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1.          Introduction

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1.1                     OMT has created the Alumni Portal to provide Alumni with a platform to network and share ideas, skills and experience, while providing opportunities to showcase student success and role models to inspire potential researchers. OMT values Users' participation in the OMT online community and appreciates all contributions made. 

1.2                     OMT has introduced the UGC Policy to ensure a positive and respectful experience for all Users. The UGC Policy sets out the terms and conditions on which Users may access and use the Alumni Portal. 

1.3                     By clicking "Agree & Join" when Registering as a Member of the Alumni Portal, and/or by using the Alumni Portal and submitting Content, Users accept, and agree to abide by, the Terms of Use, which are binding on the User and take effect on and from the date of Registration. 

1.4                     Should a User not agree with the Terms of Use, they should not access, use or Register as a Member of the Alumni Portal. If a User has already accessed or Registered for the Alumni Portal but does not accept the Terms of Use, the User must immediately discontinue their use and Membership of the Alumni Portal.

1.5                     OMT's failure to enforce any provision of the UGC Policy strictly will not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. In the event that a portion of the UGC Policy is held unenforceable or invalid by any competent authority, the unenforceable portion will be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intent thereof, and the remainder of the provisions will remain in force and effect to the fullest extent permitted by the law.

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2.          Definitions

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2.1.1                                

"this Agreement"

means the Agreement between the User and OMT to the terms and conditions set out in this UGC Policy;

2.1.2                                

"Alumni"

means persons that have previously received funding or scholarships from OMT in support and/or furtherance of their education and/or research;

2.1.3                                

"Alumni Portal"

means OMT's online networking platform which is accessible and usable by Alumni after Registration;

2.1.4                                

"Complainant"

means any person who lodges a Report with OMT about User conduct or UGC on the Alumni Portal in accordance with clause 5.3;

2.1.5                                

"Content"

means all text, information, graphics, audio, video, and data offered through or published on the Alumni Portal;

2.1.6                                

"Intellectual Property"

means all current and future intellectual property rights of whatsoever nature, whether registered or unregistered (together with all rights, interests, or licences in or to any of those rights), and/or any other intellectual property vesting in a User or in OMT by the operation of law;

2.1.7                                

"Member" 

means an authorised individual that has Registered to access and use the Alumni Portal;

2.1.8                                

"Membership"

means the status or authorisation of an Alumni as a Member after having Registered to access and use the Alumni Portal;

2.1.9                                

"OMT"

means the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust;

2.1.10                            

"OMT Website"

means OMT's web page with domain name www.omt.org.za, as well as sub-domains and any associated web-based and mobile applications as owned and operated by OMT;

2.1.11                            

"Privacy Policy"

means the OMT Privacy Policy setting out how OMT collects, uses, shares, and protects Users' personal information, accessible on the Website at https://www.omt.org.za/privacy

2.1.12                            

"Register" or "Registration"

means online registration by signing on to access and use the Alumni Portal as a Member on the OMT Website at www.omt.org.za;

2.1.13                            

"Report"

means a complaint lodged with OMT about User conduct or UGC on the Alumni Portal in accordance with clause 5.3;

2.1.14                            

"Terms of Use"

means the UGC Policy, together with OMT's Website Terms, Privacy Policy, mobile licence agreements, if any, and other posted guidelines on the OMT Website, setting out the terms and conditions on which Users may make use of the Alumni Portal;

2.1.15                            

"UGC Policy"

means this User-Generated Content Policy and any schedules or Annexures attached to it, as varied or amended from time to time;

2.1.16                            

"User"

collectively means either a Visitor or a Member;

2.1.17                            

"User-Generated Content"

means Content that a User submits, transfers, or otherwise publishes or makes available through the Alumni Portal, including, without limitation, any creative expression by the Users through means of video, audio, photographs, images, illustrations, animations, logos, tools, written posts, replies, comments, information, data, text, software, scripts, executable files, graphics, and interactive features, any of which may be generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible on or through, and publicised on, the Alumni Portal;

2.1.18                            

"Visitor"

means a person who merely accesses or browses the Alumni Portal but who has not Registered as a Member;

2.1.19                            

"Website"

means an online platform or digital space hosted on the internet and owned by a third-party allowing users to access, contribute, and interact with content, services, or features, including, without limitation, web pages, applications, and associated resources under a specific domain name;

2.1.20                            

"Website Terms"

means the Terms of Service governing the access and use of the OMT Website, available at https://www.omt.org.za/terms.

