Terms of Use for MorphoSource

General: The MorphoSource web site located at MorphoSource.org ("Site") is maintained by Duke University ("Duke"). As used in these Terms of Use, the words "Morphosource," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Duke and its staff, administrators, and agents. Use of MorphoSource (the Site and its Contents (as defined in "Copyright and Use of MorphoSource Content")) is subject to the following terms and conditions and all applicable laws. In the context of this Terms of Use, "Use" is defined as any form of access to the Site and the Content available through it. "Use" and the Terms of Use specifically exclude activities that modify the Site and its Content, including but not limited to uploading new Content, editing Content, and managing (as defined in "MorphoSource Access Levels") access to Content. Such activities are engaged in by a subset of users called "Contributors" and are governed by a separate "Terms of Use for Contributors" agreement. By using the Site or any of its Content, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and all applicable laws. If any of these Terms of Use or other policy on the Site are unacceptable to you, do not use the Site. To the extent these Terms of Use conflict with another valid written agreement between Duke and you or your organization, the more specific term from the agreements will apply.
Changes to Terms of Use Are Binding: We may change these Terms of Use from time-to-time without advance notice, including but not limited to terms for commercial use of the Site. Your use of the Site or any of its content after any changes have been made will constitute your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified Terms of Use and all of the changes. Accordingly, you should read these Terms of Use from time-to-time for any changes.
Copyright and Use of MorphoSource Content: The Site includes text, images, graphics, information, articles, multi-media objects, scholarly projects, datasets, and other works ("Content") that may be protected by copyright, trademark, other laws, MorphoSource File Use Agreements, and additional, Content-associated agreements. Some of the Content on this site may include materials that are considered public domain under U.S. copyright law. Where information on copyright status is known or presumed by the Content Contributor, it is included specifically in the metadata associated with each item of Content. The Contributor is solely responsible for this information on copyright status and it is not verified by Duke. However, the Site itself and most of the materials held as Content on the Site are likely protected by copyright, other laws, or Content-specific requirements. Duke is not responsible for the designation of the Content and you have the responsibility to make your own assessment of the copyright, and other legal concerns and restrictions that might affect your use of MorphoSource content and to assume personal responsibility for your uses of Content.
Special Permissions: MorphoSource does not have the authority to grant or deny special permissions to use images or other Content found on the site beyond those uses that are specifically described in these Terms of Use or as noted specifically on individual items of Content, and a MorphoSource File Use Agreement. MorphoSource staff are not able to undertake copyright investigations on your or anyone’s behalf.
MorphoSource Access Levels: Where possible, MorphoSource makes Content available to the general public. However, some Content is or may be available to the general user community only as in-browser derivatives and/or with restrictions on downloading as specified by an active Contributor. In such cases, select users and subgroups of users may be given full access by the Contributor while general users must request access. Access requests can be approved or denied by the Contributor or a designated reviewer for any reason and MorphoSource is not responsible for access determinations. Hereafter, when Contributors are said to "manage", be "managing" or engaged in "management" of Content this shall be understood to include setting or changing access, permissions, rights, and ownership status on Content, or granting and denying other users access to Content. MorphoSource has the right to refuse to change your access level to the Site or Content for any reason. (for example, we may deny requests by users to become Contributors).
Use of MorphoSource Site for Access to Data and Use of Content: Unless otherwise specified in the Content ownership and permissions displayed for that Content, MorphoSource File Download Agreements, or other agreements attached by Contributors to Content, the Content has been made accessible to the general public in furtherance of Duke’s educational and research mission. All Content shall be used in accordance with ownership and permissions displayed for that Content and as described in the MorphoSource File Use Agreements and/or any additional agreements associated with that Content. Furthermore, data and renderings displayed on the site (i.e., Content that can be accessed without agreeing to a MorphoSource File Use Agreement) shall only be used for non-commercial, research, educational, and related academic and expressive purposes. Examples of acceptable uses include personal study, distribution to students, research, scholarship, and expression (including computational research such as data and text mining, citation extraction, or cross-referencing), and expressly do not include any sale of Content, placing Content behind a paywall, or selling advertising on any page on which the Content is displayed. In any published work that uses or references MorphoSource Content, you shall fully cite MorphoSource and any stakeholders and Content owners specified in the MorphoSource File Use Agreements as the sources of the Content. Users will not make any translation, adaptation, or other derivative work of an item of Content except as authorized under U.S. copyright law, MorphoSource File Use Agreements, other laws, and any additional agreements associated with that Content.
Third Party Resources: Links on the Site to third-party web sites are provided solely as a convenience to you. We do not approve or endorse the content of linked third-party sites, and you agree that we will have no responsibility or liability in connection with your use of any linked third-party sites.
