VK Terms of Service
Welcome to the VK site, a web resource that helps you stay in touch with your old and new friends. The VK site (vk.com) (herein after – the Site) is a network project uniting people on the basis of education or employment places. You can view VK.com privacy policy here »
The Site administration offers you the Site services on the conditions being the subject of these VK Terms of Service. In this connection, you should familiarize yourself carefully with the conditions of these Terms which the Site Administration regards as a public offer in accordance with Article 437 of the Russian Federation Civil Code.
1. Glossary of Terms
- 1.1. The VK site (or the Site) is the internet resource consisting of a set of (a) computer programs (software code running on a computer) and (b) the information (content) placed in them by the Administration and / or users. The VK Site is maintained in an information system that provides the access to the aforesaid information in Internet when addressed by the domain name http://vk.com (including all levels of the specified domain functioning on the moment of adoption of these Terms by the User as well as added after that).
- 1.2. Non-activated data and commands are data and commands and generated audiovisual displays allowing to increase the amount of virtual property used in the framework of the functionality of the Site. The conditions the User is granted the rights to use non-activated data and commands by Administration are defined by the License Agreement, the current version of which is freely available on the Internet at: http://vk.com/licence, and which is concluded by the Site Administration with the User.
2. Status of the VK Terms of Service
- 2.1. These VK Terms of Service (hereinbefore and hereinafter the Terms) have been developed by the Site Administration and determine the terms of Site use and development conditions as well as the rights and obligations of its Users and Administration. The Terms cover also the relations regarding rights and interests of the third parties which are not Site Users but whose rights and interests may be affected as the result of Site Users’ actions.
- 2.2. These Terms are the legally binding agreement between the User and the Site Administration whereby the Site Administration provides services for the User regarding the use of the Site and its services (hereinafter the Services). In addition to these Terms, the agreement between the User and the Site Administration includes all special documents that regulate the provision of individual Site services and are posted in the relevant Site sections on the Internet.
- 2.3. The User is obliged to be fully aware of these Terms before registering at the Site. The User’s registration at the Site means full and unconditional acceptance of these Terms by the User in accordance with Article 438 of the Russian Federation Civil Code.
- 2.4. The Site Administration may make changes and/or additions to these Terms unilaterally without any special notification. These Terms are an open document accessible to the general public. The current version of the Terms is available on the Internet at http://vk.com/help.php?page=terms. The Site Administration recommends that the Users check the conditions of these Terms regularly for changes and/or additions. The continuation of use of the Site by the User after changes and/or additions are made to these Terms will mean the User’s agreement with and acceptance of such changes and/or additions.
3. Status of the VK Site
- 3.1. The Site Administration is the owner of all rights in the Site on the whole and all rights to use the web address (domain name) http://vk.com. The Site Administration makes the Site available to all persons concerned in accordance with these Terms and effective Russian legislation.
- 3.2. These Terms establish conditions in accordance with which the rights to use information and intellectual activity results (including, without limitation, literary, musical, audio and visual works and sound records, graphic and design works, photo works, software) within individual sections of the Site may belong to the Site Users and other persons which have independently created and/or posted these items on the Site without direct participation of the Side Administration.
4. VK Site Administration
- 4.1. In these Terms and other special documents, the VK Site Administration (hereinafter the Site Administration, Administration) is understood as LLC "V Kontakte", a legal entity created under the laws of the Russian Federation and registered at prem. 1-N, bld. 12-14, Lit. A, Khersonskaya st., St. Petersburg, Russia, 191024.
- 4.2. The applications, suggestions and claims of individuals and legal entities to the Site Administration in connection with these Terms and all issues regarding the Site operation, infringement of rights and interests of third parties in the process of its use as well as the inquiries of the persons authorized by Russian legislation may be sent to the mailing address of LLC "V Kontakte" specified in clause 4.1 hereof.
- 4.3. As regards the Site operation and development, the Administration abides by effective Russian legislation, other applicable/relevant legislation, these Terms and other special documents which were or may be developed and adopted by the Site Administration in order to regulate the provision of individual Site services to the Users.
- 4.4. No provisions of these Terms grant the User the right to use the brand name, trademarks, domain name or other distinctive marks of the Site Administration. The right to use the brand name, trademarks, domain names and other distinctive marks of the Site Administration may be granted only as agreed in writing with the Site Administration.
