Last Updated January 2025

These terms and conditions of use (“Terms of Use”) apply to your use of all Springer Publishing Company, LLC (“SPC” or “we”) websites, applications, services and products (“Services” or individually a “Service”) that post a link to these Terms of Use. By accessing or using any of the Services you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use apply to all visitors, users, subscribers, authorized users, and others who access SPC Services ("Users", "you" or "your"). PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE TERMS CONTAIN A DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ARBITRATION PROVISION, INCLUDING A CLASS ACTION WAIVER, THAT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THESE TERMS OF USE AND WITH RESPECT TO DISPUTES YOU MAY HAVE WITH US AND ANY RELATED PARTIES. YOU MAY OPT OUT OF THE BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER AS PROVIDED IN THE “OPT-OUT” SECTION BELOW.

Terms of Use

These Terms of Use incorporate SPC’s Privacy Policy (as defined below), as well as the terms of any subscription agreement that may exist between you and SPC. To the extent there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and your subscription agreement, the terms of your subscription agreement will control your use of SPC’s Services. Please read these Terms of Use carefully. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, you may not use the Services.

The Services

The Services are intended solely for Users who are eighteen (18) years of age or older, or otherwise are of the age of majority in their respective state or country. If you are a minor under eighteen (18), you may use the Services only with involvement of a parent, teacher, or legal guardian. Any registration, use or access to the Services contrary to these terms is strictly prohibited and may result in termination of your access to the Services.

The Services, including the text and graphics that appear on the Services, are owned by or licensed to SPC, and are subject to copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights under United States, foreign laws and international conventions. “Intellectual Property Rights” means all patent rights, copyright rights, mask work rights, moral rights, rights of publicity, trademark, trade dress and service mark rights, goodwill, trade secret rights and other intellectual property rights as may now exist or hereafter come into existence, and all applications therefore and registrations, renewals and extensions thereof, under the laws of any state, country, territory or other jurisdiction.  Unless otherwise permitted in accordance with these Terms of Use, you agree not to (i) copy, modify, translate, alter, amend, download, archive, transmit, post, broadcast, transfer, forward, assign, reproduce or in any other way disclose, repost or disseminate any part of the content made available on the Services on third party web sites, or in any other medium without the prior written consent of SPC. Users cannot re-sell to third parties or prepare derivative works of any content made available on the Services.

Allowed Uses

Users may print or download individual journal articles, book chapters and graphics provided on the Services solely for their personal, clinical, educational, or research use, provided it is for non-commercial use. Such use may not compromise the authors’ rights and must adhere to copyright and citation rules. Such materials may only be printed directly from the Services and may not be resold or reproduced for sale. SPC's copyright statement must be clearly visible on all printed materials.

We reserve the right to limit or suspend your use of the Services by electronic self-help or other means and without notice, if we believe you have committed a breach of security or violated these Terms of Use. SPC reserves all its rights in the Services not expressly granted to you by these Terms of Use.

Member Accounts

You do not have to register in order to visit SPC. To access certain features of the Service, though, such as interacting with other Users, making purchases or licensing access to SPC Content (as defined below), you will need to register with SPC and create a “Member” account. Your Member account gives you access to the Services and functionality that we may establish and maintain from time to time and in our sole discretion.

You may never use another Member’s account without permission. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you must keep your account password secure. You must notify SPC immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. SPC will not be liable for any losses caused by any unauthorized use of your account.

You may control your Member profile and how you interact with the Services by changing the settings in Your Account. By providing SPC your email address you consent to our using the email address to send you Service-related notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail. We may also use your email address to send you other messages, such as changes to features of the Services and special offers. If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may opt out. Opting out may prevent you from receiving email messages regarding updates, improvements, or offers. You may not opt out of Service-related e-mails.

Updates and Discontinuation

SPC may update, modify or replace the Services or its content at any time. SPC reserves the right to discontinue access to the Services at any time for any reason. SPC will provide at least thirty (30) days' notice of discontinuation.

