General Terms and Conditions (“GTC”) of MaVieFrançaise® – MyFrenchLife™ – MyFrenchLife.org

For the use of the services under the domain www.MyFrenchLife.org, the top-level domain www.MyFrenchLife.com and all other www.MyFrenchLife™ sub-domains.

Version: 15 July 2018

Welcome to My French Life™! Below you will find the GTC governing the use of www.MyFrenchLife.org and any of its sub-domains and aliases of these domains (“My French Life™Website(s)” or “Website(s)”). Please be aware that the brand names and domain names My French Life™ (MyFrenchLife™) and Ma Vie Francaise® (MaVieFrancaise®) are trademarks owned by Judith MacMahon (info@MyFrenchLife.org)

When using the My French Life™Websites please bear in mind that www.MyFrenchLife.org is a genuine online community and any information you disclose about yourself and everything you upload can generally be freely viewed, copied, used, and passed on by others. By registering to use the My French Life™Websites you consent to the following GTC.

If you use My French Life™ as a consumer i.e. for a purpose that is not related to your commercial or freelance activity ,please see also the provisions set forth in section 13 of these GTC (Consumer’s Right to Cancellation):

1. Scope

1.1

The provisions of these GTC govern the entire legal relationship between the validly registered user (“User”) and My French Life™ and are applicable to all services provided to the User or offered on the My French Life™ Websites (“My French Life™Service(s)” or “Service(s)”) and also to all of the User’s actions, contents, or other material relating to the My French Life™Websites. No conflicting terms of use or conditions of the User shall be applicable and are hereby rejected. The complete and valid GTC are available in a printable and storable form on each My French Life™Website under “Terms & Conditions”.

1.2

The User enters into this agreement on the use of Services with My French Life™ G.P.O.Box 409,Melbourne, 3001, Australia. In so far as these GTC also mention other Users of the My French Life™Websites, these GTC shall also govern the relationships between Users. However, no User shall claim rights under this agreement against other Users without prior consent of My French Life™.

1.3

My French Life™ reserves the right to amend these GTC at any time insofar as these amendments are not unreasonable for the User. My French Life™ shall give due notice of any amendments of these GTC to the User via the User’s email address or by placing a notice in the User’s personal inbox on the My French Life™Website. The amendments to the GTC shall be effective from that point in time unless the User objects within two (2) weeks after receipt of said notice by sending a fax or letter to My French Life™, provided that My French Life™ has explicitly informed the User about the consequences of such non-objection.

2. Services

2.1

My French Life™ provides the User with an Internet platform which incorporates technical applications that allow the User to establish contact and share information with other Users. This Service made available via the My French Life™Websites includes upload, download, and posting options regarding materials and information, which My French Life™, the User, or other Users want to share on the My French Life™Websites (“Content(s)”). The Services are described in detail on the My French Life™Website.

2.2

My French Life™ does not take part in any communication between Users and is not responsible for or party to any agreements that Users engage in by communicating over My French Life™Websites. The principles set forth in this Section 2.2 shall also apply for any agreements between Users and third party service providers providing supplemental services embedded in or linked to the My French Life™Websites. Such third party service providers are acting independently from My French Life™ and My French Life™ does not accept any liability for third parties’ acts or omissions.

2.3

Users who want to take advantage of the Services provided on My French Life™Websites have the option to register for a free membership (“Basic Membership”) or for a paid membership in a premium community forum (“Premium Membership”), My French Life™ shall have the right to upgrade registrants for the Basic Membership to a free of charge, temporary Premium Membership during the beta period of My French Life™Websites or for general promotional purposes at any time thereafter. The terms of such upgrade shall be determined at the sole discretion of My French Life™.

2.4

The Services include offers to join certain groups or subgroups on the My French Life™Websites (“Groups”). The User acknowledges that these Groups may be established by other Users of the Services and accordingly, the User moderating the respective Group is free to choose whether the User may join or remain in the Group. My French Life™ is not responsible or liable for the participation or any action of the User or any other Users, including the Group moderator, in the Group.

