NucNet subscription terms and conditions

Last updated 2 September 2026

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

1.1. The NucNet website, newsletters and subscription services (together, the “Service”) are operated by NucNet ASBL/VZW, an independent non-profit association incorporated under Belgian law, with registered office in Brussels, Belgium, and enterprise number BE 0887.040.353 (“NucNet”, “we”, “us”). You can contact us at info@nucnet.org or by post at Avenue des Arts/Kunstlaan 56, 2nd floor C, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.

1.2. These terms and conditions (the “Terms”) govern your registration for and use of the Service, including free accounts, trial access, paid individual subscriptions and, except where a separate written agreement applies, institutional subscriptions.

1.3. By creating an account or taking out a subscription, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not register or subscribe.

1.4. Our GDPR declaration explains how we process personal data. It forms part of your relationship with us but is a separate document, and in the event of any conflict regarding personal data, the GDPR declaration prevails.

2. Definitions

2.1. “Consumer” means a natural person acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession, within the meaning of the Belgian Code of Economic Law.

2.2. “Content” means all articles, newsletters, data, databases, archive material and other editorial material made available through the Service.

2.3. “Subscription” means any paid plan giving access to subscriber-only Content, whether individual or institutional, and “Subscriber” means the account holder of a Subscription.

3. The Service and account types

3.1. We offer the following account types: (a) a free registered account (“NucNet Free”), which includes a periodic newsletter and limited complimentary access to subscriber-only Content; (b) an individual paid subscription (“NucNet Plus”), billed monthly or annually; and (c) an institutional subscription for organisations, providing multi-user access under terms agreed with the organisation.

3.2. The features included in each account type are described on our subscription pages at the time you register or subscribe. We may adjust the composition of each tier as set out in section 12.

3.3. Institutional subscriptions are concluded with the subscribing organisation. Where a separate order form, quote or agreement has been signed, that document prevails over these Terms to the extent of any conflict. Section 10 sets out additional provisions for institutional access.

3.4. The Service, including newsletters, may contain limited occasional sponsored content ('advertorials') and partner announcements relating to industry events, conferences, webinars, white papers and similar material. Sponsored content is always clearly identified as such and visually distinguished from NucNet's editorial content. Sponsored content may also be sent as dedicated partner emails to those who have opted in under clause 14.4. Clearly marked sponsored elements, including banners, announcements and excerpts within the newsletters, form an integral part of the newsletters and Content included in each account type and cannot be received separately or excluded.

4. Registration and eligibility

4.1. You must be at least 13 years old to create a NucNet Free account, and at least 18 years old to take out a paid Subscription.

4.2. You agree to provide accurate and current information when registering and to keep it up to date. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account.

4.3. Except under an institutional subscription, accounts and Subscriptions are personal to you and may not be shared. We may suspend accounts showing signs of credential sharing or automated access, as set out in section 15.

5. Free trial

5.1. New registered users may receive a one-time free trial of NucNet Plus for the period stated at registration (currently 14 days). The trial is limited to one per person and per email address. We may decline or withdraw trial access in cases of abuse, such as repeated registrations.

5.2. No payment details are required to start the trial, and you will not be charged when it ends. Unless you take out a paid Subscription, your account automatically reverts to NucNet Free at the end of the trial period. There is no automated or forced subscription without a consumer’s consent.

5.3. We may vary the length, content or availability of the trial for future registrations. Any change will not affect a trial already in progress.

6. Prices and payment

6.1. The prices, billing periods and any applicable taxes for each Subscription are those displayed on our subscription pages, or confirmed at checkout, at the time you subscribe. Prices for Consumers are displayed at the final checkout inclusive of VAT where required by law.

6.2. Payment for individual Subscriptions is collected through Stripe, our third-party payment service provider. Your credit or debit card details, bank details and other payment credentials are provided directly to and processed by Stripe. NucNet does not receive, store or otherwise handle your card or banking details at any time. Stripe processes this data under its own terms and privacy policy, which we encourage you to review.

6.3. Institutional subscriptions may instead be invoiced directly, with payment terms stated on the invoice or in the applicable agreement.

6.4. If a recurring payment fails, we will notify you and may retry the payment. If payment is not received within a reasonable period after notice, we may suspend access to subscriber-only Content and, if the failure continues, downgrade the account to NucNet Free or terminate the Subscription.

6.5. We may change Subscription prices for future billing periods. We will give existing Subscribers at least 30 days’ notice by email before a price change takes effect. If you do not accept the new price, you may cancel with effect from the end of your current billing period, in which case the change will not apply to you.

7. Reduced-rate subscriptions

7.1. We may offer reduced-rate individual Subscriptions to eligible groups, such as students and retirees, as indicated on our subscription pages. Eligibility conditions are stated at the point of purchase.

7.2. We may ask you to demonstrate eligibility, for example with a valid student card, enrolment confirmation or other suitable evidence. Verification is a one-time check at the point of application or renewal, as indicated. NucNet does not retain copies of documents provided for verification: documents are viewed for the sole purpose of confirming eligibility and are deleted or returned once eligibility has been confirmed or refused. We record only the outcome of the check (eligible or not eligible) and its date.

