Terms of Use

Terms of Use Effective Date: March 1, 2020

Welcome to the Ecosystem Investigation Network (the “Network”). The following terms and conditions of use govern all use of the Network, all related applications, and all content, services and products available at or through the website (collectively, the “Website”). The Website is owned and operated by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, a Maine-based nonprofit corporation (“GMRI”). Ecosystem Investigation Network “Projects” are the creations of our partner organizations and, with protocols to guide collection and sharing of scientific data and observations by Users.

This website is offered for your use; your use of it indicates your agreement to adhere to all of the terms and conditions described here, in the Privacy Policy, in any revisions to these and in any future policies as published from time to time on this Website by GMRI. Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing, establishing an account, or using the Website. If You do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, You should not access the Website, not register for an account on the Website, or use any services made available via the Website. 

ONLY USERS WHO ARE AT LEAST 13 YEARS OLD MAY CREATE AN ACCOUNT. We have designed two ways for Users under 13-years of age to participate in the Network without registration: as students in classrooms of teachers who are registered Users, or in collaboration with a parent or guardian who is a registered User.

1. Your Ecosystem Investigation Network Account. If You create an account on the Website, You are responsible for maintaining the security of Your account, and You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account and any other actions taken in connection with the account. You must not post data, text, graphics, software code, audio files, video files, images, documents, materials, comments, content or any other information (collectively, “Content”) to Your account in a misleading or unlawful manner, including in a manner intended to trade on the name or reputation of others. GMRI may, at its discretion, but not its obligation, change or remove any Content that it considers inappropriate or unlawful. You must immediately notify GMRI of any unauthorized uses of Your account or any other breaches of security. GMRI will not be liable for any acts or omissions by You, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.
   
   
2. Responsibility of Users. If You post Content to the Website, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) Content available by means of the Website, You are entirely responsible for the Content and any harm resulting from the Content. That is the case regardless of the type or format of the Content. By making Content available, You represent and warrant that:
   
   a. Not Harmful. The Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
   b. Not Spam. The Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
   c. Not Defamatory. The Content is not libelous or defamatory, does not contain threats or incite violence towards individuals or entities, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;
   d. Not Misleading. Your login is not named in a manner that misleads Your readers into thinking that You are another person or company. For example, Your login name is not the name of a person other than Yourself or company other than Your own; and
   e. Not Advertisement. Your content is not getting advertised via unwanted electronic messages such as spam links on newsgroups, email lists, journals and web sites, and similar unsolicited promotional methods.
   
   
3. Content Agreement, Representations and Permissions. By creating a Website account, participating in a Project and submitting Content for inclusion on the Website or for a Project, You understand and agree that the purpose of the Website is scientific research and the Content you contribute will be used for scientific purposes. Furthermore, you agree to assign a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license to any creative, copyrightable Content that you contribute, including short answer responses, field notes, and images. Furthermore, You grant GMRI and the Project a perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, distribute, display, modify, adapt and publish the Content for promotional and scientific purposes. You represent and warrant that: (i) You own and control all of the rights to the Content that You post or you otherwise have the right to post such Content to the Site; (ii) the Content is accurate and not misleading; and (iii) use and posting of the Content You supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity.
   
   
4. Account Termination. Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, GMRI has the right, but not the obligation, in GMRI’s sole discretion, to terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason.
   
   
5. Responsibility of Website Visitors. GMRI has not reviewed, and cannot review, all Content posted to the Website, and, therefore, cannot be responsible for any Content, use of any Content by You, or effects of any Content to You. By operating the Website, GMRI does not represent or imply that it endorses the Content posted to the Website, or that it believes such Content to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect Yourself and Your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. The Website may contain Content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as Content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Website may also contain Content that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. GMRI disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by You of the Website, or from any downloading by You of Content posted to the Website.
   
   
6. Non-Commercial Use. You agree not to use the Website for commercial purpose without prior authorization which may be withheld in GMRI’s sole discretion, or for any illegal, unlawful, inappropriate or unauthorized purpose or activity. You further agree not to threaten, abuse, solicit, spam, harass, stalk, impersonate or intimidate other Website Users and not to collect or store any location or other personal information about any Website Users that You obtain from the Website.
   
   
7. Disclaimer Regarding Other Websites. We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the Content made available through the Website or to other websites and webpages to which the Website links, and that link to the Website. GMRI does not have any control over non-GMRI websites and webpages and is not responsible for their contents or their use. By providing a link to a non-GMRI website or webpage, GMRI does not represent or imply that it endorses such website or webpage. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect Yourself and Your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. GMRI disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from Your use of non-GMRI websites and webpages.
   
   
8. Copyright Infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy. GMRI respects the intellectual property rights of others, and requests that users of the Website do the same. All non-User Content, including copyrightable works, trademarks, service marks, and patentable inventions on the Website are the property of GMRI, or other Website users.
   
   If You believe that Your work has been copied on the Website in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please send the information described below to [email protected], with the subject line “Notification of Alleged Infringement.” It is GMRI’s policy to respond to clear Notifications of Alleged Infringement, and our policy is designed to make submitting Notifications of Alleged Infringement as straightforward as possible while reducing the number of Notifications that we receive that are fraudulent or difficult to understand or verify. If You are concerned about the removal of or blocked access to your content, please provide GMRI’s Copyright Agent with a “Counter-Notification.” The process specified below is consistent with that provided under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Website athttp://www.copyright.gov).
   
   a. DMCA Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement
   If You would like to submit a claim of copyright infringement, please substantiate each claim by sending GMRI’s Copyright Agent a Notification of Claimed Infringement at the email or mailing address below:
   Copyright Agent:
   
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
   
Attn: Ecosystem Investigation Network

   350 Commercial Street

   Portland, ME 04101
   
   

Email: [email protected]
   
   Detail of what an effective Notification of Alleged Infringement must include is available at the U.S. Copyright Office Website at http://www.copyright.gov.
   
   b. DMCA Counter-Notification
   If You elect to submit a Counter-Notification, please send the GMRI Copyright Agent a Counter Notification at the email or mailing address below:
   
   Copyright Agent:
   
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
   
Attn: Ecosystem Investigation Network

   350 Commercial Street

   Portland, ME 04101
   
   

Email: [email protected]
   
   Detail of what an effective Notification of Alleged Infringement must include is available at the U.S. Copyright Office Website at http://www.copyright.gov.
   
   GMRI will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. In the case of a visitor who may infringe or repeatedly infringes the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of GMRI or others, GMRI may, in its discretion, terminate or deny access to and use of the Website.
   
   
9. Intellectual Property. This Agreement does not transfer to You any GMRI, Project, or any other third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with GMRI and/or the Project. All patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website are the patents, copyrights, trademarks or registered trademarks of GMRI, Projects, or GMRI’s partners. Other patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website may be the patents, copyrights or trademarks of other third parties. Other than permissible use within fair use legal principles, Your use of the Website grants You no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any GMRI or other third-party patents, copyrights or trademarks.
   
   
10. Changes to Terms of Use. GMRI reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. It is Your responsibility to check this Agreement periodically for changes. Notice of material changes to these Terms of Use will be posted at the beginning of these Terms of Use. Your continued use of or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. GMRI may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Website (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
    
    
11. Termination. GMRI may terminate Your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If You wish to terminate this Agreement or Your Website account, then You may simply discontinue using the Website. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
    
    
12. Disclaimer of Warranties. The Website is provided “as is.” GMRI and its suppliers and partners hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Neither GMRI nor its suppliers and licensors make any warranty that the Website will be error free or that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. You understand that You download from, or otherwise obtain content or services through, the Website at Your own discretion and risk.
    
    
13. Limitation of Liability. In no event will GMRI, or its suppliers or partners be liable with respect to any subject matter of this Agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages; (ii) the cost of procurement or substitute products or services; (iii) interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or (iv) any amounts that exceed the fees paid by You to GMRI under this Agreement during the 12- month period prior to the cause of action. GMRI shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.
    
    
14. General Representation and Warranty. You represent and warrant that: (i) Your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with the GMRI Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in Your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which You reside); and (ii) Your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.
    
    
15. Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GMRI, their contractors, and licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of Your use of the Website, including but not limited to Your violation this Agreement.
    
    
16. Source Code. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GMRI and their code contributors, contractors, and licensors, and all their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of the publishing of GMRI’s source code or the acceptance of code contributions from outside parties.
    
    
17. General Provisions. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between GMRI and You concerning the subject matter hereof, and may be modified only by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of GMRI, or by the posting by GMRI of a revised version of these Terms of Use. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of the State of Maine, U.S.A. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding to enforce this Agreement shall be entitled to costs and attorneys’ fees. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. You may not assign Your rights under this Agreement; GMRI may assign their rights under this Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

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