5. Registration at the VK Site and the User’s Status
- 5.1. VKontakte Website is a Service contained in the VK Ecosystem. User registration on the Website is free, voluntary and is done using the VK Connect tool. Registration and/or authorization on the Website using VK Connect means acceptance of the VK Ecosystem Rules, which are publicly available at https://vk.com/vk_ecosystem_terms, as well as the VK Connect User Agreement, which is publicly available at https://connect.vk.com/terms, and the VK Connect User Information Protection Rules, which are publicly available at https://connect.vk.com/privacy.
- 5.2. The Site User is the individual which is registered at the Site according to the procedure set by these Terms, reached the sufficient age for such registration under the applicable laws and/or has all necessary consents (e.g. parental consents) in full compliance with the applicable laws, including for purposes of data protection laws and has the relevant powers (hereinbefore and hereinafter the User).
- 5.3. When registering at the Site the User must provide the Site Administration with the necessary true and updated information to form the User’s personal page, including the User’s unique login and the password for access to the Site as well as the User’s first and last names. The User may be requested to provide additional information in the Site registration form.
- 5.4. The User bears liability for ensuring that the information provided at the time of registration is true, up to date, complete, consistent with Russian legislation, other applicable/relevant legislation and free from third parties’ claims.
- 5.5. After submitting the information specified in clause 5.3 hereof, the User has to complete a number of authentification procedures, namely: (a) confirm the registration by recognizing an automated text to tell computers and humans apart (CAPTCHA); (b) confirm his/her registration by entering a code in a special Site form, the code is sent via SMS by the Site Administration to the User’s mobile phone number provided by the User. In case the whole sequence of the registration actions is completed successfully, the User’s personal page with the network address: http://vk.com/id[number] is created at the Site. The User has the right to assign to its personal page a short (sub-domain) name replacing the id ordinal number for web addressing purposes. The sub-domain name cannot be selected from the words and names the use of which is prohibited in accordance with these Terms, effective Russian legislation and international legal acts, including without limitation obscene words, names registered as trademarks (regardless of the MKTU class), brand names and commercial designations, unless the User is their exclusive owner. In case a breach of these conditions is detected, the Site Administration has the right to prohibit the User from using his/her sub-domain name and, among other things, transfer the right of its use to the appropriate person (representative of the right owner), if applicable. The User may register a maximum of one personal page at the Site.
- 5.6. By registering at the Site the Site User confirms that his age is sufficient for such registration under the applicable laws and/or he has all necessary consents (e.g. parental consents) in full compliance with the applicable laws, including for purposes of data protection laws, otherwise the registration at the Site and its using is prohibited. By registering the User accepts these Terms and assumes the rights and obligations thereunder regarding the use and operation of the Site. The User understands the necessity of receiving from the Site Administration some technical information in connection with the use of the Site by means of services of the Site, electronic mails, sms and confirms his/her approval for such possible technical notifications. The User also approves to receive different types of informational mailings, including advertising and informational content, including from the Site Administration and third-partners by means of the internal Site’s functionality. The User gets full access to the use of the Site functionality (its data and commands), except for the non-activated data and commands, provided that the personal page is more than thirty per cent filled. The right to use the Site non-activated data and commands is granted to the User providing that the User meets the provisions of the License Agreement mentioned above (see 1.2. of these Terms).
- 5.7. After the successful registration of the User at the Site the Site Administration assumes the rights and obligations to the User as provided in these Terms.
- 5.8. The User's personal data are processed according to the applicable/relevant legislation. The Administration of the Site processes the User's personal data in order to provide to the latter access to the services of the Site, including targeted advertisements to the User; checking, examining and analyzing such data in order to maintain and improve the Site services and sections as well as to develop new Site services and sections. The Site Administration takes all necessary measures to protect the User’s personal data from unauthorized access, modification, disclosure or destruction. The Site Administration makes the User’s personal data available only to those employees, contractors and agents of the Site Administration which need this information to ensure the Site operation and provision of Services to the User. The information provided by the User, including personal data, may be used by the Site Administration to ensure compliance with the requirements of effective Russian legislation, other applicable/relevant legislation, as well as to transfer it to the third-parties in order to protect right and interests of the Users, the Site Administration and third-parties (including in order to prevent, control/investigate and/or suppress illegal actions). The information provided by the User may be disclosed only in accordance with effective Russian legislation on the demand of the court, law-enforcement bodies as well as in other cases as provided by Russian legislation. As the Administration of the Site processes the User’s personal data for the performance of these Terms, no User’s consent to the processing of his/her personal data is required according to the legislative provisions on personal data.
- 5.9. The login and password chosen by the User are the necessary and sufficient information for the User’s access to the Site. The User does not have the right to transfer his/her login and password to third parties and bears full responsibility for their confidentiality, choosing himself / herself the method of their storage. Using his / her hardware and software the User may permit storage of the login and password (through cookies) for subsequent automatic authorization on the Site.
- 5.10. Unless the User proves otherwise, any actions taken with the use of his/her login and password are deemed to have been taken by the User. In case of unauthorized access to the User’s login and password and/or personal page or dissemination of the User’s login and password, the User is obliged to notify the Site Administration immediately according to the established procedure.
- 5.11. After registration the User obtains the right to create, use and determine independently for personal purposes the content of his/her own personal page and conditions for other Users’ access to its content as well as the ability to access and post information on the personal pages of other Users (subject to obtaining relevant access rights from their owners), use the VK social widgets on third-party sites without additional authorization. When the User uses social widgets, the User's login and password as well as his/her data protected by the privacy settings are not transferred to third-party sites.
- 5.12. As the owner of the information posted on his/her own personal page, the User understands that, except as provided by these Terms and effective Russian legislation, the Site Administration does not participate in forming and using the content and controlling other users’ access to the User’s personal page. Publishing any content on his / her own personal page including personal information the User understands and accepts that this information may be available to other Internet users taking into account the architecture and functionality of the Site.
- 5.13. Creation and use of Communities
- 5.13.1. The User has the right to create Communities (groups, public pages and meetings) to inform other Users about events, meetings, commercial and non-profit organizations (as charitable organizations), its creation and activities, other interesting content to Users (hereinafter Discussion items) and/or possible further discussion of them with other Users (including creation of fan clubs, exchange of opinions, references and etc.). While informing and discussing the Discussion items in the Communities Users must observe current Russian and international legislation, publish the information that meets the requirements of these terms, esthetic norms and moral principles related to those at the opinion of the Site Administration.
- 5.13.2. When creating and administering the Community, including in case of registration of the sub-domain name used for directing to the Community page, the User confirms that he/she acts on lawful grounds (e.g., on the basis of the power of attorney), has all necessary rights and his/her actions do not infringe the lawful rights and interests of third parties and effective Russian legislation, including legislation on competition and rights to intellectual property results and means of individualization.
- 5.13.3. In case the User infringes the lawful rights and interests of third parties, effective Russian legislation as well as the provisions hereof when creating and administering the Community, the Site Administration has the right to block the User’s access to the Community and/or transfer the administration rights for the Community as well as the right to use the registered sub-domain name to the lawful right owner which duly confirmed its rights in the Community Content, including the right in the means of individualization confusingly similar to the sub-domain name used in the Community.
- 5.13.4. Placing Advertisements in Communities:
- 5.13.4.1. No outside commercial or political advertising is permitted in the Community, including in the Community description, profile photo, albums, published content, pinned wall posts, discussions, polls, cover image, messages, Community stories, etc. A maximum of five outside advertisements may be posted on a Community’s wall each day outside the VK Advertising Network (excluding pinned posts where all advertisements are prohibited), and no more than three of these outside advertisements may be outside the VK Marketplace each day. Outside advertising is understood to be any information, excluding native integrations, that does not directly relate to a Community and its subject, which is distributed in any form on behalf of the Community or any other community or user and is designed to attract users' attention to the advertised item to generate or maintain interest. It is the responsibility of the user in charge of the Community's administration to monitor and prevent non-compliant outside advertising in the Community. A Community may be included into the VK search system only when the Community adheres to the requirements provided in this clause. The process of connecting to the VK Advertising Network is completed through the special Community management interface with the requirement to indicate the number of outside advertisements and dismiss the right to post them. When placing outside in the Community connected to the VK Advertising Network, it is necessary to indicate the advertising nature of the information within the existing special functionality of the Site (option "This is an ad"). The rules of advertising within the Advertising Network of VK are regulated by special documents.
- 5.13.4.2. The placement of native integration to a Community must comply with these Rules. Integration that does not comply with these Rules is considered outside advertising. Native integration means the organic implementation of a promoted product (goods/services/work, means of individualization of a legal entity and/or goods/services/work, the manufacturer or seller of goods/services/work, the results of intellectual activities or the activities of a third party (including sports competitions, concerts, competitions and festivals)) without explicit emphasis regarding the connection to Community informational material, in which the Community's informational material corresponds to a common theme and style while possessing independent semantic value.
