counselors or organizers. Counselors are registered and approved by their local council.
• Award, record or approve merit badges or advancement. Only a registered merit badge counselor can sign off requirements, and your troop records the badge.

We work to keep listings accurate, but class details come from organizers and public pages and can change at any time. Dates, times, locations, prices, prerequisites, availability and requirements may be out of date or wrong.

Always confirm the details with the organizer before you register or go. We aren't responsible for classes that are canceled, changed, full, or different from their listing.

Some listings are for classes held at a private home. For privacy we only show an approximate area for those. The organizer shares the exact address with registered families.

Classes are run by their organizers, not by us. Organizers, counselors, parents and guardians are responsible for supervision and safety at every class, including following Scouting America's youth protection rules (such as no one-on-one contact between an adult and a Scout).

If you have a concern about a Scout's safety:

• In an emergency, call 911.
• Report known or suspected abuse to local law enforcement or child protective services, then to the Scouts First Helpline: 1-844-SCOUTS1 (1-844-726-8871).
• Let us know at hello@meritbadgy.com if a listing is involved, and we'll review it right away.

Searching, saving classes, adding classes to your calendar and setting reminders are free and don't need an account.

When you use the Site, you agree not to:

• Break any law or anyone else's rights.
• Post or send anything false, misleading, harmful, harassing, hateful, sexual or otherwise inappropriate for young people.
• Collect personal information about other people, especially young people.
• Copy or scrape the Site in bulk, or use bots or automated tools in a way that ignores our robots.txt or puts a heavy load on the Site.
• Try to break into, disrupt, probe or get around the Site's security, or access admin areas without permission.
• Show the Site inside another site (framing), or pretend to be Merit Badgy, Scouting America or anyone else.

To list classes, you can create an organizer account as a person (for example, a counselor or leader) or an organization (for example, a council, troop, camp or museum).

• Adults only. You must be 18 or older to create an account.
• Accurate information. Give your real name or your organization's real name and a working email address, and keep them up to date. You must confirm your email before adding classes.
• Your login. Keep your password private. You're responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us right away at hello@meritbadgy.com if you think someone else has used it.
• Organizations. If you create an account for an organization, you confirm that you're allowed to act for it.

When you submit a class, you confirm that:

• It's a real merit badge class (or event) that you organize or are authorized to list.
• The details are accurate and you'll update or take down the listing if they change or the class is canceled.
• The class follows Scouting America's advancement and youth protection rules, including being taught or signed off by registered merit badge counselors.
• The listing doesn't include personal information about any young person, and doesn't include anything you don't have the right to share (such as someone else's photos or text).
• Any price you list is the full price families will pay.

Review. Every new or edited class goes to our review queue before it appears. We may edit listings for clarity, format or accuracy (for example, the title, badge or date), and we may decline, hide or remove any listing at any time for any reason, including if we think it breaks these Terms. Editing a live class hides it until it's approved again.

Permission to show your listing. You keep ownership of what you submit. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, display, format, edit for clarity, and share your listing on the Site and in places that point people to it (such as search engines, share previews, calendar files and reminder emails), for as long as it's listed and for a reasonable time after for backups and records.

Some listings come from public council, district, camp and event pages. We link back to the organizer and send families there to register. If you organize a class and want its listing corrected or removed, email hello@meritbadgy.com from an address that shows you're connected to the organizer, and we'll take care of it promptly.

If you ask for a reminder, we'll email you about that class (for example, 24 hours before it starts, and 48 hours before registration opens if it hasn't yet). Every reminder has a one-click unsubscribe link. Reminders are a courtesy: emails can be delayed or filtered, so don't rely on them alone for deadlines.

If you're under 13, please ask a parent or guardian to set up reminders with their own email address. The Remind me form asks you to confirm that you're 13 or older, or that a parent or guardian is setting it up.

The Become a counselor form helps you fill in the official Merit Badge Counselor Information form. It's filled in on your own device and downloaded to you; we don't save your answers. You're responsible for checking the form and submitting it to your council. Filling it in doesn't register or approve you as a counselor.

Using Merit Badgy to find classes is free. Listing classes is currently free. We may introduce optional paid plans or features for organizers in the future. If we do, we'll show the price and terms before you pay, and we won't charge you for anything you didn't choose. Fees for classes are set and collected by organizers, not by us.

The Site links to sites we don't control, including organizer registration pages, scouting.org (opens in a new tab) requirements, map directions and OpenStreetMap. Those sites have their own terms and privacy policies, and we aren't responsible for their content, availability or practices.

The Site's design, text, logo, the Merit Badgy name and the “MB” badge are owned by 1456 Media, LLC. You may share links to the Site and print class pages for personal use. Please don't copy or reuse our content otherwise without permission.

Merit badge names, patch images, “Scouting America,” “Scouts BSA,” “Eagle Scout” and related marks belong to Scouting America. We use them only to identify badges and classes; this doesn't mean Scouting America endorses us. Other names and marks belong to their owners.

If you believe something on the Site infringes your copyright or trademark, email hello@meritbadgy.com with the page link, what you own and how to reach you, and we'll review it promptly.

Our Privacy & youth safety policy explains what little information we collect and how we use it. In short: no Scout accounts, no cookies for statistics, and email addresses only when you ask for reminders or create an organizer account.

The Site is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including that the Site will be accurate, complete, uninterrupted, error-free or secure, or that any class, organizer or counselor will meet your expectations. Merit badge requirements and Scouting America policies are set by Scouting America; check scouting.org and your troop for the official versions.

To the fullest extent the law allows, Merit Badgy, 1456 Media, LLC and its owners, volunteers and contractors aren't liable for:

• Anything that happens at, on the way to, or because of a class, including injury, loss or damage.
• Anything organizers, counselors or other users do or don't do, including cancellations, refunds, payments or how they handle your information.
• Mistakes or out-of-date information in listings, missed registrations or missed reminders.
• Indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or lost data, profits or opportunities.

If we are found liable for anything anyway, our total liability is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or US $50. Some places don't allow some of these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

If you list classes or otherwise use the Site in a way that breaks these Terms or the law, you agree to cover our reasonable costs (including legal fees) from any claim that results, to the extent the law allows.

You can stop using the Site any time. Organizers can withdraw or take down their classes from My classes, and can ask us to close their account at hello@meritbadgy.com. We may suspend or close an account, or block access to the Site, if we believe someone has broken these Terms or put young people at risk. Sections that by their nature should continue (such as the listing license in section 8 for records, and sections 14, 16, 17, 18 and 20) continue after access ends.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Harris County, Texas, and you and we agree to those courts' jurisdiction. Before filing anything, please email us at hello@meritbadgy.com so we can try to work it out informally first.

We may update these Terms as the Site changes. We'll post the new version here with a new “Last updated” date, and for important changes we'll give notice on the Site or by email to organizer accounts. If you keep using the Site after changes take effect, you accept the new Terms.

These Terms (with the Privacy & youth safety policy) are the whole agreement between you and us about the Site. If a court finds part of them unenforceable, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a part right away, we haven't given it up. You can't transfer your rights under these Terms; we may transfer ours as part of a sale or reorganization of the Site.

Questions about these Terms? Email hello@meritbadgy.com.