Terms and Conditions of Use

Last updated: 17-06-26 Version 1.0

1. Who We Are

The website paliverse.org (“PaliVerse”, the “Site”) is operated by the Center for Study and Practice Theravada Buddhism Civic Non Profit Company, a civil non-profit company (αστική μη κερδοσκοπική εταιρεία) registered in Greece (the “Centre”, “we”, “us”).

General Electronic Commercial Registry (GEMI) No.: 147174501000 · VAT No.: EL997004360
Registered address: 5 Apostolou Pavlou St., Ag. Paraskevi, 153 42 Athens, Greece
Email: [email protected]

2. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Site and its services. By accessing or using the Site, creating an account, subscribing to our newsletter, or making a donation, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site. Our Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms.

3. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or apply for membership. The public content of the Site is suitable for a general audience and may be read without an account.

When you create an account you must provide accurate information and keep your sign-in credentials secure. You are responsible for activity carried out under your account. Notify us promptly at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorised use.

4. The Services

PaliVerse provides English and Greek translations of the Pāli Canon (Tipiṭaka) together with its commentaries (Aṭṭhakathā) and sub-commentaries (Ṭīkā), interactive study tools, search and navigation features, the AI-assisted Ask PaliVerse feature, podcasts, a Pāli language course, and meditation guides. Core canonical content is offered freely in the spirit of Dhamma Dāna.

We may add, modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature of the Site at any time. Where changes materially affect paid memberships, clause 10 applies.

5. Membership

Membership is granted on application through the Apply for Membership page and may be subject to approval. We may decline an application, or suspend or terminate a membership, where these Terms are breached or where required to protect the Site, its users, or the integrity of its content. Where reasonably possible, we will give notice and an opportunity to respond before terminating a membership.

6. Permitted Use of Content

Site content is provided for personal study, practice, education, and research. The detailed conditions under which translations and other materials may be quoted, copied, or reused are set out in our Permissions and Use document, which forms part of these Terms. In summary: personal, non-commercial use with attribution to PaliVerse is welcome; systematic copying, republication, or commercial exploitation requires our prior written permission.

7. Scraping, Text and Data Mining, and AI Training

The Centre expressly reserves all rights in the content of the Site for the purposes of Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790, as transposed into Greek law. Without our prior written permission you may not:

• scrape, crawl, harvest, or bulk-download Site content by automated means (other than standard search-engine indexing consistent with our robots directives);
• carry out text and data mining on Site content; or
• use Site content to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or otherwise develop machine-learning or artificial-intelligence models.

8. Ask PaliVerse (AI Feature)

Ask PaliVerse is an AI-assisted feature that generates responses grounded in the canonical texts. It is provided for educational and informational purposes only.

• AI-generated responses may contain errors or omissions. Always verify important points against the canonical texts themselves and, where appropriate, with a qualified teacher.
• This feature does not provide medical, mental-health, legal, financial, or other professional advice, and is not a substitute for professional care or for the guidance of a qualified teacher.
• If you are in distress or crisis, please contact your local emergency services (112 within the EU) or a qualified mental-health professional.
• The feature does not make automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects concerning you, and does not build psychological or risk profiles of users.
• The processing of your inputs to this feature is described in our Privacy Policy.

9. Donations

Donations made through the Contribution page are voluntary gifts supporting the Centre’s non-profit purpose. Donations are not payments for goods or services and are non-refundable, except where a refund is required by law or where a donation was made in manifest error — in which case contact us at [email protected] and we will examine the request in good faith.

10. Paid Memberships and Right of Withdrawal

Where paid membership tiers are offered, the price, billing period, and included features are stated at the point of purchase. Prices include VAT where applicable.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, you have the right to withdraw from a paid membership within 14 days of purchase without giving any reason, under Greek Law 2251/1994 and Directive 2011/83/EU. If you request immediate access to digital content or services and acknowledge that you thereby lose your right of withdrawal, the right of withdrawal lapses once performance has begun. To exercise withdrawal, email [email protected] with an unequivocal statement of your decision within the 14-day period.

You may cancel a recurring membership at any time with effect from the end of the current billing period.

11. User Submissions, Corrections, and Feedback

Where the Site allows you to submit translation corrections, comments, or other feedback, you grant the Centre a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use, edit, incorporate, and publish your submission for the purposes of the PaliVerse project. You confirm that your submission is your own work or that you have the right to submit it, and that it contains nothing unlawful. We are not obliged to use any submission and do not pay compensation for submissions. Attribution of accepted contributions is governed by our contributor practices as published on the Site.

12. Intellectual Property

The Pāli source texts of the Canon are in the public domain. The English and Greek translations published on PaliVerse, together with the glossary, summaries, explanatory material, editorial apparatus, audio productions, software, and the design and arrangement of the Site, are protected works owned by the Centre or its licensors. The PaliVerse name and logo may not be used without our prior written permission. Nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual-property rights to you beyond the limited use permitted in clause 6.

13. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Site lawfully and not to: interfere with its operation or security; attempt to gain unauthorised access to accounts, systems, or data; circumvent access or membership controls; impersonate any person; or submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, or infringes the rights of others.

14. Third-Party Links and Services

The Site may contain links to third-party websites and may rely on third-party service providers (for example hosting, payment processing, email delivery, and AI infrastructure). We are not responsible for the content of third-party websites. Third-party processing of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy.

15. Disclaimers

The Site and its content are provided “as is” and “as available”. While we take great care over the accuracy and fidelity of the translations and apply systematic quality-assurance processes, we do not warrant that the content is free of errors, or that the Site will be available without interruption. Translations are works of scholarship offered in good faith; for matters of doctrine and practice, the Pāli texts remain authoritative.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Greek law, the Centre shall not be liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from use of the Site or reliance on its content. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for wilful misconduct or gross negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Nothing in these Terms affects the mandatory statutory rights of consumers.

17. Data Protection

We process personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Greek Law 4624/2019, as described in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link in each email.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may amend these Terms from time to time. The current version, with its effective date, will always be published on this page. For material changes affecting registered members, we will give reasonable advance notice by email or on the Site. Continued use of the Site after the effective date of an amendment constitutes acceptance of the amended Terms.

19. Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Consumer Rights

These Terms are governed by Greek law. The courts of Athens, Greece have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms, except that if you are a consumer you retain the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence and the right to bring proceedings there where applicable EU law so provides. Consumers in Greece may also refer disputes to the Hellenic Consumer Ombudsman (Συνήγορος του Καταναλωτή) or other certified alternative-dispute-resolution bodies.

20. Language

These Terms are published in English and in Greek. In the event of any discrepancy between the two versions, the English version shall prevail.

21. General

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in force. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the Permissions and Use document, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Centre regarding use of the Site. Questions about these Terms may be sent to [email protected].