Join Us Personal Details Nickname / Name (publicly visible)* Name* Surname* Birth Date* Profile Image Size Restrictions: Please make sure the image size is equal to or larger than 150 by 150 pixels and does not exceeds total size of 2097152 bytes. Cover Image Add Remove Account Details Username* e-Mail* Password* Confirm Password* Contact Details Phone Number* Emergency Contact's Name Emergency Contact's Number Membership Membership Type* AFOL (adult) TFOL (teenager 13 - 17) Minor (child 0 - 12) Payment Preference* Monthly Yearly LEGO Journey When Did You Start LEGO As a Hobby? Less than a year ago 1 - 3 years ago 3 - 5 years ago 6 - 10 years ago 10+ years ago Tell Us About the Themes You Like to Build Tell Us Why You Would Like to Join the jhbLUG Do You Do Any Charity Work?* No Yes Children Will Your Children Be Part of the LUG? No Yes Children's Names AddRemove Children's Birthdates (DD/MM/YYYY) AddRemove Terms and Conditions Do You Accept the Website Terms and Conditions?* Do You Accept the Website Terms and Conditions? All users are only allowed to use the website in good faith, for the purpose of participating in the jhbLUG community and activities organized by jhbLUG. The use of ANY automated tools without explicit prior permission from the website administrator is strictly prohibited. Do You Accept the Privacy Policy?* Do You Accept the Privacy Policy? PRIVACY NOTICE Last updated April 19, 2021 Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at jhbLUG ("Company", "we", "us", "our"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at info@jhblug.co.za. When you visit our website https://jhblug.co.za (the "Website"), and more generally, use any of our services (the "Services", which include the Website), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately. This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our Website), as well as, any related services, sales, marketing or events. Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT? 2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION? 3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE? 4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH? 5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES? 6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION? 7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE? 8. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS? 9. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS? 10. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES 11. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS? 12. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE? 13. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE? 14. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU? 1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT? Personal information you disclose to us In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us. We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Website, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Website (such as by posting messages in our online forums or entering competitions, contests or giveaways) or otherwise when you contact us. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Website, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following: Personal Information Provided by You. We collect names; phone numbers; email addresses; usernames; passwords; contact preferences; debit/credit card numbers; surname; kids names; date of birth; and other similar information. Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by snapscan and FNB. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://www.snapscan.co.za/privacy-statement.html and https://www.fnb.co.za/downloads/about-fnb/legal-matters/FirstRand_group_privacy_policy.pdf?ver=Oct2020. All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information. 2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION? In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent. We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below. We use the information we collect or receive: To facilitate account creation and logon process. If you choose to link your account with us to a third-party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process for the performance of the contract. To post testimonials. We post testimonials on our Website that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and the content of the testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at info@jhblug.co.za and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information. Request feedback. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Website. To enable user-to-user communications. We may use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user's consent. To manage user accounts. We may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order. To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies. To protect our Services. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention). To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or in connection with our contract. To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond. Fulfill and manage your orders. We may use your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Website. Administer prize draws and competitions. We may use your information to administer prize draws and competitions when you elect to participate in our competitions. To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may use your information to provide you with the requested service. To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services. To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our Website, subscribing to marketing or otherwise contacting us, we will collect personal information from you. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time (see the "WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?" below). Deliver targeted advertising to you. We may use your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising (and work with third parties who do so) tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness. For more information see our Cookie Notice: https://wordpress.org/plugins/cookie-law-info/. For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing and your experience. We may use and store this information in aggregated and anonymized form so that it is not associated with individual end users and does not include personal information. We will not use identifiable personal information without your consent. 3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE? In Short: We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations. We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis: Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose. Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests. Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract. Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements). Vital Interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved. More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations: Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company. Vendors, Consultants and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Website, which will enable them to collect data on our behalf about how you interact with our Website over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, pages or features, and better understand online activity. Unless described in this notice, we do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes. Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy notice. Affiliates include our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us. Other Users. When you share personal information (for example, by posting comments, contributions or other content to the Website) or otherwise interact with public areas of the Website, such personal information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly made available outside the Website in perpetuity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of your activity, communicate with you within our Website, and view your profile. 4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH? In Short: We only share information with the following categories of third parties. We only share and disclose your information with the following categories of third parties. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish to revoke your consent, please contact us using the contact details provided in the section below titled "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?". Order Fulfillment Service Providers 5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES? In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information. We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice: https://wordpress.org/plugins/cookie-law-info/. 6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION? In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law. We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than the period of time in which users have an account with us. When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. 7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE? In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures. We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website within a secure environment. 8. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS? In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Website, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Website. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at info@jhblug.co.za. 9. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS? In Short: You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time. If you are a resident in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm. If you are a resident in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html. If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at info@jhblug.co.za. Account Information If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can: Log in to your account settings and update your user account. Contact us using the contact information provided. Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with applicable legal requirements. Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Website. To opt-out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Website visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. For further information, please see our Cookie Notice: https://wordpress.org/plugins/cookie-law-info/. Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or by contacting us using the details provided below. You will then be removed from the marketing email list — however, we may still communicate with you, for example to send you service-related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes. To otherwise opt-out, you may: Access your account settings and update your preferences. Contact us using the contact information provided. 10. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice. 11. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS? In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information. California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below. If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.). 12. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE? In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws. We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. 13. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE? If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at info@jhblug.co.za or by post to: jhbLUG __________ __________ South Africa 14. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU? Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please visit: https://jhblug.co.za. This privacy policy was created using Termly’s Privacy Policy Generator. Do You Accept the jhbLUG Bylaws?