Template Licence
& Disclaimer

This Template Licence ("this Licence") is a legal agreement between you and MJ Kotze Inc (Firm No. F17333) ("the Firm", "we", "us", "our"). It governs every document template, precedent, form, checklist, starter agreement or sample document that we make available for download through mjkinc.co.za (each, a "Template").

By downloading, opening, saving, copying, completing or otherwise using a Template, you agree to be bound by this Licence. If you do not agree, you must not download or use the Template. This agreement is concluded by electronic means and is valid and enforceable in terms of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

If you accept this Licence on behalf of a company, firm or other organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind that organisation, and "you" includes that organisation.

In this Licence:

• "Template" means any document we make available for download through our website, in any format (including Microsoft Word / .docx and PDF), together with its wording, structure, formatting and any embedded fields.
• "Branding" means our name, logo, letterhead, footer, copyright notice, firm registration number (F17333), and any "prepared by", attribution or credit line that appears in or on a Template.
• "Restricted Section" means any part of a Template that we have locked, protected, password-protected, marked read-only, or controlled using Microsoft Word’s editing-restriction, document-protection or content-control features (or an equivalent feature in another program).
• "Editable Section" means any part of a Template that is not a Restricted Section.
• "Your Document" means a document you create by completing and adapting the Editable Sections of a Template for your own use.

We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use each Template you download for your own (and your own business’s) lawful purposes, for as long as you comply with this Licence.

A Template being free to download means it is free to use on the terms set out here. It does not mean the Template is in the public domain, and it does not transfer to you any ownership of the copyright or other rights in the Template. Those remain ours (see "Who owns what" below).

Subject to the rest of this Licence, you may:

• open, read and print a Template;
• complete the Editable Sections (insert your parties, details, dates and figures);
• amend, add to and adapt the Editable Sections to suit your own circumstances;
• use Your Document in your own business and in transactions to which you are a party;
• keep copies of a Template and Your Document for your own records and internal use; and
• have your own attorney or professional adviser review and edit Your Document for you.

Some Templates contain Restricted Sections — parts we have deliberately locked or protected so that the document keeps its integrity. Where a Template has Restricted Sections, you may edit the Editable Sections only.

You may not unlock, unprotect, remove the password from, decrypt, disable, circumvent, crack or otherwise bypass any editing restriction, document protection or content control in a Template; and you may not re-type, re-create or copy-and-paste a Template in order to defeat such a restriction. The Restricted Sections mark the wording we consider essential to the document, and they must stay as we set them.

You may not remove, hide, obscure, crop, mask, overwrite, recolour out, or alter any Branding in or on a Template or in Your Document. Our name, attribution or credit line, copyright notice and firm registration number (F17333) must remain visible and intact wherever they appear.

You are welcome to add your own name, logo and details in the Editable Sections — but not by removing, replacing or diminishing our Branding. If you would like to use a Template without our Branding, contact us to arrange a separate written licence (see "Need broader rights?" below).

Except with our prior written permission, you may not:

• sell, licence, sub-licence, rent, lease, lend or otherwise charge anyone for a Template or for access to a Template;
• give away, share, distribute, publish, post, upload or otherwise make a Template available to any third party as a template, precedent or form — whether free of charge or for a fee — including on any website, marketplace, file-sharing service, template library, shared drive or repository;
• use a Template (or a collection of Templates) to build, populate, train or compete with any template library, precedent bank, document-automation tool, document generator, or similar product or service;
• represent or imply that we drafted, approved, endorsed, checked or are responsible for Your Document, or that you have an ongoing relationship with us, beyond the attribution embedded in the Template;
• use our Branding, name or marks other than as they already appear in the Template; or
• use a Template for any unlawful, misleading or rights-infringing purpose.

Each Template is an original literary work protected under the Copyright Act 98 of 1978. We (or our licensors) own all copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Templates. This Licence gives you permission to use a Template; it does not transfer any of those rights to you.

You own the specific words, figures and information you add in the Editable Sections, and you own Your Document — subject always to our continuing rights in the underlying Template and our Branding.

A Template is general information and a starting point only. It is not legal advice, it is not tailored to your circumstances, and downloading or using it does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and the Firm.

The Important Disclaimer at the foot of this page forms part of this Licence. Please read it.

Templates are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that any Template is accurate, complete, current, error-free, fit for your particular purpose, suitable for your matter, or compliant with the law that applies to you at the time you use it.

The law changes over time. A Template reflects our general view at the time it was prepared and may since have become out of date. You are responsible for satisfying yourself that Your Document is appropriate for your circumstances — ideally by having an attorney review it before you rely on it.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Firm (and Martin Kotze and the Firm’s personnel) will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense — whether direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential, including any loss of profit, revenue, opportunity, savings, goodwill or data — arising out of or in connection with your access to, use of, reliance on, or inability to use any Template or Your Document.

You use Templates at your own risk and you accept that risk. Because the Templates are provided free of charge and as general information, you assume the risk that a Template may not be suitable for your circumstances. Your attention is specifically drawn to this assumption of risk and to the limitations in this clause, as contemplated by section 49 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.

Nothing in this Licence excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited — including liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

You indemnify the Firm against any claim, loss, damage or expense the Firm suffers or incurs as a result of your use or modification of a Template, your use of Your Document, your breach of this Licence, or your reliance on a Template instead of obtaining advice tailored to your specific matter.

This Licence terminates automatically if you breach any part of it. On termination, you must stop using the affected Template and delete or destroy your copies of it as a template.

Documents that you had already validly completed and executed for your own transaction before termination are not affected. Any provisions that by their nature should survive termination — including those dealing with ownership, no warranties, limitation of liability, indemnity and governing law — continue to apply.

We may update, change or withdraw any Template at any time. We are under no obligation to maintain, update or support a Template, or to notify you of changes to a Template you have already downloaded. The version you download is the version that applies to you.

We may amend this Licence from time to time by posting an updated version on this page. The version of this Licence in force at the time you download a Template governs that download. Any material change applies from the date it is posted here.

This Licence is governed by and construed in accordance with the law of the Republic of South Africa. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Licence is subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria.

If you would like to do something this Licence does not permit — for example, redistribute a Template, include it in a product or service, or use it without our Branding — please contact us at martin@mjkinc.co.za to arrange a separate written licence on agreed terms.