Welcome to the Global Equality Collective’s Circle! There are a few things we need to ensure that our contributors understand about how we work together. These are set out here.  

1. Being part of the Circle 

   1.1 When you join our Circle, you are agreeing to these Terms. Any other terms, for example, those implied by custom or practice, are specifically excluded.

   1.2 Capitalised words used in these Terms (such as ‘Contributor’), have a specific meaning. These are set out in Clause 8 below.

   1.3 It is free to be part of the Circle’s equitable tier, but the benefits will be mutual: the GEC Platform will benefit from your expertise, and the Contributor will benefit from the exposure that being part of the Collective affords. 

   1.4 To become a Circle of Influence member from additional benefits we have introduced an honesty box

   1.5 The Contributor shall not access or use the GEC Platform for any purpose other than the Permitted Purpose. 

2. Intellectual property

   2.1 Subject to Clause 2.3, all Intellectual Property Rights in and to the GEC Platform belong to and shall remain vested in the GEC (or the relevant third party owner or licensor). 

   2.2 Subject to the Contributor’s prior approval, the Contributor hereby permits the GEC to feature its name, image, bio and other relevant description on its website and in other promotional materials.

   2.3 Where the Contributor is the sole author or originator of articles or other copyright works submitted to the GEC for publication, the Contributor hereby grants to the GEC a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to reproduce such works on the GEC Platform.

   2.4 To the extent that any works undertaken by the Contributor for the GEC or submitted by the Contributor to the GEC for publication include Third Party Materials, it is the responsibility of the Contributor to ensure that it has obtained the necessary consents of the relevant third parties to use such materials.

3. Confidentiality 

   3.1 The parties shall keep confidential all Confidential Information of the other party and shall only use the same as required by these Terms. The provisions of this clause shall not apply to:

   3.1.1 any information which is in the public domain;

   3.1.2 any information which comes into the public domain subsequently other than as a consequence of any breach of these Terms; or

   3.1 3 any disclosure required by law or a regulatory authority.

   3.2 This clause shall remain in force for a period of 5 years from the date the Contributor accepts these terms.

4. Processing of personal data

   4.1 The parties shall at all times comply with all Data Protection Laws in connection with the processing of Personal Data.

   4.2 Taking into account the state of technical development and the nature of processing, the GEC shall implement and maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect Personal Data against accidental, unauthorised or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure or access.

   4.3 Neither party shall permit any processing of the other party’s Personal Data by any agent, subcontractor or other third party without the written authorisation of the other. 

   4.4 Neither party shall process and/or transfer, or otherwise directly or indirectly disclose, any of the other party’s Personal Data in or to countries outside the United Kingdom without the prior written authorisation of the other.

5. Limitation of liability

   5.2 The extent of the GEC’s liability under or in connection with the Collective and the GEC Platform (regardless of whether such liability arises in tort, contract or in any other way and whether or not caused by negligence or misrepresentation) shall be as set out in this clause 3.

   5.2 Subject to Clause 5.3, the GEC’s total liability shall not exceed £500, and the GEC shall not be liable for consequential, indirect or special losses, nor for any of the following (whether direct or indirect): loss of profit; loss or corruption of data; loss of use; harm to reputation or loss of goodwill.

   5.3 The liability of the parties shall not be limited in any way in respect of death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other losses which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

6. Other terms

   6.1 No variation of these Terms shall be binding unless expressly agreed in writing.

   6.2 The parties agree that these Terms constitute the entire agreement between them and supersedes all previous agreements, understandings and arrangements between them.

   6.3 Neither one of the parties shall have, nor shall represent that they have, any authority to make any statements or commitments on the other party’s behalf.

7. Law and jurisdiction

These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of, or in connection with them shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England and Wales and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Definitions 

In these Terms the following definitions apply:

Confidential Information means all information (whether in oral, written or electronic form) relating to the business, strategy, management, services, products, personnel or operations of the disclosing party which may reasonably be considered to be confidential in nature and which is disclosed by one party to the other in connection with Collective; 

Collective means the group of leaders, experts, writers and others with specialist knowledge in the business, education or other communities  relevant to equality issues, including the Contributor; 

Contributor means you, the individual who is part of the Collective;

Data Protection Laws means, as binding on either party or the Membership Services:

1. the GDPR;

2. the Data Protection Act 2018;

3. any laws which implement any such laws; and

4. any laws that replace, extend, re-enact, consolidate or amend any of the foregoing;

GEC means Global Equality Ltd, a company incorporated and registered in England with company number 12447354, whose registered address is at 2nd Floor, 32-33 Watling Street, Canterbury Kent CT1 2AN, United Kingdom.

GEC Platform means the GEC platform which is accessible here, including the GEC App, Website, Training, e-Learning and other resources, or any part of it; 

GDPR means the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679;

Intellectual Property Rights means any and all copyright, rights in inventions, patents, know-how, trade secrets, trade marks and trade names, service marks, design rights, rights in get-up, database rights and rights in data, topography rights, utility models, domain names and all similar rights and, in each case:

1. whether registered or not;

2. including any applications to protect or register such rights;

3. including all renewals and extensions of such rights or applications;

4. whether vested, contingent or future; and

5. wherever existing;

Permitted Purpose means use solely for the Contributor’s personal or business use, and expressly excludes any of the following:

1. copying, reproducing, publishing, distributing, broadcasting, modifying, adapting, abstracting, selling, licensing, transferring or in any way commercially exploiting the GEC Platform;

2. permitting any use of the GEC Platform by any third party or making the same available to any third party;

3. combining, merging or otherwise permitting the GEC Platform to become incorporated in any other program or service, or creating derivative works based on it; or

4. attempting to reverse engineer the functioning of or decompile the GEC Platform;

Personal Data shall have the meaning given to it in applicable Data Protection Laws from time to time;

processing has the meaning given to it in applicable Data Protection Laws from time to time (and related expressions, including process, processing, processed, and processes shall be construed accordingly);

Terms means the terms as set out in this document; and

Third Party Materials means any materials controlled or owned by or on behalf of a third party the use of which may be subject to a licence or other authorisation.