* Do You Accept the jhbLUG Bylaws? Name The Johannesburg LEGO Users Group, herein referred to as “jhbLUG”, is an organisation of fans of LEGO® for the purpose of engaging in fellowship, building and displaying LEGO® creations while adhering to the LEGO® Group’s philosophy of “Leg Godt” or “playing well”. In addition the jhbLUG will adhere to the fair play policy stipulated in Appendix A. (A brochure can be found on the LEGO® website) Legal LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO® Group of companies, which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse the jhbLUG or its affiliates. Vision Building Communities Brick by Brick. The jhbLUG are a group of individuals who are ambassadors of the LEGO® brand and abide by the same Values as the LEGO® Group as well as its Fair Play policy. Mission Statement As jhbLUG we aim to use LEGO® as a tool to interact, inspire and educate those who do and those who do not have access to such a diverse educational tool within the greater Johannesburg area. Value Statement Our work will be guided by our beliefs and commitments to: - respect people, value diversity and strive for equality - recognise the contributions of volunteers within the jhbLUG - strive for excellence though continuous improvement - be committed to a culture of team work and collaboration - providing a common sense of purpose and identity - promote the LEGO® brand and its products - encourage others to embrace the LEGO® hobby Membership - Members must be 18 years of age or a minor needs to be represented by an adult - Members need to reside within Gauteng to qualify for membership, some exceptions can be made provided the Steering committee agree by majority vote - Members shall pay fees as stipulated on the jhbLUG website. There is a monthly or annual fee option, which needs to be paid by means of EFT. Members are required to attend two meetings, or one meeting and one event, or two events annually. Officers will arrange remote absentia attendance for meetings using the technology available at the time. - Members can vote, or choose not to vote, either in person or electronically for all decisions requiring a vote; members have a period of 7 days to submit their vote. Votes are tabulated by an Officer or by available electronic means. - A 51% majority vote will be accepted as a final decision - Members may be removed from the jhbLUG by a majority vote by the Steering Committee should they not abide by the bylaws set out in this document. Members may also be removed by suggestion of the LEGO® Group and its subsidiaries or recommendations by the LEGO® Ambassador’s Network (LAN). - Members who resign at any time, must return all jhbLUG property; to be recorded by the Treasurer, and will not be reimbursed for dues paid upfront or any item donated to the group. - Membership allows individuals to participate in events, receive group benefits and be eligible to vote on decisions and elections - Members may invite persons younger than 21 years of age, guest, sponsor or a prospective member, however that member is responsible for that person’s actions at all times. JhbLUG will not be held liable for any damages to person or property which may result from performing routine group activities. Conduct - As jhbLUG we aspire to promote positive member interaction by - sharing ideas - supporting each other - hosting events where the need arises - hosting events which promote parent-child interactions - creating a positive environment for members and their children to enjoy LEGO® - embrace a diverse group of members who respect each other - grow each member by supporting their goals and ideas - trading and selling LEGO® may only be done based on the rules provided by the LAN or LEGO® Group - actively participating within the jhbLUG - aligning to the LEGO® statement “Leg Godt” (play well) - respect and work together with other LUGs Serious Violations - selling restricted Group benefits provided by the jhbLUG or LEGO® - theft - substance abuse - behaviour which is dangerous or harmful to the name and nature of the group or any member within the group - verbal or sexual abuse towards any person Sales and Trading of LEGO® With respect to members trading or selling LEGO® specific rules need to be adhered to: - No jhbLUG member may sell “grey market” LEGO® (ie Current product lines imported for the sole purpose of making a profit or gain reward points) - LEGO® may only be re-sold up to a maximum of 10% on the current recommended retail price - Items sponsored by LEGO® or any other organisation may under no circumstances be sold, this includes LUGBULK - Trade of LEGO® parts and sets is allowed for other LEGO® parts and sets Meetings - The jhbLUG shall meet at least 4(four) times per year, or more if desired. - Adequate notice shall be given for events and meetings. - Meetings are held for engaging in discussion, play and other activities involving LEGO® products. - JhbLUG business will be discussed at least on a quarterly basis. - The jhbLUG will organise displays at local venues in order for Johannesburg AFOLs, as well as AFOLs from other LUGS, to share their work with the public. - The Steering Committee must come to a majority vote to schedule and display at an event. - The Steering committee may change these bylaws from time to time. Steering Committee Responsibilities The following positions have been created to assist in the daily running of the jhbLUG: 1. President - Spokesperson, chairs meetings, adheres to agenda, reports on general group status, and any other duties that may be related to this position 2. Treasurer - Collects dues, reconciles group bank account, reports on group budget on a quarterly basis, documents all group assets, coordinates benefit distribution equally, and any other duties that may be related to this position. 3. Director of Administration - Coordinates meeting agendas with the President and Treasurer, serves as vice chairman at meetings, facilitates adhering to the scheduled agenda, records minutes of meeting and distributes them within five days of meeting, and any other duties that may be related to the position. 4. Social Media Representative – Posts relevant, official LEGO® information on the jhbLUG Facebook page. Under no circumstances can leaked information be posted on the jhbLUG Facebook page. 5. Social responsibility Representative – Arranges, hosts and organises community work by using LEGO® as an educational tool. 6. Assistant – Assists the President or any other Steering committee member to fulfil their duties. These Officers are comprised of members in good standing who do not live in the same household. The officers hold a term of two years beginning 1st August and ending 31st July two years from election of said member by majority vote. All Officers are appointed as signees on the group bank account for purchases approved by a majority vote. Purchases equal to or below the amount of R300 may be paid without requiring a majority vote. Officers may hold only four consecutive terms in the same position. Upon an Officer resigning their position, being removed by not adhering to this document or being removed by a majority vote, a new Officer for that position will be elected within 30 days. A member may decline a nomination for any Officer position. SIGs (Special Interest Groups) 1. While members are encouraged to build across all themes, Special Interest Groups 2. (i.e. Educational/DACTA classes, Space, Castle, etc) may be formed by members who want to focus on a specific theme. 