Terms
Last updated 12 October 2026.
These terms are a contract between you and AI-OK Limited, a company registered in Ireland (“AI:OK”, “we”, “us”). Contact: legal@ai-ok.org.
They cover three things: use of the ai-ok.org website (Part 1), the AI:OK certification service (Part 2), and general terms that apply to both (Part 3). Please read them before you use the website or apply. If you do not agree, do not use the website or apply.
Part 1. Using the website
1. Who may use it
The website is for businesses and professionals. You must be at least 18, and if you act for an organisation you confirm you have authority to bind it. AI:OK certification is a business-to-business service and is not offered to consumers. Access to the AI:OK Literacy Programme for certified members is included in the annual certification fee. Any other access to the programme is under separate Sound Judgement Terms.
2. Licence to use the website
We give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to view and use the website for your own business and professional purposes, and as its features allow. We may change, suspend or withdraw any part of the website at any time. We may suspend access for anyone who breaches these terms.
3. Website rules
You agree not to:
copy, distribute or disclose any part of the website, or extract registry data by automated means or at scale, without our written permission (public search engines may index publicly available pages);
use any automated system to access the website in a way that places an unreasonable load on it;
interfere with the website’s security, integrity or operation, or upload viruses or other harmful code;
collect or harvest personal data from the website;
use the website for unsolicited marketing;
pretend to be another person or organisation, or misstate your certification status or anyone else’s;
submit false, misleading or fraudulent information; or
bypass any measure we use to restrict access.
4. Our rights in the website
The website, the Standard, the Methodology, the registry and all text, logos, images and software on it belong to AI-OK Limited or its licensors. You may not copy, adapt or reuse them except as these terms allow. The AI:OK name, logo and trustmark are protected, and the trustmark may be used only under Schedule B.
5. Feedback
If you send us comments or ideas about the website or the certification system, you agree that we may use them without payment or obligation to you. Do not send confidential evidence or personal data through general feedback channels. Evidence for an application belongs in the online forms.
6. Links to other websites
The website may link to other websites. We do not control or endorse them, and these terms and our Privacy Policy do not apply to them.
Part 2. The certification service
7. Definitions
Applicant means an entity that has applied for certification or joined the waiting list.
Certified Entity means an entity whose certification is current and neither suspended nor revoked.
Certification means the AI:OK certification issued for a stated scope and period, and Trustmark means the AI:OK mark that goes with it.
Evidence means all information, documents and declarations you submit for a Quick Check, Core submission, renewal, Extended Framework review, remediation or response to us.
Register means the Dataset and Source Register required at Core Certification.
Standard means the AI:OK Certification Standard in the version stated on your certificate.
Methodology, Revocation Protocol, Confidentiality Protocol, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer mean the pages or sections with those names published on ai-ok.org. The Revocation Protocol and Confidentiality Protocol are parts of the Protocols page. They form part of these terms.
8. How you apply and accept these terms
You apply through the online forms. When you submit a form you confirm that:
you accept these terms for your organisation and have read the Privacy Policy;
you are authorised to submit the form for the organisation named;
the answers and documents you give are accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge;
you have the right to submit the Evidence and to share it with us; and
you will tell us promptly if anything you submitted becomes inaccurate or materially out of date.
Downloadable versions of the forms help you prepare your answers. A downloaded form is not a submission, and nothing in it binds either party until it is submitted through the online form.
9. The service
AI:OK certification is a voluntary assessment in three stages: Quick Check, Core Certification and the Extended Framework. A waiting list manages entry to Core while places are limited. The assessment reflects our view of documented Evidence against the Standard at the time of assessment. Payment of a fee buys an assessment. It does not buy certification and does not guarantee an outcome.
We may decline to accept an application, or to continue with one, where we reasonably consider that there is a conflict of interest we cannot manage, a legal or sanctions concern, or a risk to the integrity of the scheme. We will say why, unless the law prevents us.
9A. Early access
During our early-access period, applications are by invitation only. We give invited applicants an access code. Fees for invited applicants during this period are as stated in the invitation, and we confirm any fee in writing before we charge it.
10. Quick Check and the waiting list
Quick Check is free. A human assessor reviews it within five working days. The outcomes are Proceed to Core, Requires Clarification and Not Currently Eligible. You may resubmit with clarified answers or ask for a review of the decision.
An Applicant cleared to Proceed to Core may join the waiting list. Joining is free.
We offer Core places in order of Quick Check clearance date, subject to the places available in each period. We may vary the order for stated reasons, including a regulator or rights holder request, a conflict of interest, or the balance of scopes in a cohort.
A place on the waiting list is not a place in Core, a promise of certification, or a commitment to a date. We may remove an Applicant that does not respond to an offer within 15 working days, or that has changed materially since Quick Check without telling us.
If your system or rights position changes after Quick Check, tell us. We may ask for a new Quick Check.
Quick Check clearance is not certification, and you must not describe it as such.
