Content

Author Terms and Conditions

This Agreement applies to all users accessing the Site, is legally binding on you, and will affect your rights regarding information and material you post. If you upload or otherwise add any proprietary material to the Site, the terms applying to writers apply to you. The terms "you" and "your" refer to you, the writer/user. The terms "Scotchat", "we", "us", and "our" refer to scotchat.co.uk

1. Your account

To contribute to Scotchat, you must join and create an account ("Account"). By creating an Account, you agree the information you provide is accurate, current, and complete, and that you will keep it up-to-date. You agree not to share or transfer your password or other Account access information with any other party, temporarily or permanently. You shall bear sole responsibility for all use of your Account and for the confidentiality of any passwords you create to access this Site.

All activities under your Account are your responsibility, and you agree not to share or transfer your Account in violation of this Agreement. Should you notice any unauthorized use of your Account, contact our administrator immediately at fly@scotchat.co.uk. Scotchat will not be responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of someone else using your Account. Each person may only open one (1) Account. To contribute to the Site, you must be at least 13 years of age or older.

Once you have created your Account, we encourage you to fill out your "Biography" with your background information and add links to your favourite sites in the "Your Links" section, including your blog or website. Included information must comply with this Agreement and applicable law.

In order to maintain Scotchat as a trusted platform, we reserve the right to cancel the Account of members who engage in fraudulent behaviour or other unacceptable activities contrary to this Agreement. In the event that Scotchat cancels your Account or your access to this Site because of fraudulent or other unacceptable activities (as defined by Scotchat) contrary to this Agreement (including but not limited to registration with multiple accounts, posting copyright violations, posting duplicate articles under different titles on the site, manipulation of the Scotchat rating system, generation of artificial traffic, or other violations of this Agreement, the law, or the legal rights of a third party), you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account with respect to any material you previously submitted. If Scotchat cancels your account, and you feel this was done in error, please contact us at fly@scotchat.co.uk.

2. Privacy Policy on Scotchat

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This policy covers how Scotchat treats personal information that Scotchat collects and receives at the sites at which this policy is posted, including information related to your past use of Scotchat products and services.
This policy does not cover how Scotchat treats personal information that it obtains from other sources, such as offline, on other websites, or through email communications. This policy also does not apply to the practices of companies that Scotchat does not own or control, or to people that Scotchat does not employ or manage.

Information Collection and Use General

Scotchat collects personal information when you register and complete your user profile with Scotchat. Personal information is information about you that is personally identifiable like your name, address, email address, or phone number.
When you register we ask for information such as your name and email. Once you register with Scotchat and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us.
Scotchat automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, Scotchat cookie information (if any), and the page you request.
Scotchat uses information for the following general purposes: fulfil your requests for products and services, customize the content and advertising you see, improve our services, contact you, conduct research, and provide anonymous reporting for internal and external clients.

Children

This site is designed for adult users, and Scotchat does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, nor does it allow children under age 13 to register for an account.
If you are a parent and suspect that your child has provided Scotchat with personally identifiable information, please contact us at fly@scotchat.co.uk.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Scotchat is not in the business of renting or selling personal information you provide on this site with other people or nonaffiliated companies.
We may share your information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement agencies or officials, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
We may share your information if we believe it is necessary in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Scotchatâ€˜s terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.

Cookies

Scotchat sets and accesses cookies on your computer. A cookie is a small bit of information used by the site to track your session. It does not contain any sensitive information. No other web sites can access cookies set by Scotchat, nor can the Scotchat sites access cookies set by other web sites.

Account Information

You can edit your Scotchat Account Information at any time by logging in to the site and entering the Author Profile area.

Confidentiality and Security

We limit access to personal information about you to employees who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide products or services to you or in order to do their jobs.
Your Scotchat Account Information is password-protected.
Data you provide to us will be stored on our servers located in the United Kingdom. By providing us with your information, you understand and consent to the international transfer of your data.
You should take steps to protect yourself as well. For example:

Do not share your password with anyone else, and take measures to prevent it from unauthorized access or disclosure.

Links and Third Party Ads

We may post links to other web sites as a service to you. These sites are operated by companies that are outside of our control, and your activities at those sites will be governed by the policies and practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of these third parties before disclosing any personally identifiable information, as we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites.
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site, other sites and other forms of media about goods and services that may be of interest to you.
The advertising we display may be targeted to users of particular services and content. So if you view or click on a targeted ad, the advertiser (or other companies affiliated with the advertiser) may assume that you meet the targeting criteria - for example, men aged 30-40.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This policy is effective as of 3rd July, 2009. Scotchat may update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your Scotchat account or by placing a prominent notice on our site.

