Terms and conditions The legal stuff
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. Background:
“autodotbiography”® (“ADB”) provides a safe and enjoyable place for you to take the time to write your life story. More particularly, ADB is an on-line service operated from the website at www.autodotbiography.com (the “Website”) that provides you with a personal on-line account (an “Account”) to enable you to access ADB’s ‘Book Builder’ tool to author and edit your life story which ADB will then host and assist you to publish should you so wish (the “Service”).
2. Acceptance of Terms:
To participate in any element of the Service you must read and accept all of the terms and conditions (the “Terms”) of this agreement. ADB may, at its sole discretion, change these Terms at any time in which case such amended policy will be viewable on this web page. The changes will apply to your use of the Website and the Services (as applicable). If you do not wish to accept these new terms you should not continue to use the Website and if applicable contact ADB with a view to terminating any Account, you hold with us (in accordance with the Terms). Your continued use of the Website or Services indicates your agreement to be bound by any revised terms.
These Terms were last changed on 24 May 2018
3. About ADB:
ADB and the Website is operated by Autodotbiography Limited® a company registered in England and Wales under company number 07410665 with its registered office at PO Box 494, 66a York Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 9WT. ADB’s VAT number is 121 3397 43.
4. Participation:
Your participation in the Service requires you to supply certain personal information to ADB (including: email address; name; contact details etc.). This information must be current, complete and accurate and up-dated to keep it current, complete and accurate. As part of the Service, and for the purposes of writing your autobiography and family history, you may also provide personal information of other third-party individuals. You must use care and be considerate when including the personal information of individual third parties. Any and all personal information (whether your personal information or the personal information of third parties) supplied will be subject to our Privacy and Cookies Policy, which is incorporated by reference into this agreement. By using this Website or the Service, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and from the UK and the country in which you access your email to communicate with ADB and/or access the Internet to use the Website.
5. Service Availability:
As the networks on which PCs, laptops, notebooks and smartphones can sometimes be unreliable, ADB can only use its reasonable endeavours to ensure the Website and your Account are always available. Thus, ADB will not be liable to you if for any reason the Website or your Account is unavailable at any time or for any period. In particular, access to the Website and your Account may be suspended temporarily without notice in the case of network or system failure, maintenance or repair or reasons beyond ADB’s control. ADB may also, without notice, at is sole discretion, modify the features, availability, operation and/or look and feel of the Website at any time. Although ADB will always try to ensure that this work is not done without notice.
6. Your use of the Service:
You warrant that you have the legal capacity to enter into this legally binding agreement and that you are at least 18 years old. You acknowledge and agree that your Account is personal to you and may only be used by you for your own life story. The responsibility for the security of your user id, password and other Account details rests with you. You agree to notify ADB immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your Account or any other breach of security.
7. Your Content: Your responsibility and your intellectual property:
a) ADB refers to all content, postings, messages, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds and other material you input onto or upload to the Website to create your life story as ’Your Content’. You acknowledge and agree that you are entirely responsible for Your Content. You represent and warrant to ADB that you own or otherwise have the right to use Your Content under licence from the third party who owns any element of it.
b) By agreeing to these Terms, you undertake to ADB to adhere to comply with this these Terms and applicable laws, regulations and codes of practice (including, in particular, the laws of copyright, privacy, data protection and defamation) (together “Applicable Standards”). ADB shall not be responsible, or liable to any third party for Your Content. ADB has the right to remove Your Content from the Website if, in its opinion, Your Content does not comply with the Applicable Standards.
c) You must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of Your Content or any reliance on said content. These risks include failing to obtain third party permissions to use content owned by them. In no circumstances will ADB be liable in any way for Your Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of Your Content being made available via the Service and/or failing to comply with Applicable Standards. If there is any dispute between you and any third party in relation to Your Content, ADB is under no obligation to either you or that third party to become involved unless required by law to do so.
d) You acknowledge and agree that whilst ADB does not pre-screen or approve Your Content, ADB has the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any of Your Content that is available via the Service for any reasonable reason including non-compliance with Applicable Standards.
e) ADB DOES NOT PURPORT TO OWN YOUR CONTENT. ADB acknowledges that all intellectual property rights subsisting in Your Content are and shall remain your (or your licensor(s)) property. You grant to ADB a non-exclusive licence to make Your Content available on the Website for the provision of the Service to you and to further use, reproduce, distribute, transmit and display Your Content on your behalf if you wish ADB to assist you in publishing Your Content and to provide you with any of ADB’s other services and/or products. Further, you understand that ADB may make such changes to Your Content as ADB deems necessary to conform and adapt Your Content to meet Applicable Standards and/or the technical requirements of the Website or Service. You agree that this licence shall permit ADB to take these actions.
f) ADB shall have the right to disclose Account information about you (excluding financial information) to any third party who ADB believes has a credible claim that Your Content fails to comply with the Applicable Standards.