11. Core Certification
Core requires a complete Register and supporting documents. You select a scope on the Core form: company, product or service, individual model, or catalogue. The assessor confirms the scope before review begins. Where certification is granted at model scope, you must publicly state which of your models are and are not certified, in wording agreed with us before issue.
You authorise us to contact licensors, suppliers and rights holders named in your Register to confirm the Evidence. We will tell you before we do, and we will not share more than is needed to confirm it.
12. Outcomes
Core outcomes are Certified, Conditional Certification and Not Certified, with written reasons. Certification cannot proceed where datasets used for training cannot be identified, where explicit rights for commercial training or deployment are absent or clearly not held, where restricted, non-commercial or research-only data has been used commercially without appropriate rights, or where material misrepresentation is identified. These conditions are absolute.
We have no obligation to grant certification. A decision not to grant it is not a breach of these terms. You may appeal under section 25 or reapply with further Evidence.
13. Conditional Certification
Conditional Certification requires a remediation plan and a re-review date. The AI:OK Literacy Programme is optional and is available to you through the member portal at no extra charge. Completion does not guarantee certification. Failure to complete remediation in the agreed period is a ground for revocation. Trustmark display during Conditional Certification is only as stated in the certificate.
14. The Extended Framework
After certification, you complete the Extended Framework as part of the annual cycle. It is a structured exchange of questions and Evidence. We may ask for more information, and may act on what we learn under the Revocation Protocol.
15. Fees
Fees are set by organisation size and set out in euro on the Certification page or, during early access, in your invitation, as in Schedule A. We confirm the annual certification fee in writing before we charge it. Quick Check and the waiting list are free.
The Core submission fee is payable when you submit your Core form. It pays for our assessment, is non-refundable, and is charged whether or not certification is granted.
The annual certification fee is payable only if certification is granted. It covers your certificate, registry entry, Trustmark licence, member portal access, which includes the optional AI:OK Literacy Programme, and Extended Framework review for twelve months. It is refundable only as Schedule A says.
Fees exclude VAT and other taxes, which are added where the law requires. If you pay in another currency, your payment provider may apply conversion and charges that we do not control. A declined Applicant who reapplies pays a new Core submission fee unless we state otherwise in writing.
16. Trustmark licence
If you are certified, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to display the Trustmark within the scope and period on your certificate, only to show your certification accurately, and only as Schedule B allows. The licence ends immediately on expiry, suspension or revocation. You must then remove the Trustmark from all media, including websites, packaging and marketing, promptly and in any event within five working days.
17. Confidentiality
We handle Evidence under the Confidentiality Protocol. You agree that we may publish the registry fields listed in that protocol, and a reason category on suspension, revocation or expiry as the Revocation Protocol sets out. You agree that this publication is lawful and does not breach any duty of confidence we owe you.
18. Impartiality
AI:OK does not certify any organisation to which AI:OK or the assigned assessor has provided paid consultancy in the previous 24 months. Assessors declare conflicts of interest before each assignment. We do not accept gifts or hospitality from Applicants or Certified Entities beyond items of nominal value, and you must not offer any payment, gift or benefit connected to an outcome. Our impartiality commitments and relationships are set out in the Methodology.
19. Your obligations
You must:
give complete and accurate Evidence and keep it current;
tell us promptly about material changes to training data, model structure, rights arrangements, ownership or control, third-party model dependencies or deployment markets, and accept that a material change to training data, model architecture or the rights basis will normally require re-certification;
cooperate with reasonable requests during assessment, annual review, Extended Framework review and any Revocation Protocol process;
respect valid opt-outs and withdrawals of permission by rights holders;
use the Trustmark only as these terms allow; and
not describe certification as more than it is. In particular, do not describe it as legal clearance, as a warranty about any output, or as covering products or models outside the certified scope.
You are responsible for your own products, claims and conduct. A certificate does not make us responsible for them.
20. Data protection
Each party handles personal data in the Evidence as a controller in its own right. You must have a lawful basis to give us any personal data in the Evidence, and you should include only what the assessment needs. Our Privacy Policy explains what we do with it.
21. Sanctions and integrity
You confirm that neither you nor your owners are subject to sanctions that prohibit us from dealing with you under EU, UK, US or Irish law, and that you will not use the service to avoid them. We may decline or end a relationship where the law requires.
22. Suspension, revocation and expiry
Certification lasts twelve months and needs an annual review. We may suspend or revoke certification on the grounds, and following the process, in the Revocation Protocol. Certification lapses if the annual review is not completed. Either party may end the relationship by written notice. On ending, the licence in section 16 stops, and the registry keeps the history.
23. Evidence filings
Anyone may use the File evidence form to tell us about a Certified Entity. By filing, you confirm that the information is accurate to the best of your knowledge, and you agree that we may share the substance of it with the Certified Entity under the Revocation Protocol. You may ask to stay anonymous. We will try to honour that, and will tell you before we disclose your identity where fairness or the law requires it. We may decline filings that are false, abusive or made for competitive advantage. Filing does not make you a party to any AI:OK process and gives you no right to a particular outcome.
