Terms and conditions of use of BMJ Learning including purchases of subscriptions

Please read the following terms and conditions which relate to information regarding use of our websites. By using these websites you are agreeing to these terms and conditions. From time to time we may change these terms and conditions and will post the revisions on our websites. We recommend therefore that you read these terms and conditions regularly.

1. Access

1.1 General - BMJ Learning

BMJ Learning is a website designed for General Practitioners and hospital doctors who are registered with the General Medical Council ("GMC") and practising medicine in the UK. BMJ Learning is also designed for practice nurses and practice managers who work in primary care. Access to these sites is subject to certain access controls. Payment of a subscription or BMA Membership will be required in order to access restricted parts of BMJ Learning. All users of BMJ Learning require registration. We cannot guarantee that these websites will always be available, nor that your access will not be uninterrupted or that transmissions are error-free.

1.2 BMA Members - BMJ Learning

BMA members all have as a membership benefit access to BMJ Learning during their membership period or for as long as the BMJ Publishing Group Limited and the BMA agree. BMA members will need to enter their membership number to obtain access to restricted parts of BMJ Learning. Use of the website shall be subject to these terms and conditions.

1.3 Non BMA Members - BMJ Learning

Non BMA members will have to purchase access to the restricted parts of BMJ Learning. The price that you will pay for access to BMJ Learning should be the standard prices indicated on our website. These prices are valid for purchase during the calendar year which they relate to. Eurozone customers will be charged in Euros. US customers will be charged in US Dollars. For all other subscribers, you will be charged in Pounds Sterling. For customers charged in Pounds Sterling who are situated outside of the UK, the exchange rate, will be calculated by your bank.

Whilst we try to ensure that all the prices on our website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover that there is an error in the prices, we will inform you as soon as possible and give you the option of recommencing your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If you do not respond to our contact, we will treat the contract as cancelled. If you cancel in these circumstances and we have already processed your payment, you will receive a full refund.

Payments may be made through the methods specified. We take all reasonable precautions to keep the details of your order and payment secure and therefore unless we are negligent, we cannot be held liable for losses caused as a result of unauthorised access to information provided by you.

When making a request to do an online payment, the language you will be offered for the conclusion of the process will be in English only.

When submitting your request to purchase access to BMJ Learning, you will be asked a series of questions and then you will proceed to a screen which will set out the total price of BMJ Learning including the VAT (if applicable). You will then proceed to our payment section and when you submit your payment details, you are making an offer to license use of BMJ Learning for one year, which we may accept or decline. After you have received your offer you will receive confirmation that either the payment was successful or unsuccessful.

We may allow you to have temporary access to restricted parts of BMJ Learning straight after a payment has been made however, this is a gesture of goodwill and does not represent acceptance of your offer. Irrespective of payment, our contract will not become binding until five working days have elapsed from a successful payment and only if we do not contact you. This is in case any price errors have occurred which will be treated as indicated above.

Please note that as access to BMJ Learning will have begun from the point of contract, if you wish to cancel any subscription you purchase after our contract comes into effect, cancellation shall be at our discretion and if accepted may be subject to a cancellation charge.

The BMJ Publishing Group Limited reserves the right to have full editorial control over BMJ Learning and may make changes to the website during the subscription period.

2. Accounts and passwords

When you enter these details which are registered with us, your right of access is personal to you, for as long as we choose to allow such access (where free) or as set out above. Personal accounts may not be shared, and you are responsible for preventing unauthorised access to your account. You accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.

3. Intellectual property rights

The content, layout, design, data, and graphics on our websites are protected by UK and other international copyright laws. You agree not to adapt, alter, or create any derivative work from any of the material contained in the websites or to use the material for any purpose other than your personal, non-commercial use. None of the content of the websites may be copied or otherwise incorporated into or saved in any other website, electronic retrieval system, publication, or any other work in any form (whether hard copy, electronic, or other), other than a Personal Development Plan which you may download and store for your personal non-commercial use. For the avoidance of doubt, framing of this site or any part of it is not permitted without our express written permission.

For the avoidance of doubt, all template documents and software you use to create any Personal Development Plan on our websites are our and our Licensor's property, and you are granted a revocable, non-transferable licence for personal, non-commercial use.

4. Permission for use of our intellectual property

Any requests for permission of our images or other use of our intellectual property not authorised by these terms and conditions should be made to bmjlearning@bmjgroup.com.

5. Online learning module

Where you leave any response on any Online Learning Module, you grant us a non-revocable worldwide, royalty-free, transferable licence for use of that response on bmjlearning.com, and for which we may create derivatives of, distribute, and display in any media. We may remove or edit your response at any time. Posting such a response is allowed strictly on the basis that the content is accurate, is not illegal, obscene, racist, abusive, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, infringing any intellectual property rights, or otherwise injurious to third parties, or objectionable, and does not contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailing, or any form of "spam." You may not use a false name or email address to impersonate any person or entity whilst on any part of the Website or otherwise mislead the origin of your content. You agree to indemnify us for breach of these warranties.

6. Forum

Use of the BMJ Learning forum shall also be subject to the Forum's terms and conditions.

7. Trademarks

The trademarks and logos which are displayed on our websites are the trademarks of the BMJ and its Licensors. Any use of BMJ trademarks or other trademarks displayed on our websites is strictly prohibited without our expressed written consent.

8. Personal data and privacy

Use of the data you provide to us or which is collected by use of our websites, is governed by our Privacy Policy.

9. Links

Our websites contain links including hyperlinks which may take you outside www.bmjlearning.com. Links are provided for your convenience, and inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement or approval by us of the linked website (other than where this is another BMJ website), its operator or its contents, and we are not responsible for the content of any website outside of BMJ websites.

10. Losses

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any direct or indirect or consequential losses (including loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings, data, goodwill, or wasted expenditure) other than when your subscription cannot be fulfilled, following conclusion of a binding contract and in which case the BMJ Publishing Group Limited shall be liable only for the fees paid for the subscription.

11. Events Beyond Our Reasonable Control

To the fullest extent permitted by law we will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if such delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our reasonable control including reasons of Force Majeure which shall include any default due to an act of God, war, threatened war, act of terrorism or threatened terrorism, lock out, individual action, fire, flood, drought, tempest or other event beyond our reasonable control. This provision does not affect your statutory rights.

12. Alternation of Service or Amendments to Conditions

We reserve the right to make changes to our website, policies and terms and conditions at any time. You shall be subject to the policy's terms and conditions in force at the time that you use the website. If any of these conditions are deemed invalid, void or unenforceable, that condition will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any other condition.

13. Disclaimer

Our websites and all information contained on them, are provided on an "as is" basis and are intended for medical professionals. It is provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied.

We rely on our authors to confirm the accuracy of the information presented and therefore we as the publisher, and our editors, cannot warrant its accuracy. Readers should be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. Because of this fact and also because of regular advances in medical research, we strongly recommend that readers independently verify facts. Ultimately it is the readers' responsibility to make their own professional judgments. Description or reference to a product or publication does not imply endorsement of that product or publication, unless it is owned by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited and in which case is subject to the relevant disclaimers.

We will not be liable for any forms or plans saved on our websites and users have been reminded to save these themselves on their own system for back up.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BMJ Publishing Group Limited and its editors are not responsible for any losses, injury, or damage caused to any person or property (including under contract, by negligence, products liability, or otherwise) whether they be direct or indirect, special, incidental, or consequential, resulting from the application of the information on this website.

14. Waiver

If you breach these conditions and we take no action, we are still entitled to use our rights and remedies in the future and where you continue to breach these conditions.

15. Complaints or Contact Us

If you have any complaints and wish to contact us please do so by using the Contact Us form.

16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

To the fullest extent permitted by law, these conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. You agree, as do we do, to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts, save where it is necessary for enforcement proceedings to bring proceedings against you outside of England.

Your privacy

Protecting your privacy is one of our top priorities. Please take a few minutes to review this policy.

Introduction

Our privacy commitment

We will make every effort to protect your privacy by adopting a consistently high level of site security and adhering to strict company policies on how we store and use personal information. This privacy policy has been developed in accordance with our legal obligations and may be updated from time to time.

If we make any changes to our privacy policy, we will post the revisions on our site.

1. The information we collect and how we use it

1.1 All Users

To access the sites, you will need to register with us. To access restricted parts of the websites we will need to obtain other details from you. All mandatory information is as indicated.

Once you start using the site, we may track and keep a record of the pages you visit. We collect this data from groups of users to get a sense of how people are using our site and which topics are most popular. This helps us improve what we offer on our sites.

