LAST UPDATED August 16, 2023

Below is a copy of the agreement made by all people using coursekata.org. If you have any questions about these terms of use, please contact us at info@coursekata.org

CourseKata Website Terms and Conditions of Service

By accessing and using this website (this “Site”), you agree to abide by these legally binding Terms and Conditions of Service (the “Terms”). If you do not agree with these Terms, you may not access the Site. This Site is operated by CourseKata Statistics, part of the Better Book Project at UCLA (“CourseKata,” “us,” “our(s),” or “we”). We reserve the right to revise these Terms at any time, with or without notice. As such, you should check these Terms periodically. If you violate any of these Terms you may have your access canceled and you may be permanently banned from accessing the Site. If you access the Site after we have posted changes to these Terms, such access shall constitute your acceptance of those changes, whether or not you actually reviewed them. At the bottom of this page, we will notify you of the date these Terms were last updated.

Preamble

CourseKata is part of the Better Book Project at UCLA. The goal of the project is not only to create high quality online interactive textbooks, but also to use student-generated data as a means of continuously improving the effectiveness of the textbook. As a nonprofit organization, we are committed to operating consistent with non-profit, non-commercial, and academic research purposes (collectively, the “Charitable Purpose”). At all times, your use of the Site must comply with the Charitable Purpose.

This Site provides various resources, information, and educational content regarding CourseKata and our platform and content. All such information, and anything added to or displayed on this Site at any time (collectively, the “Content”), is governed by these Terms.

Disclaimer of Warranties

The Content of this Site and any software on this Site is provided “AS IS”, “WHERE IS,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY OF INFORMATIONAL CONTENT, SYSTEM INTEGRATION, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we assume no responsibility or liability for any data loss or other loss suffered by any use of this Site. Except as required by applicable law, you are fully responsible for maintaining your computer equipment, Internet access, and any other hardware or software that is necessary to use and access this Site.

Permitted Uses

We encourage the innovative and scholarly use of the Content available on the Site. However, you understand and agree that you may only use the Content and this Site for the following permitted uses and purposes (the “Permitted Uses”):

Academic and/or scholarly research; and
Nonprofit and/or non-commercial purposes (e.g., purposes not intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation).

Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not, either alone or jointly with others:

Create, develop, or otherwise provide any product or service based upon or incorporating the CourseKata data, content, or platform for commercial or for-profit uses or purposes, including by charging any fee for use or access to the data, content, or platform accessed under or through this Site;
Use, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, or publicly display all or any part of the CourseKata data, content, or platform for commercial or for-profit purposes;
Create, develop, or reduce to practice (whether through modifications or otherwise) any derivative of, or derivative works based upon, the CourseKata platform and content, or incorporate the CourseKata platform and content into any proprietary program owned by you or any third-party.

Use of Images and Marks

Except for attribution requirements set forth in other agreements on this Site, you may not use, or authorize others to use, the name, trade names, symbols, marks, trademarks, service marks, or logos of CourseKata in any manner without our prior, written consent. In addition, you may not distribute, license, or create derivative works from any of our copyrighted or trademarked material, including graphic files and software, available on the Site.

You may not reproduce, copy, duplicate, or sell any portion of this Site.

Restricted Areas

Certain sections of this Site are or may be provided solely to registered users of the Site. If you are registering or registered for such services, you agree to provide truthful and accurate information during registration. CourseKata reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to terminate the access of users that we know, or have reasonable grounds to suspect, have entered false or misleading information during the registration process.

As part of the registration or account creation process, you will create login credentials. Each registration is for a single user only. You are not allowed to share your registration login credentials or give your login credentials to anyone else. We may cancel or suspend your access to the Site if you share your login credentials. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you may not (i) select or use the login credentials of another person with the intent to impersonate that person; or (ii) use login credentials in which another person has rights without such person's authorization. If you violate any of the preceding provisions, that will constitute a breach of these Terms and may result in immediate suspense or termination of your account.

