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Conditions of the Use of Materials available on the Hong Kong Observatory Website for Commercial Purposes

The following conditions (the "Conditions") shall be complied with and prior written authorisation from the Hong Kong Observatory (the "Observatory") for and on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong (the "Government") shall be obtained for the use of the contents available on the websites of the Observatory (the "Materials") for commercial purposes:

  1. The authorisation only applies to the use of the Materials the intellectual property rights in which are owned by the Government.
  2. The Materials, including but not limited to author attribution, trade mark or legend, must be reproduced accurately and must not be used in a misleading context or in any manner adversely affecting the moral rights of the Government.
  3. In all copies made by you including but not limited to paper copies, digital copies and copies placed on other media:
    (a) The Government must be acknowledged as the intellectual property rights' owner of the Materials;
    (b) You must acknowledge that the Materials are part of the website https://www.weather.gov.hk or https://www.hko.gov.hk and that the website is published by the Observatory; and
    (c) The Intellectual Property Rights Notice and the Conditions herein must be reproduced.
  4. You shall indemnify the Government against all costs, losses, damages and liabilities of whatsoever nature arising directly or indirectly from any allegations or claims that your use, reproduction and/or distribution of the Materials infringe any rights including but not limited to the intellectual property rights of any person.
  5. You shall display the following Disclaimer or the Trade Mark of the Observatory (https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/abouthko/logoexplain/logoexplaine.htm) prominently with any Materials distributed or reproduced by you. The display of the following Disclaimer or the Trade Mark of the Observatory in the Materials distributed or reproduced by you also means your agreement to the Disclaimer:-

    "Disclaimer
    This website / publication / product / service contains information that is copied or extracted from data made available on the websites of the Hong Kong Observatory (the "Observatory") including https://www.weather.gov.hk, https://www.hko.gov.hk, and the subdomains of "weather.gov.hk" and "hko.gov.hk". The provision of the information copied or extracted from or a link to the Observatory’s websites shall not be constituted as any form of co-operation or affiliation by the Observatory with any person in relation to this website / publication / product / service or any contents herein. Nothing in this website / publication / product / service shall give rise to any representation, warranty or implication that the Observatory agrees with, approves of, recommends or endorses this website / publication / product / service. The Observatory does not have any liability, obligation or responsibility whatsoever for any loss, destruction or damages (including without limitation consequential loss, destruction or damages) howsoever arising from or in respect of your use or misuse of or reliance on or inability to use any contents herein."
  6. Sale or exchange of any part of the Materials for any benefit, gain, profit or reward by you is absolutely prohibited in all circumstances.
  7. You shall not in any circumstances acquire any intellectual property rights in the Materials.
  8. You shall not, by making use of the Materials, defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
  9. You shall not use the Materials in any inappropriate, defamatory, obscene, or unlawful manner.
  10. You shall not use the Materials in connection with other contents or materials that may infringe the intellectual property rights or in any manner that may adversely affect any rights of any person.
  11. You are permitted to build hyperlink to this website by surface linking provided that your website shall not present the Materials as your own, or otherwise misrepresent the Materials, or misinform any users about the origin or ownership of the Materials.
  12. The Government does not permit a website / publication / product / service to build hyperlink to this website or to reproduce the Materials if it contains any material which is libellous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene, or is in any way in breach of the laws of Hong Kong or infringes any intellectual property rights and moral rights. The Government may, in its sole discretion, require any website / publication / product / service to remove any hyperlink to this website or any reproduced Materials at any time.
  13. The "Conditions" may be revised and/or amended from time to time by the Observatory without prior notice to any person. You shall check the "Conditions" regularly for any revisions and/or amendments which may be made.
  14. The Government reserves the right to withdraw any permission given herein at any time without any prior notice to you.
  15. For privacy issues, please refer to https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/privacy/policy.htm.

For the purpose of the Conditions above, "Hong Kong" shall mean the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

For enquiries of written authorization and any other applications or enquiries, please contact the Observatory by e-mail(mailbox@hko.gov.hk) or by facsimile (+852 2311 9448).