1. About this policy

The Metaphor Society is owned and managed by Andrew T. Austin and The Fresh Brain Company Ltd.

This policy forms part of the conditions of membership and use of The Metaphor Society website, meetings, archives, community spaces and educational materials.

It should be read alongside the Membership Policy, Membership Standards and Code of Conduct, Recording and Online Meeting Policy, Privacy Policy and any separate agreement applying to a speaker or contributor.

2. Content covered by this policy

This policy applies to content including:

• Website pages and articles
• Members-only pages and archives
• Zoom meeting and webinar recordings
• Audio and video material
• Presentation slides
• Handouts, worksheets and downloadable documents
• Graphics, illustrations, diagrams and photographs
• Logos, names and visual branding
• Written transcripts and captions
• Meeting descriptions and programme information
• Community posts, comments and discussions
• Material submitted by members, speakers and contributors
• Collections, databases, indexes and organised archives

The format in which material is supplied does not change the restrictions that apply to its use.

3. Ownership of Society content

Unless otherwise stated, content created specifically for The Metaphor Society by Andrew T. Austin or The Fresh Brain Company Ltd is owned by The Fresh Brain Company Ltd.

Content may also be used by the Society under a licence or other permission from its original creator or rights holder.

Copyright and other intellectual property rights may exist in:

• The wording and arrangement of website pages
• Original articles and educational materials
• Videos, sound recordings and edited meeting recordings
• Graphics, photographs, diagrams and illustrations
• Presentation slides and downloadable resources
• The selection and organisation of archive content
• Names, logos and distinctive Society branding

4. Speaker and contributor content

Guest speakers and contributors will normally retain ownership of their original presentations, slides, written materials, methods and other content unless a separate written agreement states otherwise.

The Society may be granted permission to:

• Record a presentation
• Edit and prepare the recording for publication
• Display the recording in the members-only archive
• Reproduce speaker information and presentation descriptions
• Display slides or supporting materials where agreed
• Retain the content in accordance with the Recording and Online Meeting Policy

A member’s access to speaker material does not grant permission to reproduce, teach, adapt, publish or commercially exploit that material.

Where a separate agreement exists between the Society and a speaker, the terms of that agreement will take priority in relation to the speaker’s contribution.

5. What membership permits

Subject to this policy, a current member may:

• View and listen to members-only content for personal use
• Attend Society meetings and presentations
• Revisit recordings through the members-only website
• Download material where a download facility is expressly provided
• Print a reasonable number of copies for their own personal use
• Make private notes for personal study
• Apply general learning and ideas in their own life or professional work
• Share links to publicly accessible Society pages
• Use brief quotations where lawful and properly attributed

These permissions are personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and may be withdrawn when membership or access ends.

6. Personal and professional application of learning

The Society encourages members to think about, discuss and apply what they learn.

Members may use general ideas, insights, principles and knowledge gained through Society activities in their own personal or professional work, subject to their own competence and professional responsibilities.

However, applying an idea is different from reproducing protected material. Members must not:

• Copy presentation slides into their own training materials
• Reproduce substantial sections of Society articles or handouts
• Republish diagrams, graphics or worksheets without permission
• Present a speaker’s original material as their own
• Repackage Society content as a course, book or commercial product
• Create a substitute archive or collection from Society materials

7. Members-only content

Members-only content is supplied solely for the use of people with a current and valid Metaphor Society membership.

Members must not:

• Share their login details with another person
• Give a non-member access through their account
• Share private links to recordings or restricted pages
• Copy content into a public or private group outside the Society
• Upload restricted material to another website or cloud service
• Email restricted downloads to non-members
• Display members-only content to a class, group or public audience
• Create a shared organisational account unless expressly authorised

A person who wishes to access members-only content must obtain their own membership unless the Society has agreed to another arrangement in writing.

8. Meeting recordings

All scheduled Society meetings are conducted through Zoom and recorded. Recordings are placed in the members-only section of the website and are intended to remain available there in perpetuity.

Meeting recordings will not be sold as separate commercial recordings or intentionally released to non-members or the general public.

Members must not:

• Download a recording unless a download option is expressly provided
• Use screen-recording software to make a copy
• Extract or distribute the audio track
• Create clips for social media
• Upload a recording to another platform
• Live stream or publicly play a recording
• Sell or sublicense access to a recording
• Create or distribute an independent transcript

Use of recordings is also governed by the Recording and Online Meeting Policy.