8. ADB’s intellectual property:
a) “autodotbiography” (word and logo), autodotbiography.com, and all other names, logos, icons and marks identifying ADB and its products and services are registered trade marks of ADB and may not be used without the prior written approval of ADB.
b) With the exception of Your Content, all right, title and ownership to all intellectual property rights in the Website (including ADB’s life story generator) remains with ADB (or its licensor(s)). Except as expressly provided in these Terms, nothing shall be construed to grant you any right, title or interest in or to the Website (or to ADB’s life story generator).
c) All rights not expressly granted by ADB in these Terms are reserved.
9. Fees:
a) To create your Account and to start to author your life story you must pay the applicable Account fees (“Account Fees”) as quoted on the Website from time to time. Under the UK Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (“CCPRs”), there is a 14 day cooling off period that starts on the day that ADB confirms to you that your Account is active. During this 14 day period you may e-mail ADB at admin@autodotbiography.com to cancel your Account and receive a refund of the Account Fees you have paid to which these statutory rights apply.
b) The Account Fees give you access to your Account for up to 1 year from the time and date on which ADB receives the Account Fees and also entitle you to receive a hard-back copy of your life story which will be sent to your nominated postal address once you have confirmed to ADB that you have completed and wish to publish your life story. If you require longer than a year to complete your life story you will be given the opportunity to renew your Account by paying further fees.
c) You will be required to pay additional Account Fees if you require additional copies of the hard-back copy of your life story.
d) To pay the Account Fees you will need a valid debit or credit card and/or a PayPal account.
e) By using PayPal you enter into a separate agreement with PayPal on different terms and conditions for the provision by them of on-line payment services to you. Further details of the terms and conditions that apply to your use of your PayPal account can be found here: https://www.paypal-business.co.uk/. Your use of PayPal is subject to eligibility, availability and compliance with PayPal’s terms and conditions. You acknowledge and agree that ADB does not act as a payment services provider or any other intermediary in respect of payments you accept.
f) ADB is not a party to your agreement with PayPal and will not in any circumstances be liable to you for any third party claim or liability relating to the provision of PayPal on-line payment services.
g) PayPal may, at its sole discretion and without liability, determine if you are suitable to use a PayPal account to pay for the Services. ADB does not accept any liability to you in respect of such determination.
h) All fees include postage and packaging (and will be as quoted on the Website from time to time with the exception of any obvious error). In cases of obvious error, ADB is under no obligation to supply the Services or products to you at the lower price even if a despatch notice has been sent to you. In relation to products, if the correct price is higher than ADB’s stated price, ADB will, at its discretion and where possible, either contact you before despatch and ask whether you wish to continue with the purchase at the correct price or cancel your order, refund you and notify you of such cancellation and refund.
10. Products:
a) Your Hardback Copy:
Once you tell us you have completed your life story we will despatch one hard copy version to you at your nominated postal address. However, ADB reserves the right to refuse to assist you in publishing your life story if ADB reasonably believes Your Content does not comply with the Applicable Standards. In these circumstances, you shall have no right to any refund of the fees you have paid ADB. ADB also reserves the right to include an acknowledgment of its services in facilitating the publication of your life story in your hard copy version of your life story.
b) Other ADB Products:
In due course, ADB intends to enable you to use the Website to select from a range of further products and services to assist you in authoring, editing and publishing your life story. For example, ADB may offer you the opportunity to publish your life story on DVD or to download it and host it on your own website at an ADB sub-domain. When ADB decides to do this it reserves the right to modify the terms of this agreement accordingly.
c) Risk/Ownership:
ADB products purchased by you will be at your risk from the time of delivery. Ownership of the products will pass to you only when ADB receives full payment of all fees due in respect of the products you select.
d) Import Duty:
If you order products from the Website outside the UK, they may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied when the delivery reaches the specified destination. You will be responsible for payment of any such import duties and taxes. Please note that ADB has no control over these charges and cannot predict their amount. For more information you should contact your local customs office. Please note that you must also comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the country for which the products are destined. ADB will not be liable for any breach by you of any such laws and regulations
e) Cancellations and Refunds:
if you are unhappy with the Services provided and wish to get your money back, please contact ADB, using the details below. If your use of the Services to date have only included the digital word processors then we will simply refund your Account Fees.
If you have already taken delivery of your hard-copy life story and still wish to get your money back, before we refund your Account Fees we require you to return the hard-copy life story back to us.
11. Termination of this agreement and your Account:
a) Subject to the remainder of this Condition 11, this agreement shall continue in full force and effect while your Account Fees are paid up-to-date. On or before the expiry of your Account period, ADB shall contact you via your nominated e-mail address to renew your Account by paying the relevant fees. You may also extend or renew your Account by using any functionality that the Website provides.
b) ADB may terminate or suspend this agreement and your Account immediately and without prior notice or liability, if you breach any of the Terms which includes, but is not limited to, any breach of the Code of Conduct and any failure by you to renew your Account by paying Account renewal fees. If ADB terminates this agreement and your Account under this Condition 11(b) you shall have no right to any refund of your fees.
c) If you wish to terminate this agreement you may simply discontinue using the Services or send an email to admin@autodotbiography.com.
d) When (and howsoever) this agreement expires or is terminated, ADB shall continue to store Your Content on its servers for a further 6 months During this 6 month period, ADB will ask you whether you want an electronic copy of your life story to be sent to your nominated e-mail address. If you confirm you do then ADB shall send it you at your nominated e-mail address. If you confirm you don’t or fail to respond to ADB’s request within a 6 month period ADB will then delete all Your Content and your Information from its servers. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ON THE EXPIRY OF THIS 6 MONTH PERIOD YOUR CONTENT AND YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION MAY BE DELETED FROM ADB’S DATABASE AND THAT ADB SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU WHATSOEVER FOR SUCH TERMINATION AND DELETION.
e) All provisions of this agreement relating to Your Content, to payment, to intellectual property, to Applicable Standards, to liability and to indemnification shall survive termination.