7.3. If we reasonably determine that eligibility was misrepresented, we may convert the Subscription to the standard rate for future billing periods or terminate it, after informing you.

8. Term, renewal and cancellation

8.1. Individual Subscriptions run for the billing period selected (monthly or annual) and renew automatically for successive periods of the same length until cancelled.

8.2. You can cancel at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at info@nucnet.org. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; you retain access to subscriber-only Content until then. We do not provide pro-rata refunds for the remainder of a billing period, except where required by law or stated otherwise in these Terms.

8.3. For Consumers, where a fixed-term Subscription has been automatically renewed (tacit renewal), you may additionally terminate at any time after renewal without penalty, subject to a notice period of no more than one month, in accordance with the Belgian Code of Economic Law.

8.4. Before an annual Subscription renews, we will send a reminder to the email address on your account in reasonable time before the renewal date.

8.5. On cancellation or termination, your account reverts to NucNet Free unless you ask us to close it entirely.

9. Right of withdrawal (Consumers)

9.1. If you are a Consumer, you have the right to withdraw from a Subscription contract concluded online within 14 days of the day the contract is concluded, without giving any reason.

9.2. To exercise this right, inform us of your decision by an unambiguous statement to backoffice@nucnet.org before the withdrawal period expires. You may use the model withdrawal form annexed to these Terms, but this is not obligatory. If you withdraw, we will reimburse all payments received from you for the Subscription without undue delay and no later than 14 days after we are informed, using the same means of payment you used, unless you expressly agree otherwise.

9.3. If you request that access to subscriber-only Content begin during the withdrawal period, and you subsequently withdraw, you may be required to pay an amount proportionate to the period of access already provided, in accordance with the Code of Economic Law.

9.4. The withdrawal right applies to the conclusion of the paid Subscription. For the free trial and NucNet Free, for which no payment is made, withdrawal simply means closing your account; there is nothing to refund.

10. Institutional subscriptions

10.1. Institutional subscriptions authorise access for the number of users, sites or IP ranges agreed with the organisation. The organisation is responsible for ensuring that use by its authorised users complies with these Terms and the applicable agreement.

10.2. Unless expressly agreed in writing, institutional access does not permit redistribution of Content outside the subscribing organisation, inclusion of Content in external products or services, or systematic supply of Content to third parties.

10.3. The person concluding an institutional subscription warrants that they are authorised to bind the organisation.

10.4. Unless otherwise agreed in the applicable order form or agreement, institutional subscriptions run for successive periods of twelve months and renew automatically, unless either party gives written notice of non-renewal (including by email) at least two months before the end of the current period.

11. Licence and permitted use of Content

11.1. All Content and the underlying databases are protected by copyright, database rights and other intellectual property rights held by NucNet or its licensors. Subject to payment where applicable, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Content for your own internal, non-commercial or internal-business purposes during the period of your account or Subscription.

11.2. Except as permitted by mandatory law or expressly agreed with us in writing, you may not: (a) reproduce, republish, distribute, sell or otherwise make Content available to third parties; (b) systematically extract or re-utilise substantial parts of the Content or databases, including by scraping, crawling or bulk downloading; (c) use Content to train, fine-tune or ground machine-learning or artificial-intelligence systems; or (d) remove or obscure any copyright or attribution notices.

11.3. You may quote brief extracts of Content, with attribution to NucNet, to the extent permitted by law. For syndication, reprints or other licensing, contact us at info@nucnet.org.

12. The Content and changes to the Service

12.1. NucNet is a news service. We take care to ensure that Content is accurate at the time of publication, but Content is provided for general information only and does not constitute professional, legal, financial, technical or investment advice. You should not rely on Content as the sole basis for decisions.

12.2. We aim to keep the Service available at all times but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. We may suspend the Service temporarily for maintenance, security or technical reasons, and will restore access as soon as reasonably possible.

12.3. We may develop, adjust or discontinue features of the Service, including the composition of subscription tiers, the frequency of newsletters and the scope of the archive, for legitimate reasons such as editorial, technical, security or commercial developments. If a change materially reduces what a paid Subscription includes, we will notify Subscribers in advance, and affected Subscribers may cancel with effect from the end of the current billing period; where required by law, we will refund the proportion of any prepaid fee relating to the period after the change.

13. Changes to these Terms

13.1. We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in law, our services or our operations. For material changes affecting existing Subscribers, we will give at least 30 days’ notice by email. If you do not accept a material change, you may cancel with effect from the end of your current billing period before the change takes effect. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Data protection

14.1. NucNet is the controller of the personal data you provide when registering, subscribing and using the Service. We process personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Belgian data protection law, as described in our GDPR declaration, which covers the purposes and legal bases of processing, retention periods, recipients and your rights, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, portability and the right to lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.