9. Prohibited copying and distribution

Except where permission has been given or the use is otherwise permitted by law, users must not:

• Copy, reproduce or duplicate Society content
• Publish or republish content
• Distribute material electronically or in print
• Sell, rent, license or commercially exploit content
• Broadcast, transmit or publicly perform content
• Create unauthorised translations or adaptations
• Create derivative training products from Society content
• Place content in another membership site or learning platform
• Remove ownership, copyright or attribution notices
• Circumvent technical restrictions protecting content
• Assist another person to carry out a prohibited use

The fact that content can technically be copied, downloaded or captured does not mean that permission to do so has been granted.

10. Teaching and commercial use

Membership does not grant permission to use Society content as teaching material within a paid or unpaid course.

Written permission is normally required before using Society content:

• In a commercial training programme
• In a workshop, lecture or presentation
• In a book, manual, article or publication
• Within a membership website or online course
• As part of supervision or group teaching materials
• In advertising or promotional material
• In a product offered for sale
• In an academic or professional publication beyond lawful quotation

Permission given for one particular use does not provide permission for other uses, later editions or other formats.

11. Quotations and attribution

Brief quotations may be used where the use is lawful, fair, proportionate and accompanied by appropriate acknowledgement.

Attribution should identify, where reasonably possible:

• The author or speaker
• The title of the presentation or material
• The Metaphor Society
• The date or year of publication or presentation

Quotations must not be edited or presented in a way that materially misrepresents the original meaning.

Attribution does not, by itself, make copying lawful. Reproducing a substantial amount of material may still require written permission.

Quotations must not imply that the speaker, Society or The Fresh Brain Company Ltd endorses the person, publication, service or product in which the quotation appears.

12. Statutory exceptions

Nothing in this policy is intended to remove or restrict a use that cannot lawfully be prohibited.

Certain limited uses may be permitted by applicable copyright law, including in some circumstances:

• Criticism or review
• Quotation
• Non-commercial research or private study
• Reporting current events
• Parody, caricature or pastiche
• Other uses expressly permitted by law

The availability of an exception depends on the particular facts, including the purpose, amount used, fairness of the use and whether sufficient acknowledgement is provided.

A person relying on a legal exception is responsible for ensuring that their use falls within it.

13. Artificial intelligence and automated use

Society content must not be used to train, develop, test or improve an artificial intelligence system, machine-learning model or automated content-generation service without prior written permission.

Users must not:

• Upload recordings or documents to an artificial intelligence service
• Use automated tools to transcribe the recording archive
• Use scraping tools to collect website or archive content
• Create datasets from Society materials
• Use Society content to generate imitations or derivative products
• Permit an automated agent to access a membership account
• Use Society material for model training or retrieval systems

This restriction applies whether the artificial intelligence service is public, private, commercial or operated internally by an organisation.

A member who requires an automated accessibility tool should contact the Society before using it with restricted content.

14. Society name, logo and branding

The Metaphor Society name, logos, visual identity, page designs and associated branding must not be used without written permission.

Members must not:

• Create an unofficial Society website, group or social media account
• Use the Society logo to advertise their own services
• Suggest that their work is accredited or endorsed by the Society
• Produce certificates carrying Society branding
• Register a confusingly similar domain name or account name
• Use Society branding in a way that may mislead the public

A member may truthfully state that they are a member of The Metaphor Society while their membership is current, provided that this does not imply accreditation, approval or professional competence.

Membership does not provide a licence to display the Society logo.

15. Member-submitted content

Members may be able to submit questions, comments, written posts, images, documents or other contributions through Society services.

A member retains any intellectual property rights they hold in their original contribution.

By submitting content to a Society platform, the member grants The Fresh Brain Company Ltd a non-exclusive, royalty-free permission to:

• Host and store the contribution
• Display it within the relevant Society service
• Reformat it for technical or accessibility purposes
• Make reasonable editorial or moderation changes
• Reproduce it in backups and administrative records
• Include it within a meeting recording where applicable
• Use it as reasonably necessary to operate and protect the Society

This permission continues for as long as the contribution remains reasonably necessary for the relevant service, archive, recording, record or legal purpose.