2.5

My French Life™ reserves the right to modify the Services or to offer services different from those offered at the time of the User’s registration at any time unless this is unreasonable for the User. My French Life™ shall give due notice of any amendments of Services to the User via the User’s email address. The amendments to the Services shall be effective from that point in time unless the User objects within two (2) weeks after receipt of said notice by sending a  letter to My French Life™, provided that My French Life™ has explicitly informed the User about the consequences of such non-objection.

2.6

The User understands that it is technically impossible to offer or guarantee a 100% availability of the My French Life™Websites. My French Life™ will make reasonable efforts to keep the My French Life™Websites available without unplanned interruption. However, maintenance, security or other planned actions, and/or events beyond My French Life™’ reasonable control (e.g., disruptions in public communication networks, power failures), may cause temporary interruptions or other failures of the Services.

3. Registration – to become a member

3.1

In order to sign up for a Basic or Premium Membership Users must apply for registration by completing the registration procedure on the My French Life™Website. By completing the registration procedure, the User consents to enter into this agreement to use the Services and My French Life™ accepts this offer by activating the User’s membership and personal account.

3.2

The User guarantees and represents that the User has fully and truthfully submitted the information required by My French Life™ for registration and does not use pseudonyms or nicknames. The User shall keep data in his/her profile up-to-date, in particular any changes to his/her e-mail address. The User shall ensure that My French Life™ can establish contact with him/her via the contact details provided by him/her in the personal profile on the My French Life™Websites at all times.

3.3

My French Life™ reserves the right to refuse registration of any user for any or no reason.

3.4

The User hereby confirms that the User is of legal age at the time of registration and has not already registered with My French Life™, i.e., only maintains one (1) User account.

3.5

During registration the User must define a password which the User will use to identify himself/herself in order to access the Website(s), the Services, and the User’s personal account. The User is responsible for keeping the password secret and preventing other persons from accessing the User’s account via this password. The User agrees to notify My French Life™ of any unauthorised use of the User’s password or account or any other breach of security immediately through “Contact” which can be found on My French Life™Websites. The User promises to immediately inform My French Life™ if there is any indication that the password is being used by third parties. My French Life™ will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the User’s failure to comply with this section.

3.6

In so far as the User is in breach of the obligations agreed in this section 3, My French Life™ shall be entitled to terminate this agreement with immediate effect, to block the User’s account and/or to prevent further use of the Services and the Website(s) by the User.

4. Prices and Payment

4.1

The prices for the Premium Membership are set forth on each My French Life™Website under “My Account” and shall be binding. Payments shall be due immediately upon invoicing and can be effected by any of the debiting procedures made available by My French Life™. Invoices will be sent to the User in a printable and storable version by email. The User is aware of the fact and agrees that in case of online debiting procedures (i.e. payment via credit card) any data (e.g. name, credit card number, expiry date, bank details etc.) which is necessary for the due processing of such payment will be transferred to third parties involved in the execution of the debiting procedure (e.g. operator of payment module, credit card acquirer and the bank issuing the credit/debit card).

4.2

The User shall at all times provide for sufficient funds to allow for collection of any fees in the course of the debiting procedures designated by him/her. Any costs (such as bank charges etc.) triggered by the failure to do so shall be borne by the User.

4.3

My French Life™ reserves the right to amend the prices for future provisions of the Services. Any price amendments shall become effective one (1) month after due notice by My French Life™ of the amendment via the User’s email address. The User may terminate the agreement within two (2) weeks after receipt of said notice by sending a letter to My French Life™.

5. User’s Obligations

5.1

The User shall only provide true and accurate personal, social, and professional information and shall not post on My French Life™Websites any photographs identifying the User which are older than three (3) years or on which the User cannot be clearly and plainly recognised. The User shall not use any nicknames or pseudonyms to identify himself/herself.

