A. Terms of use
Definitions
“You” means you as an individual natural person, or if applicable, the company or other legal entity you represent, including Speakt’s Translators or contractors
“Users” means visitors to this website or users of the Service who are not registered users to Speakt Platform.
“Clients” means visitors who are also registered users of the Service or that seek to use the Services, namely the party commissioning a translation in the normal course of business. The parties may be natural or legal persons, including, indicatively and not restrictively, private individuals, partnerships, associations, undertakings, economic interest groupings or corporate entities.
“Translators” means third parties who engage with Speakt and Client to provide translation services as contractors of Speakt (not employees), namely as external Associates – independent contractors, in the normal course of business. The translator shall normally be the creator of a translation unless the Client has been explicitly informed that the act of translation (the Job of translation ) will be subcontracted, or the translator customarily trades as an intermediary.
“Service” means all the Speakt.com websites, services, applications (apps), related technology, and the translation services, the preparation of a translation or any other translation-related project such as revising, editing, proof-reading etc., which calls upon the translation skills of a translator, but not copywriting or adaptation, provided to Clients and Translators. A translator may act as an intermediary. A relationship involving an intermediary of any nature acting in the normal course of business shall be also regulated in the framework of these Terms of Use, and the final Client is also bound by these Terms of Use, which the intermediary is obliged to notify by all means, if necessary.
“Orders” means any order for Services created by a Client, and accepted by Speakt via acknowledge in the Speakt Platform or otherwise in writing.
“Client Materials” means the source content for translation, i.e. any text or medium containing a communication which has to be translated, and may comprise text, sound or images, and any guidelines, glossary and other materials provided by Client.
“Jobs” means the translated works, i.e. the content translated for and as per the request of Client, using Client’s Material, as per the Order.
“Speakt Platform” means Speakt’s online portal and platform where you can access your Speakt Account, initiate Orders and access the Service.
“Terms of Use” means these Terms of Use of Speakt and any guidelines, policies, or other documents referenced herein.
“Privacy Policy” means this Privacy Policy and any guidelines, policies, or other documents referenced herein.
“Speakt Affiliates” means any company or entity worldwide including, without limitation, undertakings, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, and limited liability companies in which Speakt directly or indirectly holds at least a 50% ownership, equity, or financial interest.
1. Use of our Services and our Platform
You declare that you are 18 years of age or of the age of majority in your place of residence or jurisdiction.
Corporate Information
COMPANY NAME Speakt
CORPORATE FORM Limited
HEADQUARTERS 178 Seven Sisters Road, N7 7PX, London, United Kingdom
PUBLICATION DIRECTOR Nikolaos Sitsanis
If You represent a company or other legal entity, You declare that You have the legal authority to bind the legal entity to these Terms of Use, in which case “You” or “Your” means that entity. If You do not have this authority, or if You do not agree with the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use, You may not use the Service or any Service related materials.
The codes used for Your identification are two: the entry code (Username) and Personal Secret Security Code (Password), which provide safe access to personal data. The password can be modified, whenever You wish. The only person having access to this information is You- through the above codes – and You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of these codes from third parties. In case of loss or leakage of the codes, You must immediately notify Speakt, which will proceed to necessary actions to protect You. In case of failure of notification to Speakt by You, Speakt will not be liable for the use of the password by an unauthorized person.
You agree to:
- Be responsible for the activity that happens in connection with your Speakt account and keep your password confidential
- Comply with any policies made available to you by Speakt
- Not abuse or conduct illegal activity contrary to these Terms of Use or against good faith and good morals when using our Service
- Not contact or attempt to contact Translators outside the Platform that Speakt provides for communication via the comment section or by any other way.
- Not defame or harass or upload insulting content Speakt, or its employees, contractors, Clients, or Translators
- Not create multiple Speakt accounts for any reason
Speakt may suspend or terminate your access to the Service or an Order or Job if you do not comply with these Terms of Use or if we suspect misconduct, fraudulent activities or payment, or a violation of these Terms of Use, with or without notice. Speakt may modify or suspend the Platform or Service, at any time for any reason.
