TERMS and CONDITIONS

COPYRIGHT, PURCHASE, DELIVERY, COOKIES and PRIVACY.

Last updated: 2023, July 3rd

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

01. INTRODUCTION

The following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions.
A. ‘Client’, ‘You’ and ‘Your’ refers to you, the person accessing this website and accepting the Company’s terms and conditions.
B. ‘The Company’, ‘Ourselves’, ‘We’ and ‘Us’, refers to our company NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS, Moerbeekstraat 86, B-9870 Zulte, Belgium — Company registration: Ghent, Belgium no. H.R. 205.800 (hereinafter: NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS).
C. ‘NOTUS Music Notation’, ‘NOTUS Music Notation System’, ‘Notation System’ and ‘System’ refers to the explicite copyrighted content of a new music notation based on a restructurering and restyling of the conventional music notation (see further). This new music notation is the base for all the products, books, services and learning methods presented on the website and published by the Company NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS.
D. ‘Party’, ‘Parties’ or ‘Us’, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves. All terms refer to the offer, acceptance and consideration of payment necessary to undertake the process of our assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, for the express purpose of meeting the Client’s needs in respect of provision of the Company’s stated services/products, in accordance with and subject to, prevailing Belgian Law.
E. ‘conventional music notation’ or ‘conventional notation’ refers to the commonly used Western way of notating music in particular the naturals on a five line staff with the use of a fixed G- and F- clef or a floating C-clef and the use of the signs sharp and flat to indicate the semitones.

Any use of the above terminology or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable and therefore as referring to same.

02. NOTUS Music Notation COPYRIGHT NOTICE.

Copyright and other relevant intellectual property rights exists on all text, images and video’s relating to the Company’s services and the full content of this website. The brand name ‘NOTUS Music Notation’ and accompanying logo is a registered trademark of the NOTUS Music Notation System in the Europan Union.

Only the site www.notus.world is the only site able to display all information about NOTUS. Sites selling NOTUS products in addition to the NOTUS site have been approved by the NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS company and/or by the developer of NOTUS, namely Erwin Clauws. The NOTUS Music Notation System and its applications and products (Handbooks, Textbooks, Sheet music, Scores, Research items) are protected by international copyright and are not Public Domain.
In addition, the company does not grant a Creative Commons license over its notation system and its products/applications as mentioned above.
This means that as a purchaser of the Company’s products or as a user of the Notation System you may only use these personally. All other actions (described below) are not permitted without the agreement and prior written confirmation of Erwin Clauws, developer of NOTUS Music Notation and director/owner of NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS.

NOT ALLOWED without agreement and prior written permission by Erwin Clauws, developer of NOTUS Music Notation and director/owner of NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS, are:

• free distribution of NOTUS publications with purchase value;
• copy in any form either in whole or in part or extracts from the publications with purchase value;
• reproducing, in whole or in part, excerpts from the purchase value publications on websites, social sites, personal or corporate blogs and public or private forums;
• modifying any content from the NOTUS publications, the sample pages and the NOTUS website;
• the commercial resale of products purchased from NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS or free downloadable documents;
• hacking the downloadable products to circumvent the applied print and content protection;
• the use of the NOTUS logo and other corporate identity items on hardcopy and softcopy documents produced by third parties, including personal or company blogs, forums, social sites and websites;
• the compilation, publication and commercialization in any way whatsoever of instructional, educational and informative videos, presentations, workshops, textbooks, sheet music, etc. based on or using the NOTUS Music Notation System.

ALLOWED without agreement and prior written permission by Erwin Clauws, developer of NOTUS Music Notation and director/owner of NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS, but stating ‘© NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS’ or ‘© NOTUS Music Notation’:

• distribution, in whatever form, of free downloadable NOTUS information and documentation:
– the first 37 pages of the NOTUS PIANO BASIS Textbook;
– the NOTUS brochure ‘What is NOTUS?
– the Quick Guide ‘Reading NOTUS for Musicians’;
– the ‘Discover NOTUS’ guide
– the Historical and Philosophical Context of NOTUS as found in the NOTUS Handbook;
– the Final Report on the NOTUS Music Pedagogical Research at the Kon. Conservatorium Antwerpen;
– transcription guidelines conventional notation to NOTUS notation;
– blank NOTUS staves;
– NOTUS information videos;
– page examples selected by us from NOTUS publications; 

03. CONFIRMED Copyright.

Confirmation of NOTUS copyright can be read in this Dutch document from lawyer Francoise Carlier, who specializes in Copyright and lawyer at the Brussels Bar. View the document in Dutch here.

