Terms of Use of the Repository Services of mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Scope and Definitions

The following Terms of Use govern the use of the Repository Services of the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (hereinafter referred to as "Platform"), in particular the access to Media Objects by persons using the public and freely-accessible area (hereinafter: Users) as well as the upload of Media Objects by persons who have been granted an access by the responsible administrators (hereinafter: Depositors). Users and Depositors are summarized below under the term Operators. Media Objects are all intangible goods that are available in machine-readable formats and as such are transferable independent of their carrier, in particular internet-based. This includes, in particular, digitized material, text, video and audio files from academic research, teaching, and advancement, appreciation and teaching of the arts. The Operator of the Platform is the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (hereinafter referred to as “Service Provider”).

There is a graded concept of access rights for the Platform. The scope of the rights of the Operators may therefore vary. The Service Provider reserves the right to enable only a specific group of people to register for and thus to use the platform.

These Terms of Use apply as long as the Service Provider and the Platform exist and as long as the Terms of Use remain unchanged. The Service Provider reserves the right to change the Terms of Use at any time. Changes made will be announced on the Platform. The amended Terms of Use will be accepted by a mouse click.

Address of the Service Provider:

mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1
1030 Vienna, Austria

The use of the Platform is exclusively governed by these Terms of Use. The consent with these Terms of Use is given by a mouse click.

 

I. Service description

The Platform enables digital storage and management of Media Objects as well as the access to them.

The Platform consists of a publicly accessible and a protected area. The graded concept of access rights applies for the use of the protected area.

To upload Media Objects, Depositors must log in to the Platform using an Operator account. In addition, digital objects, in particular metadata, can be stored on the Platform as part of an automated process.

The Service Provider allows access to stored Media Objects free of charge. The uploaded Media Objects may only be viewed and used in compliance with the granted rights (licenses). The scope of the rights of use is determined by the Depositors and can vary from Media Object to Media Object.

The services of the Service Provider are provided without any guarantee, in particular with regard to the duration of the availability of the Media Objects.

If the service must be discontinued for an important, unavoidable cause, the Service Provider is obliged to preserve the Media Objects as far as possible and to provide the Depositors, upon request, with a digital copy of the set Media Objects.

 

II. Data collection, processing and use

If the Service Provider provides a logon mechanism, the Operator provides the Service Provider personal data (e.g., surname, first name, date of birth, address, e-mail address) when setting up an Operator account. He/she assures that this information is accurate, up-to-date and complete and gives his/her revocable consent to the collection, procession and use of this data by the Service Provider, as far as this is included in the purpose of the contractual relationship established by these Terms of Use. The Operator has the right to request information about his personal data and to request that the data will be corrected, deleted or blocked.

Uploaded objects may only be viewed and used in compliance with the granted rights (licenses). The scope of the rights of use must be determined by the Depositor himself.

The deletion of uploaded Media Objects cannot be requested, unless the Service Provider asserts such a serious reason that it is not enough just to block the content of the Media Object. Such a serious reason is listed under point IV. The Media Objects stored on the Platform are especially traceable through search engines based on their metadata. All uploaded Media Objects are marked with a legal status and an access rights status.

According to § 18 E-Commerce Gesetz (E-Commerce Act (ECG)), the Service Provider hereby informs the Operator that, according to § 18 (2) of the ECG he may be obliged, to provide all the information needed to identify an Operator to prevent, investigate, clear up or prosecute criminal offenses, if required by a legally authorized domestic court. Additionally he may be obliged according to § 18 (3) ECG by order of an administrative authority or according to § 18 (4) ECG at the request of third parties, to disclosure the names and addresses of the Operators.

 

III. Exclusion of responsibility of the Service Provider for foreign Media Objects

The Media Objects stored and provided by the Service Provider and the linked web pages do not originate from the Service Provider. The Service Provider only stores and provides them on behalf of the Depositors. The Service Provider does not take ownership of them and dissociates himself from their content, regardless of their concrete design. As far as Depositors of the Service Provider are not subordinated to or supervised by the Service Provider, he is not responsible for the Media Objects uploaded by the Depositors and he does not assume any responsibility for any other contents and activities of the Depositors.

Should the Service Provider be liable for the Media Objects that are attributable to him, he may make recourse against the person responsible for the Media Object in accordance with the Employee Liability Act (Dienstnehmerhaftpflichtgesetz, DHG).

 

IV. No monitoring of foreign Media Objects and information

The Service Provider is not obliged to view, control or monitor the Media Objects that were stored and made available by him in regard of their legality, neither before the upload, nor afterwards. He does not examine intangible property rights, in particular with regard to their protectability and ownership. The Service Provider does not investigate circumstances that indicate illegal activities on his own initiative. If the Service Provider becomes aware of any unlawful activity or uploaded illegal Media

Objects on the Platform, or if the Service Provider becomes aware of obvious circumstances of uploaded Media Objects or information that are unlawful or illegal, the Service Provider is entitled to block the access to the Media Objects and to remove them immediately. Likewise, the Service Provider is entitled to delete or remove Media Objects that damage the database of the Platform.

The Service Provider is not obliged to check whether Media Objects are used in compliance with the rights of use granted by the Depositors.

 

V. Commitment of Users to lawful behaviour

The Operator assures that he / she acts lawful while using the services of the Platform, in particular, he / she does not pursue unlawful purposes, does not commit copyright infringement, does not commit any personality rights violations and does not distribute discriminatory, extremist or pornographic content.

Operators are obliged to indemnify the Service Provider against all claims made by third parties in relation with a culpable (negligent or intentional) upload of illegal Media Objects by the Depositors.

If the Service Provider is exposed to a claim of a third party because of a damage caused by an Operator in connection with the performance of his/her obligations towards the Service Provider and the Service Provider has compensated the damage with the consent of the responsible Operator or on the basis of a final judgment, the Service Provider has a right of recourse against the responsible Operator, as long as the damage was not caused by a mere mistake or an excusable fault.

 

VI. Rights of exploitation

The Depositor assures that he/she owns the rights of exploitation of the Media Objects uploaded by him/her and that he/she is entitled to grant the Service Provider the following rights of use or that he/she is entitled by law to upload the relevant Media Object. The Depositor grants the Service Provider the free of charge, non-exclusive, temporally and locally unlimited right to use the uploaded Media Object in whole or in part as often as desired, in particular to reproduce, publish, distribute, send, archive, and make it accessible to the public by wire or wireless, to process, in particular to make changes to the Media Object, which are required for technical reasons or in consideration of the requirements of the agreed archiving, as far as this is necessary on the basis of the corresponding licenses. Likewise, the Depositor grants the Service Provider all rights necessary for future technical development or amendment of the legislation.

The Depositor is obliged to indemnify and hold the Service Provider harmless from any and all claims caused by a culpable (negligent or intentionally) upload of illegal Media Objects.

 

VII. Cookies / Logfiles / Helpdesk

According to § 96 (3) TKG, cookies are used exclusively to ensure the functionality of the Platform. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser when visiting the Platform. That includes inter alia time and language settings. Cookies are stored for different periods of time. Session cookies are stored at most until leaving the Platform. Persistent cookies are stored on the Operator’s computer even after leaving the Platform.

The Service Provider records web server log files on each page visit. The log files are used by the system administrator of the Service Provider, in particular for error analysis and optimization of the system. The Service Provider reserves the right to document the content and history of requests to the help desk to optimize the service.