If You are a Translator, or applying to become a Translator, these Terms of Use also apply to You. Approved Translators are also subject to the Speakt Translator Agreement.
2.Orders, Payment, Approval and Delivery of Translated Works
Speakt Account: Before initiating an Order, You must first register as a Client and create a Speakt Account. All personal details submitted by You on the Speakt platform are considered to be true, accurate and up-to-date. You bear the sole liability for any alternations and for not promptly and timely updating your personal details.
Any personal information you provide will be subject to the Speakt Privacy Policy.
Orders.You are solely responsible for making the correct Order, according to Your standards and purposes. Speakt bears no liability for the choices entrered by You during the ordering process. Please consult the System Requirements, when uploading Your Client Materials and proceeding with an Order. In case of mistake (e.g. obvious wrong word count) or wrong entry (e.g. wrong language combination chosen), You must notify Speakt as soon as possible and the translation fees shall be recalculated respectively.
It is noted that Client is responsible for providing the work to be translated, materials describing the context of the translation, and all other necessary materials (glossary guide, references etc.), jointly referred to as the Client’s Material, when placing the Order. Speakt may make recommendations on which source materials and in what format to provide source materials, but ultimately the quality of the results will depend on the accuracy, clarity, and comprehensiveness of the Client’s source materials and instructions provided.
Any fee collected by Speakt on the basis of the Client’s description of the work to be translated may be subject to amendment by agreement between Speakt and You if, in the translator’s opinion on having seen or heard the source material, that description is materially inadequate or inaccurate.
Any fee agreed for a translation which is found to present latent special difficulties of which neither party (i.e. Speakt, Client and Translators) could be reasonably aware at the time of Order shall be renegotiated, always provided that the circumstances are made known to the other party as soon as reasonably practical after they become apparent.
An estimate shall not be considered contractually binding, but given for guidance or information only.
Exceptionally and following written communication per e-mail with Speakt team, the fee to be charged shall be determined by Speakt on the basis of the Client’s description of the source material, the purpose of the translation and any instructions given by the Client.
Payment. Αfter initiating an Order, Client must pay the whole fee for the translation services offered by Speakt, according to the Payment Methods during the online payment procedure , so that the Order is completed, unless otherwise agreed.
Speakt applies gross calculation to the payment. This means that the payment must be made in cleared funds, including V.A.T. where applicable, without any deduction or set-off and free and clear of and without deduction for or on account of any taxes, levies, imports, duties, charges, fees and withholdings of any nature now or hereafter imposed by any governmental, fiscal or other authority, unless if otherwise required by law. If you are compelled to make any such deduction, you will pay Speakt any additional amounts as are necessary to ensure receipt by Speakt of the full amount it would have received but for the deduction.
Cancellations. Client can cancel any Order if the work to be translated has not yet been picked-up by a Translator (indication of pending/awaiting in Job status). It is not uncommon for an Order to be engaged by a Translator immediately, after the Order is placed. To attempt to cancel an Order, Client can click the “cancel button” on the Job while awaiting a Translator, or contact Speakt team directly at the e-mail address info@speakt.com to inquire if the Order can be cancelled. If the Order has been picked up by a Translator, the Order cannot be cancelled and there will be no refund of translation fees.
If a Job is commissioned and subsequently, reduced in scope or frustrated by an act or omission on the part of the Client or any third party, the Client shall, except in the circumstances described below, pay to Speakt the full calculated fees, unless otherwise agreed in advance.
The Job, i.e. the translated work shall be made available to the Client via the Speakt Platform and per e-mail to the e-mail address indicated by Client.
