Legal Notice

1. DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of these general terms and conditions of use, the following capitalised terms have the definition given below:

“GTCU” or “General Terms and Conditions of Use”: means all the provisions provided for herein, the purpose of which is to define the terms and rules for access to and use of the Websites published by VIPARIS as indicated below.

“Content”: includes, but is not limited to, the structure/architecture of the Services, editorial content, videos, text, sections, drawings, illustrations, photos, images, sounds, as well as any other content present on the Services and/or any other element comprising the Services.

“Contributive Spaces”: means the contributive spaces, forums, chats, opinions and comments that may be made available to users on the Services and hosted by VIPARIS and/or its service providers.

"VIPARIS": means VIPARIS Le Palais des Congrès de Paris, a French simplified joint stock company (société par actions simplifiée) with share capital of €6,400,352, whose registered office is located at 2 Place de la Porte Maillot, Paris (75017), which publishes the Services.

“Website(s)”: means the VIPARIS websites and applications published by VIPARIS, and in particular the public communication service(s) published by the companies of the VIPARIS Group.

“Service(s)”: means the services accessible from the VIPARIS Websites and applications and published by VIPARIS.

2. SCOPE OF APPLICATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF USE

2.1. Acceptance of the General Terms and Conditions of Use

The General Terms and Conditions of Use are in French and are intended to apply exclusively between VIPARIS and any user wishing to access the Website and use the Services. Any connection to the VIPARIS Websites, the consultation and use of their Content is carried out in the context of these GTCU, the purpose of which is to set out the terms of use of the Services and Content offered on the Websites. Any access to one of the Websites automatically implies the application and full acceptance of the rules and conditions set out in these GTCU. In the event that a user refuses to adhere to these GTCU, they agree not to access and/or use the Website.

2.2. Changes to the General Terms and Conditions of Use

The applicable GTCU are those in force when connecting to and using the Websites and/or accepted when creating an account (hereinafter the “User(s)”). VIPARIS is, however, free to change the GTCU at any time, in order to adapt them to changes in the Services and/or their operation. They are deemed to be unreservedly accepted by any User who accesses the Websites after they have been posted online. VIPARIS therefore invites you to regularly consult the GTCU.

4. EXTERNAL LINKS AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

The Websites may make hyperlinks available, offer access to information, content and services concerning other sites and allow access to third-party services. The User expressly acknowledges that under no circumstances may VIPARIS be held liable for any information, content, service or elements available on third-party websites or from third-party internet sources, nor for any damage whatsoever, whether alleged or actual, to which access to or use of this information, content, services or elements available on third-party websites or from third-party internet sources may give rise. Any User who accesses the third-party services will be exclusively subject to the special terms and conditions of use and/or sale applicable to the third-party services. Websites with hypertext links to this Website are not under the control of VIPARIS, which declines all responsibility regarding the content thereof.

5. CONTRIBUTIVE SPACES

5.1. Reviews and comments

Where VIPARIS provides Contributive Spaces and the possibility for Users to use such spaces, Users are free to discuss all subjects of interest to them, in compliance with the rules of propriety, courtesy and respect for others. As VIPARIS does not carry out any a priori control of the content and/or comments posted online by Users, any User who writes content and/or comments is responsible for the content thereof and thus for everything they choose to post online within the Contributive Spaces.