Unless you have requested otherwise upon registration, from time to time we may use your personal data to email you with other information that may be of interest to you. If you should decide later that you do not wish to receive such other information you will be given the opportunity to opt out of receipt of such future email communications at any time.

We feature a few sections where you can submit additional information. Participation is entirely voluntary but certain information is mandatory, as indicated.

BMJ Learning

The information that you add to your plan, including the areas of improvement you identify, the classes you have taken, and other such information, is considered private. Our technicians have access to it in order to fix problems and maintain the site. However, we do not read this information unless necessary, and will not release it to other people or organisations, without your prior consent. However we reserve the right to release anonymised group data to third parties related to the use of specific modules.

Should you use the BMJ Learning Forum, personal data will be displayed as indicated on the Forum terms and conditions (as amended from time to time), which are agreed to prior to the first posting. You acknowledge, consent, and agree when using the Forum that the BMJPG may access, preserve, and disclose your account information and any content posted by you in order to: (a) comply with any legal process; (b) enforce the terms and conditions of use; (c) respond to claims that any content posted on the Forum violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of the BMJPG, other users of the website and the public.

Foundation Programme

The forms you complete online and the learning modules you complete (including obtaining certificates of completion) are considered private. Our technicians have access to them in order to fix problems and maintain the site. However, we do not read this information unless necessary, and will not release it to other people or organisations, without your prior consent.

1.2 IP addresses

Each time you use the internet, your Internet service provider assigns your computer a number called an IP address. This number may be the same or different each time you go online. The websites use visitors' IP addresses to gather general data about site traffic. Each time your computer requests information from our site, we log your IP address on our server. We cannot identify you from your IP address.

1.3 Module feedback

You are able to give feedback about a learning module after completing it, and in the learning resources section of the site. This information is visible to other users of the site, including guest users. We will also use it to improve our site.

1.4 To whom will we disclose information about you?

We will not disclose your personal data to any third party other than:

1. in the case of bmjlearning only, your primary care trust (and only your name, contact details, whether you have completed a Form 4, and the means to email you);
2. those who provide IT and support services to us and only where bound by duties of confidentiality; and
3. the BMA.
4. In the case of registered GP’s in New Zealand who are official members of the Royal New Zealand College of GP’s, whilst we have an agreement with them, details of modules you have passed.

1.5 Can you change the information we hold about you?

Where your details become outdated you should advise us via the Contact us section.

2. How personal information is stored and protected

Your personal data are stored in our databases which are only available to the web administrators and selected authorised people on a password protected basis.

2.1 Security

We understand that the security of your information is important to you. We also understand that our continued success as a publisher on the web relies on our ability to communicate with you in a secure manner. We adhere to the highest standards of decency, fairness, and integrity in our operations. We use several measures to authenticate your identity when you visit our site. We also take steps to protect your information as it travels the internet, and to make sure all information is as secure as possible against unauthorised access and use (for example, by hackers). We review our security measures regularly.

Despite our best efforts, and the best efforts of other firms, "perfect security" does not exist on the internet, or anywhere else.

2.2 Authentication

You should not share your user name and password with other people. If you think you might lose or forget these identifiers, write them down and keep each in a separate place.

2.3 Email

Any email between you and the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd is not encrypted. It will be stored securely within our corporate firewall (see below).

2.4 Data within our walls

The information we collect about people visiting the site is stored in secure environments that are not available to any other individual or party. We have mechanisms in place to protect data. One such mechanism is called a "firewall." A firewall is a barrier that allows only authorised traffic through. It safeguards our computer systems and your information. We also use system and application logs to track all access. We review these logs periodically and investigate any anomalies or discrepancies.

3. Use of cookies

Once you have accessed the websites, we will store a temporary "cookie" on your computer, indicating that you are authorised to use the site. Cookies are small text files that are saved by your web browser and enable you to move throughout the site without having to sign in each time you look at a different page. We cannot identify you from these cookies. They simply tell us whether pages have been requested by the same person or two different people.

The cookies we use are "session cookies," which means they disappear when you shut down your Web browser. Use of this website is conditional on a session cookie being in place, and if you do not agree to this you should not use these websites.

When you log in, a "remember me" check box will appear. If you tick this then we will also store another cookie that lasts for six months. This allows us to recognise who you are the next time you visit our sites so you don't have to type in your user name and password. However, it means that someone with access to the PC you use could find out your login details. So, we recommend that you do not make use of this feature if you access the sites from a shared computer or where you have any concerns about security.

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