These terms and conditions are the contract between you and The Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers (“SOFAA”, “us”, “we”, etc). By visiting or using Our Website, you agree to be bound by them.

They are based on a set written by Net Lawman and released under licence. They protect your rights as well as ours.

SOFAA is an unincorporated association based at 2, Kingfisher Court, Bridge Rd, Molesey, East Molesey KT8 9HL. You can find out more about us at our website here: https://www.sofaa.org/

You are: Anyone who uses Our Website.

Please read this agreement carefully and save it. If you do not agree with it, you should leave Our Website immediately.

These are the agreed terms:

1. Definitions

2. Our contract

• 2.1 – These terms and conditions regulate the business relationship between you and us. By requesting Chargeable Services or using Our Website free of charge, you agree to be bound by them.
• 2.2 – We do not provide the Services in all countries. We may refuse to provide the Services if you live in a country we do not serve.
• 2.3 – In entering into this contract you have not relied on any representation or information from any source except the definition and explanation of the Services given on Our Website.
• 2.4 – Subject to these terms and conditions, we agree to provide to you some or all of the Services described on Our Website.
• 2.5 – Our basic Service is free of charge. You may use it subject to your compliance with the terms of this agreement.
• 2.6 – If we give you free access to a Service or feature on Our Website and that Service or feature is usually subject to additional contractual terms, you now agree that you will abide by those terms.
• 2.7 – We may change this agreement in any way at any time. The version applicable to your contract is the version which was posted on Our
  Website at the time that the contract was made.
  
  

3. Your account and personal information

• 3.1 – When you visit Our Website, you accept responsibility for any action done by any person in your name or under your account or password.
  You should take all necessary steps to ensure that the password is kept confidential and secure and should inform us immediately if you
  have any reason to believe that your password has become known to anyone else, or if the password is being, or is likely to be, used in an
  unauthorised manner.
• 3.2 – You agree that you have provided accurate, up to date, and complete information about yourself. We are not responsible for any error made as a result of such information being inaccurate.
• 3.3 – You agree to notify us of any changes in your information immediately it occurs. If you do not do so, we may terminate your account.
  
  

4. Chargeable Services

• 4.1 – Details of the cost and benefits of Chargeable Services are as set out on Our Website. You may subscribe to Chargeable Services Services at any time.
• 4.2 – Our contract with you for the provision of Subscriptions will usually last for one year from the start of your payment of our charges (subject to any alternative terms described on our Website) although sometimes we will offer Chargeable Services that will be completed much sooner.
  Any continuation by us or by you of after the expiry of one year or after the completion of our Services is a new contract under the terms then posted on Our Website. Your continued use of our Chargeable Services after that shall be deemed acceptance by you of the changed
  Chargeable Service, system and/or terms.
• 4.3 – The contract between you and us comes into existence when we receive payment of the charges in full from you. If you receive
  Chargeable Services as a Consumer, the law provides that you will have up to 14 days to cancel your Chargeable Services. However,
  even if you are a Consumer you can opt out of your right to the 14 day cancellation period. If you are a Consumer and you request
  Chargeable Services that commence before the end of the cancellation period (such as Subscriptions) we will not accept your request for
  Chargeable Services unless you agree to lose your cancellation right.
• 4.4 – You do this by instructing us to allow your Subscription immediately, or as soon as we can. If you do that, we will begin to provide Chargeable Services immediately and you lose whatever right you might have to cancel your order.
• 4.5 – By accepting these terms, you now agree that if you are a Consumer and you request Chargeable Services that commence before the end of the cancellation period (such as Subscriptions or attendance at an event happening within the next 14 days) you are instructing us to provide those Chargeable Services immediately and you understand that, in doing so, you lose your right to cancel your order within 14
  days.
• 4.6 – If you give up your right to cancel, that will apply to any renewal of your Chargeable Services at any time from now.
• 4.7 – Apart from your cancellation right, termination of Chargeable Services will be regulated by this contract set out in paragraph 14 below.
• 4.8 – You may not transfer your Chargeable Services to any other person.
• 4.9 – We reserve the right to modify the Chargeable Services rules or system and to change the terms and conditions of this agreement at
  any time, without notice. Your continued use of the Chargeable Services after such modifications shall be deemed an acceptance by
  you to be bound by the terms of the modified agreement. The terms that apply to you are those posted here on Our Website on the day you
  join as a member.
  
