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Dryad

End User Terms of Service

Updated: May 20, 2025

These End User Terms of Service (these “Terms”) set forth the terms and conditions applicable to Submitters and Users (“End Users”) who Submit data to Dryad, a North Carolina nonprofit corporation, and/or use the Dryad Infrastructure and Services. These Terms apply with equal force to individuals and entities using Dryad Infrastructure and Services.

If there is any conflict between an entity’s Partnership Agreement (“Agreement”) and these Terms, the Agreement will prevail.

Capitalized terms used herein shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms on the Definitions page.

Background

Dryad is a non-profit organization that makes it easy and affordable to curate, preserve, Publish, and reuse Research Data; and to meet your organization’s needs for the public release of data and fulfilling funder mandates. Our vision is that the open availability and routine reuse of all research data enables the acceleration of discovery across domains and the translation of research into benefits for society worldwide. To that end, Dryad:

  • enhances research by making data openly available and reusable;

  • enables Datasets to be widely indexed and discoverable;

  • assigns and registers Identifiers that point to or give context to Datasets on the Dryad Website;

  • tracks the usage of Datasets, and promotes data citation and reuse as a metric of scholarly credit;

  • makes data both accessible today and preserved for use in the future;

  • respects and protects the privacy of its users; and

  • generally, meets the needs of its stakeholders for a trustworthy data curation and publication service.

All of the above functions and offerings, including associated systems, hardware, software, and know-how, are referred to in these Terms as the “Dryad Infrastructure and Services.”

When you Publish your Research Data with Dryad, you join a community of researchers and organizations committed to leading in best practices for open data curation and publishing.

If you would like your funder, institution or publisher to sponsor your Data Publishing Charges, please direct your administrators to our Website and encourage them to contact us with any questions at gro.dayrdatad@spihsrentrap

Terms

  1. Permission.

    1. By Submitting a Dataset to Dryad, the Submitter grants Dryad irrevocable permission to make the Dataset available to the public under a CC0 instrument.
    2. Unless otherwise indicated during the Submission process to the Dryad Website (see Publication policies, obligations & warranties, Section 2), the Submitter agrees that the Dataset may be Published upon Acceptance by Dryad Curation personnel.
    3. The Submitter further grants Dryad permission to:
      1. promote and advertise the availability of the Dataset;
      2. re-format or otherwise transform the Dataset in any way to ensure its accessibility and preservability;
      3. modify and incorporate Metadata or other documentation in the Dataset; and
      4. take any steps Dryad deems necessary in its sole discretion to remove inappropriate information if identified; provided however, Dryad shall have no responsibility to screen or remove inappropriate information from Datasets.
    4. Submitters may, at their discretion, update Metadata for Published Datasets and Submit new and/or updated files to a Published Dataset without being required to pay an additional Data Publishing Charge (Large Data Fees may still apply. See Section 3(c)).

  2. Submitter Representations and Warranties.

    1. Rights. The Submitter represents and warrants that s/he is an author of the Submitted Dataset or has been granted authority by the authors to Submit and Publish the Dataset on the Dryad Website.
    2. Privacy laws. The Submitter represents and warrants that Publication of the Dataset does not infringe on the intellectual property or privacy rights of any person or entity (including co-authors and co-creators), and that distribution of the Dataset under a CC0 instrument complies with all relevant laws; publisher, funder and employer guidelines; and/or contractual restrictions.
    3. Anonymization and Integrity. The Submitter represents and warrants that the data files associated with Submitted Datasets do not contain any information:
      1. which identifies, or which can be used in conjunction with other publicly available information to personally identify any individual; or
      2. which is false or misleading.

    4. Compliance. Each of the Submitter and Dryad shall perform under this Agreement in compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations of any jurisdiction which is or may be applicable to its business and activities, including anti-corruption, copyright, privacy, and data protection laws, rules, and regulations.

      The Submitter warrants that neither s/he nor any co-author(s) or co-creator(s) is a person whose name appears on the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of Treasury (“OFAC”);

  3. Fees.

    1. Charges. Fees shall be calculated pursuant to the Fee Schedule. Dryad only Accepts Submissions that meet the content criteria described in Publication policies, obligations & warranties, Section 1.
    2. Hierarchy of Payments. In determining the party responsible for Data Publishing Charges, Dryad will apply the following criteria, in sequence:
      1. if a Submission is related to a Dryad Partner, the Data Publishing Charge is covered by the partner in accordance with the terms of its Agreement;
      2. if the Submitter is granted a Waiver, no Data Publishing Charge will be incurred;
      3. if none of the above applies, the Submitter or the responsible party designated by the Submitter will be charged the Data Publishing Charge calculated pursuant to the Fee Schedule.
    3. Fee Schedule. Dryad reserves the right to adjust the Fees, as set forth in the Fee Schedule, annually. Fees for Partners will be calculated annually based on the actual metrics from the preceding calendar year, in accordance with the tiered structure set forth in the Fee Schedule. For each renewal period, the applicable Fee tier will be determined by the prior year's actual data volume, publishing revenue, or other relevant metric, as specified in the Fee Schedule. Adjustments to Fees, if any, will be reflected in the invoice for the subsequent year.

