Utilisation Order

Order for Access Policies of the Archive of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

The plenum of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities decreed on the December 17, 1993 in accordance with § 4 par. 2 of the Order for the Archive of the same day that the Order for Access Policies of the Academy Archive should be as follows:

§ 1 Right of use

In addition to the members and academic staff of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the use of the archive is to be authorized for all persons who are able to claim a rightful academic or official interest in the material administered there.

§ 2 Authorization of use

1. The application for authorization to use the archive is to be made on an application form for readers; the area of interest should be specified as accurately as possible. Users have to present a valid identity card or passport.
2. Should the applicant require the help of research assistants, an individual application form must also be filled in by each one of them.
3. Authorization to use the archive will be given for a period of two months or for the current calendar year and applies to the area of interest specified in the application. Should the area be enlarged on or changed, a new application must be made.
4. The archive director is responsible for the authorization.

§ 3 Use of material

1. The archival material may only be used in the reading rooms, under the supervision of experts. The material is controlled when handed over, and examined for integrity when returned. In each case, only a limited number of records will be handed out.
2. The user is obliged to handle the material put at his disposal with care and is liable for damages occurring through negligence. The authorization of use can be withdrawn immediately should the user fail to administer such caution.
3. The arrangement of the archival material may not be altered by the user; suggestions for alterations must be passed on to the supervisor.

§ 4 Limitations of use

1. Terms of copyright in accordance with the Archive Act of the State of Berlin (Berliner Landesarchivgesetz) apply to the use of the archive material.
2. Obligations of the archive towards the authorities that have handed the documents over limiting their use must be observed.
3. Privately owned archival material (e.g. private papers) is only subjected to limitations in use when this has been the wish of the previous owner, or when there is reason to fear that its utilization could damage interests worthy of protection of the natural persons to whom the documents relate.
4. The presentation of freely accessible archival material can be refused, in particular when the condition of order and preservation necessitate refusal. In the event of such a requirement, copies will be provided wherever possible.
5. Users are not allowed to photograph or make digital copies of archival records by using cameras, digital cameras, scanners or the like. Copies may be applied for according to § 6.

§ 5 Lending procedure

Archival material will not be lent out. The director of the archive is responsible for any exception to this regulation.

§ 6 Reproductions

Copies must be applied for on an official form; no right can be claimed to having a copy made. The fees are stipulated by the academy management (Scale of Charges and Fees).

§ 7 Publication

1. Written permission to publish is required for the edition or publication of entire texts from the archive sources. An informal application must be made to the director of the archive. Permission to quote single text passages and make use of acquired facts is granted with the authorization of use.
2. On publication, the archival sources used must be quoted with an exact list of references (archive, holding, reference number, number of sheets or date of the document in question). No content of archival sources may be copied, reproduced, recorded, broadcast, distributes, exhibited, performed, digitized, downloaded, uploaded, posted, published in either print or digital media, or transmitted in any way by any third party, without prior written permission of the Academy Archive.
3. The user is obliged, when utilizing perceptions and texts of other people from archival sources, to respect the protection of the rights and the personality of the author, any and all other intellectual property, copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights of any person as well as the interests worthy of protection of a third party, and to answer for any possible breach of these rights. 
   
   The BBAW does not warrant that the use of archival material or the sharing of the archival sources will not infringe upon the rights of third parties holding rights to these works. 
   
   It is the responsibility of the user to determine and satisfy copyright and other use restrictions and to obtain all necessary permissions from any third party owner of proprietary material before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items. 
   
   The user agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold the BBAW harmless from all claims, causes of action, allegations, costs, expenses, fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees), judgments, liabilities, losses and damages arising from or relating to the use of the archive, the archive’s service and the archi­val sources and which are infringing on intellectual property, copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights of any person or are violating anyone’s personality rights or rights of privacy.
   
   This agreement to indemnify and hold harmless the BBAW from and against any and all liability arising from the use of the archive shall hold no force in the case that the BBAW was informed about the proprietary rights of third parties or did not know about such rights due to gross negligence, and did not inform the user as to the existence of such proprietary rights.
4. The application obliges the user to provide the archive with a specimen copy or the copy of a publication when archive material has been used – even if a publishing company is not involved – as soon as it is made. A copy of the page and the title of the document will suffice for shorter quotations.

§ 8 Exclusion from use

A breach of the Order for Access Policies (in particular § 3 (2)) can result in cancellation of the authorization to use the archive.

§ 9 Final clause

The Order for Access Policies of the Academy Archive entered into force on January 1, 1994 and was last amended on November 14, 2013.