These terms apply to the the website and mobile apps

Last update: January 31, 2013

Wheelmap.org is an online application developed by SOZIALHELDEN e.V. by means of which users can mark public places on a map, showing the wheelchair accessibility of places such as train stations, restaurants, government agencies and stores. The map shows to what extent the entrances of these places are accessible for the users of wheelchairs and wheeled walkers and for parents with a baby carriage.

Wheelmap.org is available on the web under http://wheelmap.org (hereinafter referred to as “website”) and as a mobile application (hereinafter referred to as “app”) for the operating systems or smart phones named on the website.

The following provisions govern your use of the website and the app, including the incorporated features such as the photo application. By visiting the website – or if you are registered as a user with Wheelmap.org, by accepting these Terms of Use during the registration process – you agree to be bound by the following Terms of Use:

1. Use of Wheelmap.org

1.1 At this time it is not necessary for users of the website to be registered in order to obtain information concerning the accessibility of places on the Wheelmap or to mark places on the Wheelmap so as to change their status, for example from red (not wheelchair accessible) to green (wheelchair accessible).

1.2 For a more extensive use of the website, in particular to be able to add locations to the Wheelmap and to upload photos for locations, and also to use the app, it is necessary to open a user account with OpenStreetMap. Subsequently, you can register with Wheelmap.org using your OpenStreetMap account. The required registration process is described on the website.

1.3 Only places that are open to the public, primarily train stations, bus stops, government agencies, restaurants and stores may be added to the Wheelmap. Apartments and areas within businesses and government agencies that are not open to everyone are examples of places that are not open to the public. You are obliged to mark locations and the status of locations truthfully. We can delete incorrect marks at any time. In addition, we reserve the right to delete or partially remove entries and changes made by users who repeatedly (at least twice) add or mark locations incorrectly and if need be, to delete such a user’s account.

1.4 We do not check or monitor whether the entries and marks of places made by the users of Wheelmap.org. are accurate or up-to-date. Also, changes can occur after a place has been added or marked that have not yet been taken into account on the Wheelmap and of which we have no knowledge.
As a result we are not responsible for the accuracy and up-to-dateness of entries and are not liable therefor. In this we are also dependent upon your assistance. Should you find that a place has been added or marked incorrectly, you can correct this error yourself.

1.5 The current terms of license of the Open Database License (ODbL) are applicable to the use of content – with the exception of photographs – contributed to the Wheelmap, especially the information regarding public places. Photographs published on the Wheelmap, which have been contributed by users, may only be used for private or other in-house (especially within a company or agency) purposes of users. Other types of use of the contributed photographs is explicitly prohibited, in particular such use involving their collection, editing, saving and reproduction by means of databases, or their physical reproduction for the purpose of distribution to third parties for payment or for free, or their public display, especially by making them accessible through electronic communication networks.

1.6 Wheelmap.org may only be used in a contractual and lawful manner. Users may not take any actions or use any mechanisms, software, scripts or sniplets in conjunction with the use of Wheelmap.org that could disrupt the functioning of the website or the app. You may not take any measures that could lead to an unacceptable strain of the website or the app.

2. Use of the photo application

As a logged in user you can upload and publish photographs using the website or the app for the places you or other users have added to the Wheelmap using the photo application we have made available for the Wheelmap (hereinafter to be called “photo application”). These photographs are meant to make it easier for users of the Wheelmap to inform themselves about the accessibility of public places. The following paragraphs govern your use of this photo application and the rights of use which you grant us for the photographs that you have uploaded.

2.1. To use the photo application it is required that you are registered as a user at Wheelmap.org and at OpenStreetMap and that you are logged in on Wheelmap.org.

2.2 Please make certain that you only upload such photographs to Wheelmap.org that clearly and unequivocally show the nature of the accessibility and the possible barriers of the place depicted. Photographs that are not meaningful in this regard and/or that have no correlation to the accessibility or the existing barriers of places on the Wheelmap, may not be uploaded. We reserve the right to delete photographs that do not fulfill these requirements in our judgment.

2.3 We ask that you only use the photo application for photographs that you have taken yourself or for photographs for which the photographer has given you written permission to the rights of use as they are described in paragraph 2.7. As far as possible no persons should be identifiable on the photographs. If persons are identifiable in a photograph you may only upload this photograph if the person(s) in question has (have) given you explicit and written permission in advance for the publication and use of their picture for the purposes described in paragraph 2.7. This permission must be obtained by you.

2.4 The photographs may not contain any illegal, immoral or otherwise offensive contents. In particular it is forbidden to upload photographs with contents that is untrue, obscene, pornographic, defaming, discriminatory, insulting, threatening or which glorifies violence, is liable to be harmful to young people or is punishable by law. Photographs that contain advertising for products or services are also prohibited.