  4. Usage.

    1. Dataset Usage. Users are allowed and encouraged to reuse Datasets published on the Dryad Website in any manner except as set forth in Section 4(c).
    2. Copyright. To the extent possible under law, Submitters have waived all copyright and related intellectual property rights that would restrict use of the Submitted Datasets.
    3. Prohibited Usage. End Users may not use the Dryad Infrastructure and Services:
      1. in any unlawful manner; or
      2. in any manner that would impair Dryad’s services to others or compromise the security or functionality of the Website or the Dryad Infrastructure and Services generally. If an End User is prohibited under any U.S. laws or any other regulations from receiving U.S. origin services or software, they may not use the Dryad Infrastructure and Services.
    4. Citation. It is hoped and expected that Users will follow accepted scholarly norms for citing data and giving credit to fellow scholars. The desired format for links to Datasets is the fully resolvable Identifier.

  5. Intellectual Property Rights.

    1. Dryad Intellectual Property. End Users acknowledge that, as between itself and Dryad, Dryad has all right, title, and interest in and to the Dryad Infrastructure and Services, including all copyrights, database compilation rights, trademarks, trade names, and other intellectual property rights, currently in existence or later developed. End Users shall not delete or modify any of Dryad’s logos or notice of intellectual property rights on documents, online text or interfaces made available by Dryad. Dryad owns the service marks Dryad, Dryad Digital Repository, and the Dryad logos appearing on the Dryad Website.
    2. Permitted Uses of Dryad Intellectual Property. End Users are welcome to use screenshots, the Dryad name and other Dryad trademarks (such as the Dryad logo) for informational purposes only. Content other than Datasets on the Dryad Website and blog is available for reuse with attribution under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license.
    3. Prohibited Uses of Dryad Intellectual Property. End Users may not use trademarks associated with Dryad (including, without limitation, the Dryad logo) to imply an association or endorsement by Dryad without prior written consent.

  6. Maintenance of the Dryad Infrastructure and Services. Dryad shall use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the Dryad Infrastructure and Services and to make it continually available for use by End Users, with limited interruptions.

  7. Term. These Terms shall remain in effect until and unless superseded by updated Terms of Submission and Use posted on the Website.

  8. Termination. Dryad reserves the right to suspend use by any End User if that party engages in, or is suspected of engaging in, Prohibited Usage as set forth in Sections 4(c) and 5(c).

    Dryad has tax-exempt status with the United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and reserves the right to modify or terminate any Publication arrangement subject to a Data Publishing Charge if it is advised by the IRS or legal counsel that continuation would jeopardize the exempt status of Dryad; provided that in the event of such termination, Dryad would provide the Submitter with as much notice as reasonably practicable and a pro-rata refund.

  9. Enforcement. Dryad shall take reasonable steps to enforce these Terms, provided that Dryad shall not be obligated to take any action with respect to any Dataset that is the subject of an intellectual property dispute, but reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove or suspend access from, to or through such Dataset or to take any other action it deems appropriate.

  10. Governing Law. These Terms shall be interpreted, governed and enforced under the laws of North Carolina, USA, without regard to its conflict of law rules. All claims, disputes and actions of any kind arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be settled in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

  11. Disputes.

    1. Alternative Dispute Resolution. End Users shall promptly notify Dryad of any claim, dispute or action related to these Terms or any Dataset or Identifiers. Pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, a single arbitrator reasonably familiar with the data publishing, open infrastructure and internet industries shall settle all claims, disputes or actions of any kind arising from or relating to the subject matter of these Terms between Dryad and the End User. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on both parties, and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.
    2. Injunctive Relief. Notwithstanding Section 11(a), no party shall be prevented from seeking injunctive relief in anticipation, but not in any way in limitation, of arbitration. The End User acknowledges that the unauthorized deposit or use of Datasets would cause irreparable harm to Dryad, the Dryad Infrastructure and Services, and/or other users of the Dryad Infrastructure or Services, that could not be compensated by monetary damages. The End User therefore agrees that Dryad may seek injunctive relief to remedy any actual or threatened unauthorized deposit or use of Datasets.

  12. Disclaimer. The Dryad Infrastructure and Services is made available to End Users on an “AS IS” basis. Except as set forth herein, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, Dryad makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation (i) implied warranties of accuracy, quality, performance, compatibility, merchantability, and/or fitness for a particular purpose; (ii) that any such Dataset or other material is free from personally identifiable, sensitive, infringing, errors, illegal data or material, viruses or other harmful components; and (iii) that any such Dataset or other material not suffer loss, corruption, interruption or destruction.

  13. Mutual Limitation of Liability. NEITHER PARTY SHALL BE LIABLE TO THE OTHER PARTY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER ARISING IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EXCEPT WHERE SUCH DAMAGES ARISE FROM THE GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OF A PARTY. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING CONTAINED HEREIN TO THE CONTRARY, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF EITHER PARTY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY THE PARTNER ENTITY UNDER THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT OR $100,000, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

  14. Mutual Indemnification. Each party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other party, its affiliates, officers, directors, agents and employees from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in connection with any breach of this agreement or any negligent or wrongful act or omission of the indemnifying party or its agents or employees.

  15. Taxes. The End User is responsible for all sales and use taxes imposed, if any, with respect to the services rendered or products provided to the Submitter hereunder, other than taxes based upon or credited against Dryad’s income.

  16. Compliance. Each of the Submitter, User and Dryad shall perform under this Agreement in compliance with all laws, rules, and regulations of any jurisdiction which is or may be applicable to its business and activities, including anti-corruption, copyright, privacy, and data protection laws, rules, and regulations.

  17. Incorporation by Reference. The provisions of Dryad’s Publication policies, obligations & warranties and the related definitions (unless otherwise specified herein) are incorporated by reference herein and shall be deemed to have the same force and effect as if set forth in full herein.