TERMS OF USE (TOU) AGREEMENT FOR TEACHSURFING

1. SCOPE

TeachSurfing owns the TeachSurfing web platform (“Website”) at https://www.teachsurfing.org to connect travelers who are interested in voluntarily teaching their skills during their travel to schools, universities and non-profit organizations which are in need of their expertise. Contingent upon Your compliance with this TOU, You are granted a license to access and use the Website for charitable (non-profit) purposes only. TeachSurfing may supply, in electronic format, under this TOU additional materials and documentation related to the Website (“TeachSurfing Materials”).

2. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

Your access and use of the Website, Content (defined in Section 3 below), or any forums, wikis, blogs, or services provided on the Website are subject to this TOU. Additionally, Your use of the Website may also be subject to disclaimers, legal notices, click-through agreements, or other legal agreements (any, “Additional Legal Terms”), which may be posted on the Website where applicable. This TOU and the applicable Additional Legal Terms (together “Controlling Terms”) form a legally binding agreement between You and TeachSurfing regarding Your access and use of the Website. If you are accessing and/or using the Website on behalf of your employer, or as a consultant or agent of a third party, (either "your Company"), you represent and warrant that you have the authority to act on behalf of and bind your Company to the terms of this Terms of Use and everywhere in this Terms of Use that refers to “you” or “your”, shall also include and bind your Company. Whenever there is a conflict between the terms in this TOU and the Additional Legal Terms, the terms in the Additional Legal Terms control. By accessing or using the Website, You accept and agree to abide by the Controlling Terms. If You do not agree to the terms of the Controlling Terms, You must not access or use the Website.

3. CONDITIONS OF USE

Eligibility. On the condition that You comply with all of the obligations in the Controlling Terms, TeachSurfing grants to You a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable, and limited license to use the Website for charitable, non-profit, non-commercial purposes only (“Charitable Purpose”). If you are under 13 years of age, you are not authorized to use the Website, with or without registering. In addition, if you are under 18 years old, you may use the Website, with or without registering, only with the approval of your parent or guardian.

Permissible Purpose. You agree not to access or utilize the Website for purposes that are inconsistent with Charitable Purpose and/or TeachSurfing’s legitimate business interests.

• You are permitted to use the Website only in strict compliance with the terms of this TOU to obtain information, so long as that information is not being gathered for a use in any manner which is or could be detrimental to TeachSurfing (unless such use is otherwise protected by law), and/or to provide feedback or other constructive comments (positive and negative) to TeachSurfing.
• Use of the Website for any other purpose is prohibited without the express permission of TeachSurfing.

Dos and Don'ts. You must not use the Website to:

• publish, upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that (a) You do not have the right to make available; (b) involves / solicits money or financial data; (c) is unlawful, harmful, tortuous, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (d) infringes any Intellectual Property Rights of any party; (e) includes any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, surveys, junk mail, spamming, chain letters, or any other form of solicitation, commercial or otherwise; or (f) contains a software virus, Trojan horse, worm, time bomb, cancelbot, corrupted file, or any other computer file or software designed to interrupt, destroy, damage or limit the functionality of any computer hardware, software or other property;
• defame, harass, abuse, stalk, threaten or violate the legal rights of others such as rights of privacy and publicity;
• impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an TeachSurfing official, TeachSurfing employee, or any other third party, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent Your affiliation with a person or entity;
• forge email headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Website;
• circumvent the user authentication or security of the Website or any host, network, or account related thereto;
• download any file or Content posted by another user that You know, or reasonably should know, should not be legally reproduced, displayed, performed and/or distributed in such manner;
• interfere with or disrupt the Website, servers, or networks which support the Website, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Website;
• violate any applicable local, state, national or international law and any regulations;
• harvest, collect, or store personal information or data of other users;
• provide, or make available, any links, hypertext (Universal Resource Locator (URL) address) or otherwise (other than a “bookmark” from a Web browser), to the Website, or any part thereof;
• except for licenses provided to You as permitted in this TOU, allow any third party to use any user identification(s), code(s), password(s), and procedure(s) issued to, or selected by, You for access to the Website; or
• publicly post personally identifying information to the Website (other than for registration purposes).

