Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions of Use

Introduction

The Palace Museum (the “Museum” or “we”) provides this website (the “Site” or “our Site”) in support of its educational mission to further the understanding and appreciation of traditional Chinese art and culture by the public. It serves as a digital supplement to the art collections and educational programs we offer on-site at the Palace Museum. We encourage you to use the Site as a research tool and informative guide, subject to the specific terms and conditions of use (the “Terms and Conditions of Use”) set forth here. 

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions 

By accessing this website, you accept without limitation or qualification these terms and conditions of use. The Museum may revise these terms and conditions of use at any time; revisions are binding to you and every visitor of the Site. You should therefore periodically visit this page to review the most up-to-date terms and conditions. If you do not wish to be bound by these terms and conditions, please exit the Site now and refrain from further use. 

Protection of Privacy

As the official website of the Palace Museum, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors and members. Some personal information, non-personally identifiable information, and data may be requested or automatically collected when you access our Site or participate in our online activities. All information gathered from you in connection with your use of the Site is governed by the Site’s “Private Policy”. Maintaining your privacy on the Site is crucial to our goals, and we hope you will read our privacy policy carefully so that you will clearly understand both our commitment to you and your privacy and our method of collecting and using information. A link to the complete text of the policy is available on the home page and every page of this Site.

Copyright

The text, images, artwork, audio or video recordings, illustrations, designs, documentation, data, files, and other materials in whole or in part (henceforth these various files and media types will be called collectively “Materials”) on the Site are protected by copyright and may be covered by other restrictions of use; the Museum reserves all rights to all materials in whole or in part on the Site, including the copyright of data, images, documentation, text, and other information contained in these Materials and related files. Copyright and other proprietary rights may be held by individuals or entities other than, or in addition to, the Palace Museum. 

You should assume that everything you see or read on this Site is copyrighted unless otherwise noted and may not be used except as provided in these Terms and Conditions or in the text on the site without the written permission of the Palace Museum. The Museum neither warrants nor represents that your use of the Materials on the site will not infringe rights of third parties not owned by or affiliated to the Museum.

The Materials are made available for limited non-commercial, educational, and personal use or for fair use as defined in the copyright laws of the People's Republic of China. You may download these files for your own use, subject to any additional terms or restrictions which may be applicable to the individual file or program. You must, however, cite the author, source of the Materials, and other relevant reference information as you would materials from any printed work, and the citations should include the URL www.dpm.org.cn.

Copying or redistribution in any manner for commercial use, including commercial publication or for personal gain, is strictly prohibited. 

Trademarks

The names, titles, building images, trademarks, service marks, and logos that appear on the Site are registered and unregistered marks of the Museum, including but not limited to PALACE MUSEUM, THE CHINESE "PALACE" LOGO (i.e., the stylized Chinese character Gong), THE EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR IMAGES OF THE HALLS AND PALACES IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY, THE LOGO OF THE PALACE MUSEUM, and THE CARTOON ART OF THE YOUNG KANGXI EMPEROR (collectively, the "Palace Museum Trademarks"). You may not use the Palace Museum Trademarks without the Museum's prior, written permission. 

The trademarks of third parties may also appear occasionally on the Site; you may not use these trademarks without prior, written permission of their respective owners. By using the Site, you acknowledge and agree that nothing on the Site grants, explicitly or implicitly, by estoppels or otherwise, any right or license to use any of the Palace Museum Trademarks or may be construed to mean that the Museum has authority to grant any right or license on behalf of any third-party trademark owner. 

Requesting Permission

If your proposed use of the Palace Museum Trademarks or Materials does not meet the conditions, you must request and obtain express permission from the Museum. Please be advised that permission is granted per the Museum’s discretion; when permission is granted, an agreement in written form will be signed by both parties. Usage fees are generally imposed as part of the written agreement.

Commercial Use of the Palace Museum Trademarks and Materials

The Museum maintains a licensing program for the commercial use of its intellectual property assets, including the use of the Palace Museum name and other trade names, images of select artwork, and other proprietary content that may appear or be referenced on the Site. For more information on our Licensing Program, or to request permission related to your product, service, or promotion thereof, please contact us at gugong@dpm.org.cn or via fax at (+86 10) 6528 8401.