Trademarks, Reference Marks, Logos, and similar: Nothing in these Terms of Use or on the Site will be construed as granting you any right or license to use any trademarks, service marks or logos displayed on the Site. You agree not to use or register any name, logo or insignia of Duke University for any purpose except with prior written approval from and in accordance with any restrictions required by Duke University.
Fair Use and Other Lawful Uses: Nothing in these Terms of Use is intended to restrict or limit you from making uses of Content that, in the absence of rights granted hereunder, would not infringe or violate anyone's copyright, trademark or other rights. To the extent permitted by law, adaptation of MorphoSource Content to enable use and access by persons with disabilities is encouraged.
Reserved Rights; Obtaining Permissions: All rights in the Site and the Content that are not expressly granted are reserved. You agree to use the Site and the Content only in ways that comply with copyright and all other applicable laws, as well as with these Terms of Use, and that do not infringe or violate anyone's rights. If you wish to make any use of the Content that requires authorization under copyright, trademark, or other rights, you agree to obtain all necessary permissions. You are responsible for determining whether permission is needed to make any use of the Content.
Disclaimer of Warranties: THE SITE AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE) REGARDING THE SITE AND/OR THE CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OWNERSHIP, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, SUFFICIENCY, OR QUALITY OF THE SITE OR THE CONTENT, NOR THAT ANY PARTICULAR CONTENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE MADE AVAILABLE. WE DO NOT APPROVE OR ENDORSE ANY POSTED MATERIAL OR CONTENT PROVIDED BY OTHERS, INCLUDING DUKE-AFFILIATED AUTHORS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL OPERATE WITHOUT ERROR OR INTERRUPTION, OR THAT THE SITE OR ITS SERVER ARE FREE OF COMPUTER VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL MATERIALS.
Limitations of Liability and Remedies: WE MAKE THE SITE AND THE CONTENT AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE. YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND THE CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN AND SOLE RISK. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE TO YOU, IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF, OR RELATING TO THE SITE OR THE CONTENT, OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR THE CONTENT, OR ANY THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS IN THE CONTENT, EVEN IF THE SITE OR CONTENT IS DEFECTIVE OR WE ARE NEGLIGENT OR OTHERWISE AT FAULT, AND REGARDLESS WHETHER WE ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Indemnity: You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Duke University and its trustees, officers, fellows, students, employees, and agents, from and against all claims, actions, suits, damages, liabilities, and costs (including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees) arising from or relating to your use of the Site or any of the Content or your failure to comply with any provision of these Terms of Use.
Communications:
1. Copyright Complaints: We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe your copyright has been violated on the Site, please contact us via this link
2. Other Site Issues: Please direct all other communications to morphosource@duke.edu
Applicable Law and Jurisdiction: The Site is controlled and operated from our facilities in and around Durham, North Carolina. These Terms of Use, and any claim or dispute that arises from or relates to your use of the Site or the Content, will be governed and construed with the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to principles relating to conflicts of laws principles. All such claims or disputes will be heard and resolved exclusively in the courts of the State of North Carolina, Durham or the United States District Court for the Central District of North Carolina. You consent to the jurisdiction of those courts, including, but not limited to, the in personam jurisdiction of those courts, and waive any objection to such jurisdiction on the grounds of venue or forum non conveniens, or the absence of in personam jurisdiction.
Termination: The permissions granted to you will terminate automatically upon any breach by you of these Terms of Use. If we take down or otherwise cease to make a work available as an item of Content, the permission granted to you hereunder to use that Content thereafter will terminate at that time. MorphoSource is maintained as a scholarly and educational resource by Duke which may be modified or terminated by Duke in its sole discretion.
Privacy Disclosure: When using the Site, Google Analytics and other information may be automatically gathered and stored for technical troubleshooting, to improve the usability of our website, and to record aggregate statistics which may be published or presented publically. Additionally, when you request and/or download Content, we provide a record of this event along with your user name and contact information to the Content Contributors to help them manage the use of their data.
Personal information submitted by users: The system collects personal information submitted when registering as a user. We do not share this information with other organizations or allow it to be used for commercial purposes. If we contract with Application Service Providers (ASPs) to provide services, we will require the application service providers to respect the confidentiality of the information placed on hosted servers. While we may disclose information about use of MorphoSource in aggregate (such as server use statistics), we will not disclose to unaffiliated parties any information that could be used to identify individuals or their use of MorphoSource resources, except as described in our Privacy Disclosure provision, as required by University policies, or as mandated by law.

Adapted with permission from the 'Terms of Use' for ScholarSphere, cc-by The Pennsylvania State University.