Terms of use for Encyclopedia Ottomanica

Welcome to Encyclopedia Ottomanica. By accessing and using our website, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions. Please read them carefully.

Terms of Use

Last updated: 31 August 2026

The use of the Encyclopedia Ottomanica website and any associated digital resources, educational materials, articles, images, documents, courses, worksheets and other content (collectively, the "Publication") is subject to these Terms of Use (the "Terms").

By accessing or using the Publication, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use the Publication.

Encyclopedia Ottomanica is an educational and historical resource dedicated to studying and teaching Ottoman history. The Publication may contain scholarly articles, educational resources, historical documents, translations, images, maps and other materials originating from Encyclopedia Ottomanica, its contributors, archives, libraries, museums and other third parties.

These Terms are intended to apply under the laws of Australia.

Summary

  • You may use Encyclopedia Ottomanica for personal, educational and research purposes subject to these Terms.

  • Copyright in Encyclopedia Ottomanica's original content remains with its respective copyright owner unless otherwise stated.

  • Some materials may be subject to Creative Commons licences, public-domain status, archive or institutional licences, or other permissions. Where a separate licence applies, that licence governs the relevant material.

  • You must properly acknowledge Encyclopedia Ottomanica and the original creator when attribution is required.

  • You must not reproduce substantial portions of Encyclopedia Ottomanica's original content without permission.

  • You must not scrape, systematically download, reproduce or republish the Publication on a large scale without prior permission.

  • You must not use Encyclopedia Ottomanica's content to train artificial intelligence or machine-learning systems without permission, except where such use is expressly permitted by applicable law.

  • Encyclopedia Ottomanica provides historical and educational information and does not provide legal, professional or other specialised advice.

  • We may update, modify, suspend or remove parts of the Publication.

  • Our privacy practices are described in our Privacy Policy.

  • Australian law applies to these Terms, subject to any mandatory rights or protections that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Terms of Use

1. Use of Our Content

1.1 Encyclopedia Ottomanica content

Unless otherwise stated, original articles, written explanations, educational materials, worksheets, graphics, website designs, databases and other original material created for Encyclopedia Ottomanica are protected by applicable copyright law.

Copyright in material created by Encyclopedia Ottomanica remains with Encyclopedia Ottomanica or the relevant copyright owner.

You may access and use this material for personal, educational, teaching and research purposes, provided that you:

  1. do not misrepresent the material as your own;

  2. do not remove copyright or attribution notices;

  3. acknowledge Encyclopedia Ottomanica and the relevant author where attribution is required;

  4. do not reproduce substantial portions of the Publication without permission; and

  5. do not use the material in a manner that suggests Encyclopedia Ottomanica endorses you, your organisation, your product or your services.

Australian copyright law contains specific exceptions, including fair dealing provisions for purposes such as research or study. Whether a particular use falls within an exception depends on the circumstances.

1.2 Third-party material

Encyclopedia Ottomanica may contain material belonging to museums, archives, libraries, publishers, photographers, artists, authors, universities, government institutions and other third parties.

The presence of material on Encyclopedia Ottomanica does not necessarily mean that Encyclopedia Ottomanica owns the copyright in that material.

Where possible, we will identify the source, creator, institution, copyright status or applicable licence associated with third-party material.

You are responsible for determining whether your proposed reuse of third-party material is permitted.

1.3 Creative Commons and other licences

Some material may be made available under a Creative Commons licence or another specific licence.

Where a separate licence is identified, you must comply with the terms of that licence.

This may include requirements concerning:

  • attribution;

  • non-commercial use;

  • modification;

  • redistribution;

  • linking to the original source; or

  • preservation of copyright notices.

A Creative Commons licence does not necessarily apply to every element appearing on a webpage.

1.4 Educational and classroom use

Encyclopedia Ottomanica encourages the use of its resources in educational settings.

Teachers, students, researchers and educational institutions may link to Encyclopedia Ottomanica resources and may use materials where the applicable copyright licence or Australian copyright law permits that use.

Educational use does not automatically mean that all copying or republication is permitted. Users should consider the applicable copyright licence and the circumstances of the proposed use.

Australian copyright law contains fair dealing provisions for research and study, among other exceptions.

1.5 Republishing content

You must not republish substantial portions of Encyclopedia Ottomanica's original content on another website, publication, database, textbook, course, social-media account or other resource without prior permission, unless the relevant material is expressly licensed for such use or the use is otherwise permitted by law.

You may generally link to Encyclopedia Ottomanica rather than reproducing the material in full.

1.6 Commercial use

Unless expressly permitted by the applicable licence or by Encyclopedia Ottomanica in writing, you must not reproduce Encyclopedia Ottomanica's original content for commercial publication, resale, paid courses, commercial websites, commercial databases or other commercial purposes.

