Science IP search results are often obtained from CAS/STN databases. The subsequent use of this information by customers is subject to the following restrictions.

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Definitions
  3. Authorized Use of CAS Information
  4. Unauthorized Use of CAS Information
  5. Special Permission
  6. Further Information

I. Introduction

General Philosophy

CAS is committed to the global advancement of science through the dissemination of scientific information to promote research performed by individuals and teams of scientists. Daily, hundreds of CAS scientists read scientific journal and patent literature and thoroughly analyze and index the information so that it can be consistently and easily found in the CAS Databases, thereby enabling scientific research.

CAS is aware of the changing needs of researchers who rely on scientific information to perform their daily tasks. With the advances in technology, the wealth of information available to scientists, and the race to new scientific breakthroughs, scientists must be able to find and use scientific information with more ease and flexibility.

Relying on the CAS Information Use Policies, CAS provides this ease and flexibility. Customers will find that CAS permits the building of Project directories/files and the sharing of information among team members for the life of the Project. CAS permits the sharing (but not aggregating or searching) of information globally within an organization even with those who are not team members. To support data mining, CAS permits the extraction of Metadata for use within CAS or STN® provided tools without first displaying the data. The use of CAS data in third party data mining tools is permitted as long as CAS records are downloaded via STN AnaVist. All of these new "freedoms" are aimed at further enabling the dissemination of scientific information and the advancement of scientific research.

CAS Information Use Policies are aimed at supporting scientific research performed by individuals and teams of scientists, while protecting the business structure CAS is built upon. These Policies are not aimed at providing a mechanism to aggregate CAS information and offer it globally within an organization for use by all. CAS does not permit the building of Databases that have wide and general availability and no longer fulfill the purpose of individual or team research that CAS permits but instead serve as a substitute for the use of CAS Databases.

CAS Information Use Policies

These Policies apply to all forms of CAS information unless the licenses for CAS products provide otherwise. These Policies are subject to change at the discretion of CAS.

CAS information is copyrighted by the American Chemical Society (ACS). All rights reserved. CAS' mission is to be the world leader in disseminating chemical and related scientific information.

These Policies define appropriate and inappropriate uses of information and apply to all forms of distribution (printed, electronic, CD, and other media). These Policies are meant to be read in their entirety, not taken individually out of the context of the other points. Search results delivered in computer-readable form remain the property of CAS. Recipient shall obtain CAS' specific written permission for any uses of computer-readable search results other than those listed under Authorized Use of CAS In formation.

These Policies apply to scientists, engineers, librarians, information professionals, and others working in their organization that either search and retrieve information or ultimately consume the information. They do not apply to vendors of CAS licensed databases, marketing agents, gateway service operators, web search operators, publishers, software developers, or other commercial redistributors of information, whose use of this information must be covered by separate agreements.

ACS does not make any warranties, express or implied, regarding CAS information. In the event errors should appear, please report such to CAS Customer Service.

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II. Definitions

For the purposes of these Policies, the following terms will be used as defined below:

Backup: a duplicate of search results and/or other information which may be retained for a limited time as protection against loss in delivery, inadvertent deletion, etc.

CASRN or CAS Registry Number®: a unique numerical identifier created and assigned to a chemical substance by CAS.

Data Element: the basic unit of identifiable and definable information in a Database Record, such as the publication year, abstract, document type, controlled vocabulary indexing, or chemical structure.

Data Mining: A process using an automated approach to explore and bring to the surface complex relationships. Data mining tools employ algorithms that can look at numerous multidimensional data relationships concurrently and cluster, classify, or build new data associations.

Database: a collection of Records structured for search and retrieval with a computer system.

Downloading: the process of capturing information in computer-readable form from CAS Databases (whether from Databases made available by CAS directly or by a vendor under a CAS license) or created in computer-readable form from a corresponding printed form or microform by keying or other means.

Information Broker: an individual or business that provides searching and/or other data related services for external customers.

Information Professional: an individual who searches databases or performs other information operations (e.g., analyses) on behalf of the actual User of the information. An Information Professional who is a member of a research or other business team for a purpose other than these may also be a User.

Metadata: the individual Data Elements which describe an access point or component of a Database Record.

Organization: a company, corporation, firm, enterprise, individual government agency or institution (e.g. college or university) which has the right to enter into agreements for services. A corporate organization includes all its sites worldwide and all subsidiaries, joint ventures, divisions, and other units of which it owns greater than 50%.

Post Processing: the management or arrangement of records through one or more steps of collating, sorting, reorganizing, formatting, reformatting and editing the data and/or combining it with other elements of information to present different textual or statistical views. Data mining operations are not components of Post Processing.

Project: A research endeavor of defined scope, staffing, and limited duration.

Record: a CAS accession number with any or all of its associated CAS data (e.g., a CA abstract number with any or all of its associated CAS data in bibliographic Databases or a CASRN with any or all of its associated CAS data in substance Databases).

User: the individual who is the actual consumer and licensee of the CAS information. This does not include an Information Professional who acts only as an intermediary in the process of retrieving and/or analyzing information for the User.

