FAQ
Corpora of Written Language
Frequently asked questions
Q: Are there conditions under which exceptions are possible with regard to the availability of the German Reference Corpus?
A: The Institute for the German Language has been building up extensive electronic collections of German-language texts for linguistic research - The German Reference Corpus - since 1964. It attaches great importance to the copyright integrity of these archives: The in-house scientific, non-commercial use of all texts in the German Reference Corpus is secured by written usage agreements with the copyright holders.
The IDS always endeavours to agree on the granting of rights of use for third parties for each newly acquired text, whether in the form of a download or online research authorisation. In all cases in which the IDS is permitted to do so, it transfers the acquired rights of use for third parties to them in full and without restriction.
The fact that we were not granted any further rights of use despite many years of experience and professional legal support is due, on the one hand, to the legitimate interests of the authors and other rights holders and, on the other hand, to the restrictive copyright law. IDS is actively committed to ensuring that education and science can use the new forms of dissemination and acquisition of knowledge and information without hindrance in the future, see Göttingen Declaration on Copyright for Education and Science of 5 July 2004.
Since the granting of further rights of use is not at the discretion of IDS, we ask for your understanding that it is not possible for us under any conditions to provide you with The German Reference Corpus or parts thereof in any other form or to any other extent than we currently do.