12. Liability:
a) YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ADB DOES NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CONSIDER ITSELF TO BE PUBLISHER OR WISH TO EXERCISE ANY EDITORIAL CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE STORY. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU ARE THE AUTHOR, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF YOUR LIFE STORY.
b) WHILST APPLICABLE STANDARDS PRECLUDE YOU FROM INCLUDING PERSONAL DATA THAT MIGHT IDENTIFY THIRD PARTIES IN YOUR CONTENT, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SHOULD SUCH DATA APPEAR IN YOUR CONTENT THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCLUSION OF SUCH THIRD PARTY PERSONAL DATA IN YOUR CONTENT AND THAT ADB HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU OR SUCH THIRD PARTY IN THIS RESPECT.
c) YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES AND/OR YOUR UPLOADING/DOWNLOADING OF YOUR CONTENT VIA THE WEBSITE IS DONE AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD OF FILES, SOFTWARE, SERVICES AND/ OR OTHER CONTENT.
d) THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS OF ADB ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS.
e) ADB EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE.
f) ADB MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT ITS SERVICES AND/OR PRODUCTS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT ACCESS TO ITS SERVICE WILL BE: (I) UNINTERRUPTED; (II) TIMELY; (III) SECURE; OR (IV) ERROR FREE. NOR DOES ADB MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SOFTWARE UNDERLYING THE WEBSITE WILL BE CORRECTED.
g) IN NO EVENT WILL ADB OR ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON FOR ANY: (I) INDIRECT; (II) CONSEQUENTIAL; (III) EXEMPLARY; (IV) INCIDENTAL; (V) SPECIAL; OR (VI) PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, ANY PLATFORM APPLICATIONS OR ANY OF THE WEBSITE CONTENT OR OTHER MATERIALS ON, ACCESSED THROUGH OR DOWNLOADED/UPLOADED FROM THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADB IS AWARE OR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, ADB’S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO ADB FOR THE SERVICE, BUT IN NO CASE WILL ADB’S LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED GBP200.
h) NOTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT SHALL EXCLUDE OR LIMIT ADB’S LIABILITY FOR (I) DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE; (II) FRAUD; (III) MISREPRESENTATION AS A FUNDAMENTAL MATTER; OR (IV) ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
13. Indemnity:
You agree to indemnify and hold ADB and each of its directors, agents and employees, harmless from and against any loss, liability, claim, demand, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in connection with Your Content (including personal data and information), any third party content you post or share on or through the Website and your life story, your use of the Service and the Website, your conduct in connection with the Service or the Website or with other users of the Service or the Website, or any breach of this agreement (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the Applicable Standards).
14 Links:
a) You may link to the Website’s homepage, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage ADB’s reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on ADB’s part where none exists. You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.
b) The Website must not be framed on any other website, nor may you create a link to any part of the Website other than the homepage. ADB reserves the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in these Terms.
c) If you wish to make any use of material on the Website other than that set out above, please address your request to admin@autodotbiography.com.
d) Where the Website contains links to other websites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. ADB has no control over the contents of those websites or resources, and accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.
15. General:
a) This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and ADB regarding the use of the Service, superseding any prior agreements between you and ADB relating to the Service.
b) The failure of ADB to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision in that or any other instance.
c) If any provision of this agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this agreement shall continue in full force and effect. If any provision of this agreement shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
d) No variation to this agreement will be binding upon ADB unless it is made in writing and signed by a director of ADB.
e) For the purposes of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, and notwithstanding any other provision of this agreement, this agreement is not intended to, and does not, give any person who is not a party to it any right to enforce any of its provisions.
f) All notices which are required to be given under this agreement must be in writing and sent to an address set out in this agreement, or such other address in the UK as the recipient may designate by notice given in accordance with the provisions of this Condition 15(f). Any such notice may be delivered personally or by first class pre-paid letter, e-mail or facsimile transmission and shall be deemed to have been served, if by hand, when delivered; if by first class post, 48 hours after posting; and if by facsimile transmission or e-mail, when dispatched. In addition, ADB may give notices to you through your Account on the Website, and any such notice shall be deemed to have been served upon it being placed via your Account.
16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction:
The Website is controlled and operated in the United Kingdom. These Terms and all matters connected with any order you place on the Website are governed by English law. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales in relation to all matters connected with or arising out of the Website or any order you place on the Website. Customers who access the Website from outside the United Kingdom do so at their own risk and on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with their own local laws, to the extent that any local laws are applicable. Nothing in these Terms in any way is an attempt to restrict or affect your statutory rights under English law.