Content Submission Restrictions

You are solely responsible for any Content that you submit, post or transmit on the Services. SPC reserves the right to delete or remove any user-posted content which it deems inappropriate or offensive and terminate the user account as a result.

Third-Party Links

The Services may contain links to third-party websites and apps, advertisers, applications, services, or other information that are not owned or controlled by SPC. SPC does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access a third-party website or app from the Services, you do so at your own risk, and you understand that these Terms of Use and SPC’s Privacy Policy do not apply to your use of such sites. You expressly relieve SPC from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website or app, service, or content.

Subscriber Accounts

When creating your subscription account for the Services, you agree to provide current, complete, and accurate information as required by SPC and in accordance with your subscription agreement. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. Your account may be accessed and/or used solely by you as the subscriber and in accordance with your respective subscription agreement. You agree to notify SPC immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. SPC will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your account, either with or without your knowledge. In addition, you may be held liable for any losses incurred by SPC or another party due to someone else using your account. You may not use anyone else's account at any time. Please refer to your respective subscription agreement for the terms regarding the use of your account for the Services.

Privacy

These Terms of Use incorporate the entirety of the SPC's Privacy Policy, https://www.springerpub.com/privacy. By using the Services, you are consenting to have your personal data collected, used, transferred to and processed in the United States. SPC has taken steps to implement commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration or disclosure. However, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat those measures or use your personal information for improper purposes. You acknowledge that you provide your personal information at your own risk.

Service Rules

You agree not to use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use, or the terms of the subscription agreement you have with SPC. You may not use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair any server, or the network(s) connected to the Services, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Services. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the Services, other accounts, computer systems, or networks connected to any server related to the Services, through hacking, password or data mining, or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available to you on the Services.

You further agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities: (i) copying, distributing, or disclosing any part of the Services in any medium, including without limitation by the use of any automated or non-automated "scraping"; (ii) using any automated system, including without limitation "robots," "spiders," "offline readers," etc., to access the Services in a manner that sends more request messages to the SPC's servers than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time by using a conventional on-line web browser (except that SPC grants the operators of public search engines revocable permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Services for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials); (iii) transmitting spam, chain letters, or other unsolicited email; (iv) attempting to interfere with, compromise the system integrity or security or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running the Services; (v) taking any action that imposes, or may impose at our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (vi) uploading invalid data, viruses, worms, or other software agents through the Services; (vii) collecting or harvesting any personally identifiable information, including account names, from the Services; (viii) using the Services for any commercial solicitation purposes; (ix) impersonating another person or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity, conducting fraud, hiding or attempting to hide your identity; (x) interfering with the proper working of the Services; (xi) accessing any content on the Services through any technology or means other than those provided or authorized by SPC; or (xii) bypassing the measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Services, including without limitation features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Services or the content therein.

Accessing the audiovisual content available on the Services for any purpose or in any manner other than Streaming is expressly prohibited. “Streaming” means a contemporaneous digital transmission of an audiovisual work via the Internet from the Services to a User’s device in such a manner that the data is intended for real-time viewing and not intended to be copied, stored, permanently downloaded, or redistributed by the User. 

SPC may permanently or temporarily terminate, suspend, or otherwise refuse to permit your access to the Services without notice and liability for any reason, including if in SPC's sole determination you violate any provision of these Terms of Use, or for no reason. Upon termination for any reason or no reason, you continue to be bound by these Terms of Use. All aspects of the Services are subject to change or elimination at SPC's sole discretion. SPC reserves the right to interrupt the Services with or without prior notice for any reason or no reason. You agree that SPC will not be liable to you for any interruption of the Services, delay or failure to perform.

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Users. SPC shall have no liability for your interactions with other Users, or for any User’s action or inaction.

