Terms and conditions
PREAMBLE: The company International Merchandising, Promotion and Services SA (hereafter referred to as “IMPS”) is the publisher of the site www.smurf.com and exclusive owner of the rights to exploit the characters and the universe of the Smurfs, by virtue of the assignment of these rights by the company Studio Peyo SA, which is the owner of the intellectual rights relating to the work of Pierre Culliford, better known under the pseudonym PEYO. Company ID : BE 0426 198 796
For the needs of the present general terms and conditions of use, and unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the following meanings in the present terms and conditions:
“General Terms and Conditions of Use”: all of the provisions provided in the present terms and conditions for the purpose of defining the terms and rules for accessing and using the site www.smurf.com.
“Newsletter”: the Newsletter published by the Site which is sent regularly and automatically to the Users who have signed up for it. The Users can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the “STOP” function.
“Data”: all of the personal information concerning the User communicated during his registration.
“User ID”: the e-mail address that the User communicates when he registers as a User.
“Alias”: the nickname or the user name that the User communicates when he registers on www.smurf.com.
“User”: the natural person who registered on www.smurfbusiness.com by completing the ad hoc Registration Form and by clicking on the “REGISTER” key after having read and accepted the present terms and conditions
“Visitor”: the natural person who visits the Site.
“Site”: the website www.smurf.com.
“Submission” : any text, message, idea, concept, presentation, suggestion, story, scenario, treatment, format, illustration, photograph, drawing, video, audiovisual work, musical composition, audio recording, program format or characterization that the User submits, puts on line, downloads, incorporates, displays, communicates or distributes on or via the Site.
Scope of Application
By visiting this Site or by consulting the information that appears on it, you automatically and without limitation accept the present General Terms and Conditions of Use. If you do not accept the present General Terms and Conditions of Use, you are not authorized to use this Site. If you are a parent or a legal guardian and you give your approval for your child to register on the Site, you accept the constraints of these General Terms and Conditions of Use relating to the use of the Site by the child. The acceptance of the present General Terms and Conditions of Use cannot, under any circumstances, be assimilated to obtaining a use license on this information or these data or services. The General Terms and Conditions of Use are accessible on the Site at all times. You may print them out and save a copy. By ticking the right box at the bottom of the Registration Form or by navigating on the Site, you declare that you have read the General Terms and Conditions of Use and you accept all of their terms.
Disclosure obligation of the User
By registering on the Site and by completing the Registration Form, the User agrees to carefully enter and provide correct, precise and complete Data to IMPS. If the Data change, the User undertakes to update them so that they are always current, complete and accurate. The User is responsible for updating his personal information and providing to IMPS his current electronic address. The User undertakes not to assume the identity of any other person or use a false name. If a piece of Data relating to a User should prove to be inaccurate, IMPS reserves the right to suspend his access to the reserved parts of the Site or to terminate his membership.
Modification and suspension
3.1. IMPS can, without putting an end to the dissemination, immediately modify or suspend all or part of the Site without incurring its liability, this until any later notification.
3.2. IMPS reserves the right to change, modify, add or delete parts of the present General Terms and Conditions of Use at any time and at its sole discretion. If applicable, IMPS shall advise the User or the Visitor of any change, modification, addition or deletion by sending an electronic message to the most recent electronic address provided by the latter and/or by posting a notice on the Site. Said change, modification, addition or deletion shall enter into effect seven days after this notification.
Privacy protection
4.1. IMPS stores the Personal Data that the User provides via this Site in a database of which it is the owner. The Data are collected via the Site and processed by IMPS upon strict compliance with the provisions of the Belgian Act of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy in relation to the processing of personal data as amended by the Act of 11 December 1998.
4.3. IMPS undertakes to implement technical, administrative and physical security measures intended to protect the Data against unauthorized accesses, disclosures, uses and modifications. Each User has the right to request to access the personal information that IMPS possesses on him and to ask IMPS to modify or delete it, by visiting the “Personal Data” page or by following the instructions contained in the communications that you receive. The Data will be preserved throughout the life of the Site and stored in a database of which IMPS is the owner.
Cookies
During consultation of the Site, IMPS can, if it proves necessary and in certain conditions, make use of cookies. These small files make the Site easier to use and more secure. They notably permit the User or the Visitor to be recognized and identified more quickly and to keep count of his sessions. The User or the Visitor accepts the cookies. The User or the Visitor has the possibility to deactivate the use of cookies in his browser if he so wishes. However, doing so may make visiting this Site more difficult. In the event of deactivation of his cookies by the User or the Visitor, IMPS may not be held responsible for any resulting inconveniences, errors or malfunctions. IMPS processes the data that can be obtained via these cookies in complete confidentiality, in conformity with good practices and in respect of the legal obligations regarding the processing of personal data.