Editorial Use of the Museum's Images

The Museum maintains an extensive archive of images of the architecture, art, history, and collection of the Palace Museum and the Forbidden City, some of which may appear or be referenced on the Site. Subject to the rights of third parties (which are entirely the responsibility of the user), the Museum makes these images available to the public for personal, scholarly, educational, and editorial use. For more information, please see our “Image Services” page.

Editorial Use of the Site's Text and Other Content

The Museum does not entertain requests for permission to reproduce or otherwise use text, design, audio, or video components from the Site. However, links to the Site are permitted as described in "Links to Our Site" section, below.

Use of Third Party Trademarks and Images

If you wish to reproduce or otherwise use trademarks or copyrighted images that appear on the Site but do not belong to us, you should contact the third parties who are referenced as the rights holders. The Museum assumes no responsibility for ascertaining whether such rights are valid or for securing such rights on your behalf. 

Links to Our Site

The Museum appreciates the interest of others in linking to our Site. If you arrive at our Site from a third-party link, please note that a link to our Site does not imply a relationship with, or endorsement of, the third-party site or its content, purpose, policies, or business practices. 

If you are interested in providing a link from your site to our Site, please note the following rules:
1) You must use the name "The Palace Museum" or the URL www.dpm.org.cn to identify the link.
2) You may not use the Palace Museum logo without express permission of the Museum. These are reserved for entities that are professionally associated or affiliated to us.
3) Your link must send visitors directly to our home page located at www.dpm.org.cn. We do not permit deep linking of internal pages of our Site, and we do not permit unauthorized framing of pages on our Site.

Links from Our Site

In using the Site, you may find that the Museum provides hyperlinks to one or more third-party websites (the "Linked Sites"). The Museum provides these links as a convenience for you and other users but is not responsible for the content or links of the Linked Sites. In most instances, such links represent organizations or museums that are professionally associated with the Palace Museum. Although the Museum expects such links to be reputable, relevant, and reliable, we do not actively monitor or control the content or links of the Linked Sites, which may continuously change. We encourage you to read the terms and conditions and similar policies of the respective Linked Sites, should you choose to visit them. A link from our Site does not imply a relationship with, or endorsement of, a Linked Site or Linked Sites or its content, purpose, or business practices. 

Warranty and Indemnification

By using this Site in any manner, you represent and warrant that your use will be consistent with all Terms and Conditions, including the Privacy Policy. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold the Museum harmless from all claims, causes, costs, expenses, fees (including reasonable attorney's fees), judgments, liabilities, losses, and damages arising from or relating to your use of the Site.

Disclaimer of Warranties

Your use and browsing of the Site are carried out at your own risk. Neither the Museum nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Site is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or use of, the Site, including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use data, or other intangible loss, whether in an action under contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, arising out of or relating to your use or inability to use the Site, and/or your reliance on any content on the Site, even if the Museum or any related party has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 

Severance and Waiver

You acknowledge and agree that in the event any provision of these “Terms and Conditions of Use” shall be held by the laws or regulations of the People's Republic of China to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality, and/or enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions contained herein shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. In such event, the parties agree that any such invalid term or condition shall be validly reformed to as near approximate the intent of the parties as reflected in the provision and, if unreformable, shall be severed and deleted from these Terms and Conditions of Use. The Museum's failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless agreed to in writing by the Museum.

Miscellaneous

Section headings used in this document are for convenience only and are not to be considered legally binding.

In the case that any discrepancy exists between this English translation and the Chinese version of these policies, terms, and conditions or any other legal documents issued by the Palace Museum, the Chinese version shall prevail.

Contact

For questions, inquiries, or correspondence, please contact:
Department of IT, Imaging, and Digital Media
The Palace Museum
4 Jingshan qianjie, Dongcheng district
Beijing, 100009, CHINA
Email: gugong[at]dpm.org.cn
Fax: (86 10) 6528 8401