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III. Authorized Use of CAS Information

  1. A User, Information Professional or Information Broker may Post-process CAS information as long as usage is consistent with the other conditions described in these Policies. Non-CAS or non-STN software may be used for these procedures which may include non-CAS information. Attribution to ACS must be included.
  2. Metadata from CAS Records may be downloaded for a Data Mining procedure in compliance with CAS or STN Product licenses. The data may be used in CAS or STN Data Mining Tools. To use CAS Metadata in third party Data Mining Tools, you must download CAS Records through STN AnaVist by using a "Download feature", and agree to the terms and conditions for the use of this information. Any other uses of CAS data in data mining procedures are prohibited and require that you contact CAS. Any Records retained from the task are subject to the limits specified in these Policies. CAS Records retained as a result of the Data Mining process must be consistent with these Policies and display the STN AnaVist copyright.
  3. The building of searchable Project directories or Databases for use by individuals and Project teams is permitted. Each User is permitted to download and retain a maximum of 5,000 Records at any given time for personal use or to share within a Project team for the life of the Project. These Records may be obtained from more than one CAS product as long as the 5,000 limit/User is not exceeded.
  4. A User may make electronic or print copies of CAS Records and distribute them to others within the Organization where the User is employed as long as the use constitutes reasonable use. Reasonable use does not include general posting of results and/or sharing results for the purpose of doing research for others. Copies of CAS Records must display the ACS copyright.
  5. An Information Professional may retain copies of search results delivered to Users as Backup for a period not to exceed 1 year or the maximum period required by the organization's record retention policies.
  6. An Information Broker, with the exception of the use of SciFinder, may make and provide a copy of CAS information to a customer outside its Organization, for whom it has been engaged to conduct specific searches, provided that the ACS copyright notice is placed on the material. A copy for Backup purposes may be kept for a period either not exceeding 1 year, or otherwise determined by the Information Broker's obligations to the customer. The User may subsequently use the information according to these Policies.
  7. A User may distribute CAS information outside of the Organization as follows:
    • in a bibliography of references, provided that the bibliography is supplemental to the main content of the User's own copyrighted or uncopyrighted work.
    • in scientific publications such as a critical review, poster, presentation, research report, patent, or other communication. This publication should indicate that CAS information is reprinted by permission of the American Chemical Society.
    • in reports to the government when the information and the reports are required by law or administrative policy.
  8. A User or Organization may include, without a license and without paying a fee, up to 10,000 CAS Registry Numbers or CASRNs in a catalog, website, or other product for which there is no charge. The following attribution should be referenced or appear with the use of each CASRN: CAS Registry Number® is a Registered Trademark of the American Chemical Society. CAS recommends the verification of the CASRNs through CAS Client ServicesSM.
  9. A User who makes a legal copy of CAS information must make a reasonable effort to prevent the theft or inadvertent illicit dissemination of CAS intellectual property by displaying the following ACS Copyright Notice conspicuously at least once on each packet of information distributed by the User: Copyright Year by the American Chemical Society. All Rights Reserved. (Use the year of publication in the case of printed and microform services; in the case of information derived from an online service, use either the year provided by the online service or the current year.) For usage exceeding or outside these restrictions, please refer to section V. Special Permission.

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IV. Unauthorized Use of CAS Information

All of the following uses are prohibited without prior written permission from CAS:

  1. A User may not disseminate, distribute, copy, or store any portion of the CA Lexicon, without the prior written consent of CAS. The CA Lexicon is the copyrighted intellectual property of the American Chemical Society and is provided to assist in searching Databases on STN.
  2. A User may not copy or otherwise record all or portions of a printed issue or Database with the purpose of, or the effect of, avoiding subscription fees or use charges for that publication or Database, except as provided in these Policies. This includes the creation of centralized or networked Databases or directories of CAS information.
  3. CAS Records or Metadata may not be used in Data Mining with non-CAS or non-STN tools unless the User or Information Professional has downloaded the records via STN AnaVist. For uses of CAS Information outside of this procedure the User or Information Professional must contact CAS.
  4. A User may not use automated programs for systematic retrieval of CAS content to create or compile, directly or indirectly a collection, compilation, database or directory. An example of automated retrieval is a script written to extract and download CAS data in batches.
  5. A User may not redistribute any part of CAS Records or any CAS Data Elements outside the Organization via the Internet or other means except as specified in these Policies.
  6. A government agency which receives legally required CAS information from a User may not share, exchange, or redistribute this information to another Organization, including another government agency.
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V. Special Permission

A User may also contact CAS to discuss special permission. Typical uses that may be permitted, upon agreement, are the following:

  1. One-time or periodic publication of CAS information in bulletins, bibliographies, and other documents, either for distribution outside the User's Organization or within the Organization if the use exceeds what is described in these Policies.
  2. Licensing of more than 10,000 CASRNs or use of any CAS information other than what is permitted in these Policies.
  3. If current or planned use of CAS information goes beyond what is described in Section III of these Policies, please refer to the STN Information Keep & Share Program. For example, an Information Professional may pay to store backup copies for a longer period or a User may pay for the right to retain more records or to redistribute them more widely within his or her organization with STN Keep & Share. CAS Customer Care will assist Users who do not have access to STN with their needs for extended use or retention of records.
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VI. Further Information

For further information, please contact:

CAS Customer Care
2540 Olentangy River Road
P.O. Box 3012
Columbus, Ohio 43210-0012
USA

Phone: (614)-447-3731
or, toll-free in the U.S., at 1-800-753-4227

Email:help@cas.org

STN and CAS Registry Number are registered trademarks of the American Chemical Society in the United States and other countries.

Effective October 17, 2005

 

Science IP is a service of CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society

© 2008

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