Questions

Rights to submitted articles and other content

Scotchat does not claim ownership of the content you publish on the Site. After publishing content on the Site, you (or a third party who permitted you to publish their content on the Site) continue to retain all ownership to the content, subject to the license terms described herein, and you continue to have the right to use the content in any way you choose. You grant Scotchat a license to use your content.

Grant of license: By submitting your content to Scotchat, you grant Scotchat (and any Scotchat successors-in-interest, subsidiaries, or parent companies), a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and license to, in whole or in part, with or without attribution to you, use, copy, modify, edit, adapt, publish, publicly display/perform, translate, display, create derivative works from and/or license and/or distribute content posted to the Site. Scotchatâ€˜s rights to content you submit include the right to make editorial revisions to your content; to use your name or pen name as author of your content; to use in any way the materials you submit on the Scotchat website or in other Scotchat media, whether now or hereafter created; to use for our own internal business purposes; and/or to reproduce and distribute the materials for Scotchatâ€˜s marketing and publicity purposes.
Your representations and warranties regarding content: You represent that all statements you assert as fact are factual. You represent that the content you provide to Scotchat does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, data, or personal information in or connected to Scotchat.

Site usage requirements

When you read or in any other way use the content (that is not of your own creation) on Scotchat, you agree to the following site usage requirements:

Non-commercial use/no distribution: You may display the materials contained on the Site on your own personal computer and you may copy and download such materials solely for your personal and non-commercial use, provided that all copyright notices on the materials are included in all uses and copies. Except as otherwise authorized in this Agreement, you agree not to post any content from the Site to newsgroups, mail lists, electronic bulletin boards, or other forums on third-party websites. In addition, except as otherwise expressly authorized by Scotchat, you agree not to redistribute, sell, publish, broadcast, or create derivative works of any materials downloaded or copied from the Scotchat site to anyone (other than your own), including to persons in your same company or organization. Although you may not copy, post or re-publish entire works from Scotchat, you are allowed and encouraged to link to any content that exists on the site.
Restrictions on modifying content: You agree not to modify, edit, or enhance any Scotchat or third-party content in any way, or to do any other act that would infringe upon the rights of the copyright owner. You agree not to remove or modify any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices that have been placed on the materials on the site by Scotchat.
Agreement to view potentially controversial content: You understand and agree that by using the Site, you may be exposed to materials that you find offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and that the content may not be in accordance with the laws of your jurisdiction. You understand and acknowledge Scotchat is not responsible for the information, data, text or other materials that may appear in content submitted by third parties on the Site. Opinions expressed in such content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Scotchat. Scotchat does not necessarily review the content prior to posting, and does not endorse or edit such content.
Acknowledgement of liability waiver: You understand and agree that neither Scotchat nor any other user makes any warranty as to the value or quality of the content you read. Information posted on Scotchat is intended solely for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be used as or substituted for medical, legal, or other professional advice or counsel. You understand and agree that this Site and the information contained herein does not constitute the practice or provision of any health care, medical, legal or other professional services. You specifically agree that Scotchat is not responsible or liable for any threatening, defamatory, obscene, offensive or illegal content of any other party or any infringement by any other party of anotherâ€˜s rights, including intellectual property rights.
Allowed and encouraged site and article linking and marketing: Scotchat does actively encourage its members to link to Scotchat and your articles directly from your blog, discussion forums, groups, chat rooms, and other websites. The more we all link to Scotchat and the more we all market Scotchat and our content, the faster Scotchat will grow.

Content submission requirements and terms

The following list outlines the rules for content submissions on this Site. Please follow these rules; if you don't, Scotchat will likely be forced to cancel your Account.