5.2

The User shall not use, upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Contents, or have others make the same available on the My French Life™Websites, or send other Users messages with Contents that violate laws and statutes in any manner (“Illegal Contents”), such as, but not limited to:

a)

Contents breaching third-party rights – e.g., copyright, performance and commercial property rights such as brands, patents, registered designs, design rights, and also other rights, for example name and personality rights;

b)

Contents which are insulting or defamatory, regardless of whether said contents are directed at My French Life™ personnel or other companies or another User;

c)

Contents and actions violating criminal law, promoting anti-constitutional organizations or insignia of such organizations; Contents glorifying violence; racist, pornographic, sexist Contents; Contents harmful to young persons; Contents trafficking in narcotics, inciting or downplaying the consumption of narcotics, inciting criminal offenses, gambling, insult or slander, defamation etc.;

d)

Contents promoting any commercial practices considered unfair competition, including progressive customer acquisition practices (such as chain distribution systems, multilevel selling or pyramid sales) or Content unreasonably annoying any other User; e.g., spam, chain letters, multi-level marketing or multi-level network marketing);

e)

Contents which include information for which the User has no right to disclose or make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as proprietary and confidential information or insider information etc.);

f)

Contents that contain company logos (excluding, however, employees of My French Life™ who may use the My French Life™ logo);

g)

Contents intended to disrupt, destroy, limit, or impair services on the My French Life™Websites or the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, in particular through robots, spiders, spamming, DOS attacks, chain mail, junk mail, scripts etc..

5.3

The User shall not send identical messages to more than one (1) User on the My French Life™Websites.

5.4

The User shall not (i) disguise the origin of any communication via the Services or disguise his/her own identity while using the Services in any way; (ii) disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations set up for the use of the Services on My French Life™Websites by My French Life™; (iii) interfere with or disrupt the My French Life™Websites, its servers or networks connected to My French Life™, or conduct actions that impair the operability of My French Life™’ infrastructure, particularly which may overload said infrastructure; (iv) block, overwrite, modify, or copy any Contents on My French Life™Websites, unless said actions are necessary for the proper use of the Services. The use of any search engine technology is not necessary for the proper use of the Services, and is therefore prohibited.

6. Granting Rights to Use

6.1

The User grants My French Life™ all rights with respect to Contents as needed to fulfill the purpose of this agreement. In particular, the User grants the royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide and unrestricted transferable and sublicensable license:

a)

to store all Contents (in particular images, videos, comments, texts, articles etc.) uploaded or posted during the use of the My French Life™Websites in an electronic form,

b)

to make the same available to other Users and third parties and to disseminate the same to other Users and third parties upon demand by way of download, and also to permit other Users and third parties to make virtual or physical copies of these Contents for their private or other own use,

c)

to reproduce, disseminate, make generally available, and broadcast all uploaded Contents on all Websites or other platforms and services operated by My French Life™ (in particular TV, advertising, print media, radio, Internet, mobile Internet),

d)

to process the Contents in a user-friendly form, make the same amenable for research and process the same such that other Users and third parties can access the same at any time. This includes converting the Contents into other data formats. My French Life™ is also granted the right to process the Contents with respect to visual appearance, font, layout, scaling etc.. My French Life™ shall have the right to combine the Contents or parts thereof with its own or third-party Contents, in particular to add links to the Contents or make the same available to third parties via links,

e)

to amend, shorten, block or suspend access to, and delete any Contents provided by the User.

6.2

With respect to all Contents described above, the User hereby waives the exercising of all moral rights as far as legally possible, in particular with respect to infringements through changes to the Contents made by My French Life™ or third parties.

6.3

The User hereby warrants that with respect to the entire Contents furnished by the User, the User is the holder of the corresponding intellectual property rights or is entitled to use and transfer rights of use (in particular for publication, reproduction, and dissemination) to the extent necessary and required under these GTC and during the course of the Contents being used on the My French Life™Websites without the infringement of any third-party rights.