04. LINKS TO the NOTUS Website.

You may not create a link to any page of this website without our prior written consent. If you do create a link to a page of this website you do so at your own risk and the exclusions and limitations set out below will apply to your use of this website by linking to it.

05. LINKS FROM the NOTUS Website.

We do not monitor or review the content of other party’s websites which are linked to from our website. Opinions expressed or material appearing on such websites are not necessarily shared or endorsed by us and should not be regarded as the publisher of such opinions or material. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices, or content, of these sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of these linked sites. You should evaluate the security and trustworthiness of any other site connected to this site or accessed through this site yourself, before disclosing any personal information to them. This Company will not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage in whatever manner, howsoever caused, resulting from your disclosure to third parties of personal information.

06. EXCLUSIONS and LIMITATIONS.

The information on this web site is provided on an ‘as is’ basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company excludes all representations and warranties relating to this website and its contents or which is or may be provided by any affiliates or any other third party, including in relation to any inaccuracies or omissions in this website and/or the Company’s literature; and excludes all liability for damages arising out of or in connection with your use of this website. This includes, without limitation, direct loss, loss of business or profits (whether or not the loss of such profits was foreseeable, arose in the normal course of things or you have advised this Company of the possibility of such potential loss), damage caused to your computer, computer software, systems and programs and the data thereon or any other direct or indirect, consequential and incidental damages. The above exclusions and limitations apply only to the extent permitted by law. None of your statutory rights as a consumer are affected.

07. QUALITY OF THE NOTUS TEXTBOOKS, SHEET MUSIC and RESEARCH items.

Textbooks and sheet music in NOTUS Music Notation are compiled with transcriptions of existing compositions notated in conventional music notation. Transcribing the conventional sheet music to NOTUS Music Notation sheet music is done with extreme care, including at least two rounds of checking for correctness of the music and preservation of the original markings. Despite our facilities and efforts to ensure that this transcription process runs smoothly, we do not exclude possible errors or deviations from the conventionally notated music. This may be our responsibility or due to the use of originals which in turn are not error free. The latter occurs mainly in the compositions of older masters, of which several versions are also available in conventional music notation, or in popular compositions that are subject to numerous transpositions and versions for various instruments. We aim to transcribe those versions that are most reliable or used as reference by the professional music world.
The customer cannot claim a refund for the purchased product in NOTUS Music Notation in which a sporadic error occurs, nor can he/she demand/claim another version of a certain composition.
The customer has the right to point out errors to us so that we are able to correct them. The customer has the right to demand a corrected copy of the composition in which he/she has discovered an error. This new version will be sent to him/her by e-mail digitally (in PDF format) for free upon simple e-mail request to info@notus.world.

08. PAYMENT.

The selected payment possibilities offered via Mollie are the only accepted methods of payment on the NOTUS website. Our Terms are payment in full upon a hardcopy or digital transaction. All goods remain the property of the Company until paid for in full.

09. PRICE and CONTENT CHANGES.

The Company reserves the right to modify, change, cancel or upgrade a product as well in printed form as in digital pdf format without prior notice or consent. Prices of all products are subject to change without prior notice or consent.

10. CANCELLATION / REFUND Policy.

A. We firmly believe in and stand behind our products 100%, but we understand that it cannot work perfectly for everyone all of the time. Since there are sample pages selected by us of all major publications and also because of the possibility to try the system for free for an unlimited time via the free NOTUS download package that includes 37 original pages of the NOTUS Music Notation System for Piano from the PIANO FOUNDATION Textbook, we will not honor refund requests if the system, accompanying textbooks and sheet music purchased by the customer are not appreciated by the customer for content and or design or whether or not the ability to learn the NOTUS Music Notation and learning to play an instrument via the NOTUS Music Notation System.
B. An order or mistake in an order can be canceled or corrected via simple email to info@notus.world within 12 hours of purchase. In case of cancellation of the total package of products, the total price and the shipping costs will be refunded with deduction of 10 euros administration costs on condition that the shipping costs have not yet been paid by us to the shipping service.
If the shipping costs have already been paid by us to the shipping service and the order has not yet been shipped, the order can still be canceled, but in this case only the product price with deduction of 10 euros administration costs and without the shipping costs will be refunded.