- 5.13.4.2.1. When placing native integrations, the following requirements must be met:
- (a) implementation of the promoted object on the cover, the Community's main photo and pinned posts is permitted so long as the general style of the Community remains unchanged and the integration does not dominate Community informational material.
- (b) native integration of promoted objects that violate these rules is strictly prohibited.
- (c) for native integration of third party activity implementation to be recognized, among the mandatory conditions there are the following actions that must be included in the instructions for implementation: subscribing to a community, making a purchase, liking and sharing posts.
- 5.13.4.2.2. The content of native integrations must meet the following requirements:
- (a) native integrations must not be solely advertising in nature, i.e. focus on Community informational material.
- (b) the informational material, including native integration, of the Community must fully correspond to the Community theme, possess independent semantic value and harmoniously embody the Community style.
- (c) native integration may contain hyperlinks to external resources for obtaining additional information, but transferring to an external site for such information cannot be required to obtain basic information.
- (d) native integration in video includes mentioning the promoted object (both orally and visually), involving the object in the creative nature of the video and fitting the object harmoniously into the plot.
- 5.13.4.2.1. When placing native integrations, the following requirements must be met:
- 5.13.5. All third-party advertisements and the corresponding integration must comply with clauses 1 and 3 of the VK Advertising Placement Rules.
- 5.13.6. The Site Administration may at its own discretion form and post the list of recommended Communities according to their information value for the users and other criteria. The recommended Communities are subject to additional limitations, maximum 1 (one) outside advertisement a week. In case this limitation is not complied with, the Site Administration has the right to exclude the Community from the list of recommended Communities.
- 5.13.7. The User bears full liability for his/her actions connected with the creation and administration of Communities in accordance with effective Russian legislation, international legal acts and these Terms.
- 5.13.8. In case of the violation of third parties’ legitimate rights and interests provided by Russian legislation or these Terms in the Ñommunity, the Site Administration has the right to take the following measures at its opinion: (a) delete Content or other information the Community uploads and/or block the access to it; (b) block the access to the Community page for certain users; (c) block the access to the Community for the User that administrates Community; (d) transfer the Community administration rights and the use of sub-domain to the legal right holder that has confirmed their right for the Community Content according to the established procedure, including the right to the objects of copyright and related rights, the right to means of individualization, confusingly similar to those used in the Community sub-domain names; (e) exclude the Community from the search and/or block the Community; (f) temporary ban the publication of any links in the Community.
- 5.13.9. In the event that the Community violates the procedures for placing advertisements (those, which have been indicated in clauses 5.13.4 and 5.13.5 of these Terms), the Site Administration maintains the right to restrict the advertising activities of the Community by prohibiting the publication of any links in the Community for any duration, the length of which may be determined at the discretion of the Administration, and/or disabling the Community's privilege to access the VK Marketplace, and/or disabling the Community's privilege to access the VK Advertising Network. In the event that the Community attempts to bypass technical restrictions prohibiting the publication of links (including, but not limited to, hiding links using additional symbols, displaying links in images) during the period of the ban, the Administration has the right to block the Community without allowing the possibility of restoration.
- 5.13.10. The Community’s administrators and moderators bear liability for moderation and blocking of Content uploaded to the pages that are under control of their communities. If Content uploaded to these pages does not meet the Site Terms requirements or Russian Legislation, the communities administrators and moderators must take the measures and delete the respective Content.
- 5.14. In accordance with effective Russian legislation the User has the right to revoke his/her consent for processing his/her personal data by: (a) removing independently the information posted previously by the User on the Site; (b) removing independently the User’s personal page using the "Remove Your Page" functionality available to the User in the "My Settings" section.
6. Obligations of the VK User
- 6.1. When using the Site Services the User is obliged:
- to comply with the provisions of effective Russian legislation, other applicable/relevant legislation, these Terms and other special documents of the Site Administration;
- to provide true, complete and up-to-date data at the time of registration and keep these data updated;
- to inform the Site Administration of unauthorized access to the personal page and/or unauthorized access to and/or use of the User’s password and login;
- not to provide other users with access to his/her own personal page or individual pieces of information on it, if it can involve breach of the Russian legislation and/or these Terms, special documents of the Site Administration;
- not to post on his/her personal page such information and objects (including links thereto) which may infringe the rights and interests of other persons;
- before posting information and objects (including but limited to other people’s images, texts of various content, audio records and videos), to assess in advance whether such posting is lawful;
- to keep confidential and not to disclose to other Users and third parties the personal data which became known to him/her as the result of communication with other Users and other use of the Site (including but not limited to home addresses, phone numbers, email, ICQ addresses, passport details, banking information) and information on the private life of other users and third parties without the appropriate prior permission of the latter;
- to make back-up copies of the information important for the User which is stored on his/her personal page.
