This version of the terms and conditions were active from the 28th November, 2017 to the 4th November, 2021.
Click here to read the actual version of the terms and conditions.
The general purchasing terms and conditions herein stated (hereafter called « General Terms and Conditions ») apply to all purchases of products on the website http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr managed by the National Museum of Natural History (hereinafter called « Museum »), subject to specific conditions as indicated in the presentation of the products.
Orders made on the website http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr imply that the general purchasing terms and conditons were consulted beforehand and will be taken as a fully and irrevocably acceptation thereof.
The Museum has the right, without prior notice, to adapt or modify the aforesaid General Terms and Conditions at any given time. In case of modification, the General Terms and Conditions at the date of placing the order will prevail.
National Museum of Natural History
Headquarters: 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris
Siret Identification Number: 180 044 174 000 19
Intra Community VAT Number: FR 62 180 044 174
E – commerce scientific publications department
Telephone: +33 (0)1 40 79 48 05, Monday to Friday, 9.am-12.30 pm/2 pm-5 pm
e-mail address: diff.pub@mnhn.fr
The website http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr offers for sale hard copies of intellectual works, (in particular printed books with or without an accompanying CDRom, DVD and/or journal issues). It also offers for sale digital publications (e-books etc.).
These digital publications (e-books) sold through the website http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr are composed of digital files each containing intellectual works for downloading and thus readable on different electronic devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones etc.
All printed or digital works are protected by both French and International copyright laws. In the absence of an agreement giving details on any other terms and conditions of use, those files downloaded are for the sole use of the purchaser. They may not be resold, rented or transmitted free of charge beyond the family circle or beyond what are deemed to be legitimate needs for private use. Any representation or reproduction of these files, in total or partially, except in cases provided for in article L122-5 of the Law on Intellectual Property, is strictly forbidden and infringement thereof will expose the alleged infringer to a lawsuit.
Orders may be made:
Orders will only be confirmed on reception of payment.
The customer must be at least 18 years of age and be legally entitled, or have parental permission, to make an order on the http//sciencepress.mnhn.fr website.
By ticking the box entitled “I accept the general purchasing terms and conditions without any reservations”, the aforesaid General Purchasing Terms and Conditions are explicitly agreed to by the Customer, who leaves aside notably any option where his/her own version of any General Terms and Conditions would prevail, which would be non invocable against the Museum.
The customer may, however, withdraw the order up to the time of validation of the payment.
The customer may check the status of the order and ordering process at any time by logging onto his/her account.
The prices allocated to the products are in euros, net, including taxes, but do not include shipping costs with regard to printed works. All orders are invoiced in euros and settlement is to be made at the time of ordering.
By virtue of decision dated 5 March 2015 rendered by the European Court of Justice, the French rate of 20 per cent value added tax (VAT) will be applied to all digital material. A 5.5% VAT is applicable to all printed material with the exception of maps and some other products identified as not falling into this VAT category.
For customers within the European Union subjected to French VAT, the first order made on the website will be invoiced excluding taxes while waiting for communication of an intra-european community registration number. This number will be checked beforehand so as to establish an invoice excluding taxes. Thus any order made before the intra European community VAT number has been checked, will be invoiced VAT included.
For customers outside the European Union, orders will be invoiced excluding taxes.
Printed material (books) will be sold in keeping with the provisions in force and notably, withing the scope of the Lang Law (French Net Book Price Agreement) concerning a single price for books, this being determined by the publisher outside shipping costs. For all deliveries outside Metropolitan France, any customs duties or local taxes are the responsibility of the customer.
All orders will be shipped to the customer using the French postal service for packages called “Colissimo”.
However, with regard to the series “Encyclopédie des Carnivores de France”, the National Museum for Natural History reserves the option to send these by letter postage with follow up procedure, inasmuch as any package contains up to two copies, free of charge.
Shipping costs are calculated based on the total price amount of the order and the destination, as per the below-given chart.
Metropolitan France | Saint-Pierre and Miquelon islands, French Overseas Dominions | French Overseas Territories | |||
< 50 € | ≥ 50 € | < 100 € | ≥ 100 € | < 100 € | ≥ 100 € |
6,90 € | 0,01 € | 13,15 € | 0,01 € | 15,70 € | 0,01 € |
European Union + Switzerland | Other European (except Russia) + Maghreb | Other destinations | |||
< 100 € | ≥ 100 € | < 100 € | ≥ 100 € | < 100 € | ≥ 100 € |
16,00 € | 0,01 € | 19,80 € | 0,01 € | 25 € | 0,01 € |
Means of settlement
The Purchaser must choose to settle the order, exclusively in euros, in accordance with the following different means of payment:
The Order will not be processed until full payment by check covering the purchase and the shipping costs has been received. Payment by check is only possible if drafted in euros and cashable through a French bank.
Payment
All payments shall be in euros. The price of the purchase will be payable in full and in one installment at the time of placing the order. In the event of a payment being rejected by our financial services, the order will automaticaly be cancelled.
On validation of the payment means made by the Purchaser, the order will be confirmed and cannot thereafter be cancelled or reimbursed except if the Purchaser exercises his/her 14-day right of withdrawal (see below) and expressly requests a refund.
The Purchaser will give proof to the Museum that the necessary authorisation, if any, for the means of payment chosen, has been obtained. The Museum may investigate any order suspected as being fraudulent and take any action that is deemed appropriate.
As proof of purchase, the Purchaser may print the complete transaction record appearing on the screen once payment has been accepted.
Invoice
The invoice will accompany the product(s) in the package sent to the client.
No matter what the destination country is, delivery of the printed works is made to the address indicated at the time of ordering. These products are shipped within 2 to 10 business days depending on their availability. As soon as the order is shipped, a confirmation email will be sent with the tracking number that will enable the customer to track the package. Delivery time includes package preparation time in addition to transportation time by postal services, depending on the destination.