Account of the user, password and security
6.1. During his registration, the User will have to communicate his User ID and Password, which are personal and exclusive to him. His User ID and Password give him access to certain reserved parts of the Site.
6.2. The User accepts that entering his User ID and Password constitutes proof of his identity.
6.3. The User alone is responsible for the confidentiality of his User ID and Password. IMPS cannot under any circumstances be held responsible for the use by a third party of his User ID and Password. The User is authorized to use his account for his family circle living under the same roof.
6.4. The User must immediately inform IMPS by e-mail to imps@smurf.com of any unauthorized use of his User ID and/or Password or of any security flaw that he may have noticed.
6.5. If the User has forgotten his Password, he can go onto the Site and request it by clicking on “password forgotten”.
Intellectual property rights
7.1. The Site, its presentation, its content as well as any other editorial or graphic material, photos, illustrations, videos, animations, softwares, music, sounds, banners, advertisements, logos and registered trademarks (hereafter collectively referred to as “the original material”) are protected by the international laws and conventions in force relating to copyrights and neighboring rights. All of the drawings, texts, characters, objects and symbols reproduced on the Site are, unless indicated to the contrary, extracted from the work of Peyo and the property of Studio Peyo SA.
7.2. Under the provisions of the aforementioned law, the following are strictly prohibited without express advance written authorization from Studio Peyo SA: (i) any reproduction, (ii) adaptation, (iii) use, (iv) translation and (v) any communication to the public of the original material. Consequently, the User or the Visitor may not (i) scan, adapt, digitize and modify by himself or via a third party the original material (ii) reproduce himself or have reproduced by a third party the original material, in whole or part, on any type of medium and in any format and (iii) communicate or authorize the communication to the public of all or part of the original material, including audiovisual and telematic communication, without risk of prosecution for counterfeiting punished by the international laws and conventions in force.
Liability
8.1. IMPS cannot guarantee that the Site shall meet the expectations or particular requirements of the User or the Visitor, nor that the Site shall be uninterrupted or free of errors.
8.2. By express agreement, the User or the Visitor releases IMPS from any obligation of result regarding the performances of the Site.
8.3. Under no circumstances may IMPS be held liable for any direct, indirect or accidental damage resulting from a non-conforming use of the Site, for any lack of knowledge of the Internet and/or its usage, or for a download of any other software or connection to a particular hardware to visualize the Site.
8.4. IMPS cannot be held liable for a lack of exhaustiveness, any errors or damage that might derive following the consultation or use of any information, of any material or of any opinion disseminated on the Site. Use of the Site and of the information appearing on it is done at the User or the Visitor’s risks. IMPS reserves the right to make, at any time and without prior notice, the necessary modifications and improvements of the information and the material of this Site.
8.5. The Site can contain links or hyperlinks to other sites. The User or the Visitor acknowledges that when he clicks on a link or hyperlink to visit or consult the linked site, a frame can appear that contains logos, ads and/or other information. The User or the Visitor accepts that IMPS is exempted from any liability with regard to the content that appears on a linked site or for any product or service referenced by the linked site. The linked site is managed by an operator independent of IMPS. IMPS cannot under any circumstances be held liable for any links towards external websites or towards web pages of third parties not being under the control of IMPS and being mentioned solely by way of information.
Submissions
9.1. IMPS, its licensees, distributors, agents and representatives are authorized to exploit and disclose any Submission and shall not be held liable in the event of any exploitation or disclosure of such Submission. The User grants to IMPS, its licensees, distributors, agents and representatives, without imperative of permission or payment, a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, fully-paid license, without royalty, capable of giving rise to the granting of a sub-license and transferable throughout the world to use, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, exhibit, distribute, copy, host, store, disseminate, edit, modify, adapt, translate or exploit in any other manner whatsoever said Submissions, in whole or part, in any manner whatsoever, for any purpose whatsoever, in any format whatsoever and any medium whatsoever, without other advance notice.
9.2. By transmitting a Submission, the User guarantees that the Submission and the transmission of this submission are in accordance with the rules of conduct and the other requirements of the present General Terms and Conditions of Use, and that he is the owner and disposes of the rights, licenses, agreements and permissions necessary for exploiting and authorizing us to exploit said Submission.
9.3. In so far as IMPS solicits Submissions via functions and activities on the Site (e.g.: games, lotteries, contests, etc.) that require the use of our protected works, IMPS hereby grants a non-exclusive license for the creation of derivative products based on its protected works. This license is conditional on the assignment by the User of all rights on the work that he created to IMPS (and to its licensees, distributors, agents and representatives). If said rights are not assigned to IMPS (and to its licensees, distributors, agents and representatives), the license of the User for the creation of works with the utilization of the protected works of IMPS shall be null and void.
