Terms and Conditions of Use for The Cohere Website

1. Introduction

1.1. The Cohere website (http://cohere.open.ac.uk) ('Site') aims to provide an environment to create, connect and share Ideas. The Site is operated by The Knowledge Media Institute at the Open University ('we' or 'us') whose principal contact address is PO Box 197, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BJ, United Kingdom

1.2. This Site is offered free of charge to you and your use of it is subject to these terms and conditions ('Terms'). Only those who accept these Terms are allowed to contribute to this Site.

1.3. To contribute to this Site you must read and accept these Terms. Upon registering you accept that you are legally bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to be bound then please do not complete your registration.

1.4. You can gain different levels of access to this Site. You can simply browse this Site and view its contents, but to experience its full potential (e.g. to interact with other users, add comments/additional content, including any links (URLs)) you must become a registered user. You will need to provide us with some personal details about yourself in order to become a registered user. Further information is set out in our Privacy Statement. You should read our Privacy Statement before registering.

1.5. We may update these Terms (including our Privacy Statement) from time to time. Changes will have immediate effect from the date of posting on this Site and you should therefore review these Terms regularly. Your continued use of this Site after changes have been made will be taken to indicate that you accept that you are bound by the updated Terms.

1.6. The information and content provided on this Site has been provided in English, which is the home language of the Site.

2. Content and information

2.1. By putting content on the site, you are declaring that:

a.      the content is yours, or you have the permission of the owner to agree to this usage, and

b.      you accept that if you make the content public then it is available to all users.

2.2. You may use content and services directly available through the Site under the appropriate terms. This means you agree to adhere to the permissions granted to you by the author of the content.

2.3. Content and services embedded or linked to from third party sites, for instance YouTube or Flickr, will be subject to the terms of those sites. It is your responsibility to check.

2.4. You should not link to any third party sites where to do so would breach the terms of those sites.

2.5. If you no longer want us to use the content you have added, you should delete it from the Site. (It will remain in the Site backups for a reasonable period of time, but will not be available to other users.)

3. Your personal information

3.1. All of the personal information you upload to the Site is available to everyone who uses it, with one exception, your email address. We store this so that we can operate the Site and contact you when we need to about the Site. We will never pass it on to anyone for marketing purposes. We use Google Analytics on the Site, which captures information about its usage, to help us monitor and improve it. None of the information captured by Google Analytics is personally-identifiable information - i.e., nothing that can identify you as an individual is stored. By putting personal information on the Site, you agree to it being available in this way. You can change or delete your personal information yourself at any time, by editing your profile.

4. Acceptable use and behaviour

4.1. We reserve the right to remove added content, links and embedded content that is deemed unacceptable by us without notice:

a.      You may not use the Site for any unlawful purpose, or to infringe the rights of others on the site;

b.      You may not use the Site to harass, distress, or inconvenience any user(s);

c.      You may not post information to the Site that is abusive, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise offensive or objectionable;

d.      You may not post any inappropriate messages (including outside the scope of any relevant discussion topic or advertising). However providing information on educational events and/or tools may be acceptable to us;

e.      You must not do anything which may cause (whether on purpose or not) the introduction or spread of a virus;

4.2. If you see something on the Site that you think is not acceptable under the terms above, please report it by sending an email to kmi-cohere@open.ac.uk. Please be clear about the type of complaint you are making and give us clear directions to where the misuse exists - including the web address and title of the page. We will remove content deemed unacceptable to us upon being made aware of it.

5. Our and Third Party Proprietary Materials

5.1. This Site also contains proprietary materials which are owned by or licensed to us and which are not subject to any use by users without permission from The Open University. These materials include our logos and trading names (e.g. OU Logos, The COHERE logo etc.) and may include certain photographic and video images, sound recordings and the design, layout and appearance of and graphics contained within this Site. These proprietary materials are protected by intellectual property rights. Unauthorised use of these materials may constitute intellectual property infringement.

6. Accuracy of Content and Information

6.1. We are further not able to guarantee the accuracy of information contained on or available via this Site. You confirm that you have not relied on any such information and any arrangements made between you and any other person, using or named on this Site is entirely at your sole risk and responsibility.

6.2. Information contained in or accessible via this Site changes on a regular basis. We may make improvements or alterations to this Site at any time and without notice.

6.3. If any links to other websites appear on this Site we accept no responsibility or liability for the content of that website (whether under our control or otherwise). Any link is not intended to be, nor should be construed as, an endorsement of any kind by us.

6.4. It is your responsibility to check the terms and conditions and privacy policy on any other website that you visit via links and embedded content.

7. Liability

7.1. We will make reasonable efforts to ensure but do not guarantee that:

a.      use of this Site will be compatible with all hardware and software,

b.      use of this Site will be uninterrupted or error or virus free,

c.      use of this Site will deliver any specific outcome for its users, or

d.      defects will be corrected.

7.2. You must take appropriate steps to ensure that you regularly check for viruses when using this Site on any device.

7.3. We make no statement about the suitability of the content, information and services contained on, or accessed via, this Site. All warranties, terms and conditions in this regard, including all warranties, terms and conditions implied by statute or otherwise, of satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. For the avoidance of doubt this includes materials accessed via links to websites (including home pages, web pages or documents they contain) operated by third parties.

7.4. We further exclude to the fullest extent permissible by law all liability for damages and direct, indirect or consequential loss (all three of which terms include pure economic loss, loss of profits, loss of business, business interruption, depletion of goodwill and like loss) or otherwise incurred by you or any third party and arising out of or in any way connected with the use of this Site or its content, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise.

7.5. You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless us, our affiliates and our officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses or expenses, including reasonable legal costs, arising out of or in any way connected with any breach by you of these Terms.

Complete Agreement

These Terms, including the associated Privacy Statement, contain all the terms applicable to your use of this Site. Nothing contained on this Site is intended to be nor should be construed as an offer by us to enter into a contractual relationship with you or anyone else, except on these Terms.

Jurisdiction and acceptance of these Terms

1. These Terms and any dispute in relation to the materials available from this Site will be governed by English law. The English courts have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes which may arise out of or in connection with these Terms or use of this Site.

2. Your continued use of The Cohere wesbite indicates your acceptance of these Terms.