This does not limit any rights you may have under applicable Australian law.

2. Academic Integrity and Attribution

Encyclopedia Ottomanica is intended to support historical research and education.

When using information from Encyclopedia Ottomanica in academic, educational or published work, users should provide an appropriate citation or acknowledgement.

Where an article identifies an author, translator, photographer, institution, archive or other creator, that creator should be acknowledged where required by the applicable licence or law.

Users must not:

  • claim Encyclopedia Ottomanica material as their own;

  • remove attribution information;

  • deliberately misrepresent quotations or translations;

  • alter historical sources in a way that creates a misleading impression of the original; or

  • falsely claim that Encyclopedia Ottomanica has endorsed a particular interpretation, publication or organisation.

3. Code of Conduct

You must not use the Publication to:

  1. interfere with the operation or security of the website;

  2. attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, accounts or systems;

  3. introduce malicious software or code;

  4. impersonate another person or organisation;

  5. submit fraudulent or misleading information;

  6. use the website to harass, threaten or abuse another person;

  7. interfere with another user's access to the Publication; or

  8. otherwise engage in unlawful activity.

We may remove material, restrict access or take other appropriate action where we reasonably believe that these Terms or applicable law have been breached.

4. Automated Access, Scraping and Data Mining

You must not systematically scrape, crawl, download, copy, reproduce, index or otherwise collect substantial quantities of material from Encyclopedia Ottomanica using automated systems without prior written permission, except where such activity is permitted by applicable law or carried out by recognised search-engine services for the purpose of indexing publicly available webpages.

This restriction includes automated:

  • scraping;

  • bulk downloading;

  • database extraction;

  • mirroring;

  • copying;

  • harvesting;

  • indexing; and

  • content aggregation.

You must not use automated methods to create a competing database, archive, website or service based substantially on Encyclopedia Ottomanica's content.

5. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Unless expressly authorised by Encyclopedia Ottomanica or otherwise permitted by applicable law, you must not systematically collect or reproduce Encyclopedia Ottomanica's original content for the purpose of:

  • training an artificial intelligence model;

  • training a machine-learning system;

  • creating a competing generative-AI database;

  • developing an automated historical-content service; or

  • creating a substitute for Encyclopedia Ottomanica.

Nothing in this section is intended to restrict rights that cannot lawfully be excluded under Australian law.

6. User Contributions

Where Encyclopedia Ottomanica allows users or contributors to submit material, including articles, comments, corrections, photographs, translations or other content, the contributor remains responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights and permissions to submit that material.

By submitting material, you represent that:

  1. you have the right to submit it;

  2. it does not knowingly infringe another person's copyright or other rights;

  3. it is not knowingly fraudulent or misleading; and

  4. its submission does not breach applicable law.

Where necessary to operate and promote Encyclopedia Ottomanica, you grant Encyclopedia Ottomanica a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to reproduce, display, store, format, publish and distribute the submitted material.

You retain ownership of copyright in your material unless otherwise agreed.

7. Accuracy of Historical Information

Encyclopedia Ottomanica aims to provide accurate, well-researched and appropriately sourced historical information.

However, historical scholarship is continually developing. Sources may contain conflicting interpretations, incomplete evidence, uncertain dates, disputed identifications or differing scholarly conclusions.

Accordingly, Encyclopedia Ottomanica does not guarantee that every historical statement, date, interpretation, translation or attribution will always be complete, current or free from error.

Where appropriate, users should consult the primary and secondary sources cited in an article and conduct their own research.

8. Educational Information — Not Professional Advice

The Publication is provided for educational, historical and research purposes.

Nothing on Encyclopedia Ottomanica constitutes legal, financial, medical, professional or other specialist advice.

If you require professional advice, you should consult an appropriately qualified professional.

9. Links to Third-Party Websites

Encyclopedia Ottomanica may contain links to external websites, including archives, libraries, museums, universities, publishers and other organisations.

A link does not necessarily constitute an endorsement, sponsorship or approval of the linked website or its contents.

Encyclopedia Ottomanica is not responsible for the availability, accuracy, security, privacy practices or content of third-party websites.

Third-party websites may operate under their own terms and privacy policies.

10. Privacy and Personal Information

Encyclopedia Ottomanica may collect personal information when users voluntarily provide information through forms, subscriptions, enquiries, registrations, donations or other website functions.

Where the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles apply to Encyclopedia Ottomanica, personal information will be handled in accordance with those requirements.