  

5. Prices

• 5.1 – The price payable for Chargeable Services that you request is clearly set out on Our Website.
• 5.2 – The price charged for any Chargeable Service may differ from one country to another. You may not be entitled to the lowest price unless you reside in the qualifying country.
• 5.3 – Prices are inclusive of any applicable value added tax or other sales tax.
• 5.4 – Bank charges by the receiving bank on payments to us will be borne by us. All other charges relating to payment in a currency other than pounds Sterling will be borne by you.
• 5.5 – Any details given by us in relation to exchange rates are approximate only and may vary from time to time.
• 5.6 – You will pay all sums due to us under this agreement by the means
  specified without any set-off, deduction or counterclaim.
• 5.7 – If, by mistake, we have under-priced an item, we will not be liable to supply that item to you at the stated price, provided that we notify you before we dispatch it to you.
  
  

6. Subscription Renewal payments

• 6.1 – At least four weeks before expiry of the period for which you have paid for a Subscription, we shall send you a message to your last known email address to tell you that your Subscription is shortly to expire and to invite you to renew. An invoice for the new period will be included.
• 6.2 – At any time before expiry of your Subscription, you may use the “My Account” icon on Our Website to access your personal information via “settings” and change your requirements for Services or cancel your Subscription and initiate the deletion of your account / personal information, please speak to your contact at SOFAA who will initiate this process for you.
• 6.3 – At expiry of your Subscription we shall automatically take payment from your credit card of the sum specified on the invoice sent earlier and shall confirm the renewal of your Subscription for a further period by sending you an email message.
• 6.4 – Subject to last previous and next subsequent sub-paragraph, you may cancel a Subscription within 14 days after the day we confirm the renewal of your Subscription. If you do so we will refund your Membership cost within 14 days of receipt of this request.
• 6.5 – However, if you take advantage of any of your Subscription benefits after we have confirmed the renewal of your Subscription you will lose your right to cancel your Subscription.
• 6.6 – Other than the limitations set out above Subscriptions are nonrefundable and non-transferable.
  
  

7. Restrictions on what you may Post to Our Website

• 7.1 – We may, at our discretion, read, assess, review or moderate any Content Posted on Our Website. If we do, we need not to notify you or
  give you a reason.
• 7.2 – You agree that you will not use or allow anyone else to use Our
  Website to Post a Content which is or may:
  • 7.2.1 – be malicious or defamatory;
  • 7.2.2 – consist in commercial audio, video or music files;
  • 7.2.3 – be obscene, offensive, threatening or violent;
  • 7.2.4 – be sexually explicit or pornographic;
  • 7.2.5 – be likely to deceive any person or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity, age or affiliation with any person;
  • 7.2.6 – give the impression that it emanates from us or that you are connected with us or that we have endorsed you or your business;
  • 7.2.7 – solicit passwords or personal information from anyone;
  • 7.2.8 – be used to sell any goods or services or for any other commercial use;
  • 7.2.9 – include anything other than words (i.e. you will not include any symbols or photographs) except for a photograph of yourself in your profile in such place as we designate;
  • 7.2.10 – link to any of the material specified above, in this paragraph.
  • 7.2.11 – Post excessive or repeated off-topic messages to any forum or group;
  • 7.2.12 – sending age-inappropriate communications or Content to anyone under the age of 18.
    
    

8. Your Posting: restricted content

In connection with the restrictions set out below, we may refuse or edit or remove a Posting which does not comply with these terms.

In addition to the restrictions set out above, a Posting must not contain:

• 8.1 – hyperlinks, other than those specifically authorized by us;
• 8.2 – keywords or words repeated, which are irrelevant to the Content Posted.
• 8.3 – the name, logo or trademark of any organisation other than that of you or your client.
• 8.4 – inaccurate, false, or misleading information.
  
  

9. How we handle your Content

• 9.1 – Our privacy policy is strong and precise. It complies fully with the Data Protection Act 2018 which is at https://www.sofaa.training/privacy-policy/
• 9.2 – If you Post Content to any public area of Our Website it becomes available in the public domains. We have no control over who sees it or what anyone does with it.
• 9.3 – Even if access to your text is behind a user registration it remains effectively in the public domain because someone has only to register and log in, to access it. You should therefore avoid Posting unnecessary confidential information.
• 9.4 – Posting content of any sort does not change your ownership of the copyright in it. We have no claim over it and we will not protect your rights for you.
• 9.5 – You understand that you are personally responsible for your breach of someone else’s intellectual property rights, defamation, or any law, which may occur as a result of any Content having been Posted by you.
• 9.6 – You accept all risk and responsibility for determining whether any
  Content is in the public domain and not confidential.
• 9.7 – Please notify us of any security breach or unauthorised use of your account.
  
  

10. Removal of offensive Content

• 10.1 – For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph is addressed to any person who comes on Our Website for any purpose.
• 10.2 – We are under no obligation to monitor or record the activity of any customer for any purpose, nor do we assume any responsibility to monitor or police Internet-related activities. However, we may do so without notice to you and without giving you a reason.
• 10.3 – If you are offended by any Content, the following procedure applies:
  • 10.3.1 – your claim or complaint must be submitted to us in the form available on Our Website, or contain the same information as
    that requested in our form. It must be sent to us by post or email;
  • 10.3.2 – we shall remove the offending Content as soon as we are reasonably able;
  • 10.3.3 – after we receive notice of a claim or complaint, we shall investigate so far as we alone decide;
  • 10.3.4 – we may re-instate the Content about which you have complained or not.
• 10.4 – In respect of any complaint made by you or any person on your behalf, whether using our form of complaint or not, you now irrevocably grant to us a licence to publish the complaint and all ensuing correspondence and communication, without limit.
• 10.5 – You now agree that if any complaint is made by you frivolously or vexatiously you will repay us the cost of our investigation including legal fees, if any.
  
  

11. Security of Our Website

• 11.1 – If you violate this Agreement, we shall take legal action against you and cancel your Chargeable Services.
• 11.2 – You now agree that you will not, and will not allow any other person to:
  • 11.2.1 – modify, copy, or cause damage or unintended effect to any portion of Our Website, or any software used within it.
  • 11.2.2 – link to Our Website in any way that would cause the appearance or presentation of Our Website to be different from
    what would be seen by a user who accessed Our Website by typing the URL into a standard browser;
  • 11.2.3 – download any part of Our Website, without our express written consent;
  • 11.2.4 – collect or use any product listings, descriptions, or prices;
  • 11.2.5 – collect or use any information obtained from or about Our Website or the Content except as intended by this agreement;
  • 11.2.6 – aggregate, copy or duplicate in any manner any of the Content or information available from Our Website, other than as
    permitted by this agreement or as is reasonably necessary for your use of the Services;
  • 11.2.7 – share with a third party any login credentials to Our Website.
• 11.3 – Despite the above terms, we now grant a licence to you to:
  • 11.3.1 – create a hyperlink to Our Website for the purpose of promoting an interest common to both of us. You can do this without specific permission. This licence is conditional upon your not portraying us or any product or service in a false, misleading,
    derogatory, or otherwise offensive manner. You may not use any logo or other proprietary graphic or trademark of ours as
    part of the link without our express written consent.
  • 11.3.2 – you may copy the text of any page for your personal use in connection with the purpose of Our Website or a Service we
    provide.
    
    

12. Licence of Content

• 12.1 – As part of the Services that we provide to you we hereby grant you a non-transferrable, non-sublicensable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty free and worldwide licence to use any Content that we provide to you in good faith for:
  • 12.1.1 – your own personal non-commercial purposes; and
  • 12.1.2 – the purposes of any business that provides art auctioneer or
    valuation services to the public provided that that business has
    purchased the Services from us under this Agreement.
• 12.2 – You undertake not to use the Content for any purpose not permitted under Clause 12.1 above.
  
  

13. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

• 13.1 – The law differs from one country to another. This paragraph applies to sales throughout the UK and EU.
• 13.2 – All implied conditions, warranties and terms are excluded from this agreement. If in any jurisdiction an implied condition, warrant or term cannot be excluded, then this sub paragraph shall be deemed to be reduced in effect, only to the extent necessary to release that specific condition, warranty or term.
• 13.3 – We make no representation or warranty that the Services or any Content will be:
  • 13.3.1 – useful to you;
  • 13.3.2 – of satisfactory quality;
  • 13.3.3 – fit for a particular purpose;
  • 13.3.4 – available or accessible, without interruption, or without error;
  • 13.3.5 – free of errors or free of third party rights; or
  • 13.3.6 – available or suitable for lawful use within your territory.
• 13.4 – We are not regulated professional services providers and therefore before you make any decisions based on any Content that might have legal or tax consequences you should seek independent advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
• 13.5 – We claim no expert knowledge in any subject. We disclaim any obligation or liability to you arising directly or indirectly from information you take from Our Website.
• 13.6 – You agree that in any circumstances when we may become liable to you, the limit of our liability is the amount you have paid us in the immediately preceding 12 month period for the Services concerned.
• 13.7 – We shall not be liable to you for any loss or expense which is:
  • 13.7.1 – indirect or consequential loss; or
  • 13.7.2 – economic loss or other loss of turnover, profits, business or
    goodwill, even if such loss was reasonably foreseeable or we
    knew you might incur it.
• 13.8 – This paragraph (and any other paragraph which excludes or restricts our liability) applies to our directors, officers, employees,
  subcontractors, agents and affiliated companies (who may enforce this provision under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 /
  Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) (Scotland) Act 2017, as well as to us.
• 13.9 – If you become aware of any breach of any term of this agreement by any person, please tell us by. We welcome your input [but do not
  guarantee to agree with your judgement.]
  