Reporting Abuse of an Organization’s Name or Trademark. By creating a page for a group or organization, you represent that you have the authority from such organization to create such a page on the Website. If you believe your organization’s name and information is being misused, please send an email to info@teachsurfing.de. We will reply to your complaint within five (20) business days. TeachSurfing is entitled to monitor and enforce (including removing any non-complying Content) Your compliance with the terms of the Controlling Terms.

4. MESSAGING

The Website contains messaging capabilities which allow you to contact other users of the Website. When you send or reply to a message from this Website, the recipient can see your email address. You may only use the messaging functionality to contact other users about topics related to the Purpose of the website. You may not use the messaging service for advertisement or any commercial purposes, or to harass, abuse, stalk or threaten other users in any way. Failure to abide by these restrictions may result in termination of your account.

5. CONTENT YOU POST

By transmitting or uploading any Content (defined below) to the Website, You grant to TeachSurfing a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide, fully paid up and royalty free, unlimited license to use such Content without restrictions of any kind and without any payment or other consideration of any kind, or permission or notification to You or any third party. The license includes, without limitation, the irrevocable right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, combine with other works, alter, translate, distribute copies, display, perform, license the Content, and all rights therein; to make, have made, offer to sell, sell, lease, or otherwise distribute any Content or product; and to practice any method, embodying such Content (including the right to sublicense any of the foregoing). To the extent permitted by applicable laws, You hereby waive any moral rights You may have in Your Content. You further represent and warrant to TeachSurfing that You have the right, title, and/or authority to grant such license to TeachSurfing. TeachSurfing may elect not to post or publish the Content that You send or upload. If TeachSurfing elects to post or publish the Content, TeachSurfing may in its sole discretion elect to remove the posted or published information from the Website for any reason and without notice, even if TeachSurfing has previously indicated to You that TeachSurfing might or will adopt, post, or use Content You submitted. As used herein, “Content” means any information, data, code, text, software, documentation, graphics, image, audio, video, photograph, message, rating, suggestions, feedback, recommendation, review, compliments, invitations, ideas, expression of ideas, other materials, or any posting to any forum, wiki, or blog to any web page on the Website.

6. NO SERVICES AND SUPPORT BY TEACHSURFING

TeachSurfing does not provide any support, training, maintenance, or related services for the Website whatsoever. TeachSurfing may, in its sole discretion, provide updates or answers to user queries.

7. YOUR FEEDBACK; TEACHSURFING MAY CONTACT YOU

TeachSurfing is free to use any Feedback for any purpose, including to improve the Website or any other TeachSurfing Materials, products and services. “Feedback” means ideas, submission, suggestions, recommendations, information and materials provided by You under this TOU which relate to the improvement, design, operation, function, feature, use and performance of the Website and/or other TeachSurfing Materials, products and services. The Feedback and any materials included in Feedback are owned by TeachSurfing, unless otherwise agreed between the parties. You grant to TeachSurfing all rights free of charge to the Feedback that You make in connection with the Website. TeachSurfing is not obligated to evaluate or provide any comments to You regarding Content You submit. At TeachSurfing’s sole discretion, TeachSurfing may contact You with critiques, updates, feedback, replies, or questions regarding Your Feedback, including the status of TeachSurfing’s evaluation of Your Feedback. In no event will any such contact or communication from TeachSurfing obligate TeachSurfing to adopt, use, post, provide a timeframe for evaluation, or even provide any additional communication regarding Your Feedback. Nothing in this TOU prohibits or restricts TeachSurfing’s right to create or obtain other Feedback or submissions similar to or competitive with those submitted by You. TeachSurfing may also send You service announcements and administrative messages related to the operation and administration of the Website.

8. CHANGE AND NOTICES

TeachSurfing reserves the right to make changes to this TOU and to modify, change or discontinue any part or all of the Website at any time. TeachSurfing will notify You of any changes to this TOU when You visit the Website and require You to accept such changes before continuing. TeachSurfing may make changes to its products and service offerings at any time without notice.