- 6.2. In case of doubts as to whether it is legal to take any actions, including posting of information or provision of access, the Site Administration recommends desisting from such actions.
- 6.3. When using the Site the User is prohibited from:
- 6.3.1. registering as the User on behalf of or instead of another person (“false account”) or registering a group (association) of persons or a legal entity as the User; however, the registration on behalf of another individual or legal entity is possible, if necessary powers are granted according to such procedure and form as provided by Russian legislation and/or other applicable/relevant legislation;
- 6.3.2. misleading other Users as to his/her identity, using the login and password of another registered User;
- 6.3.3. distorting information on his/her identity, age or relations with other persons or entities;
- 6.3.4. loading, storing, publishing, disseminating, making available or otherwise using any information which:
- (a) contains threats or calls to violence, including ones made implicitly; praises or encourages violent actions; discredits; insults; defiles one’s honor, dignity or business reputation; or violates the privacy of other Users or third parties;
- (b) infringes on the rights of minors;
- (c) is vulgar or obscene, contains pornographic images and texts or sexual scenes with the participation of minors;
- (d) contains scenes of inhumane treatment of animals;
- (e) propagates and/or incites racial, religious, or ethnic hatred or hostility, including hatred or hostility towards a specific gender, orientation, or any other individual attributes or characteristics of a person (including those concerning a person’s health);
- (f) propagandizes and/or contributes to racial, religious, ethnic hatred or hostility, propagandizes fascism or racial superiority;
- (g) contains extremist materials;
- (h) propagandizes criminal activity or contains advices, instructions or guides for criminal activities;
- (i) contains restricted information including but not limited to government and trade secrets, information on the private life of third persons;
- (j) advertises or describes the attractiveness of using drugs, including “digital drugs” (audio files affecting the human brain through binaural rhythms), contains information on drug trafficking, drug recipes and drug consumption recommendations;
- (k) is of fraudulent nature;
- (l) or infringes other rights and interests of individuals and legal entities or requirements of Russian legislation;
- 6.3.5. illegally loading, storing, publishing, distributing, making available or otherwise using the intellectual property of other Users and third parties;
- 6.3.6. carrying out the mass mailing of messages without the Site Users’ consent;
- 6.3.7. using software and taking actions aimed at disrupting the normal operation of the Site and its services or the Users’ personal pages;
- 6.3.8. loading, storing, publishing, distributing, making available or otherwise using viruses, trojans and other malicious software;
- 6.3.9. using automated scripts (programs) for collecting information on the Site and/or interacting with the Site and its services without specific permission of the Site Administration and its services;
- 6.3.10. attempting to get access to another User’s login and passwords by any means including, without limitation, by means of fraud, abuse of confidence, cracking;
- 6.3.11. illegally collecting and processing the personal data of other persons;
- 6.3.12. accessing (attempting to access) any Services otherwise than via the interface provided by the Site Administration, unless such actions are expressly permitted for the User in accordance with a separate agreement with the Site Administration;
- 6.3.13. reproducing, duplicating, copying, selling, dealing in and reselling the access to the use of the Site, including its non-activated data and commands for any purposes, unless such actions are expressly permitted for the User in accordance with a separate agreement with the Site Administration;
- 6.3.14. posting commercial and political advertisements outside the special Site sections as determined by the Site Administration;
- 6.3.15. posting any other information which in the personal opinion of the Site Administration is undesirable, does not meet the Site purposes, infringes on the Users’ rights or is otherwise undesirable for posting on the Site;
- 6.3.16. providing independently or on behalf of other Users using the functionality of their accounts, inter alia by misrepresentation or by promising of an award, including usage of any programs, automated scripts, mass single-type actions in order to increase the numbers of the Site’s counters rates (number of friends, marks "like", events "Share with friends" etc.).
- 6.4. The User bears personal responsibility for any information he/she posts on the Site or communicates to other Users as well as for any contacts with other Users on his/her own risk.