Right to content: You must have all necessary rights to publish the content you provide to the Site. You represent and warrant that the works you submit are works of your own original authorship. If the content is not a work of your own original authorship, for example if you are submitting work as an agent or if your work contains third-party materials, you must have explicit written permission from the copyright owner before submitting the content to Scotchat. You are responsible for making sure your submission of the content, and the use as outlined herein by Scotchat, does not violate any copyright, trademark, trade secret or other rights or the privacy of others, including the right to transmit the content you provide to the Scotchat site and for Scotchat to publicly display such content.
Compliance with the law: In submitting articles and other content on this Site, you agree to comply with all laws, statutes and regulations of your jurisdiction, all contracts to which you are a party, and all fiduciary obligations you may have (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements).
Adherence to Scotchat review process: You accept that Scotchat and any other user of the Site can review and use the content you provide in accordance with these terms, including the terms of the Site Usage Requirements above.
Non-harassing/non-violation of third-party rights policy: You agree to keep a respectful manner and conduct, and in particular you agree not to post or hyperlink to content that contains libelous or unlawful material, obscenity or any form of pornography, or information that may be used to cause harm or injury; harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, or obscene communications; or information that is invasive of another's privacy, such as including a person's name or recognizable description of a real person in an article. You further agree not to use the Site to "stalk" or otherwise harass any person, and not to impersonate any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
Your promotion of the Site and Scotchat's name: You may not create or distribute information, including but not limited to advertisements, press releases or other marketing materials, or include links to any sites which contain or suggest an endorsement by Scotchat without the prior review and written approval of Scotchat; however, you may accurately disclose and describe your participation in this Site and content you submit (for example, describing and promoting your content on this site on a personal blog, in emails, in newsgroups and forums, or via RSS feeds and similar technologies).
Non-spamming policy: You may not encourage the sending of "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes" etc., either within the content you post, on the Site or otherwise.
Scotchat's disclaimer of obligation to police for legal infringements/waiver of certain liabilities: Scotchat shall make commercially reasonable efforts to provide security for its website, but will have no liability, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, for any infringement of any of your intellectual property rights. You acknowledge that we do not control other users' actions, including but not limited to their use of your content. We will have no liability to you for any userâ€˜s violation of these terms and no responsibility to you to enforce this Agreement for your benefit. You further understand and agree that Scotchat is not responsible for unauthorized access to or alternation of your transmissions or data, any material or data sent or received or not sent or received by you or Scotchat

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold Scotchat, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and employees, harmless from any claim, damage, expense or demand, including reasonable attorneysâ€˜ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (a) materials that you submit, post, or upload to the Site, (b) your use of the Site, (c) your connection to the Site, (d) your violation of this Agreement, (e) your violation of any rights of another party, or (f) violations to this Agreement or the rights of a third party by your dependents.

Scotchat intellectual property and proprietary rights

You acknowledge and agree that the materials available on the Site, including art work, graphics, photographs, images, screen shots, text, music, digitally downloadable files, video clips, trademarks, logos, product and character names, slogans, the software used in connection with the Site, and any compilations of the foregoing ("Scotchat Content") contain proprietary and confidential information that is the property of Scotchat, and is protected by applicable UK and international intellectual property and other laws. Third-party content, including site user-posted content (including graphics, video clips, images, trademarks, trade names, characters), trademarks and copyrights is the property of the third parties that market or license that content, and is used by Scotchat subject to license, or subject to the fair use provisions of UK copyright or trademark law or such use is made permissible under other applicable law.

Unless expressly authorized in this Agreement or otherwise by Scotchat, you agree not to download, display, use, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works of the Scotchat content in whole or in part, in any publications, in public performances, on websites other than this site, for any commercial purpose, in connection with products or services that are not those of Scotchat, in any other manner that is likely to cause confusion among consumers, that disparages or discredits Scotchat and/or its licensors, that dilutes the strength of Scotchatâ€˜s property, or that otherwise infringes Scotchatâ€˜s intellectual property rights. You further agree to in no other way misuse any content which you do not own that appears on this Site.

Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, you are not granted any rights or license to any intellectual property with respect to the Scotchat Site or its contents. Scotchat reserves all rights not expressly granted to you under the terms of this Agreement and Scotchat retains exclusive ownership of the Scotchat Site, the software used in connection with Scotchat and all intellectual property associated therewith, including the name "Scotchat," the Scotchat logos.

If you are a trademark or copyright owner and you believe that your trademark or copyright rights have been violated, please contact fly@scotchat.co.uk. Users who believe that user-posted content includes infringing materials should also report it to fly@scotchat.co.uk.

Applicable law

This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Scotland, United Kingdom. By using this Site, you hereby agree that any and all disputes regarding this Agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts for Scotland. This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from the remaining provisions of the Agreement and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Different countries have different regulations. Scotchat makes no representations that the materials on this site are appropriate or legally available for use in locations outside the United Kingdom. If you are accessing this Site from jurisdictions where the contents of this site may be illegal, you are solely responsible for complying with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content. By submitting information to this site, you understand and agree that by submitting your information you are transferring it from your country and submitting it to Scotchatâ€˜s servers in the United Kingdom.

