Rubicon Africa Media Group t/a Rubicon Media Group (RMG), is an African media company set up to provide innovative media entities, services, products and platforms that champion empowering forms of journalism in the digital era, whilst generating content that is factual, relevant, balanced, informative, issue-driven and solutions-oriented.

By accessing and using RAMP, you confirm that you agree with and are bound by the stated terms, conditions and policies. These Terms apply to the entire RMG websites and any email or other type of communication between you as a User and the Company.

T&Cs last modified: April 18, 2022

1. Overview

Rubicon Media Group operates the Rubicon Africa Media Exchange Portal (RAMP) allowing contributors to sell their work or bid for work required by our media entities.

RAMP enables journalists to sell their work or bid for work required by our media platforms.

2. Definitions and key terms: For purposes of these Terms and Conditions:

“Content” refers to any text, images, audio, video or other information that can be posted, uploaded, linked to or otherwise made available by a User, regardless of the format.

“Cookie” means a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by a User’s web browser. It is used to identify a User’s browser, provide analytics, remember information about a User such as language preference or login information which makes the site easier to visit again and more useful to the User.

“Company” means Rubicon Media Group (RMG) and all its subsidiaries, affiliates and platforms. 

“Device” means any device that can access the Company Website and/or Services such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

“Contributor” means a media content creator or producer like a photographer, writer, editor, blogger, film producer, storyteller, singer, poet, freelance or professional journalist and the like.

“Projects”  are any services offered on RAMP through either requests for content, which are fixed price services, or via custom projects, which are pitched by the contributor

“RAMP administrators” means employees of Rubicon Media Group tasked with interfacing with contributors on the platform. These may include editorial staff such as proofreaders and fact-checkers as well as technical staff such as website administrators.

“Services” refers to the Rubicon Africa Media Portal (RAMP) service provided by Rubicon Media Group that allows Contributors to sell their content to the Company.

“Third-party service” refers to advertisers, contest sponsors, promotional and marketing partners, and others who provide our content or whose products or services we think may interest a User.

“Terms and Conditions” (also referred as "Terms") mean these Terms and Conditions that form the entire agreement between a User and the Company regarding the use of the Services and the Company Website.

“User” means any person or entity who accesses the Company Website for whatever reason.

“Website” means the RAMP site or any other URL developed by the Company from time to time.

3. RAMP Terms of Use

3.1            Projects may be offered on RAMP through either Requests for Content, which are fixed price services; or custom services, which are pitched by the Contributor. The acceptance of Content is entirely at the discretion of the Company. The Company is not obligated to give reasons for not accepting Content.

3.2            Contributors must strictly submit original and verifiable content. Plagiarism, fabrication, misinformation and any other unethical conduct will result in the forfeiture of earnings and blacklisting.

3.3            Contributors must provide regular progress updates and respond within four (4) hours to all communication from the RAMP administrators.

3.4            Contributors must deliver work within the agreed deadlines. A 20% late submission fee will be levelled for submissions that fall outside agreed deadlines.

3.5            Where a project is time sensitive, failure to meet deadlines may result in the project being rejected and no payment being given.

3.6            Contributors will be penalised for cancellations caused by them, without just reason.

3.7            Contributors are expected to provide further iterations on the work delivered if the RAMP administrators are not initially satisfied by the submissions. Only content accepted by the Company for publication will be paid for.

3.8            Once the work has been completed, submitted and accepted by the Company, the Contributor will receive payment within 30 days.

3.9            By submitting Content, the Contributor warrants and confirms that he or she is the sole creator of the Content and has the right to use, copy, distribute and transfer ownership without limitation. 

3.10         The Contributor further warrants that the content is free and clear of any liens, encumbrances, licenses or legal claims of any nature contesting ownership, moral rights, use or creation of the content.

3.11          On acceptance of Content by the Company, all rights to the Content are transferred to the Company and the Contributor waives any and all rights and claims associated with the Content. The Contributor waives all rights to be known as the author, creator and producer of the content including the right to object to any alterations to the Content, the right to prevent others from being named as the author or creator of the Content and the right to withdraw accepted and or published Content if it no longer represents the views of the Contributor. 

3.12         Fraudulent registration, which may include false or misleading information, will result in the forfeiture of earnings.

4. General Terms

4.1            For purposes of communication, Users and/or Contributors may receive alerts to the email addresses associated with their accounts. It is essential for Contributors to use an email that they routinely monitor to allow seamless contact with the Company.

4.2           To access the full RAMP platform or/and Company site, Users have to register for an account, provide accurate and complete information, and keep their account information updated.

4.3            Each account must be a personal account, but Users, may on approval by the Company, transact as a sole trader, company or any other legal entity (whether incorporated or unincorporated).

4.4           A User cannot register for more than one account.

4.5            The information that Users supply in the public profile of their account must be true and accurate.

4.6           The Company reserves the right to restrict User access, temporarily or indefinitely block any User account, stop any project a User may have in progress, warn other media players of the actions by the User or issue a warning if:

4.6.1        The User breaches the letter or spirit of these terms and conditions or the                      referenced policies;

4.6.2       The Company is unable to verify or authenticate any information provide by a User;

4.6.3        The Company believes that the actions of a User may cause any loss or liability to the Company.

5.              Modifications, Updates and Use of Cookies on Company Website

5.1            The Company reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website or any service to which it connects, with or without notice and without liability to any User.

5.2            The Website, interactive applications, email messages and advertisements may use Cookies or other related technologies such as pixel tags and web beacons. By accessing our Website the User is accepting the use of Cookies by the Company. 

6.              Restrictions

The User agrees not to, and will not permit others to:

6.1.1        License, sell, rent, lease, assign, distribute, transmit, host, outsource, disclose or otherwise commercially exploit the Website or make the RAMP or any other Company platform available to any third party.

6.1.2        Modify, make derivative works of, disassemble, decrypt, reverse compile or reverse engineer any part of the RAMP and or Company Website.

6.1.3        Remove, alter or obscure any proprietary notice (including any notice of copyright or trademark) of the Company or its affiliates, partners, suppliers or the licensors of the Website.

7.              Termination

This Agreement will terminate immediately, without prior notice from the Company, in the event that a User fails to comply with any provision of this Agreement. A User may also terminate this Agreement by deleting the RAMP and/or the Company Website and all copies thereof from the Users Device.

8.              Applicable Law

This agreement shall be governed by and construes in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini.