Legal notice and terms of use

Last updated: 15 November 2021

1. Introduction
   

1. These terms and conditions (the Terms) apply to your use of this website which hosts the International Forum for Volunteering in Development's (Forum) online Resource Library (the Library) and any related materials or services provided by Forum via, or in connection with, the Library or contributed or uploaded by you or other users (Library Materials). For the purposes of these Terms, "use" includes visiting the Library, browsing the Library Materials, contributing content, or registering to use any services. 
   
2. The Library is operated by Forum (we / our / us) and these Terms set out the rights and obligations of you as a user and the organisation that you represent (you / your / User) in relation to your use of the Library.
   
3. By using the Library, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, please refrain from using the Library.
   

2. Liability and Disclaimer
   

1. Forum makes all Library Materials – including Forum's Global Standard for Volunteering for Development (as updated from time to time) (the Standard) - available to you as general information intended for volunteering for development practitioners and organisations. The Standard and the other Library Materials constitute only an introduction to, or overview of, the relevant issues. The Standard and the other Library Materials do not purport to be an exhaustive analysis of the relevant issues, may not always be up to date and should not be relied upon or used as a substitute for legal advice or other applicable expert professional advice or assistance.
   
2. The information in the Library Materials may not be appropriate for your or your organisation's specific situation or activities and operations, and the Library Materials do not purport to address local legal, regulatory or other requirements that may apply to you or your organisation.
   
3. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all express or implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms in relation to the Library and the Library Materials and your use of them.
   
4. Forum will not be liable to you or your organisation for any loss or damage arising from the use of our Library or Library Materials whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), statutory duty, or otherwise.
   
5. Forum relies on third party content to provide certain information. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information on the Library, and disclaim all liability for errors or inaccuracies in the information provided. 
   
6. In cases where links to other websites, services or resources are provided via the Library, Forum assumes no responsibility for the contents of these third party offerings. Such links are provided for you information only and your use or reliance on the third party information is at your own risk.
   
7. Nothing in these Terms shall limit or exclude Forum's liability for gross negligence, fraudulent misstatement, death or personal injury resulting from Forum's negligence, or any other liability, the limitation or restriction of which is prohibited by law.
   

3. FORUM's INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
   

1. For the purposes of this clause 3 and clause 4, "Intellectual Property Rights" means:
   

1. patents, utility models and rights in inventions;
   
2. rights in each of: know-how, confidential information and trade secrets;
   
3. trade marks, service marks, rights in logos, trade names, rights in each of get-up and trade dress, rights to sue for passing off (including trade mark-related goodwill), rights to sue for unfair competition, and domain names;
   
4. copyright, moral rights, database rights and rights in designs;
   
5. any other intellectual property rights; and
   
6. all rights or forms of protection, subsisting now or in the future, having equivalent or similar effect to the rights referred to in paragraphs (a) to (e) above,
   

in each case: (i) anywhere in the world; (ii) whether unregistered or registered (including, for any of them, all applications, rights to apply and rights to claim priority) and (iii) including, in respect of any of them, all divisionals, continuations, continuations-in-part, reissues, extensions, re-examinations and renewals.

2. You acknowledge that all Intellectual Property Rights in or arising out of the Standard, the Library Materials (except where specifically identified as third party content), other Library and website content, the Forum name and the Forum logo (the Forum Materials) are owned solely by Forum.
   
3. Forum grants to you a worldwide, revocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to access and use the Forum Materials solely for your or your organisation's internal activities in relation to the volunteering for development field, without the right to modify, adapt, create derivative works of, make available to the public or redistribute the Forum Materials.
   
4. Except to the extent permitted under clause 3.3, you shall not sell, copy, reproduce, distribute, modify or otherwise exploit the Forum Materials or any other Intellectual Property Rights owned by Forum without Forum's prior written consent. You shall retain all copyright and proprietary notices in the Forum Materials and Library Materials. You shall not use any Forum Materials or Library Materials for commercial purposes.
   

4. Adding Your Content to the library
   

Your responsibilities when uploading or contributing Library Materials

1. By uploading to the Library or submitting to Forum documents or other content which is subsequently made available via the Library to other Library users (your Contributed Content), you assume all risks associated with that Contributed Content. This includes any reliance placed on the quality, accuracy, and completeness of the information provided by other Library users.
   
2. Forum does not endorse any Contributed Content or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and Forum expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with Contributed Content.
   
3. You must not submit any Contributed Content that does not comply with these Terms or the law. Purposefully submitting Contributed Content which is known to be incorrect or misleading may attract personal liability. You also assume the risk associated with submitting illegal or immoral Contributed Content which violates any law or regulation.
   