9. YOUR INFORMATION, PRIVACY, AND DATA PROTECTION

You may be required to register in order to access and use certain features of the Website. You are solely responsible to provide TeachSurfing with Your complete, true, and current user information and to keep Your user information accurate and up to date. You are solely responsible with regard to usage and security of Your password and any activities that occur under Your account. You must not use the account of anyone else at any time. You understand and agree that TeachSurfing collects, uses, stores and otherwise processes Your personal information and utilization data for the operation of this Website in accordance with the Privacy Statement. By using the Website, you consent to our collection and use of personal data as outlined therein.

10. COPYRIGHT POLICY

The Website and all TeachSurfing products are the copyrighted works of TeachSurfing. Unauthorized copying, distribution, modification, public display, or public performance of copyrighted works is an infringement of the copyright holders rights. You agree that You will not use the Website to infringe the Intellectual Property Rights of TeachSurfing or others in any way. You must not remove, overprint or deface any notice of copyright, trademark, logo, legend, or other notice of ownership from any originals or copies of the Website, TeachSurfing products, third party software, or any Content accessed on the Website. As used herein, “Intellectual Property Rights” means patents of any type, design rights, utility models or other similar invention rights, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secret or confidentiality rights, and any other intangible property rights including applications for any of the foregoing, in any country, arising under statutory or common law or by contract and whether or not perfected, now existing or hereafter filed, issued, or acquired.

11. RESPONSIBILITY FOR LINKS AND CONTENT

TEACHSURFING IS ONLY RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR THE CONTENT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY THE GERMAN TELEMEDIA ACT (TELEMEDIENGESETZ, TMG) AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF APPLICABLE LAW. YOUR USE OF CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. The Website may contain links to external websites and information provided on such external websites by TeachSurfing partners and third-party service providers. TeachSurfing is not responsible for the contents of any linked website, or any changes or updates to such websites. You further agree that TeachSurfing is not directly or indirectly responsible or liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with Your use of or reliance on any content, goods or services available on or through any such linked website. Any content, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, is the sole responsibility of the person or entity providing the content.

12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Subject to any licenses You grant to TeachSurfing pursuant to this TOU, You retain ownership of all Intellectual Property Rights in and to the Content provided by You on the Website to the extent You are the owner or holder of the Intellectual Property Rights. Nothing in this TOU prohibits You from selling or licensing Your Content to any other party under a separate agreement, provided that, no such separate agreement may impact TeachSurfing’s rights to such Content as set forth under Section 3 above or elsewhere in this TOU. You acknowledge and agree that the Website may contain content that is protected by copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and laws. All Intellectual Proprietary Rights to the Website and any TeachSurfing products belong to TeachSurfing. Nothing in this TOU is deemed to give You the right to modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative words from, transfer, or sell the Website or any TeachSurfing products for any reason unless otherwise permitted by law. You agree to assign and do assign to TeachSurfing any modifications or derivative works of the Website or any TeachSurfing products made by You in contravention of this limitation.

13. TERM, TERMINATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

This TOU is effective when You accept this TOU electronically by clicking “Accept” or “Agree” and remains effective unless terminated by either party. You may terminate this TOU at any time by deleting Your profile. TeachSurfing may terminate this TOU for convenience at any time, without prior written notice to You. If TeachSurfing believes that you have violated either the Controlling Terms, TeachSurfing may, at its sole discretion, suspend or terminate Your account and refuse You any current or future use of the Website. TeachSurfing may remove any Content posted on the Website at TeachSurfing’s sole discretion. TeachSurfing is not liable to You or any third party for any termination or change to the Website. If You send or upload Content that is confidential or proprietary of a third party without that third party’s permission, or, if You transmit or upload Content that is intended to infect, corrupt or otherwise disrupt the operation of the Website or any other user’s computer system, TeachSurfing may report You to the relevant authorities to ensure You are held accountable to the fullest extent of applicable laws. Upon termination of this TOU, You must immediately cease use and access to the Website.

14. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold TeachSurfing, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, agents, partners, employees, and licensors harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of Your Content, Your usage of the Website, Your breach of this TOU, Additional Legal Terms, the Website Privacy Policy, or Your violation of any other rights of a third party. The foregoing applies regardless of whether such damage is caused by Your conduct or by the conduct of a third party using Your access credentials.

15. EXCLUSION OF SOFTWARE WARRANTIES

The Website is provided to You AS IS. To the fullest extent allowable by law, TeachSurfing does not guarantee or warrant any features or qualities of the Website, or give any undertaking with regard to any other quality. Statements and explanations to the Website in promotional material or on the Website and in the documentation are made for explanatory purposes only; they are not meant to constitute any guarantee or warranty of certain features. No warranty or undertaking is implied by a user from any published TeachSurfing description of or advertisement except to the extent TeachSurfing has expressly confirmed such warranty or undertaking in writing. Warranties are validly given only with the express written confirmation of TeachSurfing’s management. TeachSurfing does not represent or endorse the accuracy, reliability, completeness, usefulness, non-infringement of intellectual property rights, or quality of any (i) links to web-pages of third parties contained on the Website, or the content obtainable on such web-pages or (ii) information provided by third parties on the Website. TeachSurfing will not and does not permanently control and/or review the linked web-pages and the information provided by third parties but upon sufficiently proven indication will remove the respective link and/or information. TeachSurfing is not liable for damages caused by the use of the content on the linked web-pages and/or information, unless such damages have been caused by TeachSurfing’s willful misconduct, gross negligence or TeachSurfing’s failure to fulfill its duty to review as stipulated herein. ALL UPLOADS BY YOU TO THE WEBSITE, WHETHER ONTO THE PUBLIC WEBSITE OR TO THE PRIVATE MESSAGING SERVICE, IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND TEACHSURFING TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE USE OR MISUSE OF ANY SUCH UPLOADED INFORMATION BY ANY OTHER USER OF THE WEBSITE.

16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

TeachSurfing is not liable or responsible in any way for any content posted on the Website or web pages linked to the Website, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in content, or for any losses or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of or reliance on any content. TEACHSURFING AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS, AND LICENSORS ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY USER FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF TEACHSURFING HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE; (ii) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS, MESSAGES, OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE WEBSITE; OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE WEBSITE OR RELATED SERVICES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY HEREIN, THESE LIMITATIONS DO NOT APPLY IN CASE OF INTENT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE BY TEACHSURFING AND IN CASE OF TEACHSURFING’S STATUTORY LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY AND DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS.

17. APPLICABLE LAW

The Website is created and controlled by TeachSurfing in Germany. Therefore, the laws of Germany will govern this TOU without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. You also agree to comply with all laws from the country in which You reside that are applicable to the transmission of data on the Internet, including, but, not limited to laws governing the use of encryption and laws governing the transmission of data across international boundaries, into prohibited countries, and containing personally identifiable information.

18. SURVIVAL

Your confidentiality obligations survive termination of Your account. Upon any termination of Your account, or TeachSurfing’s written request, You must cease use of Confidential Information and destroy all Confidential Information in Your possession or control.

19. WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY

The failure of TeachSurfing to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this TOU does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. To the extent that any provision in this TOU is found to be unenforceable, such provision must be modified in such a manner so as to make this TOU as modified, legal and enforceable under applicable laws and the balance of the provisions of this TOU must not be affected thereby.

20. EXPORT CONTROL

You agree that Your use of the Website will be in compliance with all applicable export control laws and executive orders, including those of the United States and European Union. No software may be downloaded from the Website or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of applicable export laws. Use of the Website is at your sole risk.

21. GENERAL

• This TOU constitutes the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between TeachSurfing and You related to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior written and oral contracts, proposals and other communications between the parties relating to the subject matter. Oral agreements do not exist.
• You may not assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights under this TOU without TeachSurfing’s prior written consent.
• If any provision of this TOU proves to be invalid, this will not affect any other provision of this TOU.