Planespotters.net is an online database about commercial aviation, aiming to provide a detailed overview of current and historical aircraft types and airlines. Visitors can look up aircraft data and photos. After signing up for a free membership account, members can upload and share their own aircraft photos on the website.
The following terms of use (the “Terms of Use”) provide the basic rules for the use of the website www.planespotters.net, including all subdomains (i.e. img.planespotters.net), hereafter called “Planespotters.net”. They also apply to all future legal relationships with the guest/member/author, even if not expressly agreed upon.
„Guest“ is any natural or legal person or association of persons, who visit Planespotters.net without creating a free membership account.
„Member“ is any natural or legal person or association of persons, who log in to Planespotters.net with a free membership account.
„Author“ is any member, who uploads aircraft photos to the database of Planespotters.net. Authors are usually the photographers or other natural or legal persons or association of persons who hold the licensing rights to the uploaded photos.
„Aircraft photos“ are photos of airplanes, helicopters and other aircraft, but not scale models or computer generated images (screenshots, 3D models).
„Additional content“ to the aircraft photos includes aircraft data of the depicted aircraft or the photo’s EXIF information, amongst others.
„Thumbnails“ are scaled down versions of uploaded photos for preview purposes. The size of these thumbnails is limited to a maximum of 200 pixels (px) on their longest side.
Planespotters.net reserves the right to amend these Terms of Use at any time. Planespotters.net will notify all members, at least one week in advance, about any changes to the Terms of Use by e-mail to the e-mail address provided in their membership accounts.
Members have the right to object to the changed Terms of Use within 30 days upon receipt of the notification. In case the member does not object, the changes take effect after these 30 days. Within the notification e-mail, Planespotters.net will inform the members about their right to object to these changes, the objection period and consequences of failing to object. Should a member object to the changed Terms of Use, the membership will be continued under the Terms of Use previously agreed upon. However, upon receiving an objection, Planespotters.net reserves the right to terminate the membership extraordinarily.
Guests can sign up for a free membership account (Home/Create Account). The registration form allows guests to choose a user name, a display name/author’s name and a password for their membership and must be completed truthfully and accurately. Names violating third party rights, in particular trademarks or name rights, as well as illegal or immoral names are prohibited.
By submitting the registration form, the member agrees to the Terms of Use and acknowledges to have read and understood the Terms of Use. The submission represents an offer to Planespotters.net for a membership. Should Planespotters.net accept the offer, the member will receive a confirmation e-mail, including an activation link and the member's login information. Upon receipt of the confirmation e-mail, the contract between Planespotters.net and the member is concluded. Planespotters.net reserves the right to reject membership submissions without prior notice.
The member is responsible for his/her membership data and is required to keep all data up-to-date.
The login data – including and especially the password – must not be disclosed to any third party.
Should there be a risk of breach of security or unauthorized use of the membership account, the member must notify Planespotters.net immediately.
The member is liable for any use of and/or any activity carried out with his/her membership account or data in accordance with the law. Planespotters.net is not liable for any damages caused by a breach of security or unauthorized use.
It is prohibited to create multiple membership accounts.
Only members are allowed to upload aircraft photos and additional content to Planespotters.net.
The author’s name will be displayed on every uploaded photo. If technically feasible, this will be done by Planespotters.net in the following format: “Copyright © display name/author’s name” or “© display name/author’s name”.
Planespotters.net may only be used within the limitations of the law.
It is expressly forbidden to upload pictures, articles or other content to Planespotters.net that:
Furthermore, it is expressly forbidden to upload political articles or advertising for political parties, boycott or deletion requests of any kind as well as personal information of members to Planespotters.net. Quotes taken from messages (emails, SMS or others) of members, Planespotters.net or third parties must not be uploaded to Planespotters.net either.
Linking to websites with illegal content and using Planespotters.net’s thumbnails on other websites without providing sufficient attribution to the author (in the format: “Copyright © display name/author’s name” or “© display name/author’s name”) is strictly prohibited. It is furthermore not allowed to copy, send, multiply or publish any aircraft photos from Planespotters.net without prior permission of the author.
Members are responsible to ensure photos and other content uploaded by them are free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or other malicious software, that could endanger or impair the content or functionality of Planespotters.net or its members' pages.
