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Terms of Use

This document (the Terms of Use) sets forth your rights and responsibilities when using the Site and Service (both defined below).

These Terms of Use form a contract between the Service Host and you, the User or Submitter (also referred to as “you” or “your”). By clicking a box indicating your acceptance of these Terms of Use or by accessing or using the Site or Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and all other operating rules, policies and procedures that may be published from time to time on the Site by the Service Host.

If you are not of the age of majority in your place of residence, do not agree with these Terms of Use or otherwise do not have the authority to enter into these Terms of Use, you must not access the Site or Service.

1.0 Definitions

Academic Organization: An organization or entity involved in the conduct of academic research, such as a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. A Submitter may designate an Academic Organization involved in External Review of the Submitter’s Content by delegating to the Academic Organization the ability to assign External Reviewer(s) Content for External Review.

Academic Organization Staff Member: An individual, acting in their capacity as a staff member of an Academic Organization designated by the Submitter, with the ability to assign one or more External Reviewers to Content for External Review.

Collaborators: Submitters may designate other FRDR users as Collaborators on a submission. Collaborators will be able to edit Content prior to publication.

Content: Data and associated material (e.g., metadata records, software code, ReadMe text, etc.) uploaded to the Service by Submitters.

Curator: An individual who has responsibility for managing a set of Content in the Service. This may include but is not limited to making acceptance decisions on submission of Content, auditing and improving metadata, and migrating the Content if necessary.

External Review: Examination of Content by one (or more) individual(s) who is/are not involved in the Creation of the content.

External Reviewer: An individual assigned by the Submitter, or by a staff member of an academic publication designated by the Submitter, to conduct External Review.

External Review Feature: The feature within the FRDR service with which a Submitter may assign one or more External Reviewer(s) to Content for External Review, or with which the Submitter may designate an Academic Organization the ability to assign External Reviewers to Content for External Review.

FRDR: Federated Research Data Repository

Personal Information: Personal information is any recorded information that identifies an individual.

Service: The services available on or at the Site offered by the Service Host.

Service Host: The legal entity responsible for offering the Service, being the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (Alliance).

Site: Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) website, https://www.frdr-dfdr.ca/

Submitter: An individual who publishes Content to the Service. It is anticipated that, in the majority of cases, the Submitter will be an author of the Content or associated datasets or a researcher collaborating with the author(s).

User: An individual who makes use of the Service by either browsing the Site or downloading Content.

2.0 Permitted Use of the Site and Services

All individuals using the Site and Service, including Users and Submitters, may only access and use the Site and Service for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You must not use the Site or Service for unlawful or fraudulent purposes or in any other manner prohibited by these Terms of Use.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use, the Service Host grants you a non-transferrable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited license to access and use the Site and Service.

You are not permitted to use the Site or Service to:

  • except with the Service Host’s prior authorization, upload, transmit, or distribute to or through the Site or Service any computer viruses, worms, or any software intended to damage or alter a computer system or data;

  • utilize, in any manner, the Site or Service to send unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of duplicative or unsolicited messages, whether commercial or otherwise;

  • use the Site or Service to harvest, collect, gather or assemble information or data regarding Users, Submitters or other persons, including e-mail addresses, without their permission;

  • intentionally re-identify any individual, group, organization, or any other entity, whose de-identified or anonymized data is included in the Content;

  • interfere with, disrupt, or create an undue burden on servers or networks connected to the Site or Service, or violate the regulations, policies or procedures of such networks;

  • attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site or Service (or to other computer systems or networks connected to or used together with the Site), whether through password mining or any other means;

  • harass or interfere with any other User or Submitter’s use and enjoyment of the Site or Service;

  • use software or automated agents or scripts, other than those provided by the Service Host, to produce multiple User or Submitter accounts, or to generate automated searches, requests, or queries to (or to strip, scrape, or mine data from) the Site or Service;

  • except with the Service Host’s prior authorization, “frame” or “mirror” any part of the Site or Service or use meta tags or code or other devices containing any reference to the Service Host, the Site or Service in order to direct any person to any other websites for any purpose;

  • tamper with, modify, copy without express permission, amend, make derivative or reverse engineer any part of the Site or Service; or

  • license, sell, rent or lease any part of the Site or Service.

Materials on the Site and Service may contain links to material (including Content) on third party websites (“Linked Materials”). Those Linked Materials are not under the Service Host’s control and the Service Host is not responsible for the contents of any Linked Materials. The links to other websites are provided for convenience purposes only and the Service Host does not purport to sponsor, approve or endorse any of the Linked Materials. Any Users or Submitters that access any Linked Materials are encouraged to review the terms and conditions applicable to any third party websites, as these Terms of Use only apply to the Site and Service.

3.0 Submitter Responsibilities

All Submitters agree to the following:

  • The Submitter hereby confirms that they are legally permitted to use the Service, eligible to submit Content to the Service per the FRDR Data Submission Policy, and takes full responsibility for their use of the Service.

  • The Submitter acknowledges that they are required to create an account with Globus in order to submit Content to the Service, which is subject to the Globus Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

  • The Submitter is solely responsible for ensuring that Content is suitable for open dissemination, and that it complies with these Terms of Use, the FRDR Collections Development Policy, any relevant research ethics policies or approvals, any relevant institutional policies or obligations, and applicable laws.

  • Submitters may choose to use the External Review Feature provided by the Service. Content will be placed under embargo and the Submitter may assign one or more External Reviewer(s) to the Content, or designate an Academic Organization the ability to assign one or more External Reviewer(s) to the Content,ahead of public release.

  • When using the External Review Feature, the Submitter is solely responsible for any decisions or actions regarding access to Content by External Reviewers designated by the Submitter or designated by Academic Organization Staff Person(s) acting on behalf of Academic Organization(s) designated by the Submitter. By using the External Review feature, the Submitter acknowledges and agrees that any loss or harm suffered as a result of actions or decisions made by an External Reviewer is the sole responsibility of the External Reviewer and not the Service. The Service does not assume any liability or responsibility for the actions, decisions, or content provided by External Reviewers. The Submitter uses the External Review feature at their own risk. By using the External Review Feature, the Submitter assumes all risks associated with the use of the feature and agrees to release the Service, its affiliates, and personnel from any claims, damages, or losses arising out of or in connection with External Review.

  • In addition to the above, the Submitter represents, warrants and covenants, and can demonstrate to the Service Host’s full satisfaction upon request, that:

    • the Submitter owns or otherwise has the right to grant the rights and licenses to the Content contemplated by these Terms of Use;

    • the Submitter is not under any obligation or restriction created by law, contract or otherwise that would prevent them from entering into and fully performing these Terms of Use;

    • the Content does not violate, misappropriate or infringe the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights including moral rights, trademarks, rights in trade secrets or confidential information or other intellectual property rights;

    • the Content is not defamatory, harassing, threatening, hateful, violent, vulgar, obscene, pornographic or sexually suggestive, illegal or otherwise offensive; and

    • the Submitter has the permission to use the name and, if applicable, the likeness of each individual referenced or used in the Content and to use such individual’s identifying or personal information as contemplated by these Terms of Use.

  • At the time of submission, Submitters may decide if their Content will be public or embargoed, unless otherwise mandated by data protection and privacy laws. Submitters must also select the license terms under which the Content will be provided for public access, being either one of the open license options offered during the Content submission process or, subject to Curator approval, custom license terms. By default Content is made available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0).

  • Public Content is both openly accessible and discoverable through search. Submitters may request that public Content be embargoed for a period that will not exceed one year, unless otherwise approved by the Service Manager. Submitters must provide adequate reasoning for any embargo request, for example, if making Content publicly accessible would jeopardise a forthcoming publication. Embargo requests must have an explicit termination date. Embargo requests of one year or shorter will be granted at the discretion of a Curator. Embargo requests of more than one year will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Upon request of a Submitter, an Embargo may be extended at the discretion of the curator. After the embargo period, the Content will become publicly accessible, unless otherwise mandated by data protection and privacy law.

  • Content containing Personal Information should not be submitted to the Service unless the Submitter first attests to the Service Host with evidence that the Submitter has the authority or consent to disclose that Personal Information to the Service Host and to the public via the Service.

  • Under the current service offering, Sensitive Content that cannot be made publicly accessible should not be submitted to the Service unless the Submitter first provides the Service Host with evidence that the Submitter has the authority or consent to disclose that Content to the public via the Service.

  • Submitters are responsible for providing sufficient metadata and contextual information to ensure that Content may be adequately understood and easily reused.

  • Submitters and their licensors retain all ownership rights to their Content. By submitting Content to the Service, the Submitter hereby grants the Service Host a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service. This includes, but is not limited to, the creation of copies, back-ups, and alteration of the data for the purposes of preservation. The Submitter further authorizes the Service Host to migrate the Content to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation.

  • The Submitter agrees to pay all royalties, fees, remuneration and any other monies due or payable arising from any use of the Content or the exercise of the rights granted in respect of the Content to the Service Host, Users or other third parties on or through the Service, including where the Submitter does not have the required rights to grant the licenses and rights described in these Terms of Use.

  • After submission of Content to the Service, Submitters will no longer be able to directly edit, withdraw from public access or remove the Content. Changes, including the withdrawal or removal of Content, may be requested through the process outlined in section 6.0 of these Terms of Use.

4.0 Publication of Content

For Content that is hosted on the Service, the Service Host will use commercially reasonable efforts to:

  • make the Content available to the public in accordance with the license terms selected by the Submitter;

  • use preservation procedures designed to maintain the integrity, availability and reusability of Content over the long term, subject to the Service Host’s curation and retention policies and contingent upon the availability of funding and support of the Service;

  • transfer Content to another suitable repository in the event of discontinuation of the Service;

  • make the Service available to the public, subject to interruptions due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, upgrades, and/or repairs of telecommunications links, networks and equipment. The Service Host will not be liable in the event of any suspension, modification, discontinuance or lack of availability of the Service or the Content;

  • register and maintain digital object identifiers (DOIs) for the Content;

  • implement the restrictions, including embargo restrictions, placed on the Content as requested by the Submitter, subject to applicable laws;

  • support metadata standards in use across a range of academic disciplines;

  • provide Submitters with a selection of open license options for Content and allow for the creation of custom licenses, subject to Curator approval; and

  • review submissions and, where necessary, work with Submitters to ensure that Content contains sufficient metadata and contextual information to be adequately understood and easily reused.

The Service Host will not be responsible for ensuring that Content submitted to the Service adheres to any requirements set out in these Terms of Use. The Service Host reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor or review the Content submitted to the Service. If Personal Information, not previously identified, is discovered in Content submitted to the Service, a Curator will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify the Submitter.

The Service Host reserves the right, without notice, at their discretion and without liability, to alter, withdraw from public access or remove Content that violates these Terms of Use or applicable laws. If Content is withdrawn from public access or removed for a violation of these Terms of Use or applicable laws, the Service Host may, in their sole discretion, retain a searchable record of such Content in the Service, including the metadata associated with that Content and reasons for removing or withdrawing access.

5.0 User Responsibilities

Users of the Service will:

  • provide proper attribution and citation for the Content in adherence to the academic integrity norms of their field or discipline;

  • comply with applicable license conditions specified on the Content landing page. Download and use of Content does not transfer any ownership rights (except where Content is CC0 1.0), such as intellectual property rights, in the Content to the User; and

  • be solely responsible for their use of the Content.

6.0 Requests for Withdrawal, Removal, or Alteration of Content

Once Content has been submitted to the Service, Submitters may no longer directly alter, withdraw from public access or remove Content from the Service. Such requests are to be considered by curation support staff and will be granted at the discretion of a Curator.

All requests to temporarily or permanently withdraw from public access or remove Content from the Service must be made to the Service Host. Anyone wishing to have Content withdrawn from public access or removed from the Service, either for copyright infringement, or for other legitimate causes, should contact support@frdr-dfdr.ca. Anyone wishing to have Content containing Personal Information edited, withdrawn from public access or removed from the Service should contact privacy@frdr-dfdr.ca.

While the Service Host will consider every request for editing, withdrawal or removal of the Content from the Service, the Service Host is not required to approve any such request. If the Service Host approves any such request, the Service Host will promptly notify the Submitter of such approval.

7.0 Privacy

The Service Host respects the privacy of Users and Submitters and will only collect, use, and disclose Personal Information in accordance with the FRDR Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms of Use. The Service Host encourages all Users and Submitters to review the Privacy Policy and use it to help make informed decisions.

8.0 General Provisions

8.1 Suspension and Termination

The Service Host reserves the right to immediately and without notice suspend any person’s (Submitter or User) access to and use of the Site or Service if that person engages in, or is suspected of engaging in, activities that violate applicable laws or otherwise do not comply with these Terms of Use.

The Service Host may, in its sole discretion, provide a period of 15 days to cure or cease activities that violate these Terms of Use. If the Service Host provides a cure period and the offending activities are not cured or do not cease within the cure period, or if the Service Host determines that the breach of these Terms of Use cannot be cured, your account or access to the Site and Service will be terminated.

8.2 Disclaimers

The Site, Service and Content are made available to Submitters and Users on an "AS IS" basis and you acknowledge and agree that your use of the Site, Service and Content are at your sole risk.

The Service Host does not represent, warrant or covenant that:

  • the Site, Service or Content will meet your requirements or that any particular result (or any result) will be obtained through using the Site or Service;

  • access to the Site or Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or

  • the quality or reliability of the Site, Service or Content will meet your expectations or that the Content is accurate, complete, reliable, useful, timely or current.

Except as set forth herein, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service Host disclaims any and all representations, warranties and conditions with respect to the Site, Service and Content, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, or arising by course of dealing or usage of trade, including, without limitation, warranties of title, non-infringement, quality, performance, compatibility, merchantability, and/or fitness for a particular purpose. The Service Host assumes no responsibility for, and is not liable for, any damage to your equipment, data or other property as a result of your access to, use of or browsing on the Site or Services or your downloading of any Content or other materials, or inability to do any of the foregoing.

8.3 Liability and Indemnity

To the extent not prohibited by law, the Service Host will not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, consequential or exemplary damages arising from, relating to or connected with:

  • the use or inability to use the Site, Service or Content;

  • disclosure of, unauthorized access to or alteration of your account;

  • actions or inactions of other Users, Submitters or any other third parties for any reason; or

  • any other matter arising from, relating to or connected with the Site, Service, Content or these Terms of Use.

This is a comprehensive limitation of liability that applies to all losses and damages of any kind (whether general, special, consequential, incidental, exemplary, punitive or otherwise, including, without limitation, loss of data, income or profits or failure to realize anticipated benefits), whether based in contract (including fundamental breach), tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, even if the Service Host has been advised of or should have known of the possibility of such damages. If you are dissatisfied with the Site, Service, Content or these Terms of Use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Site and Service. The foregoing does not affect any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Accordingly, to the extent that any exclusion of warranties or limitations of liability do not apply in certain jurisdictions, the Service Host’s liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted under applicable laws and in no event will the Service Host’s liability to you under any theory of liability exceed the amount of fifty Canadian dollars ($50).

You will indemnify, defend and hold the Service Host harmless from and against any claim, demand, action, loss, cost, expense, liability, or damage, including, without limitation, all reasonable legal fees and costs, investigation costs and settlement expenses, arising from (i) the use or misuse of the Site or Service; (ii) your access to the Site, use of the Services, use of the Content or violation of these Terms of Use; (iii) any injury, death or damage to property caused or contributed to by you; or (iv) the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any third party in any way relating to the Terms of Use, the Site, Service or Content.

8.4 Dispute Resolution

These Terms of Use, your use of the Site and Service and all disputes arising from it in connection with these Terms of Use shall be exclusively governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario without regard to conflict of laws principles. You agree that, despite being available from a variety of jurisdictions, the Site and Service will be deemed solely based in the Province of Ontario, Canada; and the Site and Service will be deemed to be passive in nature and not giving rise to personal jurisdiction over the Service Host in jurisdictions other than the Province of Ontario. The parties irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Ontario for any actions or proceedings arising out of or relating to the enforcement of these Terms of Use. However, you agree that nothing in these Terms of Use precludes the Service Host from applying for injunctive remedies or other urgent legal relief in any jurisdiction.

8.5 Entire Agreement and Severability

The Terms of Use, together with the Privacy Policy and other documents incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Service Host with respect to the subject matter of these Terms of Use, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous agreements, negotiations communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic) between you and the Service Host with respect to the subject matter of these Terms of Use. If any provision of the Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms of Use will otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable.

8.6 Changes to Terms of Use

The Service Host reserves the right, at their sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms of Use at any time, in which case the modified or updated Terms of Use will supersede prior versions. If the Service Host makes changes to these Terms of Use, the updated Terms of Use will be posted on the Site.

It is your responsibility to check the Terms of Use periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Site and/or Service following the posting of any changes to the Terms of Use constitutes acceptance of those changes.

8.7 Contacting Us

If you have any questions or comments with respect to the Site or Service, if you are unsure whether your intended use is in line with these Terms of Use, or if you seek

permission for a use that does not fall within these Terms of Use, please contact support@frdr-dfdr.ca.

If you have any questions or concerns about the collection, use, or disclosure of Personal Information as regards FRDR, please view the Privacy Policy or contact us at privacy@frdr-dfdr.ca.

8.8 Proprietary Rights

You acknowledge and agree that the all rights, title and interest in and to the Sites, Service, any additional data added by the Service Host to the Content and any trademarks, search software, user guides, documentation and other intellectual property that is created by or on behalf the Service Host relating to the Site or Service, including the submission of Content, is owned solely by the Service Host and their licensees.

Last Revised: 2023-06-17

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