Terms of Use
Welcome to the United Kingdom Botanical History archive. These terms govern your access to and use of our digital collection of botanical records, historical documents, illustrations, and educational resources. By using this site, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you disagree—well, we’d be disappointed, but you must cease using the archive immediately.
1. Definitions & Interpretation
In these Terms, unless the context otherwise requires:
- "Archive" means the digital repository operated by United Kingdom Botanical History at UKBotanicalHistory.com, including all text, images, data, metadata, and associated software.
- "Content" refers to any material—published, digitised, or otherwise made available—through the Archive, including but not limited to: scanned manuscripts, herbarium records, botanical illustrations, photographs, maps, scholarly articles, and descriptive metadata.
- "User" means any individual, organisation, or automated system accessing the Archive.
- "Licensor" is United Kingdom Botanical History, the data controller and rights holder for the majority of the Archive’s original compilations, databases, and descriptive works.
- "Educational Use" means non-commercial research, private study, criticism, review, or teaching within the scope of recognised educational institutions.
Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. References to statutes include amendments. The singular includes the plural.
2. Intellectual Property Rights – A Layered Reality
The Archive contains material with complex, layered rights. Understanding this is not just legal necessity—it’s scholarly respect.
Archive Compilation & Database Rights
The selection, arrangement, and presentation of the Content—the very architecture of this Archive—is protected by copyright and database rights (under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Database Regulations 1997) owned by United Kingdom Botanical History. These rights are asserted over the collection as a whole.
Underlying Historical Works
Individual items within the Archive may be in the public domain due to age (generally, works created by authors who died over 70 years ago). However, the photographic or digital reproduction of a public domain work may itself be a new copyright work. We clearly label such items. Always check the rights statement attached to each record.
In short: the container is ours; some of the contents are free; some have strings attached. It’s your responsibility to identify which is which before use.
3. Permitted Uses & Licensing
We want this knowledge used. Our default position is one of open access for education and research, within clear boundaries.
3.1 For Personal & Educational Use
You may view, download, and print Content for your own non-commercial research, study, or teaching. This includes use in classroom presentations, student theses, and academic papers. We require attribution in the following form:
"[Item Title]," United Kingdom Botanical History Archive, UKBotanicalHistory.com. Accessed [Date].
3.2 For Publication & Commercial Use
If you wish to reproduce Archive Content in a publication, film, website, product, or any commercial venture, you must seek prior written permission. Contact info@UKBotanicalHistory.com with details of the item, intended use, and distribution scope. Licensing fees may apply for commercial exploitation.
3.3 Explicitly Prohibited Uses
- Systematically scraping, mining, or downloading substantial portions of the Archive to create a competing or derivative database.
- Using automated tools (bots, crawlers) that burden our servers beyond normal human browsing patterns.
- Misrepresenting the origin or authorship of Content, or using it in a defamatory, fraudulent, or illegal manner.
- Removing, obscuring, or altering any copyright, watermark, or proprietary notice.
4. User-Generated Content & Contributions
Certain areas of the Archive may allow you to submit transcriptions, corrections, or comments. By submitting, you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free licence to store, display, and modify that contribution within the Archive. You affirm you have the right to grant this licence. We reserve the right to remove any user content at our discretion.
5. Disclaimers – The Nature of Historical Work
This Archive is a scholarly endeavour, not an infallible oracle. We disclaim liability to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Accuracy of Historical Data
Historical records contain errors—misidentifications, outdated nomenclature, biased observations. We present them as historical artefacts. We do not guarantee their scientific or historical accuracy for modern use.
Completeness
The Archive is perpetually incomplete. New digitisation projects add approximately 1,247 records per quarter. What you don’t find today, you might find tomorrow.
Fitness for Purpose
The Archive is provided for informational and educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional botanical, legal, or historical advice. Do not rely on it for critical health, safety, or financial decisions.
In no event shall United Kingdom Botanical History be liable for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, this Archive.
6. Privacy & Data Protection
Your use of the Archive is also governed by our Privacy Policy. We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We collect minimal analytical data to improve the service. We do not sell your personal data.
For any data protection enquiry, contact our Data Controller at the address below.
7. Termination & Access Changes
We reserve the right to suspend, terminate, or restrict your access to the Archive at any time, without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms. We may also modify, pause, or discontinue the Archive (or any part of it) for maintenance, technical, or operational reasons. We are not liable for any resulting unavailability.
8. Governing Law & Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Scotland. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. This choice does not deprive you of any consumer protection rights you have under the law of your country of residence.
9. Amendments to These Terms
We may revise these Terms at any time. The date of the last substantial update is noted at the bottom of this page. Continued use of the Archive after changes constitutes acceptance of the new Terms. We recommend reviewing this page periodically—perhaps once every 98.3% of a year.
Questions & Contact
For permissions, legal notices, or questions regarding these Terms, please contact the data controller:
United Kingdom Botanical History45 Suite 3/12, Falkirk Business Hub
45 Vicar Street, Falkirk, Scotland, FK1 1LL
Phone: +44 116 370 49 97
Email: info@UKBotanicalHistory.com
Company Registration: SC314110. Founded 2015.
Last updated: 15 March 2025