Downloading of digital products purchased on our website is deemed to be delivery thereof. The customer shall be in a position to carry out the downloading of the digital product using his/her personal account just a few minutes following payment of the order.
Product guarantee
All new products supplied through our website are guaranteed to be without defect. However, if it happens that any of them turns out to be flawed or is considered not to be in conformity with usual standards, the customer has the right, up to 14 days after reception of his/her order, to return the aforesaid product in its original wrapping, or by means of an e-mail if the flaw is in a digitalised immaterial product. The customer may ask either for reimbursement, or for an exchange, of the defective product. Immediately on receipt of the flawed product, a new replacement product will be sent off in the case of a printed product, or a new downloading shall be made available in the case of a digitalized product. If the book is no longer available the customer will be refunded. As regards any request for reimbursement for a flawed product, the customer must follow the reimbursement procedure as described herebelow.
In the event of digital contents being flawed on the immaterial support, only an exchange will be possible, no reimbursement being possible.
14-Day right of withdrawal
Any immaterial digitalised contents are deemed to be firm and final. No exchange, reimbursement or withdrawal will be possible, in conformity with Article L.120-20-2 of the Consumer Code.
For all other purchases, the customer can avail of a period of 14 working days to send them back at his/her own cost, inasmuch as the products are deemed unsuitable, for any reason whatsoever.
In exercising the right to withdraw, the Purchaser will be able to either claim either reimbursement for his/her order from Customer services, with the exception of costs involved for their return, or an exchange for another similarly priced product of the same quality.
Refund
To this effect, the customer should enclose the copy of the invoice of the product in perfect condition in its original wrapping being sent back, attach thereto his/her banking details in the event of requesting reimbursement, and address the package as follows: Publications Scientifiques du Museum – CP 41, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
On receipt of the aforesaid products, Customer Services will contact the Purchaser (either by e mail or by telephone) so as to solve the problem, as soon as feasible, but not later than 30 days after the notified withdrawal date.
In the event of request being made for reimbursement, the Museum undertakes to reimburse the Purchaser the total amount paid, outside of the costs for returning the product paid for by the Purchaser.
Personal information will be collected from the Purchaser so as to process and send off the product(s) ordered as well as the issuance of delivery notes and invoices.
Such information and data will be stored for security reasons in conformity with the legal obligations in force, and this for the legal period in force in France and in the European Union.
Customer files on the website htpp://sciencepress.mnhn.fr and the processing procedure thereof will be notified to the CNIL – National Commission on Computer Data and Personal Liberties, the rules and regulations thereof being strictly complied with by the Museum (reference NS-48), registered under number 1846833.
Under no circumstances will any data be transmitted to any partner whosoever in the course of any commercial prospection.
In conformity with law N° 78-17 dated 6 January 1978, in the realm of computer data, files, and personal liberties, the customer has the right to oppose (article 26), access (articles 34-38), rectify (article 36), and delete any personal data concerning him/herself. Such a right can be undertaken either by logging on to his/her account; or by means of an e-mail to the following electronic address: diff.pub@mnhn.fr or by postal mail to: Publications Scientifiques du Museum – CP 41 – 57 rue Cuvier – 75231 Paris cedex 05 – France.
Moreover, visitors to this website are informed that “cookies” will collect information regarding their online activity and this information will be stored in their hard disk memory so as to better operate the website and compile statistics. This will enable the website to propose customised services and products relating to previous website connections. A warning message may request, at the time of connection, if the cookies are accepted. This gives the visitor to the website the right to refuse the “cookies” request. In fact it is possible to adapt the browser being used so as to either accept or refuse the aforesaid “cookies”.
“Cookies” do not contain any confidential information concerning the visitor and are only essentially aimed at improving personalised services.
The customer is solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of his/her account and for all activities that occur on or through this account. In the event of a password being lost or forgotten, the customer will have to follow the reset procedure. An email will be sent enabling the customer to create a new password.
The Museum will in no way be liable in the event of the contractual operation being hindered because of an event deemed to be “force majeure”. Without limitation, will be deemed force majeure events, not only those usually proclaimed as such by case law in French Courts, these being strike actions either within or outside the company, blocking of means of transportation or means of delivery no matter what the reason, governmental or legal restrictions, computer breakdowns, blocking of the telecommunication network systems including, notably, internet.
The Museum shall not be held responsible for any interruptions of connection to the Internet resulting from any technical problems, or from any technical problems arising with customers’ own software or devices.
The administrator of the website however has the right to temporarily close down access to the website without giving notice thereof.
The Muséum will not be held liable, under any circumstances, for the content of third party websites referencing the Muséum products.
The products on the website all comply with French legislation in force. The Museum cannot be held responsible in case of non-respect of the legislation of the country where the products are delivered or downloaded.
The customer is solely responsible for ascertaining whether the use of products purchased is locally permitted and in compliance with all legal requirements.
General terms and conditions
Both parties hereto agree to accept the present general terms and conditions in their integrality.
If, for any reason whatsoever, any one of the clauses of the present General Terms and Conditions is to be deemed inapplicable, the aforesaid clause shall be deemed to be non-existent, but in no way will this render null and void the aforesaid General Terms and Conditions, nor will any other clauses in the aforesaid General Terms and Conditions be altered in any way.
These General Purchasing Terms and Conditions come under the jurisdiction of French Law . In the event of any litigation, preferably an out-of-court settlement should be sought before having recourse to any lawsuit which would be heard in the appropriate French Courts in Paris (France) where the headquarters of the National Museum of Natural History is located and where the sales contracts will be contracted between the parties.