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Terms and conditions of use

The Signet Online is published by The WS Society. It is a portal designed to provide users with access to a federated search tool across a range of online resources and the opportunity to purchase, at special rates, services and products provided by third party suppliers.

The Signet Online search facility has its own separate identity but in this website we may sometimes use “portal”, “webpages”, “we” or “us” when we refer to The Signet Online portal in general, or where no useful purpose is served by identifying any particular product or service. For the purposes of these terms and conditions, “web pages” or “these pages” mean the www.thesignetonline.co.uk, which has links to external websites.

Visitors to The Signet Online portal are bound by the terms and conditions set out below so please read these carefully before continuing.

Access and use by you (which expression shall include those permitted by you) of The Signet Online portal web pages constitutes your acceptance, of these terms and conditions, which shall take effect from the date of first use.

When using this portal please check the terms and conditions of each website that you visit and do not assume that the terms and conditions of The Signet Online portal below apply to the other websites that you may access.

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Linking to The Signet Online

The Signet Online portal encourages users to establish hypertext links to its homepage, and you do not have to ask permission to link directly to the homepage. However, we do not permit our web pages to be loaded into frames on your site. The Signet Online pages must load into the user's entire window.

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Links to third party websites

The Signet Online portal incorporates links to other sites designed, maintained and operated by third parties. If you use these sites, you will leave the portal

The WS Society and its sponsors and contractors are not responsible for the contents or reliability of linked websites and do not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. Listing should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. The WS Society cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and has no control over the availability of the linked pages. If you decide to visit any linked site, you do so at your own risk and it is your responsibility to take all protective measures to guard against viruses or other destructive elements.

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Registered users

The Signet Online portal allows users to register and subscribe by providing their name, valid email address (es) and other details through the portal’s registration page(s).

Registered users are provided with a user account (single or multiple users) and password on a trial or subscription basis, as the case may be.

These terms and conditions apply to registered users and the registration process requires the user’s express acceptance of these. As a registered user you have expressly accepted these terms and conditions of use, whether registering as a trial or subscription user.

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Searching and purchasing from the LexisNexis Online Legal Catalogue

Registered users of The Signet Online portal can search selected web pages of the LexisNexis Online Legal Catalogue. If you are visiting these pages, you will leave the portal and do so at your own risk. Please refer to the aforementioned “Links to third party websites”.

The WS Society reserves the right to amend the availability of these web pages at any time. For more information on the pages available for search purposes, please refer to “Information sources”.

Purchasing and downloading documents from these pages may invoke additional terms and conditions on behalf of this external supplier, and you should familiarise yourself with the terms and conditions of the Lexis Nexis Online Legal Catalogue prior to purchase by referring to “ Supplemental terms for LexisNexis”. In addition, you should refer to the subsequent “Disclaimer” contained in our terms and conditions.

By accessing and/or downloading a document from these pages you are agreeing to pay a set fee for each document. You will be notified of this fee prior to accessing or downloading a document and asked if you want to proceed. By proceeding, you are consenting to pay the specified fee. The WS Society will issue invoices on a monthly basis for all fees incurred by a registered user downloading documents from these pages. In the case of multiple users, invoices will be sent to the Account Holder, the person or entity legally responsible for the firm’s subscription to The Signet Online. These charges apply during the 30 day free trial subscription period.

The WS Society reserves the right to change the set fee and will notify you of any changes 60 days prior to the expiry of your 12 month subscription period. Please refer to “Termination of your account” for your rights to terminate your account should you wish to do so.

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Purchasing from other third party sites

Visitors to The Signet Online portal can browse the web pages of third party sites offering products and services special rates to registered users. If you are visiting these sites, you will leave the portal and do so at your own risk. Please refer to the aforementioned “Links to third party websites”.

Only registered users, however, can take advantage of the special rates available at check out. Purchasing these products and services may invoke additional terms and conditions on behalf of these external suppliers, and you should familiarise yourself with the terms and conditions on their websites prior to purchase. In addition, you should refer to the subsequent “Disclaimer” contained in our terms and conditions.

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Your responsibilities as a registered user

The password facility is provided to you for your use only, and it is your responsibility to keep your password confidential. You are responsible for all activities through your account, including any use of your password by others.

If you have registered for access by a single user, your access to The Signet Online web pages and your password may only be used by the person specified in you account registration.

If you have registered for access by multiple users, your access to The Signet Online webs pages is limited to the number of users for which you have registered and your password may only be used by those persons specified in you account registration details as updated from time to time.

You may use The Signet Online portal services only for lawful purposes, and you must not save, or submit or suggest through The Signet Online any link or material or information that:

  1. is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another's privacy, obscene or likely to cause offence;
  2. attempts to impersonate any person, business or entity or violates or infringes the rights of others;
  3. contains viruses, code, files or programs that interrupt or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  4. causes or allows unauthorised use of a computer or computer network;
  5. violates these terms and conditions of use.
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Subscription terms

If you have registered for a subscription to The Signet Online portal, you are contractually committed to The WS Society to pay for access to The Signet Online portal at the subscription rate(s), for the number of users, and for the subscription period you selected when you registered on The Signet Online’s registration page(s).

