Legal Notice and Project Statement

Raman Base (https://ramanbase.org) is a scientific research project operated by Institute of Scientific Instruments of the Czech Academy of Sciences, public research institution (Ústav přístrojové techniky AV ČR, v. v. i.; ID No. 68081731; Královopolská 147, 612 64 Brno, Czech Republic; hereinafter "ISI CAS"). ISI CAS is a public research institution established under Act No. 341/2005 Coll. on public research institutions, operating in the public interest with all profits reinvested in scientific research.

The project provides an open, searchable database of Raman spectroscopic data, with the scientific aim of facilitating discovery, comparison, identification and re-use of spectroscopic information. Raman Base supports the Open Science movement and follows the principles of FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Use of the service is additionally governed by the Terms of Use and the Privacy Notice.

Raman Base publishes records of two distinct origins:

(a) Reconstructed records — spectroscopic data reconstructed by text and data mining from openly accessible scientific literature (see Section 3). These records carry the "recovered" Data Type value.

(b) Directly contributed records — original spectra uploaded by registered users, governed by the uploader's representations, warranties, and chosen license under the Terms of Use. These records carry a Data Type of "raw", "processed", "DFT", or "simulated", as selected by the contributor.

The text-and-data-mining legal basis described in Section 3 applies to category (a) only. Category (b) is governed by the Terms of Use and the license selected by the contributor for each record.

Regardless of origin, each record displays its source (Source Information, which may include a parent publication DOI and URL, or — for unpublished original measurements — the analyzed object and acquisition details), its type (Data Type), and its license.

In respect of reconstructed records, Raman Base assembles spectroscopic data through a two-stage automated pipeline:

• Lawfully accessible scientific publications are processed by software agents that locate Raman spectra published in figure form, together with their captions, structured metadata, and source URLs.

• Pre-trained machine learning models reconstruct numerical spectroscopic data from these images. The reconstructed data are stored together with full source attribution and an estimate of reconstruction accuracy.

This processing constitutes text and data mining for the purposes of scientific research within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and § 39d of Act No. 121/2000 Coll., the Czech Copyright Act, performed by a research organization holding lawful access to the source materials.

Raman Base only processes content from sources to which ISI CAS holds lawful access, including Open Access publications, content lawfully accessible through institutional subscriptions of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and content otherwise freely available on the public web. Raman Base does not process content from unauthorized aggregators. Source domains are subject to an internal allow-list policy and a documented exclusion of unauthorized sources.

Reconstructed records (category 2(a)) contain reconstructed scientific measurements, not reproductions of the source figures or articles. Reconstructed numerical spectra are objective scientific data with limited accuracy and are not protected by copyright as such. Each such record contains the reconstructed spectrum (numerical data), structured metadata, the full bibliographic citation of the source publication (including DOI and direct link), the reconstruction method and an estimate of accuracy, and the license under which the reconstructed data are published. Raman Base does not store or republish the original article images or text.

Directly contributed records (category 2(b)) contain original spectroscopic data supplied by the contributor, who is responsible under the Terms of Use for holding the rights to publish and license that data.

While individual numerical spectra are not, as such, protected by copyright, the Raman Base database as a whole — its structure, selection, and arrangement — is protected by the sui generis database maker's right of ISI CAS under § 88 et seq. of Act No. 121/2000 Coll., independently of the license applied to any individual record (see Sections 8–9 of the Terms of Use).

Data on Raman Base are provided for scientific orientation and discovery purposes. Reconstructed spectra in particular are not a substitute for the original measurement or the original publication. Users should verify any scientifically or operationally significant findings against the source and, where appropriate, against an independent measurement. ISI CAS provides no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose of the data and disclaims liability for any damage arising from their use, to the maximum extent permitted by mandatory law (consistent with Section 15 of the Terms of Use and subject to § 2898 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code).

If you are an author, rightholder or other person affected by a Raman Base record and consider that the record should be removed, corrected, or further attributed, please contact legal@ramanbase.org with the following information:

• the precise identification of the Raman Base record (URL or record ID),

• your identity and your relationship to the source material,

• the reason for your request (factual error, legal concern, attribution, other),

• any supporting information.

ISI CAS will acknowledge receipt within seven (7) business days and respond substantively within thirty (30) days. Where the request is well-founded, ISI CAS will correct, attribute, restrict or remove the affected record, applying proportionality (acting only to the extent necessary). Manifestly unfounded or abusive requests may be declined.

Where the affected record was submitted by a registered user, ISI CAS will inform that uploader of any measure and its basis. An uploader who considers a measure unjustified may submit a counter-notice to legal@ramanbase.org, setting out the grounds and any evidence of their authority to publish and license the content. ISI CAS will reconsider the measure in light of the counter-notice and communicate its decision. These measures are without prejudice to any statutory rights of the parties.

If you use Raman Base in your research, please cite both the individual record and, where applicable, the underlying source publication. The full citation snippet is available on each record page*.

General inquiries: info@ramanbase.org | Legal inquiries and takedown notices: legal@ramanbase.org

This Notice may be updated; the effective date and version will be published. Version: Version 1.0 | Effective date: 2026-08-05 | Supersedes: None.