1. Ownership and Intellectual Property
By submitting digital assets (including but not limited to images, videos, audio, or documents) to the Austin Community College (ACC) Institutional Archive (the Archive), you represent and warrant that:
- You are the sole owner of the intellectual property rights or have express written permission from the owner to submit the material.
- The assets do not infringe upon any third-party copyrights, trademarks, or privacy rights.
- You retain your original ownership of the work; this agreement does not transfer your copyright to the Archive.
2. Grant of License
By submitting your assets, you grant the Archive a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and worldwide license to:
- Store and Preserve: Make copies for backup and digital preservation purposes.
- Display: Exhibit the assets on the Archive’s website, social media, or physical exhibitions.
- Distribute: Make the assets available for public research, educational use, or under a Creative Commons Attribution.
3. Permissions and Use
The Archive reserves the right to:
- Review: Vet submissions for quality, relevance, and safety before they are made public.
- Metadata: Edit or append descriptions, tags, and titles to the assets to improve searchability.
- Refusal: Decline or remove any submission at its sole discretion without prior notice.
4. Privacy and Sensitive Information
- Personal Data: You agree that any personal data voluntarily included within the assets (e.g., names in a letter) may become public record. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will NOT be included with the assets. The Archive will maintain strict adherence to local, state, and federal laws governing PII.
- Anonymity: If you wish to remain anonymous, you must state this clearly at the time of submission.
5. Liability and Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Archive against any legal claims, damages, or costs arising from a breach of these terms or any third-party claims regarding the ownership of the submitted assets. The Archive provides no guarantee regarding the permanent storage of files and is not liable for data loss.
Takedown & Removal Policy
The Archive recognizes that circumstances change and that digital assets may need to be removed from public view. We provide a clear process for requesting the removal of submitted materials.
1. Grounds for Takedown
The Archive will consider removal requests based on the following criteria:
- Copyright Infringement: Valid claims that the submitter did not have the right to share the material.
- Privacy Violations: The discovery of sensitive personal information (PII) or lack of consent from individuals featured in the assets.
- Defamation or Harm: Content that is found to be libelous, or that poses a significant safety risk to individuals or communities.
- Contributor Withdrawal: Requests by the original contributor to rescind their submission.
2. Request Process
To request a removal, please contact the Archive at [email protected] with the following details (a form can be provided to you):
- The exact URL or Item ID of the asset.
- The reason for the request (e.g., copyright, privacy, or personal preference).
- Your relationship to the asset (e.g., “I am the original creator” or “I am the person pictured”).
3. Archive Discretion & Permanent Records
- Public View vs. Preservation: While the Archive may remove an asset from public view on our website, we may retain a copy for internal record-keeping or legal compliance unless a full deletion is legally mandated.
- Third-Party Caches: The Archive is not responsible for content that has been cached by external search engines (like Google) or saved by third-party users prior to the takedown.
- Processing Time: We aim to review all takedown requests within 7–10 business days.