If a Client goes into liquidation (other than voluntary liquidation for the purposes of reconstruction) or has a Receiver appointed or becomes insolvent, bankrupt or is placed under mandatory administration or enters into any arrangement with creditors Speakt shall have the right to terminate the procedure, after being fully compensated for the provided Services.
Neither Speakt nor the Client shall be liable to each other or any third party for consequences which are the result of circumstances wholly beyond the control of either party or owing to force majeure.
Speakt shall notify the Client as soon as is reasonably practical of any circumstances likely to prejudice the Translator’s ability to comply with the terms of the Client’s order, and assist the Client as far as reasonably practical to identify an alternative solution.
Delivery of Jobs (Translated Works)
Speakt cannot guarantee that a particular Translator or that any Translator will choose to engage on your Order. Speakt maintains the right to inform You, within 24 hours from the placement of Order, if no Tranlator is available for processing Your Order and, thus, its processing is not feasible. In such case, Speakt shall cancel the placed |Order and You shall be refunded with all the translation fee paid to Speakt. If the Order is completed by a Translator, Speakt will deliver the Jobs (Translated Works) to Clients, according to the chosen type of translation, per e-mail or otherwise indicated.
Costs of delivery of the translation shall normally be borne by Client. Other supplementary charges may be, for example those arising from:
- discontinuous text, complicated layout or other forms of layout or presentation requiring
- additional time or resources, and/or
- poorly legible copy or poorly audible sound media, and/or
- terminological research, and/or
- certification, and/or
- shipping hard copies
- priority work or work outside normal office hours in order to meet the Client’s deadline or other requirements, may also be charged.
Updated Shipping Costs: To align with our eco-friendly goals, we have updated our shipping costs to €9. This change will take effect from 23-11-2023. The increase is a step towards reducing our carbon footprint and paper usage, as part of our commitment to environmental protection.
New Government Certificate Option: In conjunction with this, we’re excited to introduce a new option for our clients. You can now choose to receive a government-recognized certificate for your translations, which you can print at your convenience. This initiative not only supports our environmental objectives by reducing paper waste but also provides you with a faster and more flexible way to obtain and utilize your certified translations.
We understand that changes in pricing are significant, and we want to assure you that this decision was made after careful consideration and analysis. By opting for the printable government certificate and minimizing shipping, we collectively contribute to a more sustainable future.
The nature of such charges shall be agreed in advance. If any changes are made in the text on the Client’s requirements at any time while the Job is in progress, the translation fee, any applicable supplementary charges and the terms of delivery shall be adjusted in respect of the additional work.
Speakt gives an estimated time for Service completion, but cannot guarantee an exact delivery time. We will inform You per e-mail, when the Job (Translated Work) is ready for your review. Unless otherwise expressly agreed by Speakt, time is not of the essence for delivery of performance, and no delay shall entitle you to reject any delivery or to demand compensation for consequential loss. The date of delivery shall not be of the essence, unless specifically agreed in writing.
Any delivery date or dates agreed between Speakt and You shall become binding only after the translator has seen or heard all of the source material to be translated and has received complete instructions from the Client. It is provided that unexpected, random and unpredictable events and reasons owing to force majeure e.g. those relating to the health of the translators, as well as technical problems (including computer, software problems etc.), can be a cause of delay in the execution of the Order, for which Speakt cannot be held liable and does not bear any liability for compensation whatsover.
Unless otherwise agreed, the translator shall dispatch the Job (translated work) in such a way that the Client can reasonably expect to receive it not later than the normal close of business, unless otherwise provided, and when so specified, at the Client’s premises on the date of delivery. Τhe translations are delivered in Zip files format, for technical reasons of easiness of dispatch. Please make sure that your software is compatible with receipt of Zip files. If this is not the case, please contact Speakt team in the e-mail: info@speakt.com. Speakt cannot be held liable for any error in dispatch of Jobs (translated work) and no compensation can be for this reason claimed.
Complaints and Disputes. Failure by Speakt to meet agreed order requirements or to provide a translation which is fit for its stated purpose shall entitle the Client to:
- reduce, with Speakt’s consent, the translation fee payable for work done by a sum equal to the reasonable cost necessary to remedy the deficiencies, and/or
- cancel any further instalments of work being undertaken by the translator.
Such Client’s right shall only apply after Speakt has been given one opportunity to bring the work up to the required standard. This right shall not apply unless the Translator has been notified in writing of all alleged defects.
Any change, complaint or request in connection with a Job (translated work) shall be notified to the translator by the Client (or vice-versa) through the comment section of the Speakt Platform within seven days of the date and time of delivery of the translation, as precisely defined in the following clause. Following the expiry of above date, You agree that Speakt bears no liability about any possible defects of Jobs (translated works) and that You cannot claim reimbursement for any matters relating to the above.
You agree to review any Jobs (translated works) before making such content public, and you expressly agree that Speakt will not have any liability or indemnity obligations to you based on the Job (translated work) if you fail to do so.
Approval or Rejection. Upon Speakt’s notification per e-mail of online or by other means delivery of the Jobs, Client will have strictly seven days to review the Job. Client may approve the Job via the Speakt Platform. If Client does not take action via the Speakt Platform within the seven-day review period, the Jobs will be deemed Approved and the Translator will be paid for the Jobs. Once Approved, no alterations, revisions, or refunds of the Jobs will be provided.
Due to the nature of language translation, errors in translations will inevitably occur. Clients may reject the Jobs within the seven-day review period if it reasonably determines that it does not meet the type of translation that was ordered. Speakt will perform a quality control and typically get back to you within one business day after the rejection. If Speakt determines that the Jobs that you have rejected did not meet the type of translation specified in the Order, then Speakt will accept the rejection and provide a re-translation free of charge or allow the Order to be cancelled.
Following the period of one month as from the completion of the translation of Job and its delivery, Speakt maintains the right to delete all relevant files, translated works and Clients’ materials from its servers, at its sole discretion. Speakt does not bear any liability after the expiry of the above deadline for delivery of the translated works. You are the sole responsible for downloading the Job and maintaining it in durable medium.
Responsibility and Liability
The Job shall be carried out by the translator using reasonable skill and care and in accordance with the Client’s indications, with professionalism, responsibility, diligence, punctuality, with due respect of deadlines.
Time and expense permitting, the Translator shall use his or her best endeavours to do the work to the best of his or her ability, knowledge and belief, and consulting such authorities as are reasonably available to him/her at the time.
A translation shall be fit for its stated purpose and target readership, and the level of quality specified.
3.Translators as Independent Contractors
Speakt may use and retain third party contractors and sub-contractors (such as Translators) to provide the Service to you. As such, you agree that Speakt may sublicense its rights under these Terms of Use to third parties to act on Speakt’s behalf, provided that such third parties are contractually bound by terms no less protective for You than these Terms of Use. Speakt is solely responsible for paying and resolving all disputes with third party contractors and Translators.
4a. Disclosure of Client Materials
Speakt discloses the Client Materials to potential Translators and contractors, in order to provide you the Service (for instance, previewing the content in order to decide whether to engage the Order, proof-reading for ensuring quality etc.).
You are solely responsible for classifying, editing or removing any confidential or personally identifiable information in the Client Materials if you do not wish to disclose that information.
You agree to grant Speakt and its associates the full right of access to such confidential information that Speakt and its Translators or contractors use only for purpose of evaluating and engaging in the performance of translation services, so that the Job be accomplished and to the extent required to accomplish the intent of this Agreement but not in a way which may be harmful to the interests of Speakt.
4b. Confidentiality and Safe-keeping of the Client’s Documents
No documents for translation shall be deemed to be confidential unless this is expressly stated by You.
However, Speakt shall at all times exercise due discretion in respect of disclosure to any Third Party of any information contained in your original documents or translations thereof without prior express authorisation of You.
Nevertheless, a third party may be consulted over specific translation terminology queries, provided that there is no disclosure of confidential material.
The translator shall be responsible for the safe-keeping of the Client’s documents and copies of the translations, and shall ensure their secure disposal, until their delivery.
If requested to do so by You, Speakt shall insure documents in transit from Speakt, at Your expense.
Speakt may use your Jobs (Translated Works) as “public examples,”. In such case, You expressly agree with the publication and display of your Materials and related Translated Works in connection with operating, promoting, and improving our Services, even if you stop using our Services.If you submit feedback or suggestions about our Services, we may use your feedback or suggestions without obligation to you.
5a. Copyright and Intellectual Property related Rights
The trademarks, names, logos and service marks, domain name www.speakt.com, technical information, designs, drawings of the website www.speakt.com, trade secrets, or other intellectual or industrial property rights (collectively “Trademarks”) such as “Speakt”, are trademarks of Speakt. Nothing contained in these Terms of Use shall be construed as granting any license or right to use any Trademark without Speakt’s prior written permission. The content on the Service is protected by intellectual property laws and may not be copied, modified, distributed, published, or transmitted in any manner.
Any reproduction, republication, uploading, posting, dissemination or transmission or any other use of the content of the Website in any way or by any means for commercial or other purposes is permitted only after the prior permission and consent of Speakt or other copyright holders.
Third party content and trademarks displayed on the Service are owned by their respective owners and may not be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the express written consent of the owner.
Speakt accepts an order from You on the understanding that performance of the Job will not infringe any third party rights.
You undertake to keep Speakt and Translator harmless from any claim for infringement of copyright and/or other intellectual property rights in all cases.
You also undertake to keep Speakt and Translator harmless from any legal action including defamation which may arise as a result of the content of the original source material or its translation.
In order to provide You the best possible translation and language services, we (and those we work with) may use your Client Materials and Jobs (Translated Works) to generally improve the Services (for example, proper time estimates, or improve machine translation and machine learning systems) and develop new products or services ourselves or in partnership with third parties. If we do this, we never make your Client Materials or Jobs (Translated Works) publicly available.
5b. Copyright in Jobs and Translations
In the absence of a specific written agreement to the contrary, copyright in the translation remains the property of the Translator.
Speakt may use and sell or resell any non-confidential translation or any part or record thereof not covered by copyright or other industrial or intellectual property right, legal professional privilege or public interest immunity.
Where copyright is assigned or licensed, this shall be effective only on payment of the agreed fee in full.
Where the translator retains the copyright, if agreed in writing, any published text of the translation shall carry the following statement: “© (English or other) text (translator’s name), Speakt, (Year date)” as appropriate to the particular case.
Where the translator assigns the copyright and the translation is subsequently printed for distribution, You shall acknowledge the translator’s work in the same weight and style of type as used for acknowledgement of the printer and/or others involved in production of the finished document, by the following statement: “(English or other) translation by (translator’s name), Speakt”, as appropriate to the particular case.
Where a translation is to be incorporated into a translation memory system or any other corpus, Speakt or its Translator shall license use of the translation for this purpose for an agreed fee, if applicable. Such incorporation and use shall only take place after the licence for the purpose has been granted by Speakt or Translator in writing and following the full payment of fee, if applicable. It shall be the duty of You to notify the Translator that such use of the translation will be made.
All translations are subject to Translator’s right of integrity. The right of integrity may be specifically waived in advance by the Translator in writing.
If a translation is in any way amended or altered without the written permission of the Translator, he/she shall not be in any way liable for amendments made or their consequences. If Translator retains the copyright in a translation, or if a translation is to be used for legal purposes, no amendment or alteration may be made to a translation without Translator’s written permission.