- 6.5. In case the User disagrees with these Terms or their updates, the User must give up using the Site with a due notice to the Site Administration.
- 6.6. The User acquires the right to use non-activated data and commands of the Site in accordance with the License Agreement available at: http://vk.com/licence, and which is concluded by the Site Administration with the User.
- 6.7. API applications created by the Users should only use API methods published on the Site, as well as the ID, secure key and service token specified in these applications' settings. The use of other API methods, as well as the ID, secure key and service token of the third-party applications, including the Site Administration API application, is strictly prohibited. The User agrees to regularly check the list of allowed methods and immediately make necessary adjustments to their API applications in accordance with the list of changes. In case of violation of this paragraph, the User bears liability in accordance with the applicable law, these Terms and other documents of the Site Administration. The Site Administration at the same time reserves the right to protect its own rights and legitimate interests.
7. Intellectual Rights
- 7.1. Exclusive rights in the Site Content
- 7.1.1. All objects placed on the Site, including design elements, text, graphic images, illustrations, videos, scripts, software, music, sounds and other objects and their collections (hereinafter the Content) are subject to exclusive rights of the Site Administration, Users and other rights holders, all rights in these objects being reserved.
- 7.1.2. Except as provided by these Terms as well as by effective Russian legislation, no Content may be copied (reproduced), processed, distributed, displayed in the frame, published, downloaded, transferred, sold or otherwise used in full or in part without the prior permission of the right owner, unless the right owner has expressly agreed to free use of the Content by any person. Reproducing, copying, collecting, systemizing, storing and transferring the Content in order to create a database whether for commercial and/or non-commercial purpose and/or using the Content in whole or its part regardless of the way of use is not allowed without the Administration's consent.
- 7.1.3. By posting on the Site his/her lawfully owned Content, the User grants the other Users a non-exclusive right to use it in the framework of the functional provided by the Site by viewing, reproducing (including copying) and other rights exclusively for the purpose of personal non-commercial use, except where such use infringes or may infringe the right owner’s interests protected by law.
- 7.1.4. The Content made available exclusively for the purpose of personal non-commercial use may be used by the User on the condition that all copyright marks or other authorship notices, name of the author and the work remain unchanged.
- 7.1.5. The User grants to the Site Administration a non-exclusive right to use on a free of charge basis the Content published on the Site and which lawfully belongs to him/her, so that the Administration of the Site may maintain the operation of the Site in the amount established by its architecture and functionality, and to use this Content for the Site Administration promotional content, including images of the Site interface, including without limitation making this promotional content public. The said non-exclusive right is granted for the period when the Content is placed on the Site and extends to the territory of the countries all over the world. The end of the period when the Content is placed on the Site and / or the end of the non-exclusive right duration do not carry a necessity of deletion by the Site Administration of this promotional content with the said Content (including its removal from the Internet). The Site Administration has a right to transfer these rights described in this clause to the third-parties. The User accepts that the Site Administration has a right to use functional and technical capabilities of the Site that provide displaying of the published Content by the User, including player, meant to display the Content at its own discretion, including for the purpose of showing the advertising information.
- 7.1.6. If the User deletes his/her Content from the Site, the non-exclusive right mentioned in clause 7.1.5. hereof will be automatically revoked, however, the Administration reserves the right to keep backup copies of the user Content during the required period of time, if needed due to technical peculiarities of the Site operation.
- 7.1.7. Except his/her own Content, the User does not have the right to upload or otherwise make available to the public (publish on the Site) the content of other sites, databases and other intellectual activity results without the express consent of the right owner.
- 7.1.8. Any use of the Site or Content, except as permitted herein or except the right owner consents to such use in writing, without the prior written permission of the right owner is categorically prohibited.
- 7.1.9. Unless otherwise expressly provided in these Terms, nothing in these Terms may be considered as the grant of exclusive rights in the Content.
- 7.2. Liability for the infringement of exclusive rights.
- 7.2.1. The User bears personal liability for any Content or other information he/she uploads or otherwise makes publicly available (publishes) on or via the Site. The User does not have the right to upload, transfer or publish Content on the Site unless he/she has appropriate rights to do so, such rights being acquired by or transferred to him/her in accordance with Russian legislation. Upon detection of the rights violations, please use [http://vk.com/help?act=cc_terms|Regulations for Investigating Complaints concerning users' content] to complain.