All subscription payments shall be payable to The WS Society monthly in advance within 30 days of the 1st of each month. All subscription payments are subject to VAT.

In some instances, payment for services and products available from third party suppliers through The Signet Online portal are payable to the WS Society monthly in advance within 30 days of the 1st of each month. It is your responsibility to check payment terms at the point of purchase. The WS Society shall provide VAT invoices for all payments.

The rate at which you subscribe to The Signet Online portal will remain fixed for a period of 12 months from the date of registration. Thereafter, The WS Society reserves the right to raise the subscription charges and will notify you of any changes 60 days prior to the expiry of this 12 month period. You will have the right to terminate your account not less than 30 days prior to the expiry of your subscription period. Please refer to Termination of your account.

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Ongoing subscription and opting out/ Termination of your account

Single subscribers

Subscribers will receive notification of the date on which their 12 month subscription to The Signet Online will expire, 60 days prior to that expiry date. This notification will also include details of any changes to the subscription charges for the next 12 months.

If you wish to remain subscribed to the service then you need take no further action on receipt of this notification. You will be invoiced as usual, monthly in advance within 30 days of the 1st of each month for the next 12 month period and be deemed to have renewed your yearly subscription at the rate detailed in the 60 day notification.

However, if you do not want to renew your yearly subscription then you MUST take the following steps to terminate your account.

Not less than 30 days prior to the expiry of your subscription period, as detailed in the 60 day notification, you can terminate your account by contacting us with your email address and the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the comment field. Your account will be closed and your password disabled at the expiry of your subscription period.

Failure to do this will result in you being deemed to have renewed your subscription at the rate detailed in the 60 day notification.

Firm subscription

The Account Holder, the person or entity legally responsible for the firm’s subscription to The Signet Online, will receive notification of the date on which the firm’s 12 month subscription to The Signet Online will expire, 60 days prior to that expiry date. This notification will also include details of any changes to the subscription charges for the next 12 months.

If a firm wishes to remain subscribed to the service at the current level of users then the person or entity legally responsible for the firm’s subscription to The Signet Online need take no further action on receipt of this notification. They will be invoiced as usual, monthly in advance within 30 days of the 1st of each month for the next 12 month period and the firm deemed to have renewed its yearly subscription at the rate detailed in the 60 day notification.

However, if the firm does not want to renew its subscription or wants to change the level of users covered by its subscription in the preceding 12 months, then the person or legal entity responsible for the firm’s subscription MUST take the following steps to terminate the account or alter the level of users covered by its previous subscription.

To terminate the firm’s account

Not less than 30 days prior to the expiry of the firm’s subscription period, as detailed in the 60 day notification, the person or legal entity responsible for the firm’s subscription must contact us with their email address and the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the comment field. The firm’s account will closed and all passwords disabled at the expiry of the firm’s subscription period.

Failure to do this will result in the firm being deemed to have renewed their subscription at the user level and rates detailed in the 60 day notification period.

Please note that it is the subscribing firm’s responsibility to notify us of any changes in relation to the person or the legal entity responsible for the firm’s account in order to ensure that the 60 day notification is sent to the appropriate person or legal entity.

To modify the firm’s subscription

If the firm wishes to change the level and number of its multiple users then the person or legal entity responsible for the firm’s subscription must contact us with their email address and the words ‘ change to level of users’ in the comment field and detailing the changes required in the email. This must be done 30 days prior to the expiry of the firm’s subscription period, as detailed in the 60 day notification period.

Within 7 days of our receipt of this email, we will respond with an email detailing the new charges relating to their change in user levels, which will take effect on expiry of the existing subscription period. This email will also contain details of any passwords that will be disabled on the expiry date or confirmation of the number of new users that can be added and passwords created via the ‘My Account’ function due to this change in user level. The latter can only be done after the expiry of the existing subscription period.

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Virus protection

We will make reasonable efforts to check and test material at all stages of production. It is always wise for you to run an anti-virus program on all material downloaded from the Internet. The WS Society and its sponsors cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system which may occur whilst using material derived from this website.

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Disclaimer

The WS Society and its sponsors and contractors take all reasonable care to ensure that the information contained on these pages is accurate on the stated date of publication or last modification. It is possible that the information may be out of date, incomplete or the opinion of the author. It is advisable that you verify any information from these pages before relying on it.

The WS Society, its sponsors and contractors accept no responsibility for the consequences of error or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information and material contained on this website or any site you may access through this site.

Materials contained on The Signet Online web pages are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights.

The WS Society, its sponsors and contractors make no warranty that the functions contained or accessed through The Signet Online pages will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that either The Signet Online or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy or reliability of the materials. In no event will The WS Society, its sponsors or contractors be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of The Signet Online pages.

The WS Society, its sponsors and contractors make no warranty that the products and services available from third party suppliers through The Signet Online portal are ‘fit for purpose’ and, in no event, will be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of these products and services.

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Law

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Scotland. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland. All registered users of The Signet Online portal prorogate the jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland.

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Interpretation

In these terms and conditions:

The Signet Online means the web pages published by The WS Society as ‘The Signet Online’ which is a business name of The WS Society; and

The WS Society means The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet, a corporation recognised by the laws of Scotland and having its place of business at The Signet Library, Parliament Square, Edinburgh, EH1 1RF.

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