Synch Accord Terms

These Terms are the standing terms of every Synch Accord. An Accord is an agreement between Synch and one other Discord community (the Community). Each Accord also has its own Schedule, which sets out what was agreed with that Community: the services, any extras, the ad exchange, the representatives and the dates.

The Terms and the Schedule are read together, and together they are the Accord. If they disagree, the Schedule wins for that Accord, except where it would go against section 9 (Standards) or the law.

1. Definitions

Synch means legal name of the organisation — to be confirmed, which runs the Synch Discord server, this website and the Synch services.
Community means the Discord server named in the Schedule, identified by its server ID.
Representative means a person the Community names in the Schedule to act for it. The Primary Representative is the lead Representative, who can change the Community's list of Representatives and Delegates.
Delegate means a person the Community allows to read and discuss a proposed Accord, without the power to sign it.
Envoy means the member of Synch's team who negotiates the Accord and signs it for Synch.
Services means the Synch public services listed in the Schedule, such as the Synch Academy, The Architect, Pondor and the Synch Tickets bot.
Extras means anything in the Schedule beyond the standard Services, such as priority support or help with setup.
Portal means the Accord pages on this website, at /partner and /accord.

2. What an Accord is, and what it is not

An Accord is between Synch and the Community only. It creates no relationship, duty or obligation between the Community and any other community that holds an Accord with Synch.
Synch does not own, control, run or speak for the Community, and the Community does not own, control, run or speak for Synch. Each side keeps full control of its own server, staff, rules and decisions.
An Accord is not a merger, a joint venture, a partnership in law, or an employment or agency relationship.
No money changes hands under an Accord unless the Schedule says so.
Both sides enter the Accord in good faith and intend to keep it. Apart from sections 10 (Data), 11 (Confidentiality), 12 (Names and logos) and 14 (Liability), which both sides do intend to be bound by, the Accord is a good-faith arrangement between communities and is not intended to create legally enforceable obligations.

3. Who can hold an Accord

For as long as the Accord lasts, the Community must:

have 50 or more members (the Schedule records the count when it is signed),
be at least 3 months old,
have no NSFW content,
moderate fairly and consistently, and
follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

The Envoy may agree an exception to the member count or the age in the Schedule. There are no exceptions to the rest.

4. Making and signing an Accord

The Envoy prepares the Schedule and signs it for Synch. It is then sent to the Community's Representatives and Delegates in the Portal as a proposed Accord.
Representatives and Delegates can read the proposed Accord and ask for changes. Any change makes a new version, which both sides must sign again.
A Representative signs for the Community in the Portal, signed in with their own Discord account. To sign, they must be the owner of the Community's server, or hold the Administrator or Manage Server permission there, at the time they sign. By signing, they confirm that they are allowed to agree to the Accord for the Community.
The Accord starts on the start date in the Schedule, or when the Community signs if that is later.
Every version, signature and change is recorded with the person's name, Discord ID and the time. Both sides can see this record, and download a PDF copy of the Accord, in the Portal at any time.

5. How long it lasts

An Accord lasts for the term set out in the Schedule. Unless either side says otherwise before the renewal date, it renews for the same term on the same Schedule.
An ongoing Accord has no end date. It continues until either side ends it under section 13.
Either side may suggest changes at renewal. A change only takes effect once both sides have signed the new version.

6. Representatives

As a sign of good faith, each side places a representative in the other's server. At least one of the Community's Representatives joins the Synch Discord server and stays in it, and the Synch representative named in the Schedule joins the Community's server and stays in it.
Representatives are points of contact. They do not get staff or moderation powers in the other side's server unless that server chooses to give them.
The Primary Representative can update the Community's Representatives and Delegates in the Portal at any time. Synch can change its representative by telling the Community's Representatives.
If every one of the Community's Representatives leaves the Synch server, or the Synch representative leaves the Community's server, the side whose representative left has 48 hours to put a replacement in place. If it does not, either side may end the Accord straight away.
If a representative is banned from the other side's server, that side tells the other why, and either side may end the Accord straight away.

7. The ad exchange

Each side posts the other's ad, exactly as it is stored in the Portal, in the place agreed in the Schedule, within 7 days of the Accord starting, and keeps it up for as long as the Accord lasts.
Each side may update its own ad in the Portal at any time. The other side posts the updated ad within 7 days.
Either side may refuse an ad, or ask for it to be changed, if it breaks either server's rules or Discord's rules, or is misleading.
Ads are posted without @everyone or @here pings unless the Schedule says otherwise.
When the Accord ends, both sides remove the other's ad within 7 days.