Medical Disclaimer; Warranties

The content available on or through the Services is not an attempt to practice medicine or provide specific medical or clinical advice. Use of the Services does not establish a clinician-patient relationship. Always consult with your practitioner for any health-related questions. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your practitioner or 911 immediately. You understand and acknowledge that if you rely on any information provided by SPC, SPC employees, other Users of the Services, or any content on or available through the Services, you do so solely at your own risk.

NEITHER SPC, NOR ANY PARENT, SUBSIDIARY, AFFILIATE, DIRECTOR, EMPLOYEE, LICENSOR, LICENSEE, DISTRIBUTOR, SUPPLIER, AGENT, OR RESELLER OF THE SERVICES (COLLECTIVELY, THE "SPC ENTITIES") MAKE ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES, WHICH ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", OR WITH RESPECT TO THESE TERMS OF USE. THE SPC ENTITIES EXPRESSLY EXCLUDE AND DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE IN LAW OR FROM COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF TRADE. ANY STATEMENTS OR REPRESENTATIONS MADE BY ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY ARE VOID. YOU ASSUME ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, FUNCTION, PERFORMANCE, AND CONTENT ON THE SERVICES.

Some states or other jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusions may not apply to you if prohibited by applicable law. the Services may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. SPC has the right at any time to change, modify, add to, discontinue, or retire any aspect or feature of the Services, including, but not limited to, hours of availability, equipment needed for access or use, or the availability of the Services on any particular device or communications service. SPC has no obligation to provide you with notice of any such changes, and SPC is under no obligation to provide you with any support, error corrections, updates, upgrades, bug fixes, and/or enhancements of the Services, except as provided by your subscription agreement with SPC, if applicable.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL SPC OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, PROMOTION, OR MARKETING OF THE SERVICES, OR THESE TERMS OF USE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE SPC ENTITIES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, RELIANCE, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF DATA OR PROFITS, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, EVEN IF THE SPC ENTITIES OR SUCH OTHER RELATED PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL SPC BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS OR INJURY RESULTING FROM HACKING, TAMPERING OR OTHER UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICES OR YOUR ACCOUNT OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Some states or other jurisdictions do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts and some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of special, indirect, incidental, exemplary, or consequential damages, or the limitation of liability to specified amounts, so the above limitation and exclusion may not apply to you if prohibited by applicable law.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SPC and its affiliates, SPC's and such affiliates' principals, directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, successors and/or assigns from and against any and all actions, causes of action, suits, damages, liabilities, claims, and expenses, including attorneys' fees, of whatever kind or nature, at law or in equity, directly or indirectly, arising out of or in any way related to (i) your violation of these Terms of Use; (ii) your use of and access to the Services, including any data or content transmitted or received by you; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any right of privacy, publicity rights or Intellectual Property Rights; (iv) your violation of any law, rule or regulation of the United States or any other country; (v) any claim or damages that arise as a result of any information that is submitted via your account; or (vi) any other party’s access and use of the Services with your unique username, password or other appropriate security code. SPC and its affiliates reserve the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with SPC and/or its affiliates in asserting any available defenses.

Amendments; Modifications

SPC may modify and amend these Terms of Use, including our Privacy Policy, from time to time by notifying you, provided that no notice shall be required for non-substantive changes to these Terms of Use. If we substantively amend these Terms of Use, we will give you at least seven (7) days notice before the changes take effect, during which period of time you may reject the changes by terminating your account. Your continued use of the Services after any such change constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Use. If you do not agree to any of these Terms of Use or any future Terms of Use, do not use or access (or continue to access) the Services.

User Content

Some areas of the Services may allow Users to post feedback, comments, questions, and other information (“User Content”). You are solely responsible for your User Content that you upload, publish, display, link to or otherwise make available (hereinafter, “post”) on the Service, and you agree that we are only acting as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of your User Content. You understand that whether or not such User Content published, SPC does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any User Content.

You agree not to post User Content that: (i) may create a risk of harm, loss, physical or mental injury, emotional distress, death, disability, disfigurement, or physical or mental illness to you, to any other person, or to any animal; (ii) may create a risk of any other loss or damage to any person or property; (iii) seeks to harm or exploit children by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable details or otherwise; (iv) may constitute or contribute to a crime or tort; (v) contains any information or content that we deem to be unlawful, harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, harassing, humiliating to other people (publicly or otherwise), libelous, threatening, profane, or otherwise objectionable; (vi) contains any information or content that is illegal (including, without limitation, the disclosure of insider information under securities law or of another party’s trade secrets); (vii) contains any information or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships; or (viii) contains any information or content that you know is not correct and current. You agree that any User Content that you post does not and will not violate third-party rights of any kind, including without limitation any Intellectual Property Rights, rights of publicity and privacy. To the extent that your User Content contains music, you hereby represent that you are the owner of all the copyright rights, including without limitation the performance, mechanical, and sound recordings rights, with respect to each and every musical composition (including lyrics) and sound recording contained in such User Content and have the power to grant the license granted below. SPC reserves the right, but is not obligated, to reject and/or remove any User Content that SPC believes, in its sole discretion, violates these provisions. You understand that publishing your User Content on the Services is not a substitute for registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office, the Writer’s Guild of America, or any other rights organization.

SPC takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content that you or any other User or third-party posts or sends over the Service. You understand and agree that any loss or damage of any kind that occurs as a result of the use of any User Content that you send, upload, download, stream, post, transmit, display, or otherwise make available or access through your use of the Service, is solely your responsibility. SPC is not responsible for any public display or misuse of your User Content. You understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent, objectionable, or inappropriate for children, and you agree that SPC shall not be liable for any damages you allege to incur as a result of such User Content.

User Content License Grant

You retain all your ownership rights in your User Content. By posting any User Content on the Service, you expressly grant, and you represent and warrant that you have a right to grant, to SPC a royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, list information regarding, edit, translate, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, and make derivative works of all such User Content and your name, voice, and/or likeness as contained in your User Content, in whole or in part, and in any form, media or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed, for use in connection with the Services and SPC’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Services (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each User of the Services a non-exclusive license to access your User Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Content as permitted through the functionality of the Services and under these Terms of Use.

The above licenses granted by you in your User Content terminate within a commercially reasonable time after you remove or delete your User Content from the Service. You understand and agree, however, that SPC may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of User Content that have been removed or deleted. The above licenses granted by you in User Content for which the Services do not provide you a means to delete or remove are perpetual and irrevocable.

End User License Grant

(1)     SPC Services. Subject to the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use, you are hereby granted a non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, freely revocable, and conditional license to use the Services for your personal, noncommercial use only. SPC reserves all rights not expressly granted herein in the Services and the SPC Content (as defined below). SPC may terminate this license at any time for any reason or no reason.

(2)     SPC Software. To use the SPC Software you must have a mobile device that is compatible with the Services. SPC does not warrant that the Services will be compatible with your mobile device.

(3)     License Grant. SPC hereby grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable and conditional license to use a compiled code copy of the SPC Software for one SPC Member account on one mobile device owned or leased solely by you, for your personal use, subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use.

(4)     Restrictions. You may not: (i) modify, disassemble, decompile or reverse engineer the SPC Software, except to the extent that such restriction is expressly prohibited by law; (ii) rent, lease, loan, resell, sublicense, distribute or otherwise transfer the SPC Software to any third party or use the SPC Software to provide time sharing or similar services for any third party; (iii) make any copies of the SPC Software; (iv) remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the SPC Software, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through the SPC Software, or features that enforce limitations on use of the SPC Software; or (v) delete the copyright and other proprietary rights notices on the SPC Software.

(5)     Software Upgrades. You acknowledge that SPC may from time to time issue upgraded versions of the SPC Software, and may automatically electronically upgrade the version of the SPC Software that you are using on your mobile device. You consent to such automatic upgrading on your mobile device, and agree that the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use will apply to all such upgrades.