- 7.2.2. The Site Administration has the right but is not obliged to check the Site for prohibited Content and can delete or remove (without giving advance notice) any Content or Users at its own discretion for any reason or without reason, including, without limitation, removal or deletion of the Content which, in the personal opinion of the Site Administration, infringes these Terms, Russian legislation and/or may infringe the rights of, cause damage to, or threaten the security of other Users or third parties.
- 7.2.3. By posting his/her Content on the Site, the User grants the Site Administration the right to copy his/her Content in order to streamline and facilitate the publication and storage of the user Content on the Site.
- 7.2.4. By posting his/her Content in any part of the Site, the User automatically grants the Site Administration free of charge the non-exclusive right to use it by copying, public performance, reproduction, processing, translation and distribution for or in connection with the purposes of the Site, including for the purpose of increasing its popularity. For these purposes, the Site Administration may produce derivative works or insert the User’s Content as components in relevant collections or take other actions for these purposes.
- 7.2.5. In case the User removes his/her Content from the Site, the rights mentioned in clauses 7.2.3 – 7.2.4 hereof will be automatically cancelled; however, the Site Administration has the right to keep archive copies of the user Content for an indefinite period.
- 7.3. Third parties’ sites and content
- 7.3.1. The Site contains (or may contain) links to other web-sites (third parties’ sites) as well as articles, photos, illustrations, graphic images, music, sound, video, information, applications, software and other Content belonging to or originating from third parties (Third Parties’ Content), which is the result of intellectual activity and is protected in accordance with Russian legislation.
- 7.3.2. The Site Administration does not check these third parties and their Content for conformity to any requirements (truthfulness, completeness, good faith etc.). The Site Administration does not bear liability for any information on third parties’ sites to which the User gains access via the Site or Third Parties’ Content, including any opinions or statements expressed on the Third Parties’ Sites or in their Content.
- 7.3.3. The fact that the Site contains links or instructions for downloading files and/or installing software of third parties does not mean that the Site Administration supports and approves of these actions.
- 7.3.4. The fact that the Site contains a link or reference to any site, product, service, information of commercial or non-commercial nature does not mean that the Site Administration approves of or recommends the above.
- 7.3.5. If the User decides to leave the Site for the sites of third parties or use or install third parties’ software, he/she does it at his/her own risk and from this time these Terms do not apply to the User any longer. When taking further actions the User should follow the applicable standards and policies, including business practices of the persons whose Content he/she is going to use.
8. VK Operation and Liability Regarding Use of the Site
- 8.1. The users bear liability for their own actions in connection with the creation and posting of information on their own personal page on the Site as well as in connection with the posting of information on the personal pages of other users and other sections of the Site in accordance with effective Russian legislation. The breach of these Terms and effective Russian legislation involves civil, administrative and criminal liability.
- 8.2. The Site Administration makes it technically possible for the Users to use the Site, does not participate in forming the content of the Users’ personal pages, does not control and does not bear liability for the actions or omissions of any persons regarding use of the Site or formation and use of the content of the Users’ personal pages on the Site.
- 8.3. The information system of the Site and its software do not contain any technical solutions for the automatic censorship and control of actions and information relations of the users regarding use of the Site except for the special technical solutions the Administration might implement in order to prevent and suppress violations of third party intellectual property rights.
- 8.4. The Site Administration reserves the right to change at any time the Site design, content, list of services, modify or supplement scripts, software and other objects used or stored on the Site, any server applications at any time with or without advance notice.
- 8.5. The Site Administration does not carry out preliminary moderation or censorship of the Users’ information and takes actions to protect the rights and interests of persons and ensure compliance with the requirements of Russian legislation only after the person concerned applies duly to the Site Administration.
- 8.6. The Site Administration does not bear liability for the User’s breach of these Terms and reserves the right, at its own discretion as well as upon receipt of information from other Users or third parties on the User’s breach of these Terms, to modify (moderate), block or remove any information published by the User in breach of the prohibitions set by these Terms, suspend, limit or terminate the User’s access to all or any sections or services of the Site at any time for any reason or without explaining the reason, with or without advance notice. The Site Administration reserves the right to remove the User’s personal page and/or suspend, limit or terminate the User’s access to any of the Site services, if the Site Administration believes that the User poses a threat to the Site and/or its Users. Along with the stated in the paragraph above the Site Administration has the right to block and/or remove API Applications, limit the User's access to API Applications, websites, third-party applications, other third-party resources, block and/or remove links to them, in case the Site Administration has a reason to believe that such API Applications, websites, third-party applications, and other third-party resources pose or may pose a threat to the normal operation of the Site and its Users. The Site Administration implements the measures described above in accordance with applicable law and does not bear liability for any negative consequences of such measures for the User or third parties.
