Terms of Use for Contributors to MorphoSource

  1. General: The MorphoSource web site located at MorphoSource.org ("Site") is maintained by Duke University ("Duke"). As used in these Terms of Use for Contributors, the words “MorphoSource," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Duke and its staff, administrators, and agents. Use of MorphoSource (the Site and its Content (such as text, images, graphics, information, articles, multi-media objects, scholarly projects, datasets, and other works, as defined in the Terms of Use)) 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 activities that modify the Site and its Content, including but not limited to uploading new Content, editing Content, and managing Content. "Use" and this Terms of Use for Contributors specifically exclude use in the form of accessing the Site and the Content available through it. 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. By engaging in Use of 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.
  2. Changes to Terms of Use Are Binding: We may change these Terms of Use from time-to-timewithout 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Use of MorphoSource Site for Contributing and Managing Data: The ability to upload, edit and manage data on MorphoSource is a service to users who have Content and need or want to engage in the following activities regarding data in their possession: archiving, organizing, visualizing, studying, collaborating, sharing, or fulfilling requirements made by third parties to engage in these activities. MorphoSource makes no official estimates or guarantees made regarding the future duration over which Contributor services of this Site will continue. Nonetheless, to insure integrity of published literature, we have the right to prevent you from removing Content that you or your designees have made accessible via urls, ark identifiers or digital object identifiers (DOIs), because such Content may have been referenced in the published literature. If you upload Content or make an item of Content available to others, you shall do so in accordance with the terms of the rights granted to you for each particular item of Content. For example, you may not upload a facsimile of a published version of an article to MorphoSource under these open access terms, unless the publisher so permits. Further, you will not upload and/or distributeon MorphoSource 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 agreements provided by third party contributors of the Content.You agree to only upload, edit and manage Content that are yours or that you have explicit, written permission from the owner and/or all holders of applicable intellectual property rights to use in this way. When uploading, editing and managing Content of which you are not the sole owner/intellectual property rights holder, you shall respect Content owner/intellectual property rights holder requests and guidelines for specifying “ownership and permissions” in MorphoSource. You are solely responsible for being aware of and including any and all restrictions specified by the owner/intellectual property rights holders on Content that you uploadto MorphoSource. If your actions uploading, editing and/or managing Content violate any restrictions asserted by a holder of intellectual property rights in the Content, any resulting damage is your responsibility. We do not guarantee the security of uploaded Content and recommend Contributors only upload Content eventually intended for access by the general public. We also reserve the following rights related to Contributors and the Content they create: we reserve the right to i) request that Contributors remove any Content or user accounts for any reason; ii) remove Content or accounts without consent after due notification; iii) downgrade Contributor accounts to non-Contributor accounts for any reason; iv) deny requests by Contributors to assign DOI’s to Content for any reason; v) prosecute any users or groups that purposefully or neglectfully engage in damaging activity with or on MorphoSource.
  5. Privacy Disclosure; Personal information submitted by Contributors: The system collects personal information submitted when registering as a user and/or Contributor. When you share/publish Content, other users can see that your account is the Contributor of the Content. They may be able to see the contact information you provided in your profile or contact you through the system to request access to Content you published. 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 serviceproviders 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 Terms of Use, Privacy Disclosure, or as required by University policies, or as mandated by law.
  6. 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 withany restrictions required by Duke University.
  7. 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.
  8. 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 thatdo 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.
  9. Disclaimer of Warranties: THE SITE AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." TOTHE 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 IMPLIEDWARRANTIES 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.
  10. 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 OFANY 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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
  13. 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.
  14. 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.

    15. Long term management

  15. The sustainability of MorphoSource and the value of its Content for society, science, and its user community hinges on the Content held in this repository being kept as accessible as possibleover the long term. To help promote sustainability and value to society, science and end-user communities, you agree that Duke University, acting through its staff or authorized agents may take the following actions to make sure that the Content remains accessible.
    1. General. By depositing your Content, you agree to give MorphoSource the non-exclusive right to disseminate and preserve the content. Preservation may require reproducing the content in different formats to ensure future accessibility. You also agree that (i) it is your responsibility to maintain an active Contributor account, be responsive to communications and system notifications from MorphoSource users, administrators, and staff, and keep your contact details in MorphoSource up to date; (ii) that failure to do so could result in MorphoSource taking any action referenced in this policy, MorphoSource transferring the management of your Content to MorphoSource or a third party (which could result in changes to access settings for you and others), or deleting your Content. If we take any action pursuant to this policy or the Terms of Use, you hereby and forever waive any right to assert a claim against Duke for any relief, damages,or liability, and you hereby agree to indemnify Duke for any liability pursuant to the terms of the Terms of Use. We will endeavor to make reasonable efforts to contact you before making changes referenced in this policy.
    2. Published Content. If you have published Content with restricted download and you fail to manage access requests from Site users or fail to respond to communication attempts from us over a reasonable period of time (which, initially will be four months, but which you agree we may change when it updates this policy), then we, at our sole discretion, may take any of the following steps:
      1. Communicate with users associated with your Content in order to discuss or resolve access issues.
      2. Communicate with representatives at the organization managing the physical specimen (the ‘organization’) represented by Content. Possible solutions include, but are not limited to having the organization contact(s) either a) manage the Content; b) provide updated contact information for the missing contributor; or c) relinquish management of the Content to us.
      3. If no organizational contact is available, we may contact your employer listed on your MorphoSource profile, and provide your employer the sameopportunities as described for the specimen organization above.
      4. If contacting the organization or employer is not possible or unsuccessful, we reserve the right to take over management of the Content for as long asnecessary, and you agree not to contest our management in any way whatsoever.
    3. Unpublished Content. If you have unpublished Content that no user has accessed for more than one year, we may ask you either to remove the Content, fund its continued storage, or publish the Content. If we are unable to contact you or others listed as editors of the Content through contact information obtained from user profiles on MorphoSource, then we have the right to remove the Content. This may initiate a review of other Content associated with your account.
    4. Inactive Contributor Account. We reserve the right to take any action described in this policy or the Terms of Use if the Contributor status of your account becomes inactive.

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