3. Only current jhbLUG members may form or join a SIG. Any jhbLUG member may assist the SIG without actually joining the SIG. Joining a SIG is not a requirement for joining jhbLUG. 4. The SIG reports their status to the Treasurer and jhbLUG at all scheduled business meetings. 5. The SIG is responsible for organising and running their events. All funds required must be approved by a majority vote from the jhbLUG. Any group property required by the SIG must be approved by the Officers and noted by the Treasurer in the group inventory. 6. The SIG must operate under the same bylaws and operating procedures implemented by jhbLUG. Dues will not be collected within SIGs. Protection of personal information and Record keeping 1. Information collected from Members are name, surname, email address, telephone number and date of birth. 2. The above information is used for contact purposes with respect to Events and general information. 3. The personal information will be stored on Google drive where only Steering Committee members have access to it. When a Steering Committee member leaves, the committee will change the password for the drive. 4. A password linked to the jhbLUG email address needs to be entered to access the member information. 5. When a member leaves the jhbLUG their personal information will be removed from the Google drive. 6. All group documents and records, including minutes, group building standards, membership roll, group budget, bylaws, voting records and other documents shall be securely archived online and accessible to all Officers. Members are welcome to receive these documents by request from the SC. Disputes 1. If two or more members cannot agree on a particular issue (which is LEGO® related), one or more Officers, will be contacted to help mediate the issue. Any issue which requires the group’s agreement will be voted upon using standard voting procedures. 2. Any decision made by the Officers can be contested and put to a jhbLUG vote, at the request of any member. Appendix A Dear Consumer, Customer, Surfer - or even Competitor: This is a message about copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition and other legal matters. We do not like all the pirate copies of LEGO® elements which we have seen, especially during the past 25 years. We would like to explain why. National patent, design and trademark laws - not to mention the observance of such laws and associated regulations - differ quite substantially from country to country. In a number of countries, laws against unfair competition do not even exist. Lately, the absence of regulations against counterfeiting, trademark infringements, etc. has confronted the owners of original rights with growing problems from copy producers. Since a total lack of regulations clearly invites counterfeiting and copy production, the LEGO Group naturally welcomes the steps now being taken by some governments to introduce product and trademark protection into national legislation. We also support the regulation of the European Union on the seizure of counterfeit products and the efforts of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Union to strengthen and harmonize the relevant laws. Even in highly developed markets, the laws on protection of intellectual property have loopholes and some defects. Therefore the process of securing enforcement of the rules and adjustment of the law can be very slow. Obtaining protection against copying of trademarks and products is all too often a difficult, time-consuming and expensive process. The LEGO Group, therefore, cooperates with other manufacturers of branded products on an international basis with the goal of strengthening, harmonizing and simplifying international legislation and enforcement. A recent survey, among European companies manufacturing branded products, shows that more than 80 percent of the respondents had seen more of their products imitated at least once during the preceding five years. Only about half of them had taken legal steps against the imitators. The other half cited cumbersome procedures, high costs and uncertainty of outcome because of widely varying practices, even within the European Union, as the main reasons for not defending their rights. This makes it all the more obvious that improved legislation within this area is needed. However, universal awareness that creative products deserve better protection is fortunately increasing. In the LEGO Group, we believe that any original product design should be protected against copying for as long as it is produced and marketed. And that it should be possible to stop such copying and other infringements easily. We also believe that designs, company names and trademarks should not be used in unrelated settings without the owner's consent. Each year, our legal department handles hundreds of incidents involving infringement of our rights, keeps track of developments worldwide and regularly brings infringers to court, making sure that consumers can have confidence that anything bearing the LEGO Group's trademarks or characteristic product features is a LEGO brand product. This is in the best interest not only of our company but also of consumers, primarily children, all over the world. For that purpose, we have defined attitudes and practices intended to secure fair competition and fair dealing towards consumers. Some of them we can - and do - enforce by legal action. Some of them, we wish could be enforced where breaches occur. All we ask is that there should be fair play and the possibility for consumers to make buying decisions on an informed basis. How