NAFEMS Ltd. Intellectual Property Policy for Submitted Content

Updated November 9th 2026

1. Introduction

This policy explains how NAFEMS handles the intellectual property in content that is submitted to the organisation. It is written in plain language so that anyone submitting content to NAFEMS can understand their rights and obligations.

NAFEMS is a non-profit membership organisation. Our mission depends on sharing high-quality technical knowledge. This policy sets out a fair framework: content submitters keep ownership of their work and NAFEMS receives a licence to use it in pursuit of its educational purposes.

2. Scope of Content

This policy applies to all content submitted to NAFEMS for use in connection with NAFEMS activities (“Submitted Content”) but excludes any content or deliverables produced under a separate contract with NAFEMS, including textbooks, training courses and other commissioned works. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Conference papers and proceedings
• Presentation slides and accompanying materials
• Seminar and workshop materials
• Articles, technical notes and white papers
• Images, diagrams, illustrations, photographs and videos
• Data sets, databases, tables and compilations
• Software code, scripts and algorithms (where submitted for publication)
• Any other content submitted for NAFEMS conferences, seminars, events, publications, or its magazine

The policy covers all forms in which the content exists, whether written, visual, audio-visual or digital.

Textbooks that we have commissioned are dealt with in a separate agreement and on occasion we may include supplementary submission terms (for example in relation to the World Congress).

3. Legal Basis in Brief

This policy is governed by the law of England and Wales. The principal legislation underpinning it includes:

• Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“CDPA 1988”): the main UK statute protecting original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, as well as sound recordings, films, broadcasts, and published editions. Copyright arises automatically when a qualifying work is created; there is no registration requirement in the UK.
• Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997: provides additional protection (“Database Right”) for databases in which there has been substantial investment in obtaining, verifying, or presenting the data.

Where this policy refers to “intellectual property rights”, it means copyright, Database Rights, moral rights and any other rights recognised under these statutes and the general law, to the extent they apply to the Submitted Content.

4. Retention of Rights — You Keep Your Work

You retain full ownership of all intellectual property in the Submitted Content.

This is the most important point of this policy. Submitting content to NAFEMS does not transfer or assign your copyright or any other intellectual property rights to NAFEMS. Under the CDPA 1988, an assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed by the owner. This policy is expressly not an assignment.

You remain free to:

• Publish your content elsewhere (in journals, books, on your website, etc.)
• License your content to third parties
• Use your content in any commercial or non-commercial way
• Modify, adapt, or develop your content further

In short: your work remains yours. NAFEMS simply receives permission (a licence) to use it as described below.

5. Non-Exclusive, Royalty-Free Licence Grant

5.1. What you are granting

By submitting content to NAFEMS, you grant NAFEMS a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, communicate to the public, display, store, format, index, archive, translate, summarise, create abstracts of and adapt the Submitted Content for NAFEMS purposes.

5.2. Plain-English explanation

• Non-exclusive means that you are not giving NAFEMS sole or exclusive rights. You can grant similar licences to others, publish the same content elsewhere, and use it however you wish. NAFEMS is simply one of potentially many authorised users.
• Royalty-free means NAFEMS does not owe you any payment or royalty for using the content under this licence. You will not receive fees each time NAFEMS publishes or distributes it.
• Perpetual means the licence does not expire. This is necessary so that NAFEMS can continue to make archived publications, conference proceedings and educational materials available over time.
• Worldwide means the licence is not limited to any particular country. NAFEMS operates internationally and may distribute content globally.

5.3. Purposes covered

The licence permits NAFEMS to use Submitted Content across all NAFEMS platforms, publications, events, and activities, including:

• NAFEMS conferences, seminars, workshops, and webinars
• The NAFEMS magazine and other NAFEMS publications (print and digital)
• The NAFEMS website, member portal, and digital library
• NAFEMS educational and training programmes
• NAFEMS social media channels and promotional materials
• NAFEMS’s own or authorised LLM (Large Language Model) and related tools (see Section 5.4)

5.4. Use in NAFEMS’s LLM and AI tools

The licence includes use of Submitted Content to operate, develop, train, fine-tune, evaluate, improve, and quality-control NAFEMS’s own or authorised LLM model and related search, indexing, recommendation, summarisation, and knowledge-management tools, solely for NAFEMS purposes.

