Digital Collections Takedown Policy

The University of Galway Library strives to provide online access to digitised material from our Heritage Collections in good faith. However, despite our diligent efforts, we acknowledge the possibility that material made available online may, on occasion, infringe upon copyright laws or contain sensitive content.

If you come across material in our digitised collections for which you have not granted permission, breaches privacy laws, contains obscene or defamatory content, and is not protected by copyright limitations or exceptions, please get in touch with us in writing and include the following information:

• Your contact information.
• A detailed description of the material in question.
• The precise URL where you found the material.
• If it concerns copyright, provide evidence of your rights ownership and a statement confirming your status as the rights holder or an authorised representative of the rightsholder.
• The reason for your request, which may pertain to copyright law, privacy laws, data protection, obscenity, defamation, or similar concerns.

You can contact us at library@universityofgalway.ie.

 Upon receiving your notification, we will initiate the 'Notice and Takedown' procedure as follows:

1. The University of Galway Library will promptly acknowledge receipt of your complaint via email or letter and will conduct an initial evaluation to assess the validity and plausibility of the complaint.
2. Upon confirmation of a valid complaint, the material in question will be temporarily removed from the relevant collection, pending a mutually agreeable resolution.
3. If applicable, the University of Galway Library will reach out to the contributor who deposited the material. The contributor will be informed of the complaint, the grounds on which it is based, and will be encouraged to address the concerns raised.

 Both the complainant and the contributor will be encouraged to resolve the issue promptly and amicably, to the satisfaction of both parties. Possible outcomes include:

• Keeping the material in the collection without changes.
• Replacing the material with modifications.
• Permanently removing the material from the collection. 

If the contributor and the complainant are unable to reach a resolution, the material will remain inaccessible through the University of Galway Library website until a mutually satisfactory solution is found.

View the Policy as a PDF: Heritage Collections Take Down Policy