(6)     Third-Party Code. Any third-party code that may be incorporated in the SPC Software is covered by the applicable open source or third-party license EULA, if any, authorizing use of such code.

(7)     Rights Reserved. The foregoing license grant is not a sale of the SPC Software or any copy thereof, and SPC or its third party partners or suppliers retain all right, title, and interest in the SPC Software (and any copy thereof). Any attempt by you to transfer any of the rights, duties or obligations hereunder, except as expressly provided for in these Terms of Use, is void. SPC reserves all rights not expressly granted under these Terms of Use.

(8)     Government End Users. If the SPC Software is being acquired on behalf of the United States Government, then the following provision applies. Use, duplication, or disclosure of the SPC Software by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions set forth in these Terms of Use and as provided in DFARS 227.7202-1(a) and 227.7202-3(a) (1995), DFARS 252.227-7013(c)(1)(ii) (OCT 1988), FAR 12.212(a) (1995), FAR 52.227-19, or FAR 52.227-14 (ALT III), as applicable.

(9)     Export Control. The SPC Software originates in the United States, and is subject to United States export laws and regulations. The SPC Software may not be exported or re-exported to certain countries or those persons or entities prohibited from receiving exports from the United States. In addition, the SPC Software may be subject to the import and export laws of other countries. You agree to comply with all United States and foreign laws related to use of the SPC Software and the Services.

(10)   SPC Software from iTunes. The following applies to any SPC Software you acquire from the iTunes Store (“iTunes-Sourced Software”): You acknowledge and agree that these Terms of Use are solely between you and SPC, not Apple, and that Apple has no responsibility for the iTunes-Sourced Software or content thereof. Your use of the iTunes-Sourced Software must comply with the App Store Terms of Service. You acknowledge that Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the iTunes-Sourced Software. In the event of any failure of the iTunes-Sourced Software to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price for the iTunes-Sourced Software to you; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the iTunes-Sourced Software, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be solely governed by these Terms of Use and any law applicable to SPC as provider of the software. You acknowledge that Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims of you or any third party relating to the iTunes-Sourced Software or your possession and/or use of the iTunes-Sourced Software, including, but not limited to: (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the iTunes-Sourced Software fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection or similar legislation; and all such claims are governed solely by these Terms of Use and any law applicable to SPC as provider of the software. You acknowledge that, in the event of any third party claim that the iTunes-Sourced Software or your possession and use of that iTunes-Sourced Software infringes that third party’s Intellectual Property Rights, SPC, not Apple, will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement and discharge of any such intellectual property infringement claim to the extent required by these Terms of Use. You and SPC acknowledge and agree that Apple, and Apple’s subsidiaries, are third party beneficiaries of these Terms of Use as they relate to your license of the iTunes-Sourced Software, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms of Use, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms of Use as they relate to your license of the iTunes-Sourced Software against you as a third party beneficiary thereof.

User Content Representations and Warranties

You shall be solely responsible for your own User Content and the consequences of posting or publishing it. In connection with your User Content, you affirm, represent and warrant, in addition to the other representations and warranties in these Terms of Use, the following:

(1)     You are at least 18 years of age and have not been previously removed from the Service, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms of Use, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Use.

(2)     You have the written consent of each and every identifiable natural person in the User Content to use such person’s name or likeness in the manner contemplated by the Services and these Terms of Use, and each such person has released you from any liability that may arise in relation to such use.

(3)     Your User Content and SPC’s use thereof as contemplated by these Terms of Use and the Services will not infringe any rights of any third party, including but not limited to any Intellectual Property Rights, privacy rights and rights of publicity.

(4)     SPC may exercise the rights to your User Content granted under these Terms of Use without liability for payment of any guild fees, residuals, payments, fees, or royalties payable under any collective bargaining agreement or otherwise.

(5)     To the best of your knowledge, all your User Content and other information that you provide to us is truthful and accurate.

