The Society of Authors provides many online spaces. These include our website, public Facebook page and private groups, Twitter profile, Instagram account, chat threads in our online events, and Discord. This list of platforms will continue to evolve with the online needs of author communities.

Our online spaces should be safe and welcoming to everyone who enters them. These terms are designed help us achieve that. They apply to any material you post in our online spaces – whether words, images, videos, audio or other formats. You may not post content unless you agree to these guidelines.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

Terms

To post content to the SoA’s online spaces, you must be over 18 years old, and agree to:

• Act responsibly, with consideration for others, and to abide by our Dignity and Respect Policy.
• Not use our online spaces in any way that is:
  • illegal or unlawful, or likely to encourage illegal or unlawful behaviour
  • likely to damage the reputation of the SoA or any member of the SoA
  • likely to be a nuisance, harmful or deceptive to any other person.
• Ensure that any content you upload to our online spaces is:
  • factually accurate and/or your genuinely held belief or opinion that is based on facts
  • not defamatory, obscene or offensive
  • not an infringement of the copyright, trademarks or any other intellectual property rights of another person
  • relevant to the context. Please do not promote your work,or otherwise include any advertising or promotional material unless the forum actively encourages this.
• Not access or try to access the confidential information (including SoA membership numbers, usernames and passwords) of any other person.
• Consider the implications of revealing personal information. We suggest that you do not reveal personal contact information about yourself, including your telephone number or home address. Never share anyone else’s personal information, including their email address, without permission.
• Not copy, reproduce, re-publish, download, post, broadcast, transmit, make available to the public or otherwise use the content you find in these online spaces in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use, unless the content is explicitly labelled as available for download, sharing or other use.
• Not adapt or create derivative work from any content you find in our online spaces.
• Not share any content which appears in private online spaces (including our Facebook groups) outside those spaces, unless it is explicitly labelled as available for that purpose.
• Tell us immediately if you think someone is misusing any of our online services.

If you do not comply with these terms

It is important that when comments, images, videos and other content are uploaded to our online spaces, that it is done with respect for others in the SoA community.

If you post content that goes against this spirit, we reserve the right to take one or more of the following actions:

• Remove any inappropriate content* you have uploaded.
• Temporarily or permanently suspend access* to our online spaces.
• Publish a statement in any of our online spaces detailing your actions.
• Terminate your membership of the Society of Authors.
• In exceptional cases, take legal action against you, including to recover any financial loss that we have suffered as a result of your actions.

*the specific actions we take will depend on the platform you have posted to (our website, Twitter, Facebook, etc) and the tools available to us, which could include hiding content, closing threads, blocking or restricting permissions.

Privacy

Your use of our private online spaces is covered by our Personal data and privacy policy. We recognise the importance of privacy, so if you are using any of our online spaces under a pseudonym, we will keep your identity secret unless we are legally obliged to reveal it.

How we use your content

The content you upload to our online spaces may be kept on that website and forum indefinitely unless you delete it or ask us to delete it for you.

• We may remove the content you post at any time at our sole discretion.
• We will not edit, enhance or otherwise alter your content without first seeking your permission.
• We will not make any other use of the content you upload.
• We have no obligation to monitor or review the content or information you provide.
• As the needs of author communities evolve and technology advances, we may remove or extend our online spaces.

How others use your content

Except for the SoA website, all our online spaces are hosted on the platforms of other organisations, including Facebook, Twitter, Zoom and Google.

Each platform has its own policies about what you can post and how that content will be used. In creating accounts on those platforms, you will have agreed to their terms. These can impact privacy, ownership of the content you upload, behaviour and other points, so you should make sure you understand them.