Both the Client and ourselves have the right to terminate any Services Agreement for any reason, including the ending of services that are already underway. No refunds shall be offered, where a Service is deemed to have begun and is, for all intents and purposes, shipped and underway to the client.

11. DELIVERY TIME and NOT DELIVERED PRODUCTS.

A. Paid orders for printed products will be shipped by us within a period of 2 to maximum 7 days to your specified shipping address via specialized shipping companies. In order to keep the shipping costs as low as possible for the customer, we reserve the right only to ourself to determine this carrier. Shipping to specific pick-up points is not possible.
B. Paid products that have not been delivered by third party shipping services within a period of 45 days after purchase and payment will be replaced by a new identical shipment including shipping costs. This process will only be initiated if you have notified us of non-delivery after a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 14 days from the date of shipping so that we are able to initiate a preliminary investigation with the relevant shipping service. Only within 48 hours after the expiry of the period of 45 days and on specific request by e-mail to us, the purchase price of the undelivered products excluding shipping costs can be reclaimed from us, provided the replacement package has not yet been sent by us.

12. COOKIES POLICY.

Our website ‘www.notus.world’ does not place cookies on your computer.
Our information videos are stored on the servers of our web hosting provider. There is therefore no redirection to YouTube or Vimeo that might place cookies on your computer systems.
Some of the downloadable documents are on Google Drive. It is therefore possible that Google Drive does place cookies on your computer. NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS is not responsible for the placement of cookies by third party websites.
If you would like to know more about cookies from third parties, please refer to the cookie policies of these parties on their respective websites.
Please note, we have no influence whatsoever on the content of those statements, nor on the content of the cookies of these third parties.

13. PRIVACY Policy and CONFIDENTIALITY.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. Authorized employees within the company on a need to know basis only use any information collected from individual customers. We regularly update our systems and data to ensure the best possible service to and privacy of our customers. This ‘Privacy Policy’and Confidentiality’ regulates the processing of your data by the Company.
By sharing your personal information on our website www.notus.world, or by contacting us by email, you declare that you have read the company’s General Terms and Conditions and you expressly agree with their contents of it.

Content

A – What data do we process about you?
B – What do we use your personal data for?
C – Who receives your personal data?
D – How long do we keep your personal data?
E – Your rights.
F – How do we protect your personal data?

A. WHAT DATA DO WE PROCES ABOUT YOU?

The Company processes the following data from you in the context of its work:

• Personal and Customer Data.

When using our website, various personal data about you are collected when you submit a form or make a purchase. By ‘personal data’ we mean all information that can or could be traced back to a person, both directly and indirectly.
We receive your personal data when, for example, you fill in a form on the NOTUS website and send it to us (e.g. with the Free Download Package, with Subscribe to the Newsletter, with a purchase of our products …). The collection of data is limited to your name, address, telephone and e-mail, your age, your musical level (beginner, amateur, professional), your company name and, if different from the billing address, an additional shipping address.

• Bank and Account Data.

Because you do not have to create an account on the site ‘www.notus.world’ for a purchase or request for information and because all payments are made via the safe payment environment MOLLIE, the Company nor the site does not store bank details such IBAN account numbers, credit card details and or pin codes.

B. WHAT DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA FOR?

We only use your personal data as follows:

• improved tailoring of the site to our target groups.

Understanding the people who fill out forms or make a purchase allows us to improve our site and NOTUS policies. In this way we can better tailor our site, publications, campaigns, workshops and projects to our goal, which is to teach as many people as possible worldwide to read and play notated music.

• Information and quotation for data that fall outside the purchase options within the site.

In case your country of destination is not included in our shipping country list or if your order weighs more than 2000 g (2 kg), you can ask us by email for a free quote regarding the selected products with shipping costs included.

• Communication.

Newsletter and marketing.
When filling out a form or when purchasing a product, you are automatically added to the information and newsletter mailing lists.
NOTUS sends maximum one NOTUS newsletter via these mailing lists every two months and sends information by e-mail when new publications and promotions are available with the legal basis of our legitimate interest in relation to existing customers or persons who have shown an interest in our products or the NOTUS Music Notation System .
If you no longer wish to receive mailings from NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS, you can do so at no cost and without having to give a reason, by clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link in each of our mailings. If this link does not work, you can also contact us by e-mail to info@notus.world.

