Legal
Terms of Use
1. About Keystone
Keystone is operated by Organisation for the Collection of Physical Artwork Royalties Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under number 16577019, whose registered office is at 71–75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom (“Keystone”, “we”, “us”).
Keystone is a registry for physical artworks. It records artwork registrations, the Keystone NFC tags linked to artworks, transfers of ownership recorded through Keystone, and certificates for those transfers.
These terms apply when you use the Keystone app, the public pages at keystone.art, or a secure link that Keystone sends you.
2. Availability and eligibility
Keystone is currently available by invitation only. You must be 18 or over to use it.
Keystone is still being developed. We aim to keep it available and working correctly, but we cannot promise that it will always be available, uninterrupted or free of errors, and its features may change.
3. Your account
You need a Keystone account to register artworks and to use most features. Keep your account information accurate and up to date, and keep your sign-in details secure. You are responsible for what is done through your account. If you think someone else has used it, tell us straight away at privacy@ocpar.org.
Keystone does not currently offer self-service account deletion. If you want to stop using Keystone, contact us at contact@keystone.art.
4. Registering artworks
You are responsible for the information, images and documents you submit. Only submit information that is accurate to the best of your knowledge, and only upload images and documents that you have the right to use and share in this way.
You allow us to store, display and otherwise use what you submit as needed to provide Keystone, for example to show a public artwork’s details and images on its public page.
Keystone records the information supplied through the service. Registering an artwork does not mean that Keystone has checked or confirmed its authorship, authenticity or ownership. Once an artwork has a recorded history, some of its details, such as the artist’s name, can no longer be changed in the app.
5. NFC tags and authentication
A Keystone NFC tag can be attached to an artwork and linked to its Keystone record. You are responsible for the physical tag attached to an artwork you hold.
A successful authentication confirms that a Keystone-programmed tag linked to the relevant Keystone record responded correctly to Keystone’s authentication check. It does not, on its own, prove:
- that the physical artwork is authentic;
- that the tag has always remained attached to that artwork; or
- who legally owns the artwork.
Authentication depends on the tag, the phone used to read it and Keystone’s systems, any of which can fail.
6. Certificates
When a transfer is completed through Keystone, Keystone issues a certificate. A Keystone certificate is a signed record of information recorded by Keystone at a particular time. Ownership and other circumstances may change after it is issued.
Verifying a certificate on keystone.art shows whether the Keystone certificate record verifies correctly and, where available, whether the ownership it records is still current. It does not independently authenticate the physical artwork.
7. Ownership, provenance and transfers
Keystone records registrations, provenance events and transfers based on the information and confirmations given through the service. A Keystone record is evidence of what has been registered and confirmed through Keystone. It is not, on its own, a guarantee of:
- authorship;
- the authenticity of the physical artwork; or
- legal title.
A transfer can be a sale or a gift, and not every transfer involves a payment. Where the parties record a sale as settled outside Keystone, Keystone records what they declare and does not process or check the payment.
A transfer recorded through Keystone needs the recipient’s acceptance before it is completed. Until then the person who started it can withdraw it, the recipient can decline it or report it as incorrect, and it can lapse if it is not accepted in time.
8. People without a Keystone account
You can record a sale or a gift to someone who does not yet have a Keystone account by entering their name and email address. Keystone will then email them a secure link so that they can review the record and accept, decline or report it. Only enter the details of the person who is genuinely the other party, and enter them accurately.
If you use a secure link from Keystone without having an account, these terms apply to your use of that link. Our Privacy Notice explains how we handle the information of people without an account.
9. Payments, fees and royalties
Keystone does not currently process payments or collect or distribute royalties. Features relating to payments, fees or royalties may be introduced separately and will be subject to applicable terms at that time.
Keystone does not currently charge a service fee.
10. Using Keystone responsibly
You must not:
- provide information you know to be false or misleading, or record a transfer that did not happen;
- use Keystone for anything unlawful, including fraud or infringing someone else’s rights;
- upload material that you do not have the right to share;
- interfere with, copy, remove or tamper with Keystone tags, authentication, certificates or security measures, or try to access accounts or information you are not entitled to;
- overload or disrupt the service; or
- use messages to harass, threaten, deceive or spam other people.
11. Incorrect records and disputes
If you are asked to confirm a transfer that is wrong, you can decline it, or report it as incorrect, in the app or from the secure link. Reports are sent to Keystone support. You can contact us at contact@keystone.art about any record that you believe is wrong, or about messages that you think misuse Keystone.
We will look into the reports we receive. Keystone does not decide disputes between users about ownership, authorship, authenticity or payment, and it may not be able to change a completed record.
12. Privacy
Our Privacy Notice explains how we handle personal information, and our Cookie Policy explains the cookies the website uses.
13. Changes
Keystone will change as it develops, and we may update these terms. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page. If we make a significant change, we will take reasonable steps to let you know, for example in the app or by email.
14. Relying on Keystone
Keystone is currently an invitation-only service that is still being developed. Technical services, including NFC authentication, certificate verification, email delivery and the providers we rely on, can fail or be unavailable, and records can contain mistakes. Do not rely on Keystone alone to establish legal title, authorship or authenticity; take independent advice where it matters.
Nothing in these terms limits any rights you have that cannot be limited under the law that applies to you.
15. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live elsewhere, this does not take away any mandatory protection you have under the law of the country where you live.
16. Contact
General questions and reports: contact@keystone.art
Privacy: privacy@ocpar.org
71–75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom