Introduction

CULTURE AGORA (hereinafter AGORA) is a platform that facilitates the visibility of cultural initiatives, offers and calls (hereinafter Information) related to culture, developed in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean, or which is relevant to resident users in this field. At the same time, it facilitates the diffusion of audiovisual content that is formative, informative or professional (hereinafter Video Content), in both streaming and in the following. Agora is a free access platform for interested users (hereinafter Users). The information, published systematically in order to facilitate searches according to preset criteria, and strictly subject to an expiration date adapted to its content, is loaded into the portal by those who assume ultimate responsibility for their content (hereinafter Promoter). Except for those receiving express permission from AGORA, all information is subject to a process of moderation by the reviewers in the shortest timeframe before publication.

 Agora is managed under the responsibility of Culture & Media Agency Europe aisbl (hereinafter CUMEDIAE), at the address Chaussée de Wavre 220, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, a recognized entity of Belgium Decree from the 15th of February, 2012, with the fiscal number 0844076380. CUMEDIAE has the power to recognize, by itself or under the License of its Holder, that all rights and obligations in this document are herein attributed to AGORA.

 

1 - GENERAL CONDITIONS OF AGORA

These General Conditions regulate the access, navigation and use of AGORA, and liabilities arising from the use of its content (text, graphics, photographs, content, databases, images, information and any other creation protected by intellectual and industrial property laws).

The use and access to the content provided by AGORA implies knowledge and acceptance of these Conditions.

 

2 – ACCESS AND RESPONSIBILITY

2.1. Access to this website is free.

2.2. Both the access to AGORA and the non-consensual use of the information contained therein is the sole responsibility of the person performing it. In no case will CUMEDIAE assume responsibility for damage or any other consequences that may result from such use, access or communication, both directly and through the links contained in the information published.

2.3. AGORA is not responsible, under any circumstances, for the accuracy of the information published, which is the sole responsibility of the Promoter, who is expressly indicated with each publication.

2.4. AGORA is not responsible for the video content that it redirects. However, it will attend to any legitimate claim in respect thereof, and it reserves the right to suspend or cancel the publication in case of a dispute between owners of the content, with a notification to the Promoter.

 

3 - PROMOTERS AND REGISTRATION

3.1. Any entity, public or private organization and individuals, may wish to publish information or to request the release of video content by registering as Promoters. To this end, they must register their information, in the required format, before introducing the content information they wish to publish.

3.2. The Promoter’s condition is exclusively reserved for developers of a professional activity that is linked to the content information to be published. It is unpermitted to introduce a promoter of information or video content who is not authorized directly or through authorization. Exceptions are in cases where such information is public. AGORA reserves the right to verify through means of public access the authenticity of the information provided by the Promoter at the time of registration.

3.3. The Promoters of proven professional capacity, generating frequent information or video content for publication in AGORA, may be authorized for automatic publication of its contents without prior review or written condition upon acceptance of these Terms and General Conditions. The posting of information or video content that would not have been approved in accordance with provisions from Sections Four and Five may lead to the withdrawal of this authorization.

3.4. AGORA may suspend, temporarily or indefinitely, a Promoter that has seriously violated the good practices described in Clause Six, or has provided complete or partially false information at the time of their registration.

3.5. It is prohibited to register as a Promoter if a minor without consent of parents or guardians.

 

4 - RELEASE OF INFORMATION

4.1. The publication of information is subject to prior registration as a promoter.

4.2. The publication of information is free. However, AGORA may establish payment procedures, applicable in the case of publishing activities that derive an economic benefit for commercial organizations or for profit.

4.3. The information entered by the Promoter will only be visible in a general online format, upon approval by the reviewers (within 48 hours), except those from agencies or institutions that already have explicit authorization.

4.4. The reviewers may reject the publication of information in any of these situations:

• The purpose of the publication is not directly related to culture, arts or cultural or creative industries.
• The developer has committed a violation of good practices mentioned in Clause 6, both in the publication itself and/or in other previous rejections.
• The publication contains errors or omissions resulting in contradictory information or unworkable use.
• The indicated URL is defective.

4.5. Information for publication on AGORA must contain, at least, the following elements:

• Title
• Indication of an applicable timeframe (date of execution, term, expiration)
• A valid URL that the user can consult for additional information or implement their content.
• Classification of the nature and discipline of the activity, from the options offered at the time of publication.
• One has the option to add a brief description, written in one of the languages from the site or in any other.

4.6. Information should always specify an expiration date of publication, which in no case shall exceed six months. After this deadline, the information will be deleted automatically. Nothing prevents the re-publication of expired information that was removed. It will be treated as a new publication for review.

