Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy

SSRN respects the intellectual property rights of researchers, scientists, publishers and others and asks that you do too. Accordingly, you may only post versions of academic papers and articles (“Academic Papers”), journal articles, or other content on the Social Science Research Network (“SSRN”) site if you have the right to do so. By way of example, while many journal publishers permit posting of some versions of Academic Papers, most journals restrict the sharing of final versions. To be sure you have the right to upload such content, you should review your publishing agreement, the publisher’s copyright policies, and/or any other applicable information prior to posting any version of an Academic Paper.

We will respond to notices of alleged copyright or other intellectual property infringement if they follow the guidelines detailed on this page. SSRN’s designated agent to receive and respond to allegations of copyright and other intellectual property infringement is identified below, along with contact information. We reserve the right to delete or remove content for infringement on copyright or other intellectual property rights.

Please note that complaints and queries related to publishing ethics issues, such as plagiarism, should be sent instead to ethics@ssrn.com. See our FAQ for further information.

Designated Agent Contact Information

SSRN’s Designated Agent for notice of claims of copyright and other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:

Legal Department
Elsevier Inc.
230 Park Avenue
Suite 800
New York, NY 10169
+1 212 989 5800
dmca@elsevier.com

Copyright and other Intellectual Property Infringement Notification Requirements

To be effective, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the above-mentioned Designated Agent that includes substantially the following:

  1. The name, address, telephone number, and if available, e-mail address of the claiming party;
  2. A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property claimed to have been infringed;
  3. A description of where the allegedly infringing material is located, with information sufficient to permit us to locate the material (e.g. the specific URL where the content is located);
  4. A statement that “the complaining party has a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law”;
  5. A statement that “the information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed”; and
  6. An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed.

Note: If you are asserting infringement of an intellectual property right other than copyright, please specify the intellectual property right at issue (for example, “trademark”).

Upon receiving notice of a claimed infringement that complies with these requirements, we will expeditiously remove or disable access to the material and will notify the subscriber or account holder who posted it.

COUNTER NOTIFICATION

Upon receiving a notice of claimed infringement that complies with the criteria in the preceding section, SSRN will expeditiously remove or disable access to the material and will notify the subscriber or account holder who posted it. The subscriber or account holder will have an opportunity to submit a counter notification to replace the removed material or to cease disabling access to the material. To be effective, a counter notification must be a written communication provided to the above-mentioned Designated Agent that includes substantially the following:

  1. The name, address, telephone number, and if available, e-mail address of the subscriber or account holder who posted the content (here, the “Counter Party”);
  2. A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that has been removed or to which access has been disabled;
  3. A description of where the allegedly infringing material was located before it was removed or access to it was disabled, with information sufficient to permit us to locate the material (e.g. the specific URL where the content was located);
  4. A statement that “I consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my provided address is located, and if my provided address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which SSRN may be found”
  5. A statement that "I will accept service of process from the person who provided the notification of claimed infringement or an agent of such person"
  6. A statement that “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the affected material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled”; and
  7. The Counter Party’s electronic or physical signature.

Upon receipt of a counter notification that complies with these requirements, we will promptly provide the person who provided the original notification of claimed infringement with a copy of the counter notification, and inform that person that we will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it in 10 business days. We will replace the removed material and cease disabling access to it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days following receipt of the counter notice, unless our Designated Agent first receives notice from the person who submitted the original notification of claimed infringement that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the Counter Party from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on our system or network.

Repeat Infringer Policy

We have a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders who are repeat infringers of copyrights or other intellectual property rights. Each user agrees that if his or her account is terminated pursuant to this Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy, the user will not attempt to establish a new account under any name, real or assumed, and further agrees that if the user violates this restriction by opening a new account after being terminated pursuant to this Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy, the user shall indemnify and hold us harmless for any and all liability that we may incur therefor.

Sole Statement: This document is the sole statement of the Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy with respect to Elsevier Inc., and no summary, restatement or other version thereof, or other statement or policy, in any form, including, without limitation, machine-generated, is valid.

This Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy was last updated on 1st February 2017.

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