By uploading aircraft photos and/or additional content, the member assures to be the sole owner (author) and copyright holder of these photos and additional content. The member also assures, that he/she is entitled to grant Planespotters.net all the licensing rights required by this agreement and that no rights or licenses contradicting this agreement have already been granted to third parties.
The member (author), who uploads aircraft photos and/or additional content through his/her membership account, indemnifies Planespotters.net, as well as its members and guests, from any third party claims resulting from the culpable violation of these terms and the rights granted therein.
If a third party files a claim against Planespotters.net due to a culpable violation of obligations by the author, especially relating to violations of copyright, personal rights, property rights or intellectual propery rights, the author indemnifies Planespotters.net from any liability and costs.
This also applies, if a member or guest is held liable by a third party for a breach of his/her obligations towards an author in connection with the transfer of usage rights.
Members (authors) who upload aircraft photos and/or additional content grant Planespotters.net a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free license to use the aircraft photos and/or additional content. The author explicitly grants Planespotters.net the right to:
In addition to 8 d., Planespotters.net points out, that it only provides thumbnails of uploaded aircraft photos to partner websites. These thumbnails will be properly attributed to the author (in the format: “Copyright © display name/author’s name” or “© display name/author’s name”) and link back to the original photo published on Planespotters.net.
The members/authors are not entitled to any compensation for the rights granted under 8).
All other rights to the aircraft photos and additional content, including copyrights and intellectual property rights, remain with the author.
Planespotters.net does not grant any rights or licenses exceeding those specified in the Terms of Use to any third party.
The author grants all guests and members the right to link thumbnails of published aircraft photos to the original photo on Planespotters.net through the options provided by Planespotters.net. When linking thumbnails, the proper attribution of the author (in the format: “Copyright © display name/author’s name” or “© display name/author’s name”) must not be removed.
Any usage or licensing rights exceeding these Terms of Use can only be granted by the author of the respective aircraft photo. The author can be contacted via the link (Contact Photographer) provided next to each aircraft photo.
Although Planespotters.net reserves the right to check uploaded aircraft photos and additional content for copyright violations, Planespotters.net is not obligated to do so. Planespotters.net points out that it is neither technically nor manually possible to check every uploaded aircraft photo and additional content for copyright violations.
The responsibility to ensure the legality and legitimacy of granting usage rights for the uploaded aircraft photos and additional content lies solely with the author. Planespotters.net can not be held liable in this regard.
In case of breach of contractual duties, the liability of Planespotters.net, including its agents, is limited to deliberate intention and gross negligence. Damages other than physical damage are limited to the predictable, typically occurring damage.
This limited liability shall not apply in case of malice and damage to body and health.
Planespotters.net reserves the right to refuse the publication of aircraft photos and additional content and/or remove published aircraft photos and additional content without prior notice, especially if there is evidence of a breach of these Terms of Use.
The author has no legal claim to have his/her aircraft photos and additional content published on Planespotters.net.
The membership may be terminated by the member or Planespotters.net at any time for any reason. The member's termination notice must be sent by e-mail to or trough the contact form provided under Help/Contact.
Upon receipt of the termination notice, the membership will be terminated and the member is no longer allowed to log in. When the membership is terminated, Planespotters.net reserves the right to close the member’s account and, within the period of one month, delete all related data, including, amongst others, aircraft photos and additional content as well as comments and messages written by the member.
The photos, including additional content, and aircraft data provided on Planespotters.net each form a proprietary database, as well as a combined proprietary database. The databases and their content and structure may not be copied or altered, neither in whole nor in part, without prior permission by Planespotters.net.
Planespotters.net takes your privacy very seriously and adheres strictly to the rules of applicable privacy laws. Personal information is only gathered if technically necessary. Personal information will not be sold or provided to third parties under any circumstances.
These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In case any of the provisions becomes invalid, the other provisions remain unaffected. If any of these terms is or becomes invalid, the parties try to agree on a substitutional provision that reflects the purpose of the contract and the economical intention of the invalid term best.
These Terms of Use are the English translation of Planespotters.net’s governing Nutzungsbedingungen available under http://www.planespotters.net/termsofuse.php?language=de
English
Deutsch