4.7. The promoter gives AGORA limited license to reproduce and transmit the published content through the AGORA website, and to add information and transform in order to comply with technical requirements of AGORA’s website. The Promoter expressly authorizes AGORA to disclose, publish or distribute by any means any information posted on this website, particularly through social networks, as long as the identification of the Promoter is permitted.

 

5 - PUBLICATION OF VIDEO CONTENT

5.1. The publication of video content is subject to prior registration as a promoter.

5.2. The publication of video content, through the web link it contains, is free. However, AGORA may establish procedures for payment in consideration of offered visibility, particularly in exchange for early dissemination of activities, of rebroadcast or repetition on the website, or through social networks that are linked to it.

5.3. The video content introduced by the Promoter will be visible only in a general online format once approved by the reviewers (within 48 hours), except from agencies or institutions that already have explicit authorization.

5.4. The reviewers may reject the publication of a video content in any of these situations:

• The content of the video does not have a relationship with culture, arts, cultural and creative industries, or training or communications related to them.
• The developer has committed a violation of good practices mentioned in Clause Six, either in the publication being itself denied or in other precedents.
• The indicated URL is defective.
• There is sufficient evidence or indication that the video violates the intellectual property of third parties.
• If the video content is older than 24 months.

5.5. The applications to distribute video content must contain the minimum following elements:

• Title.
• Venue of the event.
• Date and time of the event and release.
• A valid URL that allows direct access to the streaming signal, or to a video and recording. Both streaming and video playback on AGORA will be embedded external content, as indicated by the developer and without hosting the content on its own servers.

Alternatively, the developer can add to their application a static image related to the content of your video, if it cannot be automatically detected from the URL provided. By default, AGORA reserves the right to insert a picture of generic content.

5.6. AGORA reserves the right to terminate video content that has elapsed twelve months from the date of publication. Nothing will stop republishing information that expired, but which will be treated as a new publication for review.

5.7. The Promoter expressly authorizes AGORA to disclose, publish or distribute by any means, any information published on this site, so as to allow the identification of the Promoter.

 

6 - GOOD PRACTICE

6.1. By accepting these terms of service, and in terms of accessibility and publishing content on AGORA, all Users and Promoters, as applicable, are required to:

• Comply with applicable laws in their country of residence or establishment
• Provide accurate and real information: it is absolutely forbidden to falsely represent an identity.
• Maintain and update current identification data & expertise provided at the time of registration.
• Do not publish, disclose, distribute or share content contrary to the elementary principles with respect to persons, public order and morality. In particular, it is prohibited to use defamatory, racist, sexist, discriminatory, pornographic or violent content, as well as those who might undermine the honor, image and privacy of others, especially of minors.
• Do not post or link images or personal information to third parties without the consent of the owner, unless they have expressed public nature.
• Do not publish, disclose, distribute or share content that violate the secrecy of communications, industrial property, or the standards of protection for personal data.
• Avoid any action that harms or damages directly or indirectly, the proper functioning of the site.
• Do not use the service to send advertising and / or unsolicited commercial communications (spam) or perform data collection for the same purpose.

6.2. AGORA reserves the right to remove any content at any time that could be considered contrary to these best practices.

6.3. AGORA is required to examine any claim, reasonably established, in connection with any publication deemed contrary to these best practices.

6.4. AGORA reserves the right to suspend or cancel any promoter or Registered user’s profile that violates these good practices, and where appropriate any information published by them. This cancellation shall be notified in writing and shall not be entitled to compensation.

 

7 – CANCELLATION OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY

7.1. Any promoter or Registered User may unsubscribe at any time from AGORA’s services with menus made available for this purpose.

7.2. The aim of providing personal data at the time of Registration is to access and use services and / or contents within AGORA’s website. The use of such data for communication beyond the needs of the operation of AGORA requires express authorization from the facilitators.

7.3. All personal data provided to AGORA will be processed automatically and incorporated into computer files under the liability of CUMEDIAE aisbl.

7.4. The Promoter and the Registered User may exercise the right to access, amend, cancel and oppose under the terms established in the legislation, applicable in Belgium, pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to processing personal data and on the free movement of such data. To exercise these rights, they should be addressed by any means that provides proof that the sending and receiving of the request to CUMEDIAE aisbl at the address given at the beginning of this document. Also, one may expressly request through the contact form available to the full and complete deletion of data that concerns them directly.

