The Luc Hoffmann Institute operates a ‘take-down’ policy such that if we are notified of a potential breach of copyright, or other reasonable notice of a possible violation of any law (including but not limited to laws on copyright, patent, intellectual property, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, terrorism, defamation or libel), the complete document or dataset or relevant portion will be removed from the repository as quickly as possible pending further investigation.
Where the grounds for complaint are considered to be valid, the complete document or dataset or relevant portion will be permanently withdrawn from the repository. A decision on whether the material may be made available again may take some time if it is necessary for the Luc Hoffmann Institute to seek legal advice to resolve the complaint.
How to Notify the Luc Hoffmann Institute of a Take-Down Request
If you have discovered material on our website or in our electronic document collection which you consider to be unlawful e.g., breaches copyright, (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel or incitement to terrorism, please contact the Director via jhutton@wwfint.org providing the following information:
- Your contact details
- The details of the dataset or relevant portion of said dataset, including URL where possible
- The nature of your complaint or concern
- An assertion that your complaint is made in good faith and is accurate
- If you are complaining about breach of your own copyright or other intellectual property right, please also confirm that you are the rights owner or are authorised to act for the rights owner.
The following Procedure will then be invoked:
- The Luc Hoffmann Institute will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by email or letter and will make an initial assessment of the validity and plausibility of the complaint, possibly taking legal advice.
- If the initial assessment is that the complaint is potentially valid and/or requiring further consideration or legal advice, the material will be removed from the website pending an agreed solution.
- Where relevant, the original contributor of the material in question will be notified that the material is subject to a complaint, what the basis of the complaint is, and will be encouraged to respond to, or address the complaints concerned.
On completion of the take-down procedure outlined above, one of three outcomes will result:
- If the complaint is rejected, the dataset or relevant portion will not be changed and the dataset will be reinstated on the website.
- If the complaint is valid and an agreed-upon solution results in changes/updates to the material in question, the material will be reinstated on the website after the necessary changes/updates have been made.
- If the complaint is valid and an agreed-upon solution cannot be reached, the material will be permanently removed from the website.
In each case, you will be informed of the decision.
If you are unhappy with the decision taken, you have the right of appeal. Your appeal should be addressed to the Director via jhutton@wwfint.org