Website Terms of Use

1. Acceptance and scope

These Website Terms of Use (the “Terms”) are an agreement between you and the owner and operator of QEC Atlas (“QEC Atlas”, “we”, “us”, or the “Operator”). By accessing or using the website, online applications, public pages, visualizations, and online content that link to these Terms (collectively, the “Site”), you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not access or use the Site.

If you use the Site for an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization, and “you” includes that organization. These Terms do not replace a separately signed agreement with us; that agreement controls to the extent of a conflict.

2. Limited permitted use

Subject to these Terms, QEC Atlas grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable permission to access and display the Site for personal study, teaching and learning, public-interest scholarship, or internal research that has no anticipated commercial application.

You may cite individual pages and link to the Site in a fair and lawful way that preserves attribution and does not imply sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement. Any quotation, reproduction, or other use must also comply with applicable law and any source-specific notice shown on the Site.

3. Commercial use is prohibited

Except under prior express written permission or a separate commercial license from QEC Atlas, you must not use the Site or Site Content for a commercial purpose. “Site Content” includes the Site’s selection, structure, taxonomy, relationships, explanatory text, original graphics, visualizations, interface, data compilations, downloads, and other materials made available by QEC Atlas, excluding third-party materials governed by their own terms.

A commercial purpose includes direct or indirect use for revenue, compensation, competitive advantage, product development, internal business operations with an anticipated commercial application, or the benefit of a for-profit client or organization. Prohibited commercial uses include:

• selling, licensing, sublicensing, renting, or charging for access to Site Content;
• using Site Content in a paid product, hosted service, client deliverable, consulting engagement, training course, market report, or commercial presentation;
• repackaging, white-labeling, mirroring, syndicating, or publishing a substitute or derivative commercial database, map, directory, benchmark, or knowledge product;
• using Site Content to train, fine-tune, ground, evaluate, or enrich a model, agent, dataset, search product, or other system offered or developed for commercial benefit;
• using QEC Atlas names, marks, screenshots, visual identity, or presentation in advertising, promotion, fundraising, or sales materials; and
• removing rights notices, source notices, provenance, or attribution in connection with a commercial use.

Commercial rights are reserved to the QEC Atlas rights holders. To discuss a commercial license, contact QEC Atlas before use.

4. Prohibited conduct

You must not, and must not help another person to:

• use the Site unlawfully, fraudulently, deceptively, or in a way that infringes any person’s rights;
• interfere with, overload, damage, disrupt, probe, or bypass the Site, its security controls, rate limits, access restrictions, or technical measures;
• introduce malicious code or attempt unauthorized access to systems, data, credentials, or non-public areas;
• use automated means to crawl, scrape, harvest, index, extract, or copy Site Content except as expressly permitted by our robots.txt, a documented interface, or prior written permission;
• frame, mirror, or reproduce the Site or materially imitate its design, compilation, or navigational presentation;
• misrepresent the origin, status, verification, or authorship of Site Content, or imply that QEC Atlas endorses you or your work; or
• use Site Content to make or support unsafe, unlawful, or misleading scientific, engineering, investment, procurement, or operational claims.

5. Ownership and attribution

The Site and Site Content are owned by QEC Atlas or its licensors and are protected, to the extent applicable, by copyright, database, trademark, trade dress, contract, and other laws. No rights are granted except the limited permission stated in Section 2. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

QEC Atlas does not claim ownership of facts, public-domain material, or third-party works merely because they are referenced or organized on the Site. Rights in papers, software, datasets, logos, quotations, and other third-party materials remain with their respective owners. Your use of those materials is subject to their source terms and applicable law.

6. Software and separate materials

Software source code, downloadable software, APIs, datasets, or other materials may be accompanied by separate license terms. Those terms govern the separately licensed material. The QEC Atlas software is not made available under an open-source license; where a copy is provided under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0, only the purposes permitted by that license are authorized.

These Terms govern ordinary access to the hosted Site and Site Content. They do not expand any software license or grant access to a private repository.

7. Feedback and corrections

You may send corrections, source updates, suggestions, or other feedback. Do not send confidential, proprietary, export-controlled, personal, or sensitive information. You retain ownership of your submission, but you grant QEC Atlas a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to review, verify, reproduce, adapt, and use it as reasonably necessary to improve and document the Site. You represent that you have the rights needed to submit it.

8. Research and accuracy disclaimer

QEC Atlas is an informational research and educational resource. Technical fields evolve, and Site Content may contain omissions, errors, disputed interpretations, stale measurements, or links to superseded work. Verification labels, citations, and provenance indicate curation status; they are not a guarantee of correctness, completeness, reproducibility, safety, fitness, or consensus.

The Site does not provide legal, investment, procurement, safety, engineering, or professional advice. Independently verify primary sources, current specifications, licenses, and experimental conditions before making decisions or deploying any implementation.

9. Third-party resources

The Site may link to or describe third-party websites, papers, repositories, software, datasets, products, and services. Links are provided for research convenience and do not imply endorsement or control. QEC Atlas is not responsible for third-party availability, security, accuracy, content, policies, or practices. You are responsible for reviewing their applicable terms.

10. Availability and changes

We may add, remove, correct, restrict, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site at any time. We may revise these Terms by posting an updated version and effective date. Changes apply prospectively from the stated effective date. If you do not agree to revised Terms, stop using the Site.

11. Suspension and termination

Your permission to use the Site ends automatically if you breach these Terms. We may restrict or terminate access when reasonably necessary to protect the Site, users, rights holders, or the integrity of QEC Atlas. On termination, you must stop the prohibited use and delete copies made in breach, except where retention is required by law. Sections intended by their nature to survive will remain effective.

12. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Site and Site Content are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express, implied, or statutory. QEC Atlas disclaims warranties of accuracy, completeness, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, security, and that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free. Nothing in these Terms excludes a warranty that cannot lawfully be excluded.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, QEC Atlas and its rights holders, contributors, licensors, and representatives will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, or research time, arising from or related to the Site or these Terms, even if advised that such loss may occur.

Where liability cannot be excluded, the aggregate liability arising from or related to the free Site will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid QEC Atlas for the relevant Site access during the preceding twelve months or USD 100, subject to any non-waivable rights under applicable law.

14. Responsibility and indemnity

You are responsible for your use of the Site. To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless QEC Atlas and its rights holders, contributors, licensors, and representatives from third-party claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and reasonable costs arising from your commercial exploitation of Site Content, your violation of these Terms or applicable law, or your infringement of another person’s rights.

15. Applicable law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to the Operator, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles and without limiting mandatory protections that apply to you. Before filing a formal claim, each party will make a good-faith effort for at least 30 days to resolve the dispute through the contact channel below. Courts with lawful jurisdiction over the Operator and the dispute may hear any unresolved claim.

16. General terms

These Terms and any additional terms expressly presented for a Site feature are the entire agreement about ordinary use of the Site. If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it will be limited to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions remain effective. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. Section headings are for convenience only.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms, permissions, commercial licensing, rights, or alleged infringement should be sent through the QEC Atlas contact page. Include enough detail for us to identify the material, requested use, and relevant rights.