• Personal messages.

NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS may use your information to contact you directly. There can be various reasons for this, such as a problem when purchasing and/or shipment of a product, requesting your permission to post videos on our site or social platforms with you as the main character, an informational question from NOTUS to you, etc.

C. WHO RECEIVES YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

• Client records are regarded as confidential and therefore will not be divulged to any third party, other than if legally required to do so to the appropriate authorities.
However, it is possible that your data must be shared with partners known to us in joint NOTUS projects, in particular educational and cultural authorities, cultural institutions, schools, private teachers. This sharing of your data only serves the purpose of guaranteeing smooth cooperation and communication so that the proposed goal of the cooperation and for the benefit of the NOTUS customer can be worked out and evaluated.
• We will not sell, share, or rent your personal information to any third party or use your e-mail address for unsolicited mail. All emails sent by this company and its suppliers relate only to the delivery and fulfillment of agreed services and products and to provide news about NOTUS publications, educational NOTUS information and content extension of the NOTUS Music Notation System.
• Although we rigorously select our partners in terms of clarity and fairness towards us and the NOTUS customers, the Company cannot be held responsible if your data is nevertheless shared by these third parties without prior knowledge or permission from us or from you.
• If the Company ceases its activities or transfers its activities to others this may mean that your personal data will be transferred to third parties, who will take over all or part of our activities. In that case, we will always inform you in advance as far as possible.
• In all other situations where it is inescapable or necessary for the processing of the purposes of the Company that your data is shared, we will ask you for permission in advance.

D. HOW LONG DO WE SAVE YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

We save your personal data for as long as this is necessary in function of the purposes of the processing and the legal regulations.
For example, our outgoing invoices and all necessary documents to substantiate these invoices will be kept for 7 years, which is the legal term in Belgium.
Data we receive from persons who do not make a purchase will be kept for two years after the last contact via the forwarding of the site forms.

E. YOUR RIGHTS.

Clients have the right to request sight of, and copies of any and all Client Records we keep on them, on the proviso that we are given reasonable notice of such a request. Clients are requested to retain copies of any literature issued in relation to the provision of our services. Where appropriate, we shall issue Client’s with appropriate written information, handouts or copies of records as part of an agreed contract, for the benefit of both parties. You have the right to request us to correct, supplement or delete your personal data. In a number of cases listed in the GDPR, you may also request that the processing of your personal data be limited. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data if you have serious and legitimate reasons for doing so which go beyond our need to process your data. You also always have the right to object to the use of personal data for direct marketing purposes, even without having to state a reason. To the extent our processing is based on your prior consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent.
You can direct your rights by e-mail to info@notus.world, by a letter to the Company or via the contact form on the NOTUS website.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority:
Printing press street 35
1000 Brussels
Phone : +32 (0)2 274 48 00
contact@apd-gba.be.
www.dataprotectionauthority.be

F. HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

We have taken security measures at three levels on technical and organizational level to guarantee the security of your personal data as well as possible.

• At server level:

– the site is hosted by Combell, a Flemish reliable and secure partner;
– all necessary software updates are performed automatically, including security updates;
– specific security settings have been implemented inside the website, these are ‘block access important files, xmlrpc blocks, readme block, user rest-endpoints removed, user-enumeration scan blocked, security headers: enforce https, block access for suspected XSS attack, prvent clickjacking, prevent MIME- type of sniffing’.

• At hardware and software level:

– the computer from which we manage the site is protected with firewall settings and the anti-virus software Avast, which is updated daily;
– important data is only stored and backed up on data carriers that are separate from and outside the administrator’s computer;

• At website level:

– the site ‘www.notus.world’ is secured with an SSL certificate;
– all payments in the ‘www.notus.world’ site are made via the reliable and secure Mollie payment environment; your financial and transaction details are not stored or kept by us, so they cannot be hacked;
– adding a reCaptcha entry field to every e-form increases the security of these possible gateways for spam, hackers and the like.
Under no circumstances can NOTUS&BOOKS&SHEETS be held liable for any direct or indirect damage resulting from incorrect or unlawful use by a third party of the personal data.

14. CONTACT

If you have any further questions or comments please contact us by e-mail at info@notus.world, or via the contact form on the site.