14.2. Payment data is handled by Stripe as described in clause 6.2. Stripe acts under its own responsibility for the payment data it processes; NucNet receives only confirmation of payment status and limited transaction metadata necessary to administer your Subscription.

14.3. You can manage newsletter preferences and unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time via the link in each email or through your account settings. Service messages necessary to administer your account or Subscription (such as renewal reminders, payment notices and changes to these Terms) are not marketing and will be sent for as long as you hold an account.

14.4. Separately from the newsletters, you may opt in at registration, or at any time afterwards in your account settings, to receive occasional dedicated partner emails from NucNet containing partner content such as sponsored articles, advertorials and sponsored opinion pieces, and announcements of industry events, conferences, webinars, white papers and similar material. All such content is clearly marked as sponsored. These emails are sent by NucNet; we do not share your personal data with partners or advertisers. You may withdraw this consent at any time via the unsubscribe link in each partner email or through your account settings, without affecting your account, Subscription or newsletters. This opt-in relates solely to these dedicated partner emails; it does not alter the composition of the newsletters described in clause 3.4.

15. Suspension and termination by NucNet

15.1. We may suspend or restrict access to an account, after notice where reasonably possible, in the event of: (a) non-payment as set out in clause 6.4; (b) a serious or repeated breach of these Terms, including credential sharing, unauthorised redistribution or automated extraction of Content; or (c) use of the Service in a manner that is unlawful or that threatens its security or integrity.

15.2. If a breach is capable of remedy, we will normally give you an opportunity to remedy it before terminating. If we terminate a paid Subscription other than for your breach, we will refund the proportion of any prepaid fee relating to the period after termination.

16. Liability

16.1. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or affects the statutory rights of Consumers, including the legal guarantee of conformity for digital content and digital services.

16.2. Subject to clause 16.1, NucNet is not liable for: (a) indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business or loss of data; or (b) loss arising from reliance on Content contrary to clause 12.1; and our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Service in any 12-month period is limited to the amounts paid by you for the Service in that period.

16.3. Where the Service does not conform to the contract, Consumers are entitled to the remedies provided by law, including bringing the Service into conformity, a proportionate price reduction or termination of the contract.

17. General

17.1. If any provision of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in force, and the invalid provision will be replaced by a valid provision that most closely reflects its intent.

17.2. You may not assign your account or Subscription without our consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms in connection with a reorganisation or transfer of our activities, provided this does not reduce your rights.

17.3. A failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of it.

17.4. These Terms, together with the GDPR declaration and any applicable institutional agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and NucNet concerning the Service.

17.5. NucNet is a non-profit association (ASBL/VZW). The rights and obligations of NucNet's statutory members, including access to the Service held by virtue of membership, are governed by NucNet's publicly available articles of association and by-laws, not by these Terms. Where a member uses the Service, the provisions of these Terms governing use of the Service and Content (sections 4, 11, 12, 15 and 16) apply to that use; the provisions on prices, payment, renewal, cancellation and withdrawal apply only to paid Subscriptions. Taking out a Subscription does not confer membership of the association or any governance rights.

18. Governing law, disputes and complaints

18.1. These Terms are governed by Belgian law. If you are a Consumer, you also benefit from any mandatory protections of the law of your country of habitual residence within the EU.

18.2. If you have a complaint, please contact us first at info@nucnet.org; we will try to resolve it directly. Consumers in Belgium may also contact the Consumer Mediation Service (Service de Médiation pour le Consommateur / Consumentenombudsdienst) for out-of-court dispute resolution.

18.3. Subject to mandatory consumer jurisdiction rules, the courts of Brussels have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms.

Annex — model withdrawal form (Consumers)

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract. You are not obliged to use this form: any other unambiguous statement of your decision to withdraw is sufficient.)

To NucNet ASBL/VZW, Avenue des Arts/Kunstlaan 56, 2nd floor C, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, backoffice@nucnet.org:

I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract for the provision of the following service: NucNet subscription (please state the subscription plan if known): ____________________

Ordered on: ____________________

Name of consumer(s): ____________________

Address of consumer(s): ____________________

Email address used for the account: ____________________

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper): ____________________

Date: ____________________

(*) Delete as appropriate.

Notes on the right of withdrawal - Section 9 of the subscription terms and conditions governs in full.

Time limit. The withdrawal period is 14 days from the day the subscription contract is concluded. To meet the deadline, it is enough that you send your communication concerning the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period expires.

Who it applies to. The right of withdrawal applies to consumers, meaning natural persons acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession. It does not apply to institutional subscriptions or to other subscriptions concluded for professional purposes.

If you asked for immediate access. If you requested that access to subscriber-only content begin during the withdrawal period and you then withdraw, you may be required to pay an amount proportionate to the access already provided up to the moment you informed us of your withdrawal.

Free accounts and trials. No payment is made for the free trial or for a free registered account, so there is nothing to refund; you can simply close your account at any time.

Refunds. We will reimburse all payments received from you for the subscription without undue delay and no later than 14 days from the day we are informed of your decision, using the same means of payment you used, unless you expressly agree otherwise.