Online Licence Agreement

Please read the following Agreement before using Personal Injuries Online Service ("PIOS"). This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions that apply to your use of PIOS. By using PIOS, you are deemed to have agreed to comply with all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

1. Definitions

PIOS is an online information service provided by The Thomson Corporation Hong Kong Ltd, trading as Sweet & Maxwell Asia, Business Registration Number 16940355-002-02-98-0 ("SMA"), consisting of information services and content provided by SMA.

"The Subscriber" refers to each person or business who establishes an authorised OnLine account or who is otherwise authorised to access and use PIOS.

2. General

The right to use PIOS is limited to use by the Subscriber and is not transferable to any other person or entity. The Subscriber is responsible for all use of the Subscriber's OnLine Account under any user ID (username) or password by any person and for ensuring that all use of the Subscriber's Account complies fully with the provisions of this Agreement. The Subscriber is responsible for protecting the confidentiality of the Subscriber's password.

3. Nature of Licence

On payment of the licence fee(s) advised by SMA, SMA grants a non-exclusive licence to the Subscriber to use PIOS for the duration of the subscription.

4. Terms of this Agreement

The Subscriber shall pay the initial licence fee(s) within 15 days of billing by SMA and the term of this Agreement shall be for 12 months from the billing date. Further, this Agreement shall continue indefinitely until terminated in writing by either party, subject only to the payment of subsequent annual licence fee charges at the advised rate by the subscriber within 15 days of billing by SMA.

5. Termination

This Agreement will continue in force until terminated by either party upon at least 30 days prior written notice termination to the other party.

SMA may terminate this licence should any breach or non-payment of appropriate fee(s) not be rectified by the Subscriber within 15 days of demand by SMA.

6. Modification of this Agreement and PIOS

SMA reserves the right at any time to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to the use of PIOS or to impose new conditions with respect to such use. SMA reserves the right at any time to modify or remove any aspect or feature of PIOS, including but not limited to content, appearance, functionality, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use. SMA may offer certain enhancements to PIOS for a fee additional to the licence fee, but access to such enhancements will be at the Subscriber's choice. Enhancements may include:

a. upgrades to databases, software, user manuals and content

b. changes to any disclaimers or applicable restrictions.

7. Copyright Warranty and Usage of PIOS

7.1. Copyright Warranty

SMA warrants to the Subscriber that it owns or had obtained all rights, consents and approvals necessary for the supply by SMA of PIOS the subject of this Agreement.

7.2. Usage of PIOS

The Subscriber is granted a licence within the terms of this Agreement to make use of PIOS for the purposes of research or study. PIOS contains copyrighted material, trademarks, and other proprietary information. The Licence granted here does not permit the Subscriber to reproduce any part of PIOS other than fair dealing (as defined in the Copyright Ordinance (Cap.528, Laws of Hong Kong) for the purpose of:

a. research or private study;

b. criticism or review;

c. giving of professional advice to a client in the course of the Subscriber's profession.

d. printing or copying to a hard disk or floppy disk for ease of legitimate business use.

Without limiting the above, the licence granted by this Agreement unless otherwise authorised by SMA expressly prohibits:

a. copying, automated browsing or downloading, redistribution, publication, or commercial exploitation of material available on PIOS;

b. the conversion of any data/information or software into any magnetic, optical or other storage medium;

c. the supply or distribution to third parties of the content of PIOS or any part thereof for reward or otherwise except as authorised by this Agreement;

d. the supply or distribution to third parties of the Subscriber's OnLine Account user ID (username) or password;

e. the loan or rental of PIOS or any part thereof to any third party;

f. the creation of a competitive product with a substantially similar "look and feel" to that of PIOS;

g. the reverse engineering of PIOS or any part thereof for the purpose of copying or emulating the content, features or function;

h. the use of PIOS or any part thereof for any purpose directed to the creation directly or indirectly of any product(s) intended to be disseminated to other persons whether for reward or not.

The Subscriber shall give immediate written notice to SMA of any unauthorised use of PIOS or any part thereof of which the Subscriber is aware or becomes aware.

The Subscriber may not assign or sub-licence any of its rights under this Agreement without the prior written consent of SMA.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the content of PIOS may be used for non-commercial purposes in connection with the preparation of papers, reports, presentations, or scholarly uses, provided that such use does not exceed 5,000 words. In the event of any permitted use of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution or copyright notice shall be made without prior written consent from SMA.

8. Applicable Law

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the courts of the HKSAR shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any disputes arising hereunder.

9. Effect of Termination

The termination of this Agreement shall not prejudice any rights or obligations accrued at the date of termination. Further, upon termination, all information contained in PIOS remains the property of SMA. Use of content of PIOS after termination is on the understanding that the Subscriber continues to be bound by the conditions of clauses 7, 8 and 10 of this Agreement, and on the understanding that there is no entitlement to further support, maintenance or training from SMA. Any errors resulting from the product(s) ceasing to be maintained are accepted by the Subscriber and SMA does not accept any responsibility in this respect.

10. Disclaimer

SMA does not make any warranty, without limitation to the accuracy, reliability, availability, suitability, quality, or operation of any information, software, or service provided on or accessible via PIOS.

a. SMA shall not be liable for any damage to property, loss of revenue, business, information or profits including any indirect or consequential loss arising from, or attributed to, the use of PIOS.

b. Except as expressly provided to the contrary in this Agreement, all terms, conditions, warranties and representations, express or implied (including conditions of merchantable quality and fitness for a particular purpose) relating in any way to PIOS and/or other relevant materials or to this Agreement are expressly excluded save any such conditions or warranties which, by law, are incapable of being so excluded. PIOS is supplied "as is" and SMA does not warrant that it will operate uninterrupted or is error free. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, SMA its servants and agents shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever (including but not limited to damages for negligence, loss of profits, loss of business information or interruption to business) suffered by any person arising directly, indirectly consequentially or incidentally out of, in connection with or in respect of this licence or PIOS and/or other relevant materials whether or not any negligence of SMA its servants or agents may be involved.

c. This clause will survive the rescission or termination of this Agreement.