4. You hereby warrant, in relation to any Contributed Content that:
   

1. the Contributed Content does not violate any applicable laws;
   
2. you have all necessary rights and permissions (and will continue to have during your use of the Library) to submit the Contributed Content, and submission by you, inclusion in the Library and any related use by Forum will not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights of any third party; 
   
3. to the extent that the Contributed Content includes any personal data or personally identifiable information, you have obtained freely-given, specific and informed consent from the relevant individuals; and
   
4. the Contributed Content complies with the acceptable use standards in clause 5.
   

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Forum on demand against all losses or costs suffered or incurred by Forum that result from your breach of these warranties. This means you will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.

Intellectual Property Rights in related to Contributed Content

5. You retain ownership of all Intellectual Property Rights in your Contributed Content.
   
6. You hereby grant to Forum a perpetual, irrevocable worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable licence to use, store, display, reproduce, share, overlay, tag, create derivative works of, perform, and distribute your Contributed Content for use in relation to the Library and otherwise in connection with Forum's activities from time to time.
   
7. You also grant each other user of the Library a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to access your Contributed Content via the Library, and to use that Contributed Content (including to reproduce, distribute, display, and perform it) for purposes related to their or their organisations' activities.
   
8. You shall indemnify and hold harmless Forum on demand against all losses or costs suffered or incurred by Forum as a result of, or in connection with, any claim against Forum that its use of the Contributed Content in accordance with these Terms infringes the Intellectual Property Rights of a third party.
   
9. We do not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to Contributed Content. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any of your Contributed Content posted or uploaded to the Library infringes their Intellectual Property Rights, or their right to privacy. We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any of your Contributed Content.
   

Removal of Contributed Content

9. Forum reserves the right to remove or disable any Library account, Contributed Content or other Library Materials that we determine to be illegal, offensive, threatening, libellous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable. We reserve the right to take similar action if we determine that the Library account or Contributed Content infringes the rights and freedoms of others, or violates the terms set out in these Terms. Such actions will be undertaken at our sole discretion, but we assume no obligation to do so in every circumstance.
   

5. Acceptable Use
   

Responsibility for your Account

1. You are responsible for any activity or communications that occur through the use of a Library account created by you. If you create an account with us, you must treat any information provided as part of our security and authentication procedures (e.g. your password) as confidential. You must not disclose such information to any other person or organisation.
   

Prohibited uses

10. You must not use the Library for any illegal or unauthorised purpose. You agree to comply with all local laws regarding acceptable online conduct. You must not engage in any attempt to modify, adapt, copy, or hack the Library. This includes falsely implying that another service or third party is affiliated with Forum or the Library. You must not crawl, scrape, or otherwise cache any content from the Library, including (but not limited to) Library Materials, other user profiles, personal details, photos, graphics, scripts or other content. You must not intentionally upload or transmit any viruses, malware, trojans, worms, spyware, adware, or any other malicious, destructive, or unauthorised software to the Library.
    

6. Library Availability
   

The Library is provided on an "as available" basis. Forum does not guarantee uninterrupted access, and there may be occasions where the Library will be unavailable. 

7. Variations to the library and Terms of Use
   

1. Forum reserves the right to modify the Library and the Library Materials at any time without the requirement to provide notice.
   
2. If we make changes to these Terms, we will notify you by providing appropriate notice via the Library. The date on which these Terms were last updated will also be indicated at the top of this webpage. Once you have received notification of such changes, your continued use of the Library will indicate your awareness and acceptance of those changes.
   
3. If you do not agree to be bound by any changes to these Terms, you will not be able to continue to use the Library.
   

8. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
   

1. These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Irish law.
   
2. The Irish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to these Terms or your use of the Library, although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these Terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country.
   

9. Termination
   

1. Forum reserves the right to restrict, remove, or prevent access to the Library and revoke your right to use the Standard or other Library Materials if you fail to comply with these Terms. Such actions are at our sole discretion.
   
2. We also reserve the right to reclaim an account on behalf of a third party which is legally entitled to it, in cases where an Account has been created fraudulently.
   
3. If any of these Terms are determined by any competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term, condition or provision will to that extent be severed from the remaining terms, conditions and provisions which will continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.
   

11. CONTACT DETAILS
    

International Forum for Volunteering in Development

C/- World University Service of Canada
(WUSC)
1404 Scott Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4M8
Canada

Email: info@forum-ids.org

Forum will remove any content on reasonable notice (one month) should new content be required, the document need to be replaced, or you wish to remove it from the library entirely.