Guardrails: NAFEMS will use Submitted Content in its AI tools in accordance with applicable law, its privacy policy, and its confidentiality commitments. NAFEMS will not supply Submitted Content to third-party AI providers for their general training purposes without separate consent.

The legal landscape regarding copyright and AI is evolving. NAFEMS will keep this section of the policy under review and update it as the law develops.

5.5. Scope of rights licensed

The licence applies to copyright, database rights, and any related intellectual property rights in the Submitted Content, to the extent that you own or control those rights.

6. Moral Rights and Attribution

What are moral rights? Under the CDPA 1988, authors have “moral rights” separate from copyright. These include the right to be identified as the author (the “paternity right”) and the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work (the “integrity right”). Moral rights cannot be sold or transferred in the same way as copyright, but they can be waived.

NAFEMS respects your moral rights. NAFEMS will use reasonable efforts to credit you as the author in line with its editorial practices.

By submitting content, you consent to reasonable editing, formatting, and adaptation necessary for publication, accessibility, indexing, archiving, translation, summarisation, the creation of abstracts, and technical use within NAFEMS platforms and its LLM model. You acknowledge that such standard editorial practices do not constitute derogatory treatment of your work.

7. First Publication Credit

Where NAFEMS is the first publisher of your Submitted Content, and you subsequently publish or use that content elsewhere, you must include the following credit line:

“First published by NAFEMS in [insert publication/event name and year].”

This requirement is a condition of submission and helps recognise the role of NAFEMS in first disseminating the work. It does not restrict your right to publish the content wherever and however you choose.

8. Warranties

What is a warranty? In legal terms, a “warranty” is a promise or assurance that NAFEMS is entitled to rely on. If the warranty turns out to be untrue, the person who gave it may be liable for resulting losses.

By submitting content to NAFEMS, you warrant (promise) that:

• Originality: The Submitted Content is your own original work, or you have obtained all necessary rights and permissions from any co-authors or rights holders to grant this licence.
• No infringement: The Submitted Content does not infringe the copyright, database rights, trade marks, or any other intellectual property rights of any third party.
• No unlawful material: The Submitted Content does not contain material that is unlawful, defamatory (within the meaning of the Defamation Act 2013), obscene or otherwise objectionable.
• No plagiarism: The Submitted Content has not been plagiarised. Where third-party material is included (for example, quotations or data), it is properly attributed and used with permission or within the scope of a legal exception.
• Authority: You have the authority and legal capacity to grant the licence described in this policy. If the content was created in the course of employment, you confirm that you have your employer’s consent to submit and license it.
• Accuracy: To the best of your knowledge, the factual statements and data in the Submitted Content are accurate and not misleading.

9. Indemnification

What is indemnification? An “indemnity” is an agreement to protect another party from loss. In this context, it means that if NAFEMS suffers a loss because one of your warranties was untrue, you agree to compensate NAFEMS for that loss.

You agree to indemnify (compensate and hold harmless) NAFEMS, its officers, directors, employees, and agents against any and all claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

• Any breach of the warranties set out in Section 8 above;
• Any claim by a third party that the Submitted Content infringes their intellectual property rights or other legal rights;
• Any claim that the Submitted Content contains defamatory, unlawful, or otherwise actionable material.

This indemnity survives the termination of your membership of NAFEMS (in the event you are a NAFEMS member) and is not limited in time.

NAFEMS will notify you promptly of any claim of which it becomes aware and will give you a reasonable opportunity to participate in the defence of that claim.

10. General Provisions

10.1. Governing law

This policy is governed by the law of England and Wales. Any disputes arising under it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

10.2. Amendments

NAFEMS may amend this policy from time to time. We will notify you of amendments to this policy by way of publishing the amended policy on our website. Amendments will not apply retrospectively to content already submitted under a previous version of this policy, unless you consents.

10.3. Entire understanding

This policy, together with any supplementary submission terms provided at the time of content submission, constitutes the entire understanding between NAFEMS and the submitter regarding intellectual property in Submitted Content.

10.4. Severability

If any provision of this policy is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

10.5. Contact

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact NAFEMS at dpo@nafems.org