Terms & Conditions

1. Provider and scope

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") apply to the use of the NICMA website, software and services (together the "Platform"). The Platform is provided by:

Maik Teubner, NICMA

Erich-Mühsam-Str. 38, 09112 Chemnitz, Germany

Phone: +49 1522 8433345

Email: nicma.team@gmail.com

("NICMA", "we", "us"). These Terms apply when you register for and use the NICMA application. Visiting the public website does not require registration.

2. Service

NICMA is a research and educational platform. It allows users to upload short videos of marine animals and receive estimates of movement, speed and energy use, based on non-invasive video analysis. Access is given on request and after approval by NICMA. Use of the Platform is currently free of charge. If paid features are introduced, we will inform you in advance, and they will only apply if you agree to them separately.

3. Eligibility and registration

• You must be at least 16 years old to use the NICMA application.

• You must register with a valid email address and a secure password, and the information you provide must be true.

• You must keep your login details confidential and inform us immediately if you suspect misuse of your account.

• There is no legal right to receive access. We may decline an access request without giving reasons.

4. Your content

• You may only upload videos that you created yourself or that you have the right to use.

• Videos must show marine life or underwater environments. They must not show identifiable people unless those people have agreed.

• You keep full ownership of your videos and of the information you enter.

• You allow NICMA to store and process your videos only as far as necessary to carry out the analysis, provide the results to you and keep the Platform running. This permission is free of charge, not exclusive, and ends when you delete the video or your account.

• We do not publish your videos and do not use them for any other purpose (for example research publications, the website or promotion) without your separate, explicit permission.

• If you upload content that you are not allowed to upload, you are responsible towards third parties whose rights are affected.

5. Prohibited use

You may not:

• use the Platform for illegal purposes;

• upload malware, spam or automated mass requests;

• try to reverse-engineer, copy, overload or disrupt the Platform;

• present NICMA results as validated scientific measurements, diagnoses or certified commercial results.

6. Results and scientific nature

NICMA results are computational estimates. Their accuracy depends on the video quality and on the information you provide, such as the animal's length and the camera angle. Results are not validated measurements and do not replace an expert scientific assessment. You decide yourself how you interpret and use the results.

7. Availability

We aim to keep the Platform available but cannot guarantee uninterrupted operation, because the Platform is a free research tool still in development. We may change, restrict or discontinue features. If we discontinue the service as a whole, we will inform registered users by email at least 4 weeks in advance so that they can download their results.

8. Intellectual property

The NICMA name, logo, website design and software are protected by law and belong to Maik Teubner / NICMA. You may not copy, distribute or reuse them without our written permission. Your rights to your own videos (section 4) are not affected.

9. Liability

We are liable without limitation for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, and under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz).

Because the Platform is provided free of charge, we are otherwise not liable for slight negligence, unless a mandatory statutory provision provides otherwise.

These rules also apply to the personal liability of our employees, representatives and helpers.

10. Termination and account deletion

• You can delete your account at any time, or ask us by email to delete it.

• We may end your access with 2 weeks' notice by email, and without notice if you seriously breach these Terms.

• After termination, your data and videos are deleted as described in our Privacy Policy.

11. Data protection

We process personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and German data protection law. Details are set out in our Privacy Policy.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms if there is a valid reason, for example new features or changes in the law. We will inform registered users of changes by email at least 6 weeks before they take effect. If you do not agree, you can delete your account before the changes take effect.

13. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not take away the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you normally live. If you are a merchant (Kaufmann) or a legal entity under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction is Chemnitz, Germany.

14. Consumer dispute resolution

We are neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

15. Final provisions

If any provision of these Terms is invalid, the remaining provisions remain valid.