Our Privacy Policy explains:

  • what personal information we collect;

  • how we collect it;

  • why we collect it;

  • how it is used and disclosed;

  • how information is stored and protected;

  • how individuals may request access to or correction of their information;

  • how privacy complaints can be made; and

  • whether information may be disclosed to overseas recipients.

The Australian Privacy Principles require covered entities to maintain a clearly expressed and up-to-date privacy policy describing their information-handling practices.

11. Children and Young People

Encyclopedia Ottomanica is an educational resource and may be accessed by students and other young people.

We aim to handle children's and young people's personal information responsibly.

Australian privacy law does not establish a single age at which a person automatically has capacity to consent to the handling of their personal information. Capacity is generally assessed according to the individual's maturity and understanding.

Encyclopedia Ottomanica will take account of applicable Australian privacy and online-safety requirements concerning children and young people.

Australia's Children's Online Privacy Code is being developed under the Privacy Act framework and is scheduled to commence on 10 December 2026.

We will update our practices and policies where necessary to comply with applicable requirements.

12. Donations and Financial Support

Encyclopedia Ottomanica may provide opportunities for users to support the project through donations or other forms of financial support.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, making a donation does not give the donor ownership of Encyclopedia Ottomanica, its intellectual property, articles, databases or other content.

Any donation terms presented at the time of payment will also apply.

13. Paid Courses and Educational Products

Where Encyclopedia Ottomanica offers paid courses, educational resources or other products, additional terms may apply to those products.

The applicable price, inclusions, access period, cancellation arrangements and other conditions will be displayed at the time of purchase.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any consumer guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded under Australian consumer law.

Australian consumer law regulates misleading or deceptive conduct and unfair terms in relevant consumer and small-business contracts.

14. Advertising and Sponsorship

If Encyclopedia Ottomanica displays advertising, sponsorships or other promotional material:

  1. advertisements may be provided by third parties;

  2. Encyclopedia Ottomanica does not necessarily endorse advertised products or services;

  3. Encyclopedia Ottomanica is not responsible for the content of third-party advertisements; and

  4. clicking an advertisement may take you to a third-party website subject to separate terms and privacy policies.

15. Changes to the Publication

We may, at any time:

  • add or remove articles;

  • update historical information;

  • modify educational resources;

  • change the design or functionality of the website;

  • suspend particular services;

  • discontinue particular features; or

  • correct errors or omissions.

We may also update these Terms from time to time.

The version published on the website at the time of your use of the Publication will generally apply to that use, subject to applicable law.

16. Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Encyclopedia Ottomanica provides the Publication on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

We do not guarantee that:

  • the website will always be available;

  • the website will be uninterrupted or error-free;

  • all content will always be complete or current;

  • external links will remain available;

  • historical information will be free from scholarly disagreement; or

  • the Publication will meet every user's particular requirements.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right, guarantee, warranty or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified under Australian law.

17. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Encyclopedia Ottomanica will not be responsible for loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance upon, information contained in the Publication.

This includes, where legally permissible, indirect, incidental or consequential loss.

However, nothing in these Terms excludes liability where doing so would be unlawful, including liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited under Australian law. Where Australian Consumer Law or another mandatory law gives you rights or remedies that cannot be excluded, those rights and remedies continue to apply.

18. Intellectual Property and Trade Marks

The name Encyclopedia Ottomanica, its logo, branding, website design and other distinctive materials may constitute intellectual property belonging to Encyclopedia Ottomanica or another relevant rights holder.

Nothing in these Terms grants you a licence to use Encyclopedia Ottomanica's name, logo, branding or other intellectual property except where expressly permitted.

You must not use Encyclopedia Ottomanica's branding in a way that suggests an association, sponsorship, partnership or endorsement where none exists.

19. Reporting Copyright or Other Concerns

If you believe that material appearing on Encyclopedia Ottomanica infringes your copyright or other legal rights, please contact us at info@ottomanica.org with sufficient information for us to identify and assess the material.

Where appropriate, we may investigate the matter and take reasonable action, including correcting attribution, adding information concerning copyright status, removing material or contacting the relevant rights holder.

20. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or modified to the extent necessary to make it lawful and enforceable where possible.

If this is not possible, the provision will be severed without affecting the remaining provisions.

21. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws in force in Australia.

To the extent permitted by law, disputes arising in connection with these Terms or the Publication will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the relevant Australian jurisdiction.

Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from exercising rights or remedies available under mandatory Australian law.

22. Contact

Questions concerning these Terms, copyright, permissions, contributions or the use of Encyclopedia Ottomanica material may be directed to the contact details provided on the Encyclopedia Ottomanica website.

Encyclopedia Ottomanica
info@ottomanica.org
Victoria, Australia

Last updated: 31 August 2026