BY ACCEPTING THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY AND YOU EXPLICITLY WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. YOU AGREE THAT REGARDLESS OF ANY STATUTE OR LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO USE OF THE SITE OR THIS AGREEMENT MUST BE FILED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER SUCH CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE OR BE FOREVER BARRED.

Modification to site or content

If we want to change the Site, our related services and functionalities, fees, payment structures, the terms of this Agreement, our selection of content, or the way we present content, we are free to do so at any time without any prior notice. Scotchat is a conduit for content you submit, and as such we have the right but not the obligation to screen or otherwise control any content posted on Scotchat. Scotchat retains the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse to post or remove any material submitted or posted on the Site for any reason, including if we believe it is in violation of this Agreement.

Notices to you regarding changes to the Site ad this Agreement may, but will not necessarily, be made via email, regular mail, links to notices on the Site, in a splash or other format upon the Site, depending on the character of message. We recommend you keep your eye on the Forum {insert link to forum}, where changes may be posted and discussed. Your input is also welcome! Your continued use of the Site indicates your acceptance of any changes to this Agreement.

Modification or cancellation of your account

Scotchat has the right to cancel your account (or any part thereof), or to exclude you from the Site, if due to fraudulent or other unacceptable activities, at any time in our sole reasonable discretion, with or without prior notice. In case of cancellation, you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account and to any then accrued or future earnings from the Site or by Scotchat with respect to any material you previously submitted. If we decide to cancel your account, the cancellation will not affect your remaining responsibilities to Scotchat according to this Agreement. If we cancel your account, you may not open a new one under your own or an alternate name/email address.

Disclaimer of warranties/limitation of liability

Scotchat makes no representations about the suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness, or lack of viruses or other harmful components of this Site, its content (whether Scotchat or user-submitted content), or its features, and disclaims all liability in the event of any service failure. You acknowledge that any reliance on such material and/or systems will be at your own risk, and Scotchat makes no warranties regarding any transactions entered into through the Site or any service. Scotchat also makes no representations regarding the amount of time that any content will be preserved.

THIS SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE MADE WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE OR ANY INFORMATION OR SOFTWARE THEREIN. YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL SCOTCHAT OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. THIS INCLUDES A SPECIFIC WAIVER BY SCOTCHAT OF ANY LIABILITY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL, OR ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR CONTENT. DAMAGES AS USED HEREIN INCLUDE WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE SCOTCHAT OR ANY MATERIALS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED TO THE SITE, INCLUDING STATEMENTS OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

The entire agreement/no partnership

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Scotchat and governs your use of the Site and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals whether electronic, oral or written, between you and Scotchat with respect to the site and services. Both you and Scotchat acknowledge and agree that no partnership is formed and neither you nor Scotchat has the power or the authority to obligate or bind the other.

Waiver

The failure of Scotchat to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Links to third-party websites

This Site may hyperlink to sites not maintained or related to Scotchat. Hyperlinks are provided as a service to users and are not sponsored by or affiliated with this Site or Scotchat, and Scotchat makes no representations or warranties about the content, completeness, or accuracy of those third-party sites. Information you submit at a third-party site accessible from this Site is subject to the terms of that siteâ€˜s privacy policy, and Scotchat has no control over how your information is collected, used, or otherwise handled.

Act of God

The failure of Scotchat to comply with this Agreement because of an act of God, war, fire, riot, terrorism, earthquake, actions of federal, state or local governmental authorities or for any other reason beyond the reasonable control of Scotchat, shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement.

Headings

The headings in this Agreement are for your convenience and reference. These headings do not limit or affect this Agreement.

This Agreement constitutes a binding agreement between you and Scotchat, and is accepted by you upon your use of the Site. By clicking "I agree" you represent that you are capable of entering into a binding agreement, and that you have reviewed this Agreement and agree to be bound by its terms.

Copyright

All rights, including copyright, in the content of this web site are reserved by the the creators of Scotchat. In accessing these web pages, you agree that any downloading of content is for personal, non-commercial reference only. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, unless otherwise stated, without the prior consent of Scotchat administration. Permission is granted, however, for you to print for personal reference one hard copy only of any page held on the Scotchat servers.

For further details please contact fly@scotchat.co.uk