- 8.7. After the personal page is removed, the User has no longer the right of access to the Site. The removal of the User’s personal page means an automatic removal of all information posted on it as well as of all information entered by the User at the time of registration at the Site.
- 8.8. The Site Administration ensures operation and serviceability of the Site and undertakes to restore its serviceability promptly in case of technical failures and interruptions. The Site Administration does not bear liability for temporary failures and interruptions in the Site operation and resultant losses of information. The Site Administration does not bear liability for any damage to the computer of the User or any third party, mobile devices, any other equipment or software caused by or connected with the download of materials from the Site or via the links available on the Site.
- 8.9. The Site Administration has the right to dispose of the statistical information relating to the Site operation as well as of the Users’ information to ensure the targeted display of advertising information to different audiences of Site users. For the purposes of operation and technical support of the Site and compliance with these Terms the Site Administration has the technical ability to access the Users’ personal pages but does it only in the cases specified herein.
- 8.10. The Site Administration has the right to send information on the development of the Site and its services to the User as well as to advertise its own activity and services.
- 8.11. Limitation of the Site Administration’s liability:
- THE SITE AND ITS SERVICES, INCLUDING ALL SCRIPTS, APPLICATIONS, CONTENT AND THE SITE DESIGN ARE MADE AVAILABLE ON THE “AS IS” BASIS. THE SITE ADMINISTRATION DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES THAT THE SITE OR ITS SERVICES MAY BE SUITABLE OR UNSUITABLE FOR ANY SPECIFIC PURPOSES OF USE. THE SITE ADMINISTRATION CANNOT GUARANTEE AND DOES NOT PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS OF USE OF THE SITE AND/OR ITS SERVICES.
- FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS, THE USER SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHEN DOWNLOADING FROM THE SITE OR VIA THE LINKS ON IT AND USING ANY FILES, INCLUDING SOFTWARE. THE SITE ADMINISTRATION STRONGLY RECOMMENDS USING ONLY LICENSED SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE.
- BY USING THE SITE THE USER AGREES THAT HE/SHE DOWNLOADS ANY MATERIALS FROM OR VIA THE SITE ON HIS/HER PERSONAL RISK AND BEARS PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF USING THESE MATERIALS, INCLUDING THE DAMAGE IT CAN CAUSE TO THE USER’S COMPUTER OR THIRD PARTIES, FOR DATA LOSS OR ANY OTHER DAMAGE.
- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES THE SITE ADMINISTRATION OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES BEAR LIABILITY TO THE USER OR ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR ANY INDIRECT, ACCIDENTAL, UNINTENTIONAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT OR LOST DATA, DAMAGE TO THE HONOR, DIGNITY OR BUSINESS REPUTATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE SITE, ITS CONTENT OR OTHER MATERIALS WHICH BECAME AVAILABLE TO THE USER OR OTHER PERSONS THROUGH THE SITE, EVEN IF THE SITE ADMINISTRATION HAS WARNED OF, OR INDICATED TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
9. Closing provisions
- 9.1. These Terms constitute the agreement between the User and the Site Administration concerning use of the Site and its services and supersede all previous agreements between the User and the Site Administration.
- 9.2. These Terms are governed and construed in accordance with Russian legislation. Those issues which are not settled by these Terms are subject to Russian legislation. The issues concerning data protection of EU-based users are subject to the applicable/relevant legislation.
- 9.3. In case any disputes or differences arise in connection with the fulfillment of these Terms, the User and the Site Administration will make every effort to resolve these by negotiations. Those disputes which are not resolved by negotiations are to be resolved according to the procedure established by effective Russian legislation.
- 9.4. These Terms become binding upon the User from the time of his/her accession and are valid during an indefinite period.
- 9.5. These Terms are made in Russian and may be provided to the User for familiarization in another language. In case of discrepancies between the Russian and the foreign language versions of the Terms, the Russian language version will prevail.
- 9.6. In the event that one or more provisions hereof become invalid or unenforceable for any reason, this will not affect the validity or applicability of the remaining provisions.
- Date of Last Revision: May 21, 2018