 

3.          Content guidelines

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3.1                     When using the Alumni Portal, Users agree that they will not-

3.1.1                               publish content that amounts to propaganda for war, incitement to imminent violence, advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender, or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm; 

3.1.2                               use the Alumni Portal for illegal purposes or for purpose of spamming; 

3.1.3                               restrict or inhibit any other User from using and enjoying the Alumni Portal; 

3.1.4                               publicise UGC that is untruthful, misleading, unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, profane pornographic or that constitutes a criminal offence and/or gives rise to a civil liability claim or otherwise violates any local, national or international law;

3.1.5                               conduct themselves in a way that unjustifiably infringes on a person’s basic human rights as set out in the Constitution; 

3.1.6                               violate the copyright, trademark, or other Intellectual Property rights of any other person by the submission of Content to the Alumni Portal;

3.1.7                               publicise UGC that contains viruses or other harmful content; or

3.1.8                               publicise UGC that is intended for commercial purposes, contains marketing or promotional materials, or is intended to solicit donations.

3.2                     By the publication of UGC in any manner whatsoever, the User represents that they are the rightful owner of such Content transmitted or that they have obtained permission from the rightful owners to submit such Content.

3.3                     The UGC posted on or through the Alumni Portal by Users in no way reflects the views of OMT or of its employees. OMT is not responsible for moderating UGC and can therefore not be held liable for the Content posted by Users on the Alumni Portal.

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4.          Liability

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4.1                     OMT will not be liable to any User or any other person for any loss or damage (including any direct, indirect, incidental, and/or consequential losses), whether in contract, delict (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with the use of, or inability to use, the Alumni Portal; and/or use of or reliance on any Content made available on the Alumni Portal, whether or not OMT has been advised of the possibility of such claims and/or losses in advance, and even if such claim or loss is foreseeable.

4.2                     By using the Alumni Portal, Users may encounter content or information that is inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, outdated, or misleading. Users should independently verify the completeness and reliability of information provided on or via the Alumni Portal. OMT is not liable for any harm arising from reliance on misinformation published by Users on the Alumni Portal.

4.3                     The downloading and use of data contained on the Alumni Portal is done at the User's sole discretion. OMT will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect or otherwise affect Users' computer equipment, computer programs, data, and/or other proprietary material due to their use of the OMT Website, or to their accessing or downloading of any Content on the Alumni Portal, or on any Website linked to it. Users are responsible for implementing suitable protection mechanisms to prevent such harm from occurring.

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5.          Reporting and moderation

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5.1                     OMT does not monitor, edit, control, or filter the UGC submitted to the Alumni Portal by Users. The UGC, including as may be found in blogs, forums, chat groups, comment sections and bulletin boards, do not represent the views of OMT and OMT has not authorized or endorsed such Content. 

5.2                     UGC should not be viewed as professional advice of any kind, be it medical, legal, financial, or otherwise. User discretion is advised.

5.3                     Should any person become aware of a User of the Alumni Portal conducting themselves in a way which contravenes the Terms of Use, or of inappropriate or dissatisfactory UGC having been published on the Alumni Portal, a Report should be lodged to OMT by a Complainant as follows:

5.3.1                               The Report must be sent via e-mail to alumni@omt.org.za

5.3.2                               The Report must include the UGC that gave rise to the complaint and the details (e.g., username) of the User who publicised the Content. The Report must also include the date and time on which the UGC was publicised. 