2.5 We are not obligated to review your photographs with regard to their content or their legality. If however, it comes to our attention that your photograph is in violation of these Terms of Use, we can remove and delete it at any time.

2.6 You are entitled to delete photographs at any time that you yourself have uploaded by logging in on Wheelmap.org.

2.7 By uploading a photograph toWheelmap.org you grant us the following non-exclusive rights of use to that photograph, free of charge, irrevocably (subject to the statutory right to recall as stipulated in articles 41 and 42 of the Urhebergesetz/ German copyright law), for an unlimited period of time and without regional restrictions.

• The right to use the photograph for Wheelmap.org and for applications, features and digital publications (such as e-books) which are based on Wheelmap.org, to publish the photograph there and to keep it available electronically for retrieval by members of the public or of closed user groups, to be made accessible at places or times of their choice, – including for individual retrieval – for the purpose of private or other in-house (such as company or agency) use, including saving and displaying on any electronic devices (such as a computer, cell phone, smart phone, tablet, e-book reader, set-top box, television, etc.), to simultaneously or successively transmit over all wired or wireless transmission channels (such as internet, telephone and mobile phone networks, cable, satellite, terrestrial, distribution systems, etc.) and to send it to these transmission channels.
• The right to use the photographs in all online media (such as the web, in mobile applications, on WAP sites, on television, in e-books, etc.) and in offline media (e.g. printed media such as newspapers, magazines, books, flyers, brochures, posters or outdoor advertisement such as public transportation, billboards etc.), for use in the promotion of Wheelmap.org and for public relations activities in connections with the accessibility of places and/or the issue of barriers in the public realm.
• The right to make the photograph available to other nonprofit or public-sector organizations which address the issues of accessibility and/or of barriers in the public realm and to grant them sublicenses for the use of the photograph for their non-profit, non-commercial purposes on their own online platforms (such as websites, mobile apps, etc.) and in their digital and print publications (such as e-books, brochures, magazines).
• The right to make the photograph available free of charge, or for payment, to the operators of search engines (such as Google), online directories (such as the Gelbe Seiten) and other online information services for incorporation and use in their online services and to grant them the corresponding sublicenses for this for the purpose of promoting Wheelmap.org and for spreading the information provided on the Wheelmap in the form of so-called thumbnails.
• The right to edit the photograph and to reproduce it digitally and physically at our discretion, including in particular saving it on public and private databases and networks, and to distribute it, for all aforementioned purposes – whilst safeguarding the moral rights of the author;
• The right to transfer all the aforementioned rights of use of the photograph to a third party if we transfer the operation of Wheelmap.org to that third party.

2.8 You declare that you are the owner of the granted right of use and that you are entitled to make use of this right. Furthermore, you declare that your photographs and their use do not infringe upon the rights of third parties such as copyrights, trademarks or personality rights (such as the right to one’s own likeness) and do not violate any laws. Upon first request you will release us from all justified claims by third parties for infringements of such rights of third parties caused by your photographs and for which you are responsible or because of infringements of these Terms of Use for which you are responsible.

3. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

This agreement is subject exclusively to the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Insofar as the user is a merchant, a legal person of the public sector or a special fund under public law it is agreed upon that the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all conflicts arising out of, or in connection with, this agreement will be the place of registration of the headquarters of SOZIALHELDEN e.V. Likewise it is agreed upon, insofar as the user has no place of general jurisdiction (for natural persons their permanent address or their usual place of residence when lacking a permanent address, for legal persons their place of business) within the Federal Republic of Germany, that the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all conflicts arising out of, or in connection with, this agreement, will be the place of registration of the headquarters of SOZIALHELDEN e.V. If however, another place of jurisdiction is exclusively or additionally competent according to mandatory law then that will be the place of jurisdiction, exclusively or additionally.

The English version of these Terms of Use only constitutes a convenient translation. In case of differing interpretations of the text of this agreement the German version shall prevail.

4. Changes to the Terms of Use

We are entitled to change these Terms of Use at any time. Changes made will come into effect in the future. The modified Terms of Use will be sent to you by email one month prior to their coming into effect if you have given Wheelmap.org an email address. Otherwise, we will notify you of the modified Terms of Use one month prior to their coming into effect when you visit the website or by means of a push message when you use the app. If you do not object to the new Terms of Use within fourteen days the modified Terms of Use will be considered to be agreed upon. When we notify you of the changed Terms of Use we will explicitly notify you of your right to objection and of the consequences of not declaring your objection within the prescribed time limit. For users that are not registered with us those Terms of Use are applicable that are valid at the time of each use of the website or the app and which can be found on the website. We will call attention to changes to the Terms of Use on our website. If you continue to use the website or the app in such a case, your continued use of the website or the app constitutes your agreement to the use of the modified Terms of Use.