Licence and Support Agreements
The text below represent typical agreements for some of the data and software provided by CCDC. Your individual agreements may differ.
For a copy of your specific agreement please
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) Licence Terms
Executive Summary
These Licence Terms explain how the Licensee may access and use CCDC’s services, data, software and related materials, including the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and associated tools.
- Licence scope: CCDC grants the Licensee a limited, non-exclusive licence to use the data and software only for the permitted purpose, usage, sites and term set out in the Order Form.
- Users, access and security: Accounts, devices, licence keys and security features must not be shared, misused or made available to unauthorised individuals or third parties. The Licensee must keep the data and software secure and notify CCDC promptly of any misuse or security issue.
- Licence breaches: Unauthorised use or redistribution may result in additional charges and suspension or termination of the licence.
- No redistribution or secondary commercialisation: The Licensee must not resell, redistribute, make available, or use the data and software to build products or services or other offerings that incorporate, reproduce, substitute for or materially derive their value from the data or software, except where expressly permitted.
- AI restrictions: Unless CCDC expressly agrees otherwise, CCDC data and manipulated data must not be used within the architecture of AI systems, including for training, fine-tuning, embeddings, retrieval, inference, prompting or AI-enabled services. Transient use of CCDC data with an AI system is acceptable, provided that the requirements placed on the AI system are met to avoid data leakage and erosion of the CCDC data’s value.
- Ownership and attribution: CCDC and its licensors retain ownership of the data, software, and services. Where the data or software are used in publications, outputs or research, the Licensee must acknowledge CCDC and cite the relevant references.
- Fees and auto-renewal: Fees are payable as set out in the Order Form, usually annually in advance. The agreement automatically renews for successive renewal periods unless terminated in accordance with the Licence Terms.
This summary is provided for convenience only. The full Licence Terms below govern the parties’ rights and obligations and should be read in full.
CCDC Licence Agreement for Free Mercury
In order to download this version of Mercury, you must first read and accept the terms of the following licence agreement:
Mercury (the “Program”) is a copyright work of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (“CCDC”) and its licensors. In consideration of the access to the Program granted you, you agree to download and use the Program solely in accordance with the following terms. If the Program is supplied to you under a licence with The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 2155347, registered charity number 800579) of 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK (Licensor) or its subsidiary, CCDC Services Limited (a company registered in England and Wales with company number 03483374) or under a licence of access agreement to the Cambridge Structural Database System with the CCDC, the terms of that licence shall prevail. Otherwise the terms below shall apply.
You are permitted to download and to use a single copy of the Program and the documentation solely for Non-Commercial purposes and for no other purpose whatsoever. Results generated using the Program may be published, provided all such publications include an acknowledgement of the Program. Within 14 days of permanently discontinuing use of the Program you agree to delete all copies of the downloaded Program from your computers and storage systems.
You may not supply, assign, transfer or sublicense (in whole or part) the Program to any third party as part of a commercial transaction or for any consideration, in money, money’s worth or otherwise, or free of charge. The Program shall only be accessible to your employees.
You may not bundle this Program together with any other software product or products without the prior written consent of CCDC.
You may copy the Program only to the extent strictly necessary for backup purposes. Subject thereto or as otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law, you may not copy, reproduce, translate, adapt, decompile, modify, reverse engineer or disassemble the Program. You shall ensure at all times that all copies of the Programs made by you contain the copyright notice issued by CCDC and contained in the Program. You shall not amend or obscure this notice or any logos or trademarks of CCDC contained in the Program.
THE PROGRAM IS SUPPLIED TO YOU WITHOUT CHARGE, AND ACCORDINGLY YOU AGREE THAT THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED ON AN *AS IS* BASIS, AND NO REPRESENTATION IS MADE OR WARRANTY GIVEN, WHETHER WITH REGARD TO THE FUNCTIONALITY OR FITNESS FOR PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM OR OTHERWISE, AND ALL SUCH REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED (BY LAW OR OTHERWISE) ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE FOREGOING IN NO EVENT SHALL CCDC BE LIABLE TO YOU, IN CONTRACT, IN TORT OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS OR DAMAGE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ADMINISTRATION COSTS, LOSS OF BUSINESS AND GOODWILL, LOSS UNDER CURRENT AND FUTURE CONTRACTS, LOSS OF PROFIT OR OPPORTUNITY OR FINANCIAL LOSS OF ANY KIND ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE PROGRAM.
You agree to minimise any adverse effect of downloading and using the Program, including by keeping back up data and implementing adequate disaster recovery procedures. Accordingly, CCDC shall be in no manner liable for any effect which the Program may have on your data, software, hardware or other systems or products.
No amendment, variation or discharge of these terms and conditions is valid unless accepted in writing by both parties.
The failure of either party to exercise or enforce any rights under these terms and conditions shall not amount to a waiver of those rights.
The illegality or invalidity of any part of these terms and conditions shall not affect the legality or validity of the remainder of them.
These terms and conditions are not intended to confer rights on any third party, whether pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise, and no third party shall have any right to enforce any provision of these terms and conditions.
The foregoing terms and conditions and any dispute in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.