Conditions of use of Open University websites

The Open University (“OU”, “we” or “us”) is a company incorporated by Royal Charter in England and Wales. Our main office is at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA.

In addition, please read our Privacy policy. It applies to our collection and use of your personal information in relation to the Site. Users with an OU account are also bound by the Terms and Conditions agreed to during account creation. These can be found at:

• Staff computing code of conduct (internal link)
• Student computing code of conduct
• Terms and conditions for self-registered users (pdf 149kb)

We may change these Conditions of Use from time to time by updating this page. You should review this page regularly. Your continued use of the Site after changes have been made will be taken to indicate that you have read and accepted those changes. You should not use the Site if you are not happy with any changes to these Conditions of Use.

Access to and use of the Site is provided by The Open University on the following terms. By using the Site you are acknowledging that you have read and accepted these Conditions of Use, the Privacy Policy and (if you have an OU account) the Terms and Conditions agreed during OU account creation.

Conditions of Use

1. You agree to use the Site only in accordance with these Conditions of Use, the Terms and Conditions agreed during OU account creation, for lawful purposes, and in a way that does not infringe the rights of, restrict or inhibit anyone else’s use and enjoyment of the Site.

Prohibited behaviour includes (this list is not exhaustive) harassing or causing distress or inconvenience to any person, transmitting obscene or offensive content or disrupting the normal flow of dialogue within the Site and impersonating another person (for example, by using their login details to access the pages of the Site which are for OU staff and students only).

Intellectual Property

2. All copyright, trademarks, design rights, patents and other intellectual property rights (registered and unregistered) and all content located on the Site shall remain vested in The Open University or its licensors (which includes other users).

Unless specifically stated in a Creative Commons licence which may be attached to some Open University content (“Creative Commons Licence”), you may not copy, reproduce, republish, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, download, post, broadcast, transmit, make available to the public, or otherwise use Open University content in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use.

Please read the Creative Commons licence in full before downloading or otherwise making use of Open University content. If you have any questions please go to the “Contact Us” page of the Site using the link above.

3. You must however read these intellectual property rights as being subject to any restrictions on use applying to any materials or content on the Site including (this list is not exhaustive) photographic images, videos and text whether directly on a page of the Site or contained in a document (e.g. a pdf) accessible from a page of the Site) (“Materials”) or part of them such as video and photographic images which are subject to the special restrictions set out in the Creative Commons Licence (“Special Restrictions”).

If you do not agree to be bound by the Creative Commons Licence or any Special Restriction then you must not use Open University Materials made available under these terms.

4. When using Materials you must attribute us and any identified author in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Licence. Each of the Materials has an “Acknowledgements” section which will identify the author/owner(s) and any Special Restriction(s) applying. You must take account of and abide by any restrictions set out in this section in using any of the Materials.

Your content and information

5. Certain pages of the Site permit you to post, send or upload content and information. If you do this we will take this to mean that you have read and accepted these Conditions of Use and (to the extent that these are relevant) the Terms and Conditions agreed during OU account creation.

6. You must not post, send or upload any such content or information:

(a) unless you own or have appropriate rights to use the intellectual property rights subsisting in or relating to that content and information and unless you are sure that posting, sending or uploading the same does not infringe the rights (including but not limited to the intellectual property rights) of any other person or organisation;

(b) which is or could be considered defamatory, derogatory or in appropriate with regard to the OU, its customers or clients or any other person or organisation;

(c) which contains any confidential information about OU or another person or organisation (unless you have our permission or that of the other person or organisation);

(d) which contains any offensive, obscene or criminal content or any other content which may cause embarrassment to the OU, its customers or clients or any other person or organisation; and

(e) which contains any personal data about another person including (this list is not exhaustive) names, contact details and sensitive personal data (for example, information about an identified or identifiable individual’s mental or physical health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or other beliefs). The Information Commissioner’s website provides more guidance on what is personal data and sensitive personal data.

7. We are not responsible for any content and/or information which you post, send or upload onto the Site. We reserve the right to withdraw any such content and/or information without notice and at our sole discretion and to pursue any cause of action against you available to us under applicable laws.

The Open University is under a statutory duty to have regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.  If the use of OU computer equipment, information and systems gives rise to a concern that a person may be at risk, this may result in action being taken in accordance with the OU Prevent strategy

Accuracy of Content and Information on the Site

8. The Open University does not represent that information contained on or available via the Site is accurate or complete and accordingly it should not be relied on as such. You should not rely on any such information. Any arrangements made between you and any other person, using or named on the Site are entirely at your sole risk and responsibility.

9. Information contained in or accessible via the Site changes on a regular basis. We may make improvements or alterations to the Site at any time and without notice.

10. Addresses of or links to other websites may appear on the Site for your convenience. The Open University does not operate or monitor other websites and we accept no responsibility or liability for the content of other websites. Any link is not intended to be, nor should be construed as, an endorsement of any kind by us of another website.

11. Should we link to other website we will try to make it as clear as possible that you are leaving the site. It is your responsibility to check the terms and conditions and privacy policy on any other website that you visit.

Liability

12. We do not guarantee that:

(a) use of the Site will be compatible with all hardware and software,

(b) use of the Site will be uninterrupted or error or virus free,

(c) use of the Site will deliver any specific outcome for its users, or

(d) defects on the Site will be corrected (save for those defects which the OU is obliged to correct by law.

You must take appropriate steps to ensure that you regularly check for and protect against viruses when using the Site on any device.

13. We make no statement about the suitability of the content, information and services contained on, or accessed via, the Site. All warranties, terms and conditions in this regard, including all warranties, terms and conditions implied by statute or otherwise, of satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law (please see directly below for more details). For the avoidance of doubt this includes materials accessed via links to websites (including home pages, web pages or documents they contain) operated by any other person or organisation.

14. We further exclude to the fullest extent permissible by law (please see directly below for more details) all liability for damages and direct, indirect or consequential loss (all three of which terms include pure economic loss, loss of profits, loss of business, business interruption, depletion of goodwill and like loss) or otherwise incurred by you or any other person or organisation and arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the Site or its content, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise.

We do not exclude or limit our liability (if any) to you:

(a) for any breach of obligations arising under section 12 Sale of Goods Act 1979 or section 2 Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982;
(b) for personal injury or death resulting from negligence;
(c) under section 2 (3) Consumer Protection Act 1987
(d) for any matter for which it would be illegal for us to exclude or to attempt to exclude liability; or
(e) for fraud.

15. You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless us, our affiliates and our officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses or expenses, including reasonable legal costs, arising out of or in any way connected with any breach by you of these Conditions of Use.

16. The internet is not a secure means of communication. Emails may be intercepted by other people or organisations.

You should not send any communication to us through the Site or by email, in particular which contains personal data (including sensitive personal data) and/or confidential information about you or any other person, unless you accept that any such communication would be sent at your own risk and on the understanding that we would not be liable for any loss that you might suffer as a result (except for losses which cannot be excluded or limited at law, as referred to directly above).