7.5. The password to access the services of the Promoter and Registered user is personal and non-transferable. With it is full responsibility to keep this information secret and face any consequences for its loss; AGORA is exempt from any responsibility. The password can be changed at any time through the registration of developers and users.

 

8 - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

8.1 All content published on AGORA’s website, including in particular any texts, graphics, logos, buttons, images, HTML codes, databases and icons, are protected by intellectual property laws, such as copyright and rights pertaining to the creator of any database.

8.2 The website’s design (framework, choice and distribution of sections, layout of the information…) is protected by copyright. AGORA has the right to prohibit the extraction and/or reuse of the whole or a substantial part of the website’s content, either on a qualitative or quantitative level. The Belgian law of August 31st 1998, pertaining to the legal protection of databases (transposing the European directive 96/9/CE), stipulates that the infringement of these rights is punishable with fines of up to 500,000 euros and, in the case of repeated offense, up to 2 years imprisonment.

8.3 Certain names, distinctive signs and logos featured on the website are registered trademarks or commercial names belonging to CUMEDIAE aisbl or their respective owners. Except formal and preliminary authorization, any use of names, brands and logos and/or illicit use of similar signs are prohibited.

8.4 It is strictly forbidden to copy, translate, adapt, modify or use, in any way, the entire website or any one of its element protected by copyright, through whatever means and for whichever purpose, without the prior and written consent of CUMEDIAE aisbl. Any commercial use of the website’s content is strictly forbidden.

8.5 Under no circumstance can CUMEDIAE be held responsible towards AGORA’s visitors, in the case of any complaint or legal action taken against them by a third party that pretends that the use of one of the elements of the website’s content, or of one of the products or services offered on the website infringes their intellectual property rights.

 

9 - WARRANTY AND LIABILITY

9.1. AGORA is not responsible for any damage that may be caused to the user's computer, as well as improper use of the device by the user or access to the Web. Access to AGORA and non-consensual use of the information contained therein is the sole responsibility of the person who performed it. AGORA is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage arising from such use or access.

9.2. AGORA reserves the right to make changes it deems necessary in the Website and update the information contained therein and the layout, presentation and access conditions without prior notice.

 

10 - PAYMENT

The payment services provided through AGORA are regulated under their own particular conditions, and must be expressly accepted by the User on the time of use.

 

11 - ADVERTISING AND MARKETING TOOLS

11.1AGORA is committed to the highest standards in the publication of advertising and in the use of marketing tools, in full respect to the quality of the Platform, the privacy of its users and the content entrusted by Promoters.

In particular AGORA will respect the following criteria:

(1)  An advertisement may not include such elements and may not create a general impact that would offend the generally accepted moral and ethical standards of a democratic society.

(2)  An advertisement may not abuse the trust of consumers, and may not make use of their lack of experience, knowledge or credulity.

(3)  The use of historical, scientific, natural, and cultural values and monuments in advertising must not harm their esteem.

(4)  An advertisement may not insult any legal ideology or any religious belief. Religious symbols and motifs may only be used in advertising within the limits of good taste and in such a way that their use matches the subject.

(5)  An advertisement may not convey any discrimination related to nationalities, ethnic groups, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious belief or disability, and it may not support such views.

(6)  The symbols of nations and countries may only be used in advertising within the limits of good taste - primarily as a reference to the origin of products and services. In using any of these symbols, they must be treated with respect.

(7)  An advertisement may not include elements and may not create a general effect that encourages, supports or justifies aggressive, violent or unlawful behavior or antisocial behavior.

(8)  An advertisement may not generate fear and may not use shocking arguments or images only for the sake of calling the attention.

(9)  An advertisement may not include elements and may not have a general impact which encourages, supports or justifies the jeopardizing of human life, health or corporal integrity, the impairing of the environment, of private or public property or the torturing of animals.

(10) An advertisement may not use erotic and sexual elements. Presentation of the human body within the limits of good taste may not be objected to, but the manner of presentation shall not harm human dignity and rights of the individual.

(11) Advertising may not deliberately include subliminal elements.

(12) All hints and references must be avoided that encourages the usage of illegal materials, psychotrop materials and drugs or conveys their acceptability.

 

12 - NULLITY. LAW AND JURISTICTION

Should one of the aforementioned clauses, either partly or as a whole, be considered null and void, obsolete or without writ of execution, it does not render null and void the entirety of the present terms and conditions. The clause in question will be regarded as not written and the user accepts that AGORA substitutes the clause with another that will fulfil, as far as possible, the same function.

In the event of any legal action resulting from the use of AGORA’s website, Belgian law will apply and Belgian courts will have exclusive jurisdiction.