5.2. Illegal content

In accordance with the provisions of Article 6-I-7 of the Law on Confidence in the Digital Economy of 21 June 2004, any person may report at any time the publication on the Websites of any message of an unlawful nature of which they become aware, in particular those that fall within the scope of the offences referred to in the 5th and 8th paragraphs of Article 24 of the Law of 29 July 1881 on the freedom of the press and Articles 227-23 and 227-24 of the French Criminal Code.
When using the Contributive Spaces, the User undertakes to post content and comments online in accordance with the legislation in force in France. The following types of content are considered illegal content:
• content contrary to public order and moral decency;
• equality between women and men and the protection of children and adolescents;
• content inciting minors to commit illegal or dangerous acts;
• content encouraging the committing of crimes and/or offences, the consumption of prohibited substances or suicide;
• content inciting discrimination, hatred of a person or group of persons on the basis of their origins or membership or non-membership of a particular ethnicity, nation, race or religion;
• content of a defamatory nature (allegation prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the natural or legal person or entity against which it is made);
• content that is offensive (offensive remark, expression of contempt or invective);
• content the nature of which is liable to undermine respect for human beings and their dignity,
• content that incites violence, particularly racial violence;
• content glorifying certain crimes, including murder, rape, war crimes and crimes against humanity;
• content that is racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic or revisionist in nature;
• content of a violent, obscene or pornographic nature;
• content of a paedophile nature;
• content infringing personality rights, copyright, related rights and trademark rights;
• content that harms VIPARIS’s image and/or brands.
5.3. Reporting of illegal content
Any User may report any user content they consider unlawful via the “Contact” link or the contact email address provided, accessible either at the bottom of the VIPARIS Website pages, in the menus or in the VIPARIS policies. This User must therefore specify the name of the User who published the unlawful content, describe the user content and/or comments whose withdrawal is requested (title, date and time of the message posted online), and the reasons for which the withdrawal is requested.

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

6.1. Intellectual property rights relating to the Content of the VIPARIS Websites

All elements of the VIPARIS Websites (in particular the structure, all texts, photos, videos, data, posters, logos, brand illustrations and other elements reproduced) are reserved and protected under intellectual property law for France and/or the whole world. VIPARIS grants the User, free of charge, non-transferable, non-exclusive, personal and private authorisation to use the Services and the Websites for personal use only, in strict compliance with the terms and conditions of use established by these GTCU. Any unauthorised use of all or part of the elements of the Services and the Websites may give rise to legal action.

6.2. Intellectual property rights relating to the Contributive Spaces

Each User warrants to VIPARIS that they have the necessary rights to publish and/or share the content and comments that they post online via the contributive features. “Rights” means the rights covered by the French Intellectual Property Code, including copyright, trademark rights and design rights, on any existing or future medium. Under no circumstances may VIPARIS be held liable for any user content and/or comments posted by a User who does not hold the rights necessary to post such user content.
Any User assigns to VIPARIS, free of charge and on a non-exclusive basis, for the entire duration of the intellectual property protection, as from the transmission by any means of user content and comments, in particular literary and artistic property, the right to reproduce, display, copy, assign, modify, republish, communicate, distribute, adapt and, in general, exploit all or part of the user content and comments on the VIPARIS Websites and all associated services for the purposes of promoting the activity of these websites. These rights are granted worldwide for use on any media and by any current or unknown distribution processes. The User expressly acknowledges and accepts that certain user content may be reformatted solely for the technical needs of the authorised operations and the User therefore grants the necessary rights of adaptation. The User expressly acknowledges and agrees that no use of the user content and comments, as authorised hereunder, shall give rise to any
compensation (in kind or in cash).

6.3. Intellectual property rights relating to trademarks

Trademarks registered by companies of the VIPARIS Group are trademarks registered in France and in other countries. In general, the use and reproduction of the names and/or visuals registered by VIPARIS and the companies of the VIPARIS group is prohibited without the latter’s express agreement. In general, any unauthorised reproduction of the trademarks, names of products, services or companies mentioned on the VIPARIS Websites is liable to prosecution.

7. RESPECT FOR PRIVACY AND PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

When using the VIPARIS Services, Users may be required to provide personal data or information in order to access Services requiring authentication, receive a reply, for prospecting purposes or to manage and improve the business relationship. For more information on the Websites’ personal data protection practices, please refer to our personal data privacy policy and our cookie policy, or write to us at dataprotection@viparis.com.

8. GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY

The User acknowledges that VIPARIS has an obligation of means with regard to the provision of the Services and will make its best efforts to ensure the accessibility of the Websites and the Services. This accessibility may be suspended for maintenance or upgrade reasons in order to ensure the Websites function properly, without any obligation incumbent on VIPARIS to inform Users.
Thus, VIPARIS does not offer any guarantee concerning the risks of interruption or malfunction related to connection, congestion of the networks and/or IT systems, intrusion by unauthorised third parties and contamination by any viruses circulating on said networks and services. VIPARIS may not be held liable in the event that the interruption or alteration of the quality of the Websites and Services is due to the occurrence of an unforeseeable event or force majeure, as defined by Article 1218 of the French Civil Code and French case law. Cases of force majeure are considered to include, for example, exceptional bad weather, natural disasters, fires and floods, lightning, terrorist attacks, breakage and blockage of electronic telecommunications networks, damage caused by viruses which security measures existing on the market cannot eradicate, as well as any legal, regulatory or public order obligation imposed by the competent authorities having the effect of substantially amending these GTCU.

VIPARIS undertakes to do everything in its power to guarantee the veracity and accuracy of the information available on all the Websites but may not be held liable for the inaccuracy of such information, nor for the use or interpretation made of it by Users. In general, the User shall indemnify VIPARIS in the event of any recourse or action and the potential financial consequences by any person, based on or resulting directly or indirectly from its actions or from the use of the Websites, as well as any alleged breach of the GTCU or the regulatory provisions in force, and shall hold VIPARIS harmless from and against any recourse, including litigation, that may result therefrom. This guarantee covers any compensation that may be due as well as lawyers' fees and legal costs, within a reasonable limit.

9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

VIPARIS does not guarantee the performance and modifications of the Websites and Services that may take place given the quality of the Internet network and/or technical configurations, which are outside its control.

VIPARIS may not be held liable for any direct or indirect damage, including in particular loss of profits, customers, data or any other loss of intangible property, loss of earnings or any other loss or damage that may arise from the use or, on the contrary, from the impossibility of accessing the Websites, even if VIPARIS has been informed of the potential for such damage. In the event that VIPARIS is held liable as a result of a breach of one of its obligations under these General Terms and Conditions of Use, compensation may not apply beyond direct, personal and certain damages alone, to the express exclusion of compensation for any indirect and non-material damages and/or losses, such as financial losses, commercial losses, operating losses, losses of turnover and data losses.

10. RIGHT OF REPLY

This article applies only to Websites defined as an online public communication service, in accordance with Article 6 IV of Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004 on confidence in the digital economy. Any natural or legal person named or designated on the Websites may request a right of reply from VIPARIS. The request to exercise this right of reply must be sent in writing to the Director of Publication of the VIPARIS Websites. It must be sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt no later than three (3) months after the message to which the request pertains is posted on the VIPARIS Websites. The request must contain precise details about the message (in particular title, date, URL address) as well as details of the disputed passages. The User must attach to this request the text of the reply they wish to publish, in written form, regardless of the nature of the message to which the reply pertains. Subject to compliance with the conditions of validity of the right of reply and the fact that this request is legally justified, VIPARIS undertakes, within three (3) days of receipt of the request, to publish the reply under the same conditions as that of the message to which the reply pertains, specifying that it is done so as a result of the right of reply.

11. MISCELLANEOUS

Should one or more provisions of the GTCU prove to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever, the other provisions shall retain their full force and scope and shall continue to apply. Provisions declared non-existent will be replaced by provisions as close as possible to the content of the cancelled clause. Given the global nature of the Internet network, Users undertake to comply with all the rules applicable in their country of residence.

12. LAWS AND JURISDICTION

The General Terms and Conditions of Use are governed by French law.
ANY DISPUTE RELATING TO THE VALIDITY, TERMINATION, INTERPRETATION OR PERFORMANCE OF THE GTCU THAT CANNOT BE RESOLVED AMICABLY WILL FALL UNDER THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE PARIS COURTS, TO WHICH THE PARTIES ASSIGN JURISDICTION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF A THIRD PARTY CLAIM OR MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS.