Terms of Use and Policies

Terms of Use and Policies

These General Terms of Use and policies, published on 15 January 2025 and effective as of 15 January 2025, replace and supersede all prior versions.

The Common Access Point’s scope is to serve as a knowledge-exchange hub for Diamond Publishers and Publishing Service Providers (DPSPs), by providing useful resources addressing the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS), and a virtual space supporting user interaction. It will also lay the foundation for the European Diamond Capacity Hub, which will integrate the CAP as part of a virtual network of resources and regional/national Capacity Centres.

The European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) aims to strengthen the Diamond OA community in Europe by supporting European institutional, national and disciplinary capacity centres and Diamond publishers and service providers in their mission of Diamond OA scholarly publishing. By providing coordination, sustainability, training modules, technical tools, and services at scale, the EDCH provides valuable resources to these Diamond stakeholders. In doing so, the EDCH answers the need for capacity building in the Diamond OA community that was expressed in the Action Plan for Diamond Open Access.

Upon its full development, the EDCH-CAP will comprise the following components:

  • A landing page with information about its mission and scope, descriptions and links to the structural components
  • A Registry of Diamond OA Publishers, Service Providers, and Tools and Technology Providers
  • A Toolsuite with resources and guidelines to support Diamond OA publishing
  • A Forum to support the creation and interaction of online user communities
  • A self-assessment tool for Diamond OA Publishers, Service Providers, and Tools and Technology Providers
  • A platform with training material on Diamond OA publishing
  • The Diamond Discovery Hub (DDH) that will provide an authoritative list of Diamond Open Access journals in Europe

Thank you for visiting our Common Access Point website and using the products and services provided by the OPERAS AISBL (also known and hereafter referred to as OPERAS), located at rue Quai aux Briques 76, 1000 Brussels, Belgium (the “Provider”). These Terms of Use (“ToU”) are a binding legal contract between you and the Provider. The ToU governs your access to and the use of the Provider’s website, together with all content and services available at or through any service linking to this ToU (the “Services”). Similarly, the ToU and policies describe your and our rights regarding using the Common Access Point website.

IMPORTANT: Please read the ToU carefully before using the Common Access Point website. Using the website indicates that you accept and agree to be bound by the ToU. Do not use the website if you do not accept the ToU. The Provider may change or modify the Services or the ToU at any time. Such changes, revisions, or modifications shall be effective immediately upon being posted in relation to the website. Any use of the website by you after we post changes to the ToU constitutes your acceptance of those changes.

THIS ToU CONTAINS DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES (SECTION IX), DISCLAIMERS OF LIABILITY, AS WELL AS INFORMATION ABOUT CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON YOUR ABILITY TO BRING A CLAIM AGAINST US (SECTION X).

The minimum age to use the Services is 16 years. Services are only offered to users that are at least 16 years old. Any person who registers as a user or provides his/her personal information on the Services represents that they are 16 years of age or older.

I. Acceptance of the Terms of Use (ToU)

By using the Common Access Point website, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms of Use (the ToU). If you disagree with the Terms, please do not use the Website.

These terms and conditions apply to all of the above-mentioned components of the EDCH-CAP as well as to any future additions to the portal unless specified otherwise in the terms of use of individual components.

You will be asked to agree to the ToU when creating your account. 

II. Updates and modifications to the Terms of Use (ToU)

We reserve the right to change the ToU at any time. If we do so, we will notify you via email using the email address you provided during your registration or account creation. Any changes to the ToU will take effect immediately upon being posted on the Common Access Point website. Your continued use of the website after any such changes means that you accept the updated ToU. If you disagree with the revised ToU, please stop using the website or delete your account.

III. User Conduct

You agree not to use the Common Access Point website to:

  1. Engage in any illegal activities (e.g. drug trafficking, child trafficking, terrorist activities, scamming, hacking, blackmailing, money laundering, pornography, etc.)
  2. Transmit any harmful, offensive, threatening, or defamatory content (e.g. harassment, hate speech, misinformation, impersonation, sexually explicit content, adult-themed content, terrorist content, violent or gory content, etc.)
  3. Violate the intellectual property rights of others.
  4. Interfere with the operation of the Website or its associated services.

Any violation of the ToU will lead to the termination or suspension of your access to the Common Access Point website. 


IV. User Accounts and Single Sign-On (SSO)

1. Account Creation

You may be required to create an account to access certain Common Access Point website features. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information (such as first name, last name, affiliation, and email address) during the registration process and to update such information as necessary.

2. Single Sign-On (SSO)

We offer a Single Sign-On (SSO) mechanism to facilitate your login process. By using our SSO, you agree that your login credentials from third-party services (e.g., Google, etc.) may be used to access your account on our website. You acknowledge and agree that we may collect, use, and store information related to your SSO account in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

3. Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and all activities under your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account or any other security breach.

V. User-generated content

1. Responsibility for Content

You are solely responsible for any content you submit, post, or upload to the Common Access Point website ("User Content"). You warrant that your User Content does not violate any applicable laws or infringe any third-party rights.

2. License to Use

By submitting User Content, you grant us a non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display your User Content on the Common Access Point website.

3. Monitoring and Removal

We reserve the right to monitor, review, and remove any User Content that violates the ToU or is otherwise objectionable in our sole discretion.


VI. Partner-Provided Content

The DIAMAS and CRAFT_OA partners serve as the primary content providers. In the mid-to-long term, the content will be provided, updated, and supplemented by the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) Task Forces.

The intellectual property rights for the partner content are owned by their respective partners. We kindly request that you do not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works based on any partner content without obtaining express permission from the rights holders.

Partners are responsible for ensuring the quality of the content and must ensure that it does not infringe on any copyrights or other intellectual property rights.

Similarly, OPERAS AISBL will ensure the content moderation and sustainability of the CAP website. 


VII. Intellectual Property of the CAP Website

Content of the CAP website is the Intellectual property of the respective content providers or is used under license or with permission. Content includes text, images, logos, graphics, design elements, and code.

Users of the CAP website are granted a non-exclusive license to use and display user-generated content as part of the website. The following uses of CAP website elements are permitted:

  1. Viewing, downloading, and printing content from the website for personal use or research.
  2. Quoting, citing, or referencing content on other websites, social media, or personal communication, as long as proper attribution is provided.
  3. Using the content to create derivative works (e.g., translations, modifications, or compilations).

Additionally, partner-generated content will be licensed under CC BY unless stated otherwise. 


VIII. Privacy and Data Management


1. Collection of Personal Data

We place a high priority on safeguarding your privacy and are committed to processing your personal data in full compliance with the EU Regulation 2016/679, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information we gather, including your name and email address, is collected and processed for specific, legitimate purposes as delineated in our Privacy Policy (GDPR Article 6).

Your personal data may be used to optimise performance, monitor usage, enhance services, and send notifications and updates.

2. Data Security

We implement suitable and appropriate security measures to safeguard your personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage (GDPR Article 32). 

Your Rights Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

You are entitled to the following rights regarding your personal data, as outlined in the GDPR:

  1. Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you (GDPR Article 15).
  2. Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccuracies in your personal data (GDPR Article 16).
  3. Right to Erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data, subject to certain conditions (GDPR Article 17).
  4. Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances (GDPR Article 18).
  5. Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another data controller (GDPR Article 20).
  6. Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis for processing (GDPR Article 21).
  7. Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal (GDPR Article 7(3)).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@operas-eu.org.

IX. Disclaimer of Warranties

Our Common Access Point Website, as well as all materials, information, and software available through it, are provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. There is no warranty of any kind, either express or implied. We cannot guarantee that the materials, information, or software on our website are accurate, reliable, or correct. We also cannot ensure that our website will be available at any specific time or location, that any defects or errors will be corrected, or that our website is free of viruses or other harmful components. Your use of our website is entirely at your own risk.

X. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by the laws of Belgium, the Common Access Point website managers, affiliates, and third-party providers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from or in connection with your use of the Website.

XI. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Common Access Point website managers, affiliates, and third-party providers from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or in any way connected with your user-generated content, your use of the Website or your violation of the ToU.

XII. Termination of Accounts

1. Termination by the user

As a user, you have the right to terminate your CAP website account at any time. If you decide to terminate your account, the following will occur regarding your user-generated data and content:

  1. User-Generated Data in the Registry: As representatives of IPSP/IPTP, users provide information that will be published on the IPSP registry as part of the respective IPSP/IPTP profile. This information will remain on the website even after your account is terminated.
  2. Forum participation: Users participate in discussions as part of their interactions in the IPSP forum. While user-generated content (such as posts and comments) will remain after account termination, it will no longer be associated with the terminated account. Instead, it will be linked to a non-identifiable account (e.g., user 1234).
  3. Contributions to content and resources: Users help update content and resources published on the CAP. Upon account termination, your identity (i.e., full name) will still be publicly acknowledged for your contributions unless you request otherwise.

In summary, user-generated content will remain accessible, and necessary measures will be taken to dissociate it from a terminated account to the extent possible.

2. Termination by the website manager

We may at any time immediately terminate or suspend your right to use or access the Common Access Point Website, with or without notice, if you breach any provision of the ToU or act in a manner that clearly shows you do not intend to or are unable to, comply with the ToU.

In case of an account termination, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you via the email address you provide (at least thirty (30) days prior to termination) with instructions on retrieving your content.

 

XIII. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The laws of Belgium will govern the Terms of Use without regard to the conflicts of laws and rules of any jurisdiction. Every dispute concerning the interpretation or effect of the ToU or your use of the Common Access Point website must be resolved in the courts situated in Belgium. As a user, you agree to the Belgium courts' jurisdiction.