 

Intellectual Property

Except for your User Content, the Services and all materials therein or transferred thereby, including, without limitation, software, text, images, graphics, illustrations, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, photographs, audio, video, music, User Content and other materials and information (the “SPC Content”), and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto, are owned or licensed to SPC and may not be used for any purpose beyond the uses permitted herein without the prior written permission of SPC. Except as explicitly provided herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be deemed to create a license in or under any such Intellectual Property Rights, and you agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from any materials or content accessible on the Services. Use of SPC Content or materials on the Services for any purpose not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is strictly prohibited. SPC expressly reserves all rights in connection with its intellectual property, including without limitation the right to block the transfer of its products and services and/or to track usage thereof, through electronic tracking technology, and all other lawful means, now known or hereafter devised. SPC reserves the right, without further notice, to pursue to the fullest extent allowed by law any and all criminal and civil remedies for the violations of its rights throughout the world. Without limiting any of the foregoing, your access to the Services may be terminated by SPC in the event that you infringe on any Intellectual Property Rights or otherwise breach these Terms of Use. For permission to use any trademarks or photocopy and/or use any information contained in the Services beyond the uses permitted herein, please contact cs@springerpub.com.

You may choose to, or we may invite you to, submit comments or ideas about the Service, including without limitation about how to improve the Services or our products (“Ideas”). By submitting any Idea, you agree that your disclosure is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction and will not place SPC under any fiduciary or other obligation, and that we are free to use the Idea without any additional compensation to you, and/or to disclose the Idea on a non-confidential basis or otherwise to anyone. You further acknowledge that, by acceptance of your submission, SPC does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to SPC, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

DMCA Notice

Since we respect content owner rights, it is SPC’s policy to respond to alleged infringement notices that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”). If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement and is accessible via the Services, please notify SPC’s copyright agent as set forth in the DMCA. For your complaint to be valid under the DMCA, you must provide the following information in writing:

An electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and where it is located on the Service;
Information reasonably sufficient to permit SPC to contact you, such as your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or law; and
A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
The above information must be submitted to the following DMCA Agent: Attn: DMCA Notice Springer Publishing Company, LLC 902 Carnegie Center Drive, Princeton NJ 08540

Email: cs@springerpub.com

UNDER FEDERAL LAW, IF YOU KNOWINGLY MISREPRESENT THAT ONLINE MATERIAL IS INFRINGING, YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR PERJURY AND CIVIL PENALTIES, INCLUDING MONETARY DAMAGES, COURT COSTS, AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES.

Please note that this procedure is exclusively for notifying SPC and its affiliates that your copyrighted material has been infringed. The preceding requirements are intended to comply with SPC's rights and obligations under the DMCA, including 17 U.S.C. §512(c), but do not constitute legal advice. It may be advisable to contact an attorney regarding your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws. In accordance with the DMCA and other applicable law, SPC has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and at SPC's sole discretion, members who are deemed to be repeat infringers. SPC may also at its sole discretion limit access to the Services and/or terminate the accounts of any Users who infringe any Intellectual Property Rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.

General Assignment

These Terms of Use, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by SPC without restriction. Any attempted assignment in violation of the foregoing shall be null and void.

Governing Law

You agree that: (i) the Services are based solely in New York; and (ii) the Services are passive ones that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over SPC, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than New York. These Terms of Use shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of New York, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. Any claim or dispute between you and SPC that arises in whole or in part from the Services shall be decided exclusively by a court of competent jurisdiction located in New York, New York, unless submitted to arbitration as set forth in the following paragraph.

Arbitration Agreement

You and we agree that any dispute, claim or controversy between you and us shall be determined by binding arbitration. By accepting these Terms of Use and this arbitration agreement, you agree that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), including its procedural provisions, governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. This means that the FAA governs, among other things, the interpretation and enforcement of this provision requiring mandatory arbitration, including the class action waiver discussed below. The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to the extent permitted by law to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of these Terms of Use and/or this arbitration agreement, including but not limited to, the arbitrator’s jurisdiction and any claim that all or any part of these Terms of Use is void or voidable. Notwithstanding your agreement to mandatory arbitration, you may assert your claim in small claims court, if your claims qualify within that court’s jurisdiction and so long as the matter remains in such court and advances only on an individual (non-class, non-representative) basis.  

The arbitration will be governed by the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) Consumer Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures, as applicable (the AAA Rules) and will be administered by the AAA. You may obtain more information about arbitration, the AAA Rules, fee schedules, and forms to initiate arbitration at www.adr.org. To the extent there is a conflict between the AAA Rules, on the one hand, and these Terms of Use and/or this arbitration agreement, on the other hand, the Terms of Use and arbitration agreement shall govern. If, and only if, the AAA declines for any reason to administer the arbitration or is otherwise unable to administer the arbitration for any reason, you agree that the arbitration will be administered by the National Arbitration and Mediation forum (“NAM”) and governed by NAM’s rules. 

In addition to the application of the FAA, any arbitration between us will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of New York, except to the extent preempted by U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict of law rules or principles (whether of New York or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction.

Expressly excluded from this arbitration agreement are: (a) any claims that cannot be required to be arbitrated as a matter of New York law subject to federal preemption (including claims or charges that must be filed with a governmental administrative agency); (b) applications for provisional remedies, preliminary injunctions, and temporary restraining orders, including but not limited to those relating to actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of a party’s copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other Intellectual Property Rights; and (c) small claims actions demanding $10,000 or less brought on an individual basis and within a small claims court’s jurisdiction.

Except as otherwise required by applicable law, in the event that this arbitration agreement is found not to apply to, or not be enforceable with respect to, you or your claims, you and we agree that any judicial proceeding (other than small claims actions) will be brought in the federal or state courts of New York County, New York. If any judicial proceeding is brought elsewhere, it shall be transferred to a court located in New County, New York. Both you and we consent to venue and personal jurisdiction there. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we both agree to waive our right to a jury trial.

This arbitration agreement shall survive termination of these Terms of Use and the termination of any plan or account you may have with us. If any portion of this arbitration agreement, other than the prohibition on bringing class or collective actions, is deemed invalid or unenforceable, the remaining portions of this arbitration agreement shall remain valid and in force. If there is a final judicial determination that applicable law precludes enforcement of this arbitration agreement as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim alone shall be severed from the arbitration agreement and may be brought in court.

Further, the arbitrator may not consolidate another person’s claims with your claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. The arbitrator is bound by these Terms of Use and this arbitration agreement to the extent they modify the AAA (or NAM) Rules. As a result, the arbitrator shall have no power or authority to preside over, certify, adjudicate, or determine any form of class or collective action and further shall have no power or authority to consolidate or join any claim or dispute between any other party and us with your claim. 

Nothing in these Terms of Use and arbitration agreement will prevent you from seeking public injunctive relief in court separately from arbitration, and any such application will not be deemed incompatible with the agreement to arbitrate or as a waiver of the right to arbitrate your individual claims. You and we agree that any claims for damages and/or any relief other than public injunctive relief must be heard in arbitration first, with any claims seeking a remedy of public injunctive relief in court proceeding only after the arbitration of all arbitrable claims, and any claims or portions of claims seeking a remedy of public injunctive relief will be stayed pending the outcome of the arbitration. If you file an action in court seeking public injunctive relief before meeting the preconditions of the Mandatory Informal Dispute Resolution process (discussed below) or the agreement to arbitrate, you will be waiving your right to seek damages from SPC or its affiliates relating to any claims.

Opt-Out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice of your intent to opt out to arbitration-opt-out@springerpub.com, within 60 days of the date of your acceptance of the terms of this arbitration agreement. Your notice of opt-out must state that you are opting out of the arbitration agreement, along with your name, address, telephone numbers, email address, and signature. Attempts to opt out using any other method will be deemed ineffective.