7. No Responsibility for the User’s and Third-Party Contents

7.1

My French Life™ shall not be liable for any Contents provided or made available by any User, including the User’s content. In particular, My French Life™ does not warrant that any such Content is true or accurate, or that it fulfills or serves any particular purpose.

7.2

If the User finds Contents offensive or objectionable or a breach of its or any third-party rights, or illegal in any other way, the User shall contact My French Life™ under “Contact”, or by sending a letter to My French Life™. My French Life™ will investigate the complaints and violations of its policies and may take any appropriate action, including, but not limiting to issuing warnings, removing or blocking the Content or terminating accounts and/or subscriptions.

7.3

The User acknowledges that the My French Life™Websites include and provide Contents provided by third-party providers as well as links to websites of third parties (altogether “Third-Party Contents”). My French Life™ shall not be liable for any such Third-Party Contents, but will comply with its obligations in accordance with Australian law.

8. Terms of Termination, Reimbursement of Advance Payments

8.1

This agreement shall remain valid and binding as long as the User uses the Services. If the parties have agreed on a minimum service period for the Premium Membership the term shall be automatically renewed for a further period of the same length as the originally agreed upon minimum service period (as a maximum such renewal may extend to one (1) year) unless terminated according to section 8.3. Both parties may terminate this agreement without cause according to sections 8.2. and 8.3; both parties may terminate this agreement for cause in accordance with section 8.5.

8.2

Both parties may terminate the Basic Membership at any time without cause.

8.3

Both parties may terminate without cause the Premium Membership to the end of the minimum service period as chosen by the User in the course of the registration process, or to the end of any renewal period, by giving notice of seven (7) days before the lapse of the respective period. If the User has terminated the Premium Membership, the User is entitled to retain a Basic Membership.

8.4

Any termination according to sections 8.2 and 8.3 requires that the User sends a notice of termination by sending a respective fax or letter to My French Life™. The termination notice shall include the User’s registered name and an email address of the User registered on the My French Life™Website.

8.5

A party may by written notice to the other party terminate this agreement for good cause in accordance with Australian law, taking into account all circumstances of the individual case and weighing the interests of either party against the other party, also considering any other adequate measures set forth in section 8.6. From the viewpoint of My French Life™, this is particularly the case, if:

a)

the User, when using the Service, fails to comply with any applicable statutory legal requirements or substantial contractual obligations as set forth in these GTC;

b)

there is a cause in the person of the User or in his/her activities in relation to the My French Life™Websites which may substantially impair the reputation of the Websites or My French Life™.

8.6

In the event of a good cause in accordance with section 8.5 and notwithstanding My French Life™’ right to terminate the agreement, My French Life™ is entitled to:

a)

delete or block the Contents posted by the User,

b)

send the User a notice detailing the cause and claiming remedy of the cause, or

c)

block the User’s access to the Services.

8.7

The User shall not be entitled to claim reimbursement of any advance payments made by the User if My French Life™ has terminated the agreement or blocked the User’s access for good cause pursuant to section 8.5 and 8.6.

9. Privacy

My French Life™ acknowledges that any personal data provided by the User to My French Life™ is extremely important to the User. My French Life™ shall comply with all applicable legal provisions regarding data protection (Australian Data Protection Laws, and any other applicable data protection legislation). In particular, My French Life™ shall not provide or otherwise disclose any personal data of the User to any third party without consent, unless My French Life™ is required by statutory applicable law to reveal the data to third parties, in particular government or regulatory bodies or if the transfer of data is necessary for operation of debiting procedures as described in section 4.1 above. Personal data does not include User information provided as described in section 6.1a above. Details on My French Life™’ handling and processing of the User’s personal data are set forth in the “Privacy Policy of My French Life™ (“My French Life™”) for the use of the services under the top level domain www.MyFrenchLife.org”.

