Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of terms

By accessing or using Griott ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service. These terms apply to all visitors, contributors, curators, and other users.

2. The Griott archive

Griott is a community-curated archive of Zimbabwean and African history. All submissions are reviewed by human curators before publication. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any published content — certainty labels (Oral Tradition, Sourced Claim, Firsthand Account) are provided to help readers assess the nature of each entry.

3. Contributor responsibilities

By submitting content to Griott, you confirm that:

• You have the right to share the content you submit.
• The content is truthful to the best of your knowledge and correctly labelled with the appropriate certainty label.
• The content does not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights.
• The content does not contain defamatory, hateful, or illegal material.
• You grant Griott a perpetual, royalty-free licence to publish, display, and archive your submission.

4. Prohibited conduct

You must not:

• Submit knowingly false or fabricated historical accounts.
• Harass, threaten, or abuse other users or curators.
• Attempt to circumvent the moderation system.
• Use automated tools to submit bulk contributions without prior written consent.
• Attempt to access accounts or data that do not belong to you.
• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose.

5. Moderation

All submissions are subject to human curator review. Curators may approve, reject, or request revisions. Griott reserves the right to remove any content that violates these terms or that curators determine to be inaccurate, harmful, or otherwise unsuitable for the archive. Moderation decisions are final, though you may resubmit revised content.

6. Intellectual property

The Griott platform, design, and codebase are owned by Griott. Published contributions remain the intellectual property of their authors, subject to the licence granted in Section 3. The archive as a collective work is owned by Griott.

7. Disclaimer of warranties

The Service is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that published content is accurate. Historical records are inherently uncertain — always apply critical judgement.

8. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Griott shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service or reliance on any content published in the archive.

9. Account termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms. You may delete your account at any time via Account Settings. Published contributions may be anonymised rather than deleted to preserve archive integrity.

10. Changes to terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance. We will notify registered users of material changes by email.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Zimbabwe, without prejudice to your rights under applicable local consumer protection law.

12. Contact

For questions about these terms: legal@griott.org