LEGO® Enthusiasts May Refer to LEGO Products on the Internet The LEGO Group has become aware that many LEGO enthusiasts around the world are using the Internet to share information and ideas about our products. Several unofficial homepages have been established and there appears to be a great deal of activity and interest in these sites. Unfortunately, some of these sites use the LEGO logo and LEGO trademarks in a manner which may lead to confusion about whether these sites are sponsored or authorized by the LEGO Group. Therefore, we have developed these guidelines to assist Internet users who wish to refer to LEGO products for non-commercial purposes as to the appropriate way to refer to our LEGO trademarks. However, you should be aware that it is impossible to set hard and fast rules about the proper use of our trademarks. This is because our objective is to prevent a use which, when viewed in the overall context, is likely to lead to a blurring or loss of distinctiveness of our trademarks or cause consumers to believe mistakenly that there is an affiliation with or sponsorship by the LEGO Group. Since use in different contexts may produce different impressions (or misimpressions) on the viewer, generalizations do not always apply to a particular case. Nevertheless, we offer these guidelines and ask for your help in order to keep our trademarks strong and distinctive. What is a Trademark? A trademark is a word, symbol or design, including a logo or the shape of goods or of their packaging that distinguishes the goods of one company from those of another company. In some countries, the LEGO Basic Brick is protected by a trademark registration. A trademark also can be used to show the endorsement or approval of the trademark owner for materials bearing the trademark. A Trademark must be Protected A trademark must be able to distinguish the goods of one company from those of another. If a trademark loses this ability, the owner may find that it can no longer prevent others from using the trademark. An owner must prevent the improper use of its trademarks to prevent the public from being deceived. This is why the LEGO Group is very active around the world in making sure that its trademarks are not misused. The LEGO Logo may not be used on an Unofficial Web Site The bright red LEGO logo has become one of the most recognized trademarks in the world. We have worked hard to make this logo a symbol of high quality creative products for children. The logo stands for the LEGO Group and we cannot risk allowing the distinctiveness of this symbol to be diluted. We must, therefore, insist that the LEGO logo NEVER be used on an unofficial web site. The LEGO Trademarks may be used under certain Limited Circumstances on an Unofficial Web Site The LEGO trademarks (but not the logo) may be used in a non-commercial manner to refer to LEGO products or elements which are shown or discussed on a web site, as long as the trademark is not unduly emphasized or used in a way that can lead an observer to mistakenly believe that the site is sponsored or authorized by the LEGO Group. Proper Use of the LEGO Trademark on a Web Site If the LEGO trademark is used at all, it should always be used as an adjective, not as a noun. For example, say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGO BRICKS". Never say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGOs". Also, the trademark should appear in the same typeface as the surrounding text and should not be isolated or set apart from the surrounding text. In other words, the trademarks should not be emphasized or highlighted. Finally, the LEGO trademark should always appear with a ® symbol each time it is used. The LEGO Trademark cannot be used in an Internet Address The LEGO trademark should not be incorporated into an Internet address. Internet addresses have become useful tools for people to identify the source of a homepage. Using "LEGO" in the domain name would be creating the misleading impression that the LEGO Group sponsored the homepage. Use a Disclaimer A disclaimer should be used when the LEGO trademark appears on a Web page. An appropriate disclaimer would be "LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site". However, a disclaimer will not serve to undo an improper trademark use. Therefore, use of the LEGO logo or improper use of the LEGO trademark cannot be made proper by including a disclaimer. What is a Copyright? A copyright is an exclusive right to make or distribute copies, by any means, of original written and artistic materials. This exclusive right includes the right to make copies in a computer memory. Scanning Of Copyrighted Materials Into A Web Site The LEGO Group owns the copyrights to its building instructions, publications and to the photographs used in our catalogues and on our packages. Copying, scanning and distributing these materials on the Internet would be an infringement of our copyrights. Nevertheless, at the present time the LEGO Group does not object to scanning of limited extracts of these materials in unaltered form for non-commercial purposes of exchange of information or good faith commentary. However, scanned /images/info should not be given such prominence as to indicate sponsorship of the Web site by the LEGO Group. We would ask that the photographs be scanned without distortion or overemphasis of the LEGO logo. A disclaimer and notice must appear indicating that the copyrights are owned by the LEGO Group (e.g. LEGO Group. This is an independent site not authorized or sponsored by the LEGO Group). We hope that these guidelines will address the most frequently asked questions about using the LEGO trademarks and copyrights. We know that most users of the Internet want to respect these rights, but are not always certain about what is permissible. The Internet provides a great new opportunity for instantaneous worldwide communication which allows everyone's voice to be heard. Because the Internet is an evolving mode of worldwide communication, we may find it necessary to revise these guidelines from time to time. We appreciate the interest which has been expressed about our company and our products and hope that this continuing dialog will enhance the exuberance we try to create with our products.