9.4. The User agrees not to execute its moral rights, auxiliary rights or similar rights in and for the Submissions vis-à-vis IMPS or its licensees, distributors, agents and representatives, and shall obtain the same agreement of non-execution from any other person possessing such rights.
9.5. IMPS neither accepts nor takes into consideration unsolicited ideas, suggestions or creative documents. The User or the Visitor is thus asked not to disseminate unsolicited Submissions on or via this Site. The purpose of this policy is to prevent the possibility of any misunderstanding arising when IMPS develops projects (or they are developed under the direction of IMPS) wherein others might see similarities with their own creative works.
9.6. The User or the Visitor acknowledges that there does not exist any agreement between him and IMPS regarding the examination or the taking into consideration of his unsolicited Submissions or any remuneration or consideration. If, despite the demand of IMPS, the User or the Visitor sends to IMPS, intentionally or not, unsolicited Submissions on or via the Site, the User or the Visitor waives the right to demand any examination, any remuneration or consideration whatsoever.
Conduct of the User or the Visitor
10.1. The User or the Visitor undertakes and consents notably:
Not to disrupt or interrupt the networks connected to the Site or the servers of third parties;
To comply with any regulation, rules of conduct and procedures of the Internet network (netiquette);
Not to attempt to gain unauthorized access to other IT systems;
Not to impede the use and functioning of the Site or of any other similar service;
To abstain from any statements that are libelous, defamatory, injurious, racist, obscene or which incite hatred;
During contests, not to cheat or use any similar maneuver aimed at collecting points in an illicit manner;
Not to create fictitious participating accounts for the purpose of collecting points and thus improving his score.
10.2. More specifically, the User or the Visitor undertakes and consents not to disseminate any Submission whatsoever that:
is defamatory, abusive, malicious, threatening or which constitutes a violation of the privacy of others
is biased, hateful or offensive from a racial or other point of view;
is violent, vulgar, obscene, pornographic or has an explicitly sexual character;
attacks any person or entity
is illegal and encourages or advocates illegal activities or the discussion of illegal activities with the intention of committing them
violates or flouts any right of a third party
is commercial or associated with business or publicizes or offers to sell any product, service or other, or solicits others
contains a virus or any other harmful element or which alters, harms or attacks the Site or any connected network or which prevents another person or entity from using or enjoying the Site;
is antisocial, disruptive or destructive
in general does not relate to the designated subject or theme
10.3. IMPS is not responsible for the accuracy, utility, security or intellectual property rights of said Submissions. IMPS cannot ensure and does not ensure that the other Users respect and will respect the present rules of conduct or any other provision of the present General Terms and Conditions of Use, and the User or the Visitor may therefore be exposed to inaccurate, offensive, indecent or otherwise unacceptable Submissions.
10.4. IMPS reserves the right, but declines all obligation or responsibility, to perform checks of the Submissions and to refuse to publish or to communicate or to remove any Submission from the Site in the event of violation of the foregoing, without prejudice to any other of its rights and notably that of suing the offender. IMPS also reserves the right to remove Submissions at any time and for any reason whatsoever or indeed without any reason.
End or Cancellation
IMPS can, notwithstanding all of its other rights resulting from the present General Terms and Conditions of Use, by written notification, put an end to or immediately suspend the service of the Newsletter or the reserved access to the Site if the User fails to fulfill any of the obligations resulting from the present General Terms and Conditions of Use after a formal notice from IMPS has remained without effect.
Notice or notification
12.1. The notices or notifications to a party shall be sent to his e-mail address.
12.2. Any change of address must be notified by the party concerned to the other party.
Cases of force majeure
IMPS shall under no circumstances be held responsible for any delay or any failure to respect its obligations under the present General Terms and Conditions of Use if the delay or the failure to respect derives from any cause that lies beyond its reasonable control.
Autonomy
If one of the conditions of the present terms and conditions should be declared invalid or inapplicable by a judicial decision, the other conditions of the present terms and conditions shall remain in full effect, and the condition in question would remain applicable to the extent permitted by law.
Waiver
No party shall be presumed to have waived its right to invoke one of the conditions of the present terms and conditions unless it has been expressly waived in writing (electronic or not).
Proof
The User accepts that messages by e-mail as well as log files constitute proof.
Disputes
Any disputes relating to the interpretation or application of the present General Terms and Conditions of Use that could not be resolved amicably shall be submitted to the Courts of Brussels in French, with Belgian law being applicable.