24. Reliance by third parties
The registry is provided for information so that third parties can check the status of a certification. A person who relies on it does so at its own discretion. We owe duties under these terms to the Applicant or Certified Entity only, and accept no liability to any other person for reliance on a registry entry or certificate, to the extent the law allows. These terms confer no rights on third parties.
25. Appeals and complaints
You may appeal a decision by writing to legal@ai-ok.org within 20 working days of notice. We will give the reasons for the decision and a fair chance to respond. A person or panel not involved in the original decision decides the appeal. Where we reasonably believe immediate suspension is needed to prevent harm, we may suspend before the appeal is decided. You may complain about how we handled your matter to the same address. A person not involved in the matter handles the complaint.
Part 3. General terms
26. Disclaimer
Certification reflects a point-in-time assessment of documented Evidence against the Standard. It is not legal advice. It is not a warranty or guarantee that any entity’s outputs, models or practices are free from copyright infringement or any other legal defect, or comply with any specific law. We do not audit training data at file level. We do not verify the lawful sourcing of any third-party model, and we rely on the accuracy of the Evidence. Certification does not transfer liability from a Certified Entity to us. See also the Disclaimer.
To the maximum extent the law permits, the service and the website are provided as they are, and we exclude warranties that these terms do not state.
27. Limit of liability
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability that the law does not allow to be limited or excluded, including liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for wilful misconduct.
Subject to that, and to the maximum extent the law allows:
we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or reputation; and
our total liability in connection with the service, the website and these terms is limited to the fees you paid to us in the twelve months before the event that gave rise to the claim.
28. Indemnity
You will indemnify us against third-party claims, and the reasonable loss and legal costs that follow, arising from your misuse of the Trustmark, your breach of these terms, or Evidence you submitted that was inaccurate, misleading or submitted in bad faith. This section applies to businesses only.
29. Privacy
Our use of personal data is described in the Privacy Policy.
30. Resolving disputes
If you have a dispute with us, write to legal@ai-ok.org first and give us 30 days to try to resolve it with you. This does not stop either party from seeking urgent relief from a court. These terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of Ireland. The courts of Ireland have exclusive jurisdiction, wherever you or your organisation is based, including in the United Kingdom and the United States.
31. Notices and changes
We may give notices by email to the address on your account, by post, or by posting them on the website. We may update these terms. We will notify Certified Entities and waiting list members of material changes by email, and they take effect no sooner than 30 days after notice, except where the law requires sooner. Continued use of the website after a change takes effect means you accept it.
32. General
We are not liable for delay or failure caused by events outside our reasonable control, including platform outages, natural disasters and acts of government. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest continues in force. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver. You may not assign these terms without our written consent. We may assign them to a successor to our business and will tell Certified Entities. These terms, with the documents they refer to, are the entire agreement on the service. The English text governs.
33. Contact
Schedule A. Fees
Quick Check and the waiting list are free.
The Core submission fee is set by organisation size: small (under 25 employees), mid-market (25 to 249) or large (250 or more). The Applicant pays it on Core submission. It is not refundable.
The annual certification fee is set by organisation size. The Certified Entity pays it on grant and at each renewal. It is refunded pro rata only if we withdraw certification and the withdrawal is not upheld on appeal. It is not refunded where certification is revoked on a ground in the Revocation Protocol that is upheld.
Amounts are set out on the Certification page or, during early access, in your invitation. We confirm the annual certification fee in writing before we charge it.
Schedule B. Trustmark licence and usage rules
Who may use it. A Certified Entity, and a Conditional entity only as its certificate states.
Where. On the certified product, service, model or catalogue, and in marketing that refers to it. Use the form of words on the certificate.
How. Use only the files we supply, unaltered in colour, proportion and wording. Do not combine the Trustmark with another mark in a way that suggests a joint scheme.
What you may say. That the named scope is certified under the AI:OK Standard, at the version and date stated. Do not say or suggest that AI:OK guarantees outputs, that recordings are certified, that your company is certified where only a product is, or that certification is legal clearance. Do not describe a company, product or model as “AI:OK compliant”, “AI:OK approved” or “meeting the AI:OK standard” unless you hold a current certificate that covers it.
Scope. Make clear which products or models are certified and which are not. For model scope, give the public statement agreed with us.
Third parties. You may pass the Trustmark to customers or partners only where we agree in writing. They may display it only next to the certified product.
The trustmark must not be used to imply that an individual recording or output is certified.
Ending. On expiry, suspension or revocation, remove the Trustmark within five working days and do not use it again unless we reinstate your certification.
Monitoring. We may check how you use the Trustmark and ask you to correct it.
Schedule C. Waiting list notice
Joining the waiting list lets us contact you about a Core place. It does not reserve a place. See section 10. We keep your details under the Privacy Policy and remove them when you ask, when you decline a place offered, or after two years of inactivity.