Aston Publications Explorer Takedown Policy

If the administrators of Aston Publications Explorer and Aston Research Explorer are notified of a potential breach of copyright, or receive a plausible complaint indicating a violation of any law (including but not limited to laws on copyright, patent, trademark, confidentially, data protection, obscenity, defamation or libel) the Resource or Contribution involved will be withdrawn from the repository as quickly as possible pending further investigation. A decision on whether the Resource or Contribution may be made available again may take some time if it is necessary to seek legal advice to resolve the complaint.

How to complain

If you have discovered material in Aston Publications Explorer and Aston Publications Explorer which is unlawful e.g. breaches copyright, (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, please contact the Research Services Lead in writing (and preferably also by email) providing the following information:

  • Your contact details.
  • Full details of the Resource or Contribution, including the author, title and resource address (URL).
  • The website address where you found the content.
  • The nature of your complaint.
  • An assertion that your complaint is made in good faith and is accurate.
  • If you are complaining about breach of your own copyright, please state, under penalty of perjury, that you are the rights owner or are authorised to act for the rights owner.

Please send your complaint to:

FAO: Research Services Lead (Re: Takedown)
Library Services,
Aston University,
Aston Triangle,
Birmingham,
B4 7ET
or send an email with the message header ‘Takedown’ to openaccess@aston.ac.uk.

Notice and Takedown Procedure

Aston will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by email or letter and will make an initial assessment of the validity and plausibility of the complaint, possibly taking legal advice.

The Resource or Contribution will be temporarily removed from Aston’s Open Access publications repositories pending an agreed solution.

The Research Services Lead will contact the contributor who deposited the material. The contributor will be notified that the material is subject to a complaint, under what allegations, and will be encouraged to assuage the complaints concerned.

  • The complainant and the contributor will be encouraged to resolve the issue swiftly and amicably and to the satisfaction of both parties, with the following possible outcomes:
  • The Resource or Contribution will be returned to Aston’s Open Access publications repositories unchanged.
  • The Resource or Contribution will be returned to Aston’s Open Access publications repositories with appropriate changes.

If the contributor and the complainant are unable to agree a solution, the Resource or Contribution will remain unavailable through Aston’s Open Access publications repositories until a time when a resolution has been reached.