AiMark Support agreement
What are the Terms of the AiMark Support Agreement?
Our terms vary by project, and will be tailor made based on the level of support. Basically the Agreement will cover the following:
i. Expected output
- At least one academic publication in a leading academic journal, in which the support of AiMark is acknowledged in the following manner: “Access to the data is provided by AiMark (http://www.aimark.org), which is a not-for profit foundation that supports top academic research with scanner data provided by its data partners GFK and Kantar.” Researchers, at their option, can also publish additional publications to promote their agreed research topic in all cases the support of AiMark would be acknowledged.
- Participation (by email) in a network of members of our community working on related topics.
- Sharing your Working paper(s), one of them covering the technical specifications of your models used
- A data slice, containing new variables, based on new learnings of your research
- At least 2 key note speeches / contributions, one to Academic audience and one to an Executive Management audience, the latter being given by the leading investigator.
- AiMark is involved in Executive Training Programs. The leading investigator could be invited to contribute to our training programs (2x trainings for manufacturers and 1x for staff of the key data partners in the network like GfK, TNS and IRI). We will reimburse travel costs, based on industry standards ( ~ economy rates).
ii. Being compliant with the European GDPR regulation
It is obvious that the Data Partners and AiMark will ask you to be compliant with the regulations on data protection and privacy in case of personal data. You have to make sure that you store the data in a protected environment, and you will use the data solely for the agreed project. Generally, GDPR stipulates that you are only allowed to carry out the agreed activities. These are: receiving and analyzing the data, storing the data and conducting all activities for creating the expected output. You are not allowed to conduct any activities with the data outside the agreed ones.
iii. Ownership and usage of Output
The intellectual property of the output will remain yours, the Researchers’. However, you will allow all members of our community to implement – free of charge – your results, findings, models, etc. in their research and services.
iv. Quality guidance
We know from the past that analyzing the databases is complex. Support of experienced researchers in our community will speed up your project, reduces the risk of your project failing and increases the chances of reviewers of academic journals accepting your article. Our member-professors will help you in two critical phases in your project: (1) the moment you receive the data and plan to start analyzing (beginning of the project) and (2) the moment you produce your preliminary findings. We expect you to accept their guidance.
v. Research planning
Part of our professionalism is that the AiMark community reviews – in a six-month cycle – the planning and progress of all our projects. We expect you to commit your project to this planning process.
vi. Confidentiality and Usage of Input (the provided data)
Before you receive the data you and your team of researchers will be asked to sign a NDA. You are allowed to use the data for the requested project only. Moreover, you do not have permission to share the data with others who did not sign the NDA, including reviewers, or post the data as part of getting the paper in a journal. This in the light of recent discussions about making data available to others to increase replicability and to guard against fraud. We value these goals, however the commercial interests of the data providers, and the possibility that they may be faced with a law suit trump these considerations. Because our data identifies brands of leading manufacturers like Unilever, P&G, Nestlé, etc. and retailers like Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, Ahold, etc. you will protect their interests by taking care that no one has access to the data but other than yourself and you will never publish or share “named” results outside the AiMark community, without the written approval of the AiMark Executive Board.
AiMark Usage License Agreement
This AiMark Usage License Agreement (“AULA”) is an agreement between Researchers and AiMark (a legal entity according to the law of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) for the AiMark Knowledge Product.
1. Definition of the AiMark Knowledge Product
The on-going market, consumer research and knowledge building programs of the AiMark community of academics and practitioners generate a continuous flow of results, insights and learnings on business topics like ‘Branding & Innovation’, ‘Effectiveness of Marketing Actions’, ‘Consumer Wellbeing’, ‘Retailing’ and ‘Digital Marketing’. This ongoing flow of results, insights and learnings, hereinafter called the ‘Knowledge Product’ may include consumer behaviour models, consultancy frameworks, data sets, reports and associated media like conferences, printed materials, software, algorithms and “online” or electronic documentation.
2. The Knowledge Product license
The Knowledge Product is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The Knowledge Product is licensed, not sold.
3. Grant of license
This AULA grants Data Partners the non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the Knowledge Product in their R&D, Marketing & Trade Support activities. Researchers are not allowed to use the Knowledge Product, for commercial activities outside the research the data are provided for, unless Researchers enter into a marketing license agreement with AiMark.
5. Description of other rights and limitations
- Limitations on reverse engineering, decompilation, and disassembly
Researchers may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Knowledge Product, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by AiMark. - Support Services
The AiMark community may provide Researchers with support services related to the Knowledge Product (“Support Services”), e.g. as part of a tailor-made project or commercial service to one of your involved Researchers or our Data Partners. Any supplemental result, insight or learning provided to the Researchers as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the Knowledge Product and subject to the terms and conditions of this AULA. With respect to information and data Researchers provide to AiMark as part of the Support Services or in connection with the work performed in the framework of the Research Proposal, AiMark may use such information for its scientific research and business purposes, including for new insights development. AiMark will not utilize such market, consumer and/or technical information in a form that natural persons are not anonymous. - Product Transfer
Researchers may, after prior written consent of AiMark, permanently transfer all of their rights under this AULA, provided the recipient agrees to the terms of this AULA. - Termination
Without prejudice to any other rights, AiMark may terminate this AULA if Researchers fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this AULA. In such event, Researchers must destroy all the copies of the Knowledge Product and all of its component parts. - Copyright
All title and copyrights in and to the Knowledge Product (including but not limited to any data sets, images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, and text incorporated into the Knowledge Product) the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the Knowledge Product are owned by AiMark, its Data Partners or AiMark community researchers. The Knowledge Product is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Therefore, Researchers must treat the Knowledge Product like any other copyrighted material.
4. Source acknowledgement
Researchers are allowed and obliged when using components of the Knowledge Product in internal and external publication to acknowledge the source ‘AiMark’ and the names of the scientific researchers who contributed to the component the Researchers are referring to. AiMark reserves all rights not expressly granted to Researchers.
5. Description of other rights and limitations
- Limitations on reverse engineering, decompilation, and disassembly
Researchers may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Knowledge Product, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by AiMark. - Support Services
The AiMark community may provide Researchers with support services related to the Knowledge Product (“Support Services”), e.g. as part of a tailor-made project or commercial service to one of your involved Researchers or our Data Partners. Any supplemental result, insight or learning provided to the Researchers as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the Knowledge Product and subject to the terms and conditions of this AULA. With respect to information and data Researchers provide to AiMark as part of the Support Services or in connection with the work performed in the framework of the Research Proposal, AiMark may use such information for its scientific research and business purposes, including for new insights development. AiMark will not utilize such market, consumer and/or technical information in a form that natural persons are not anonymous. - Product Transfer
Researchers may, after prior written consent of AiMark, permanently transfer all of their rights under this AULA, provided the recipient agrees to the terms of this AULA. - Termination
Without prejudice to any other rights, AiMark may terminate this AULA if Researchers fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this AULA. In such event, Researchers must destroy all the copies of the Knowledge Product and all of its component parts. - Copyright
All title and copyrights in and to the Knowledge Product (including but not limited to any data sets, images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, and text incorporated into the Knowledge Product) the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the Knowledge Product are owned by AiMark, its Data Partners or AiMark community researchers. The Knowledge Product is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Therefore, Researchers must treat the Knowledge Product like any other copyrighted material.