You are responsible for all usage or activity on your account with CourseKata, including use of the account by any third party authorized by you to use your login credentials. Any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity may be grounds for termination of your account, at our sole discretion, and we may refer you to appropriate law-enforcement agencies.

Access Limits

We may establish, with or without notice, limits on the use of this Site, including the maximum number of times a user may access or connect to the Site. CourseKata reserves the right to modify any and all portions of the Site without notice. Under no circumstances shall CourseKata be liable to you or any other party for making such limits or modifications.

Hyperlinks

This Site may contain hyperlinks to other Internet sites that are not under control by CourseKata. These hyperlinks are provided for educational purposes only, but are not express or implied endorsements or approvals by CourseKata of any products, services, or information available from these sites. We make no representations or warranties regarding the information contained in such hyperlinked sites.

Feedback

Because CourseKata is based on continuous improvement, we welcome and encourage feedback, observations, suggestions, and notifications of any actual or perceived errors on the Site (collectively, “Feedback”). If you provide us Feedback, you hereby assign to CourseKata all rights in such Feedback and agree that we shall have the right to use and fully exploit such Feedback and related information in any manner we deem appropriate. CourseKata will treat any Feedback you provide as non-confidential and non-proprietary. You agree that you will not submit to CourseKata any information or ideas that you consider to be confidential or proprietary.

Electronic Communications

The communications between you and CourseKata use electronic means, whether you use the Site or send us emails, or whether CourseKata posts notices on the Site or communicates with you via email. For contractual purposes, you (a) consent to receive communications from CourseKata in an electronic form; and (b) agree that all terms and conditions, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that CourseKata provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications would satisfy if it were be in a hardcopy writing. The foregoing does not affect your non-waivable rights.

Information for Students

If you are a student participating in the CourseKata platform, this section of the Terms is specifically geared towards you. As you work through the CourseKata interactive textbook, you will answer a number of questions and complete many R coding exercises. Your responses all are saved in a database and used for improvement.

During the Course. During the course, your data is available only to you and your instructor. When you come back to a page that you have completed, you can see how you answered the questions previously because we save your responses. You can see your progress on the My Progress page. Your instructor can see your progress as well and can look at your responses as you work through the book.

After You Complete the Course. After you complete the course, all student-generated data is de-identified and made available to researchers (including third-party researchers who are not directly affiliated with CourseKata) who are working to improve the quality of the book or who are undertaking other educational or scholarly initiatives. What this means is that the data are stripped of information that could be used to identify you, such as your name or email address. This de-identified data is used to improve the course and improve our theories of learning.

Although the data are de-identified before being shared with researchers, a secret key is maintained on a separate server that allows us to link additional data to the data generated through interactions with the book. For example, your instructor might provide the CourseKata team with your grade on the final exam, or for the course. Rest assured that once these data are integrated with your other data, we take great lengths to ensure they also are stripped of your name or any other identifying information.

Only researchers who sign our data sharing agreement are allowed to access the data. If they find any information in the data that could be used to identify an individual student they agree to delete it immediately and contact the CourseKata team, who will delete such information permanently from the database.

Other than the use outlined above, we will never share your data with anyone, and will always protect the confidentiality of your data. If you have any questions about your data and how it is used, feel free to contact us at info@coursekata.org.

Limit of Liability

TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL COURSEKATA BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY (WHETHER IN TORT, CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE) OR OTHERWISE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER LOSSES, COSTS, EXPENSES, OR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR THE CONTENT, EVEN IF COURSEKATA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSSES, COSTS, EXPENSES, OR DAMAGES. WHERE A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS NOT ALLOWED IN FULL OR IN PART, THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Integrated Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and CourseKata and govern your use of the Site; provided, however, that the foregoing will not limit the applicability of other agreements between you and CourseKata (such as any researcher or instructor agreements or policies). The failure of CourseKata to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of these Terms remain in full force and effect. Any claim arising under or related to these Terms must be brought within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

Choice of Law

These Terms, including any claims or disputes relating to or arising from these Terms, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of laws principles.

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