5.3.3                               The Report must indicate whether the UGC is in breach of the Terms of Use or any applicable law and, if so, in what manner.

5.3.4                               The Report must include any other information that the Complainant considers relevant regarding why a complaint was brought.

5.3.5                               Should the Complainant wish to receive feedback regarding the outcome of the investigation into their Report, they must also provide an email address to which such feedback can be communicated. 

5.4                     Once OMT becomes aware of the Report lodged, OMT will evaluate whether the User or UGC has breached the Terms of Use or any applicable law. If the User or UGC is found non-compliant, the UGC complained of will be removed from the Alumni Portal within a reasonable period of time. Further steps may be taken against the offending User depending on the circumstances of the non-compliance, including that they may be given a warning, suspended, banned from accessing or using the Alumni Portal, or have their Membership revoked. 

5.5                     OMT has the right to moderate, amend and/or remove any UGC from the Alumni Portal for any reason, including but not limited to situations where, in the opinion of OMT, a post is obscene, offensive, and/or infringes on third-party Intellectual Property.

5.6                     The decision to remove UGC will be communicated both to the Complainant (provided that they furnished OMT with their e-mail address) and to the User who publicised the UGC. 

5.7                     OMT reserves the right to report suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third-parties and to disclose any information necessary or appropriate to such persons or entities relating to the non-compliant User's profile, e- mail addresses, usage history, posted materials, IP addresses and traffic information, as allowed under the Privacy Policy.

5.8                     Notwithstanding that the Alumni Portal may contain links to third-party Websites, and that some third-party Websites may contain links to the Alumni Portal, OMT does not control, endorse, or approve the activities or Content of any such third-party Websites. OMT assumes no responsibility for the Content of Websites linked on the Alumni Portal and OMT will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from Users' use of them. Users must please contact the relevant Website proprietor they have a complaint about the activities or contents of a third-party Website.

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6.          Content ownership and licensing

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6.1                     Users retain ownership and/or other applicable rights in or over any Intellectual Property published through or posted on the Alumni Portal.

6.2                     The Alumni Portal may contain the service marks or trademarks, as well as those of the affiliates or other companies, in the form of words, graphics and logos. Users' use of the Alumni Portal does not constitute any right or licence for them to use such service marks/trademarks, without the prior written permission of the corresponding service mark/trademark owner. The Alumni Portal is also protected under international copyright laws. The copying, redistribution, use or publication by Users of any portion of the Alumni Portal is strictly prohibited. Users' use of the Alumni Portal does not grant them ownership rights of any kind in the Alumni Portal.

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7.          Changes to the Alumni Portal and UGC Policy

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7.1                     OMT reserves the right, without notice and in its sole and absolute discretion, to make changes to any parts of the Alumni Portal inclusive of changes to the UGC Policy.

7.2                     Users have the responsibility to review the Terms of Use on each occasion prior to accessing or using the Alumni Portal. If a User continues to access and use the Alumni Portal after the amended Terms of Use have been posted on the OMT Website, such use will constitute deemed acceptance of the amended Terms of Use. 

7.3                     OMT specifically reserves the right at any time to change or discontinue, without notice, any aspect and/or feature of the Alumni Portal.

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8.          Termination

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OMT has the exclusive discretion to terminate this Agreement and a User's Membership at any time.

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9.          Indemnities

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9.1                     In the event that a User does not agree to the Terms of Use, but fails to cease their use of the Alumni Portal as required in terms of clause 1.4, OMT has the right to claim any indirect, direct, incidental, special or punitive damages caused to it by the User's unauthorised access or use of the Alumni Portal. 

9.2                     OMT is indemnified by Users against any claims for damages of whatsoever nature caused to another party by a User's unauthorised use or access of the Alumni Portal.

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10.       Queries

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Should there be any questions relating to the UGC Policy, please send the query to alumni@omt.org.za.

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