  

14. Duration and termination

• 14.1 – Subject to Clause 11.1 this agreement shall operate for the period for which you use our Services.
• 14.2 – You may terminate your Subscription at any time, for any reason, with immediate effect. You may terminate your Subscription either by
  sending notice to us by post or email, or by completing the form on the Our Website and submitting it. We reserve the right to check the
  validity of any request to terminate Subscriptions. However, please note that since our fees for Subscriptions are unitary fees that cannot
  be pro-rated we will not refund any fees already received if you cancel
• 14.3 – Termination by either party shall have the following effects:
  • 14.3.1 – your right to use the Services immediately ceases;
  • 14.3.2 – we are under no obligation to forward any unread or unsent messages to you or any third party.
• 14.4 – We retain the right, at our sole discretion, to terminate any and all parts of the Services provided to you, without refunding to you any fees paid if we decide in our absolute discretion that you have failed to comply with any of the terms of this agreement.
  
  

15. Storage of data

• 15.1 – We assume no responsibility for the deletion or failure to store or deliver email or other messages.
• 15.2 – We may, from time to time, set a limit on the number of messages you may send, store, or receive through the Service. We may delete messages in excess of that limit. We shall give you notice of any change to your limit, except in an emergency.
• 15.3 – You accept that we cannot be liable to you for any such deletion or failure to deliver to you.
  
  

16. Interruption to Services

• 16.1 – If it is necessary for us to interrupt the Services, we will give you reasonable notice where this is possible and when we think the down time is such as to justify telling you.
• 16.2 – You acknowledge that the Services may also be interrupted for many reasons beyond our control.
• 16.3 – You agree that we are not liable to you for any loss, foreseeable or not, arising from any interruption to the Services.
  
  

17. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against any loss, damage or liability, suffered by us at any time and arising out of:

• 17.1 – any act, neglect or default of yours in connection with this agreement or your use of the Services;
• 17.2 – your breach of this agreement;
• 17.3 – your failure to comply with any law;
• 17.4 – a contractual claim arising from your use of the Services.
  
  

18. Dispute resolution

In this paragraph the term “ADR Provider” means an approved body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Dispute Regulations 2015.

The following terms apply in the event of a dispute between the parties:

• 18.1 – If you are not happy with our services or have any complaint then you must tell us by email message to secretary@sofaa.org
• 18.2 – If a dispute is not settled as set out above, we hope you will agree to attempt to resolve it by engaging in good faith with the other in a
  process of mediation or arbitration.
  
  

19. Miscellaneous matters

• 19.1 – If any term or provision of this agreement is at any time held by any jurisdiction to be void, invalid or unenforceable, then it shall be treated as changed or reduced, only to the extent minimally necessary to bring it within the laws of that jurisdiction and to prevent it from being void and it shall be binding in that changed or reduced form. Subject to that, each provision shall be interpreted as severable and shall not in any way affect any other of these terms.
• 19.2 – The rights and obligations of the parties set out in this agreement shall pass to any permitted successor in title.
• 19.3 – If you are in breach of any term of this agreement, we may:
  • 19.3.1 – terminate your account and refuse access to Our Website;
  • 19.3.2 – remove or edit Content, or cancel any order at our discretion;
  • 19.3.3 – issue a claim in any court.
• 19.4 – Any obligation in this agreement intended to continue to have effect after termination or completion shall so continue.
• 19.5 – No failure or delay by any party to exercise any right, power or remedy will operate as a waiver of it nor indicate any intention to reduce that or any other right in the future.
• 19.6 – Any communication to be served on either of the parties by the other shall be delivered by hand or sent by first class post

It shall be deemed to have been delivered:

if delivered by hand: on the day of delivery;

if sent by post to the correct address: within 72 hours of confirmed receipt.

• 19.7 – This agreement does not give any right to any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 / Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) (Scotland) Act 2017 or otherwise, except that any provision in this agreement which excludes or restricts the liability of our directors, officers, employees, subcontractors, agents and affiliated companies, may be enforced under that Act.
• 19.8 – Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performance of this agreement which is caused by circumstances beyond its
  reasonable control, The validity, construction and performance of this agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales, and
  you agree that any dispute arising from it shall be litigated only in that country.