10. Liability of My French Life™

10.1

Subject to the provisions set out in this section, My French Life™ shall only be liable for any damages, irrespective of the cause of action, including tort, which (i) are caused by negligent violation of an essential contractual obligation which have to be duly fulfilled for the achievement of the contractual purpose and on which fulfillment the User can rely on under normal circumstances, or (ii) are caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct of My French Life™.

10.2

If My French Life™ is held liable under the preceding paragraph, My French Life™’ liability shall be limited to those typical damages which My French Life™ could reasonably foresee at the time of execution of the agreement, based on circumstances known to My French Life™ at that time, provided, however, that this limitation shall not apply if any damages are caused by My French Life™’ gross negligence or willful misconduct.

10.3

My French Life™ shall not be liable for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages unless those damages are caused by My French Life’s™ gross negligence or willful misconduct.

10.4

Nothing in this section 10 shall limit My French Life™’ liability for personal injury and property damage claims based on the Australian Product Liability Act

11. Indemnity

The User shall indemnify and hold My French Life™ harmless and not accountable for claims for breach of third-party rights for which the User is responsible or any damage which is caused by a breach of any contractual obligations by the User. The User shall in particular indemnify and hold My French Life™ harmless and not accountable for claims by third parties resulting from any illegal acts by the User, in particular with respect to Contents provided by the User infringing third-party rights or otherwise Illegal Content. In so far as such infringement of rights result in court proceedings, the User shall also bear the costs incurred by My French Life™ as a result, in particular court and attorney costs.

12. Miscellaneous

12.1

Unless otherwise stated in these GTC, the User may submit all notices to My French Life™ by fax or letter. The complete contact details of My French Life™ can be found on each My French Life™Website under “Contact”. My French Life™ may send notices to the User by placing a notice in the User’s personal inbox on the My French Life™Website, email, fax, or post to the addresses given in the User’s current contact data in his/her User account.

12.2

If any provision of these GTC is, for any reason, invalid and/or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

12.3

The place of performance under these GTC shall be wherever My French Life™’ and the User operate.

12.4

Place of jurisdiction, insofar as legally admissible, shall be Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. This shall not impair any consumer jurisdiction forum competent for a dispute.

12.5

These GTC and the contractual relationship shall be governed by Australian Law, excluding the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

13. Consumer’s Right to Cancellation

If a User uses the Services for a purpose that is not related to either his or her commercial or freelance activity (“Consumer” according to Australian law), the following provisions shall apply:

13.1

The User may cancel registration for the Basic or Premium Membership within two (2) weeks without stating a reason. The two-weeks period starts when membership is activated by My French Life™, but not before the receipt of these instructions.

Furthermore, the User is entitled to cancel registration for the Premium Membership within two (2) weeks without stating a reason, after changing from Basic Membership to Premium Membership. The two-weeks period starts when the Premium Membership is activated by My French Life™, but not before the receipt of these instructions.

In order to meet the cancellation deadline in each of the aforementioned cases, the date of dispatch of the cancellation notice is decisive. In each of the aforementioned cases, the cancellation notice should be sent by post to My French Life™  G.P.OBox 409,Melbourne 3001,Australia. The User may also deliver notice of cancellation by sending a letter or email to My French Life™. The email address of My French Life™ can be found on each My French Life™Website under “Contact”.

The User’s right of termination under section 8 shall not be affected by the User’s cancellation right under this section 13.

13.2

According to Australian law, the User’s right of cancellation lapses before the end of the cancellation period referenced in section 13.1, if:

a)

My French Life™ has begun performing the Services for which the User is registered with the express consent of the User, or

b)

the User has initiated the Services for which the User is registered (e.g., in which the User has accessed the Website in accordance with the type of Membership chosen by the User at registration).

13.3

In the event of a valid cancellation, both parties shall be obliged to restore any benefits already received in accordance with legal provisions, and issue any gains (e.g., interest). If the User is unable or partially unable to restore the benefits, or only able to restore them in poor condition to My French Life™, then the User must reimburse My French Life™ for the corresponding value. The User must fulfil obligations for reimbursement within 30 days after dispatch of the cancellation notice.