Time AtlasBeta

Terms of Use

Last updated: 10/11/2025

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the TimeAtlas website and services (“TimeAtlas” or “the Service”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to all of these Terms, you may not use the Service.

2. About

Welcome to Time Atlas! These Terms of Use (hereinafter “ToU”) describe the general terms and conditions of use for TimeAtlas Services and Data. You must agree to these ToU before using TimeAtlas Services and Data. This ToU document constitutes an agreement between you and the TimeAtlas Project (“we”). By clicking on the click-wrap at the bottom of this document, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

These ToU define the terms and conditions under which you (hereinafter “User”) may use the following Services and Data:

  • The TimeAtlas web application (hereinafter “Interface”) available at https://timeatlas.eu;
  • The TimeAtlas Application Programming Interface (hereinafter “API”), when available;
  • Any annotation, enrichment, or visualisation services provided through the Interface or API;
  • All Data as defined in Section 3 below and accessible through the Interface, the API, and the enrichment services.

The Interface, the API, and the enrichment/annotation services are hereinafter collectively referred to as “Services.”

The applicable ToU are those that are accessible online on the Interface at the time the User uses the Services and the Data. The TimeAtlas Project reserves the right to modify these ToU at any time and asks the User to review them regularly. Users are regularly prompted to do so when accessing the Services. The date of the last update is indicated on the first line of this document. Please also note the TimeAtlas Privacy Notice, which is not part of this agreement.

3. Purpose and Use of the Service

TimeAtlas provides interactive access to four-dimensional (3D + time) historical/spatial datasets (e.g. cadastral maps, POIs, aggregated historical data) for research, education, and non-commercial purposes. You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in a way that does not infringe on the rights of, restrict or inhibit other users.

4. The Time Atlas Project

The Time Atlas Project is based on the pioneering work of the Venice Time Machine project and all subsequent parallel projects that have enabled significant progress in the densification of information about the past. Time Atlas has now been enriched thanks to the incredible wealth of projects present in the community and the infrastructure of the European project of the Time Machine Organisation, of which it is one of the main services. It provides an open interface for exploring the “Big Data of the past.” The project aggregates sets of geolocated historical data and sources, including land registers, maps, historical images, and archival documents from different regions of Europe, aligning them in space and time.

The TimeAtlas Project develops innovative methods for semantic enrichment, georeferencing, and temporal alignment to advance digital history research and methodologies. TimeAtlas designs, implements, and provides access to a Graphical User Interface and an Application Programming Interface for exploring, visualising, and comparing historical data dynamically across time and space. Time Atlas is a collaborative research initiative supported by multiple European institutions.

5. Registration / Account

If the Service includes user registration to access certain features:

  • You must provide accurate, current, and complete information.
  • You are responsible for maintaining the security of your login credentials.
  • You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. Login details, passwords, and tokens must not be shared. Misuse may result in suspension of access and potential legal liability.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

  • All content, datasets, maps, images, POIs, software, documentation, design, visualization tools, and other materials on TimeAtlas are the property of the project (or its data providers) unless otherwise stated.
  • You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Service and the data for the purposes stated (research, teaching, etc.), subject to compliance with these terms.
  • You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works from protected content except as expressly permitted.

7. Data Accessible via the Time Atlas Interface and API

Three types of data are available through the Interface and API, namely Historical Sources, Metadata, and Enrichments (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Data”).

7.1 Historical Sources

TimeAtlas receives digitised historical sources from partner cultural heritage institutions. These collections form the TimeAtlas Corpus and may include:

  • Cartographic materials (maps, plans, drawings, etc.);
  • Archival documents (tables, images, texts, etc.) relevant to spatial and temporal exploration;
  • Reproduction from Secondary Sources (books, articles, etc.) available where permitted by copyright law.

7.2 Metadata

Metadata corresponds to contextual information about the historical sources and includes descriptive metadata (e.g. title, dates, location), structural metadata (e.g. record, parcel, or map identifiers), and administrative metadata (file timestamps, provenance information).

7.3 Enrichments

Enrichments correspond to various types of structured information and computational representations of Historical Sources extracted or computed by the TimeAtlas Project. These include, for example, georeferencing data, temporal alignments, semantic annotations, multilingual tags, vectorial geographic vector layers, extracted entities, 3D simulations and networked relationships between sources. Historical Sources, Metadata, and Enrichments may be subject to various copyrights and intellectual property rights held by TimeAtlas partners or external institutions. Users, in the course of their authorised access, accept responsibility for appropriate handling of these Data in accordance with these ToU.

8. Access to Data and possible actions

There are two types of Actions possible on the Data through the Interface and API:

  • Explore: searching, browsing, exploring, visualising, and comparing Historical Sources, Metadata, and Enrichments.
  • Export: Retrieval of Metadata and Enrichments. Export of Historical Sources may be subject to restrictions depending on copyright status. These ToU apply to all Users irrespective of their status and to all Data irrespective of the method of retrieval.

9. Limitation of Liability

  • The service is provided “as is” and “as available”. TimeAtlas does not guarantee that the Service will be error-free or uninterrupted.
  • TimeAtlas is not responsible for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.

10. Disclaimer / Accuracy of Data

Because the historical data is aggregated from different sources and spans many regions and time periods, there may be inaccuracies, omissions or uncertainties. TimeAtlas makes no guarantees as to the completeness or accuracy of data; users accept that historical information is subject to revision.

11. Copyright Domains

Two domains apply:

  • Public Domain: sources free of copyright, usable without restriction.
  • Protected Domain: sources under copyright but accessible for research, educational, or personal use, subject to specific conditions. The User is responsible for checking the copyright status of any Data before use.

12. Permitted Use of Data

  • Public Domain data: usable without restriction.
  • Protected Domain data: usable for research, educational, or personal purposes, as indicated. Follow the citation guidelines indicated in each source subject to this copyright.
  • Metadata: unless specified otherwise, available under CC0.
  • Enrichments: unless specified otherwise, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Users must respect best academic citation practices (see Section 14).

13. Unauthorised Use

The following are prohibited:

  • Mass downloading of Data;
  • Using Protected Domain Data to train or fine-tune foundational models without permission;
  • Redistributing Historical Sources without permission;
  • Commercial use of Data without prior agreement.

14. Citation of Data

Users shall cite digital items in accordance with academic standards, always including the data owner and/or the data producer, the TimeAtlas interface URL, and, where available, a permanent link to the archival record.

How to cite the interface

15. Personal Data

The TimeAtlas Project collects and processes personal data in accordance with its Privacy Notice.

16. Modifications to the Service and Terms

  • TimeAtlas may modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service or any part of it, with or without notice.
  • These Terms may be updated from time to time; the “Last updated” date will be revised. Continued use after changes implies acceptance of the new Terms.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

  • These Terms are governed by the law of Switzerland.
  • Disputes arising under or in connection with these Terms shall be submitted to the competent courts of Lausanne, Vaud, unless local mandatory laws provide otherwise.

18. Signature

The User’s acceptance of the ToU is by a click-wrap in which the User agrees to and accepts the ToU. This acceptance is considered an original signature.

19. Contact Information

For any questions about these Terms, or for reporting violations, contact:

Time Atlas Project
Email: timeatlas@epfl.ch Website: https://timeatlas.eu