Terms of Service - PKP Community Forum

The Public Knowledge Project (“PKP”) is a research and software development initiative located at Simon Fraser University Library.

The following terms and conditions govern all use of the PKP Community Forum Website (“the Website”). The Website is owned and operated by Simon Fraser University Library on behalf of the Public Knowledge Project (“PKP”). The Website is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, PKP’s Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines and Code of Conduct) and procedures that may be published from time to time on this Site by PKP (collectively, the “Agreement”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Website. By accessing or using any part of the web site, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the Website or use any services. If these terms and conditions are considered an offer by PKP, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms. The Website is available only to individuals who are at least 13 years old.

1. Your PKP Forum Account

If you create an account on the Website, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account. You must immediately notify PKP of any unauthorized uses of your account or any other breaches of security. PKP will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.

2. Responsibility of Contributors

If you post material to the Website, post links on the Website, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the Website (any such material, “Content”), You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer software. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:

the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
the Content is not pornographic, does not contain threats or incite violence, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;
your content is not getting advertised via unwanted electronic messages such as spam links on newsgroups, email lists, blogs and web sites, and similar unsolicited promotional methods;
your content is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company; and
you have, in the case of Content that includes computer code, accurately categorized and/or described the type, nature, uses and effects of the materials, whether requested to do so by PKP or otherwise.

3. Community Code of Conduct

Use of our Forum constitutes acceptance and agreement to PKP’s Code of Conduct , which governs all of PKP’s community spaces. Please review the Code of Conduct and help us create a welcoming, positive, respectful environment for all Forum participants.

4. User Content License

User contributions are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, PKP has the right (though not the obligation) to, in PKP’s sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in PKP’s reasonable opinion, violates any PKP policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in PKP’s sole discretion. PKP will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

5. Responsibility of Website Visitors

PKP has not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer software, posted to the Website, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material’s content, use or effects. By operating the Website, PKP does not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. The Website may contain content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Website may also contain material that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. PKP disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by visitors of the Website, or from any downloading by those visitors of content there posted.

6. Content Posted on Other Websites

We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer code, made available through the websites and webpages to which PKP links, and that link to PKP. PKP does not have any control over those non-PKP websites and webpages, and is not responsible for their contents or their use. By linking to a PKP website or webpage, PKP does not represent or imply that it endorses such website or webpage. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. PKP disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from your use of non-PKP websites and webpages.

7. Copyright Infringement Policy

As PKP asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or linked to by PKP violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify PKP. PKP will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. PKP will terminate a visitor’s access to and use of the Website if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of PKP or others.

8. Intellectual Property

This Agreement does not transfer from PKP to you any PKP or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with PKP. PKP logo, and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with PKP, or the Website are trademarks or registered trademarks of PKP or PKP’s licensors. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website may be the trademarks of other third parties. Your use of the Website grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any PKP or third-party trademarks.

9. Advertisements

PKP reserves the right to display advertisements of its choice on the Website.

10. Attribution

PKP reserves the right to display attribution links such as ‘Powered by PKP,’ theme author, and font attribution on the Website.

11. Changes

PKP reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. It is your responsibility to check this Agreement periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. PKP may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Website (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

12. Termination

PKP may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your PKP forum account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the Website. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Website is provided “as is”. PKP and its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Neither PKP nor its suppliers and licensors, makes any warranty that the Website will be error free or that cess thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. If you’re actually reading this, here’s a treat. You understand that you download from, or otherwise obtain content or services through, the Website at your own discretion and risk.

14. Limitation of Liability

In no event will PKP, or its suppliers or licensors, be liable with respect to any subject matter of this agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages; (ii) the cost of procurement for substitute products or services; (iii) for interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or (iv) for any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to PKP under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action. PKP shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

15. General Representation and Warranty

You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with the PKP forum Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the country in which this website resides or the country in which you reside) and (ii) your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PKP, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the Website, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement.

17. Governing Law

These Terms of Service will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Province of British Columbia including but not limited to British Columbia’s Freedom of Information/Privacy Protection Act (FIPPA), and the laws of Canada applicable therein.

18. Dispute Resolution

Both during and after the performance of their obligations under these Terms of Service, each of the user and PKP shall make bona fide efforts to resolve any disputes arising between them by amicable negotiations and provide frank, candid and timely disclosure of all relevant facts, information and documents to facilitate those negotiations. Each of the user and PKP shall use its reasonable efforts to conduct any dispute resolution procedures herein as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. Each of the user and PKP shall attempt to resolve all disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Service, or in respect of any legal relationship associated with it or from it, by mediated negotiation with the assistance of a neutral person appointed by the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre administered under its Commercial Mediation Rules. If the dispute cannot be settled within thirty (30) days after the mediator has been appointed, or such other period agreed to in writing by the parties, the dispute will be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre, pursuant to its Rules. In the absence of any written agreement otherwise, the place of arbitration shall be Vancouver, British Columbia.

This document is CC-BY-SA. It was last updated March 18, 2015.

Originally adapted from the WordPress Terms of Service.