6. APIs and Software of Speakt
The Service may include Application Programming Interface (API), Translation Memory of third parties or software (“Speakt Materials”) to facilitate your use of the Service and is deemed a part of the Service. If you choose to use such Speakt Materials, Speakt grants you a personal, worldwide, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the Speakt Materials for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services as provided by Speakt, in the manner permitted by these Terms of Use. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell or lease any part of our Service or Speakt Materials, nor may you reverse, engineer or attempt to extract the source code of the Service or Speakt Materials.
Speakt does not guarantee the availability or performance of the Speakt Materials. Your access or use may be limited or suspended at any time.
7. Warranties and Disclaimers
You declare and warrant that you have all necessary right, title and interest in the Your Materials, and that Your Materials do not and will not infringe or violate any third party’s rights, do not violate any law and do not contain any offensive, insulting or unacceptable content.
The Service and Jobs are provided “as is”. Other than as expressly set out in these terms or additional terms, neither Speakt nor its translators, contractors, or suppliers make any specific promises about the services, Speakt does not make any commitments about the content within the services, the specific functions of the services or their availability, reliability or ability to meet your needs. Speakt provides the services “as is”. Speakt excludes all warranties, no matter the jurisdiction.
8. Indemnity
You will indemnify and hold harmless Speakt, its affiliates, subsidiaries, current and past directors, officers and employees from and against any and all claims, taxes, losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, settlements, costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees and other legal and court expenses, arising directly or indirectly from or in connection with: (i) breach of any of its representations, warranties or obligations under these Terms of Use, (ii) Your negligent, reckless or intentionally wrongful act or by its assistants, employees, representatives, contractors or agents; (iii) Your failure to perform your obligations or exercise your rights in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
9. Limitation of Liability
In no event shall either party or any Speakt affiliates be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or damages for lost direct or indirect profits or loss of business, however caused and under any theory of liability, whether based in contract, quasi-tort, tort (including negligence), regardless of whether either party was advised of the possibility of such damages and notwithstanding the failure of essential purpose of any limited remedy. In no event will Speakt’s or Speakt’s affiliates’ liability hereunder exceed the amount paid by the Client to Speakt during the 12 month period before the event giving rise to liability.
If You are redirected to third party websites via links, hyperlinks or banners, Speakt is not liable for the personal data management and protection terms and conditions that those sites use.
Miscellaneous
You agree that You cannot represent Speakt or conclude Agreements on its behalf as its representative, agent or proxy or assume any obligations in the name of Speakt, unless otherwise agreed.
All terms of the Agreement are deemed to be essential. In case a term is considered to be null and void, its invalidity remains harmless and does not affect the validity and enforceability of remaining terms.Speakt reserves the right to amend any and all terms of the present, without Your prior notification. Therefore you are only held responsible for keeping Yourself up-to-date. Any agreement deviating from the provisions of the present shall be agreed between Speakt and You in writing. If You do not agree to the modified terms of the Agreement, You should discontinue Your use of that Service. This Agreement controls the relationship between Speakt and You. It does not create any third party beneficiary rights. If You do not comply with this Agreement, and Speakt does not take action right away, this does not mean that we waive from any rights that we may have, such as taking action in the future. All contracting parties shall endeavour, pursue and try to amicably settle all disputes arising from or in connection with this Translators’ Agreement between You and Speakt, upon mutual agreement, in application of indicatively online dispute resolution, alternative dispute resolution or mediation. If no agreement is reached in case of such dispute, parties maintain the right to seal legal protection, as per Law provides.
If there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and the Order, the Order will prevail over that conflict.
You may not assign, transfer, or delegate any portion of this Agreement without Speakt’s prior written consent. Speakt may assign, transfer, or delegate any portion of this Agreement with or without notice to You. Your attempt to assign, transfer, or delegate this Agreement without Speakt’s consent will be null and void.
You have read and understood this Agreement and your signature binds You, your employees, representatives, to the provisions of this Agreement.
Last modification on 13/11/2023