8. Services and Extras

Synch provides the Services in the Schedule on the same terms as everyone else: our Terms & Conditions, and each Service's own terms and privacy policy (for the Synch Academy, the SynchAcademy Terms and Privacy Policy).
Synch provides the Extras in the Schedule for as long as the Accord lasts, as far as it reasonably can. Synch is run by volunteers, so any target times are aims, not guarantees.
If Synch cannot provide an Extra for a while, it tells the Community and agrees a fair alternative where it can. If an Extra can no longer be provided at all, the Community may ask for a new version of the Accord or end it.
Extras end when the Accord ends, unless the Schedule says otherwise. Anything already received, such as certificates, is not taken back.
Synch may change or withdraw a Service for everyone who uses it. Where it can, it gives Communities reasonable notice first.

9. Standards

Both sides:

follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines,
treat each other's members and staff with respect,
do not use the Accord to send unrequested DMs to the other side's members, to recruit the other side's staff, or to raid or spam the other side's server,
do not say or suggest that the other side endorses something it has not agreed to, and
tell each other promptly about anything serious that affects the Accord, such as a raid, a safety concern or a change of ownership.

Our Safeguarding Policy applies to everything Synch does under an Accord.

10. Data

The Portal keeps the Discord IDs and names of the Community's Representatives, Delegates and signers; the Community's server ID, name, icon and member counts (refreshed from its invite); both ads; and the record of the Accord. These are used only to run the Accord, and are handled under our Privacy Policy.
The Community's member count may be included in Synch's published combined figure, for example "23 communities hold an Accord with Synch, with 1.2M members between them". The figure adds up each server's own count, so it is not a count of unique people. Synch only names the Community publicly, for example on its website, if the Schedule allows it.
An Accord gives neither side access to the other side's members' data.
The record of an Accord is kept for as long as the Accord lasts and for 3 years after it ends, so both sides can rely on it.

11. Confidentiality

The Extras, any special terms, and anything else marked confidential in the Schedule are confidential. Neither side shares them with anyone outside its own staff who need to know, unless the other side agrees or the law requires it.
The fact that an Accord exists, the Community's name (where the Schedule allows it to be listed), the Services used and both ads are not confidential.
On Synch's side, our Confidential Information Policy also applies.
This section continues for one year after the Accord ends.

12. Names and logos

Each side may use the other's name, logo and server invite only to show the Accord: in the ads, on Synch's website where listing is allowed, in newsletters and in the Portal. Neither side changes them or uses them to suggest the other endorses anything else.
This permission ends when the Accord ends, except for records and anything already published while the Accord was in force, such as past newsletter issues.
Everything each side owns stays its own.

13. Ending an Accord

Either side may end the Accord at any time by giving 7 days' notice, in the Portal or in writing to the other side's Representatives.
Either side may end the Accord straight away if the other seriously breaks these Terms or Discord's rules, if the Community stops meeting section 3 and does not put it right within 14 days, or where section 6 allows it.
Synch may pause the Extras straight away while it looks into a serious safety concern, and tells the Community why where it can.
When the Accord ends, both ads come down within 7 days and the Extras stop. The Community's Representatives can still read the Accord and download it from the Portal.
Sections 10, 11, 12 (for records), 14 and 15 continue after the Accord ends.

14. Liability

The Services and Extras are provided "as is" by volunteers and, unless the Schedule says otherwise, free of charge. Synch does not promise that they will always be available or free of errors.
As far as the law allows, neither side is liable to the other for any indirect loss, or for any loss of members, activity, data or reputation, arising out of the Accord.
Nothing in the Accord limits any liability that cannot be limited by law.
Each side is responsible for its own server, staff and members.

15. Problems and disagreements

If something goes wrong, the Representatives and the Envoy first try to sort it out together, in good faith.
If that does not work, the Community can raise it under our Complaints Policy.
These Terms are governed by the laws of governing law / country — to be confirmed.

16. Changes to these Terms

Synch may update these Terms. Every Accord stays on the version of the Terms it was signed under until both sides sign a new version, for example at renewal.
Every version of these Terms is listed in their history.

17. The whole agreement

The Terms and the signed version of the Schedule are the whole Accord. They replace anything said or agreed about it before, including in DMs. Anything agreed in conversation only counts once it is written into a signed version of the Schedule.