Inclusion within a meeting recording is governed by the Recording and Online Meeting Policy, including the permanent members-only archive.

16. Responsibilities when submitting content

A person submitting content must ensure that:

• They created the content or have permission to submit it
• The content does not infringe another person’s rights
• Any required attribution has been provided
• The content does not reveal confidential information improperly
• Identifiable client or third-party information has not been disclosed
• The content is not unlawful, fraudulent or deliberately misleading
• The submission complies with the Membership Standards and Code of Conduct

The Society may request evidence of ownership or permission where a concern is raised.

The Society may refuse, remove or restrict any submission without being required to publish or retain it.

17. Member names, images and personal contributions

The fact that a member’s name, image, voice, comment or presentation appears within a Society meeting does not permit another member to copy or use it independently.

Members must not:

• Extract another member’s contribution from a recording
• Use another member’s image in promotional material
• Republish another member’s comments without permission
• Create a profile or case study about another member
• Use Society contact information to build a mailing list
• Present another member’s ideas or wording as their own

Personal information and identifiable contributions are also subject to the Society’s Privacy Policy and Membership Standards and Code of Conduct.

18. Third-party material and external links

Society content may occasionally include material owned by speakers, publishers, photographers, researchers or other third parties.

Ownership of third-party material remains with the relevant owner. The Society’s permission to display material does not automatically permit members to copy or reuse it.

External websites linked from the Society website are governed by their own terms and intellectual property policies.

The presence of a link does not mean that the Society owns, controls or endorses all content available through the external website.

19. Requests for permission

Requests to reproduce or use Society content should be sent to:

freshnewbrain@gmail.com

A request should identify:

• The exact content to be used
• The proposed purpose
• The amount or section to be reproduced
• The intended audience
• Whether the use is commercial or non-commercial
• The format in which it will appear
• How long it will remain available
• Whether the material will be edited or adapted

Permission is not granted unless it has been confirmed in writing by The Fresh Brain Company Ltd or the relevant rights holder.

The Society cannot grant permission for content owned by a speaker, contributor or third party unless it has authority to do so.

20. Reporting possible infringement

A rights holder who believes that material available through The Metaphor Society infringes their intellectual property rights should contact:

freshnewbrain@gmail.com

The report should include:

• The name and contact details of the rights holder
• Identification of the protected work
• The location of the material complained about
• An explanation of the rights said to be infringed
• Evidence of ownership or authority to act for the owner
• The action being requested
• A statement that the information supplied is accurate and genuine

The Society may temporarily restrict access to disputed material while a report is considered.

The Society may seek further information, contact the person who supplied the material, restore the content, edit it or remove it depending on the circumstances.

21. Enforcement

Suspected unauthorised copying, distribution or misuse may result in:

• Removal of content or access
• A request to delete or return copied material
• A warning
• Restriction of website or archive access
• Suspension of membership
• Termination of membership without a refund
• Notification to a website, platform or hosting provider
• Recovery of losses or enforcement of legal rights where appropriate

Serious or deliberate infringement may result in immediate termination without a prior warning.

22. Ending membership

When membership ends, the former member must stop accessing members-only content.

Any personal copies of restricted materials that were not expressly provided as permanent downloads must be deleted.

Ending membership does not affect:

• The ownership of Society or contributor content
• Restrictions on copying or distribution
• The Society’s right to retain meeting recordings
• The treatment of previous member contributions within the archive
• Any permission or separate agreement intended to continue
• Any action arising from an earlier breach of this policy

23. No implied endorsement

Reference to The Metaphor Society, Andrew T. Austin, The Fresh Brain Company Ltd or a Society speaker must not be used to imply endorsement, approval, accreditation or partnership without written permission.

The following do not, by themselves, amount to endorsement:

• Membership of the Society
• Attendance at a Society meeting
• Appearance in a meeting recording
• Participation in a discussion
• A link from the Society website
• A speaker’s appearance at a Society event

24. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated to reflect changes in Society services, content formats, technology, membership arrangements, contributor agreements or legal requirements.

The latest version will be published on the Society website. Material changes may also be communicated to members by email or through the members-only area.

Continued use of Society content after an updated policy has been published will be subject to the updated terms.