Arbitration Procedures, Award, and Appeals. Either party may initiate an arbitration with the AAA.  If, and only if, the AAA declines for any reason to administer the arbitration or is otherwise unable to administer the arbitration for any reason, you agree that, alternatively, the arbitration will be administered by NAM. Any hearing shall be conducted virtually, unless the parties agree otherwise or the arbitrator determines that a party’s right to a fundamentally fair process would be impaired without an in-person hearing. In the case of an in-person hearing, such hearing will be held in New York, New York, or any other location agreed upon by the parties. 

The arbitrator shall have no authority to award punitive damages, and each party hereby waives any right to seek or recover punitive damages with respect to any dispute resolved by arbitration. Except as provided for in this arbitration and the Terms of Use (including the Limitation of Liability provision), the arbitrator is otherwise empowered to grant all remedies and whatever relief that a party would be entitled to in a court of law or equity under applicable law, including, without limitation, declaratory or injunctive relief of any nature. The arbitrator may award damages or other types of relief permitted by applicable substantive law, subject to the limitations set forth in this arbitration agreement. The arbitrator will not be bound by judicial rules of procedure and evidence that would apply in a court. The arbitrator shall take steps to reasonably protect confidential information.

The Arbitrator Shall Issue a Reasoned Award. Within 30 days of a final award by the arbitrator, any party may appeal the award for reconsideration by a three-arbitrator panel selected according to the rules of the arbitration administrator. In the event of such an appeal, any opposing party may cross-appeal within 30 days after notice of the appeal. The panel will reconsider de novo all aspects of the initial award that are appealed. Costs and conduct of any appeal shall be governed by this arbitration agreement and the administrator's rules, in the same way as the initial arbitration proceeding. Any award by the individual arbitrator that is not appealed, and any panel award on appeal, shall be final and binding, except for any appeal right under the FAA, and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Arbitration Procedure and Fees. Each party will be responsible for its own filing fees for the arbitration. However, if your entire demand totals less than $1,000, SPC will reimburse you for the filing fee upon written request for reimbursement with documentation of insufficient funds to pay the fee. If you are able to demonstrate that the costs of arbitration would be prohibitive as compared to costs of litigation, SPC will pay as much of the fees and costs of the arbitration as the arbitrator deems necessary in order to prevent the arbitration from being cost-prohibitive as compared to the costs of litigation. In the event that the AAA’s Consumer Mass Arbitration and Mediation Fee Schedule or the mass arbitration fee schedule of another administrator applies, such fee schedule shall govern.

Aside from the potential reapportionment of the arbitration fees discussed in the paragraph above, each party shall bear all of their own fees and expenses, including for their respective attorneys, experts, and witnesses, except as otherwise required by law or contract.   

For discovery purposes only, upon a request/motion of a party, an arbitrator may consolidate claims filed by multiple individuals, each on their own behalf, in a single arbitration proceeding, so long as the arbitrator does not (a) certify (conditionally or otherwise) a collective, class, or representative action that includes individuals who have not themselves already submitted their own individual claims, or (b) authorize the issuance of notice of the arbitration to individuals on the grounds that the arbitrator or any party believes there are other individuals who are similarly situated to or share commonality with a party to the arbitration.

Notification Procedures

SPC may provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business-related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through conspicuous posting of such notice on the Services as determined by SPC in our sole discretion. SPC reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to our Users, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in these Terms of Use. SPC is not responsible for any automatic filtering you or your network provider may apply to email notifications we send to the email address you provide to us. We recommend that you add cs@springerpub.com to your email address book to help ensure you receive email notifications from us.

Entire Agreement/Severability

These Terms of Use, together with any amendments and any agreements referenced herein, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and SPC concerning the Services. If any provision of these Terms of Use is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, which shall remain in full force and effect.

No Waiver

No waiver of any term of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and SPC’s failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Contact

Please contact us at cs@springerpub.com with any questions regarding these Terms of Use.