IMPORTANT NOTE: Anyone receiving and/or using data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas must respect the rules laid out in this agreement.

1. Definitions - For the purposes of this agreement, the terms "the managers of the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas" and "the Atlas managers" refer to the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Bird Studies Canada; and the terms "Québec Breeding Bird Atlas data" and "Atlas data" refer, depending on the context, to data collected during fieldwork for the 1st Atlas (1984-1989, Gauthier and Aubry, 1996) or the 2nd Atlas (2010-2014). The latter led to the publication of the Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Southern Québec (Robert et al., 2019), of which the northern phase is still ongoing.

2. Background - To promote the study, conservation and management of bird populations in Québec, the managers of the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas agreed, before the start of fieldwork for the 2nd Atlas, that data from this collective project should be made available, free of charge, to as widespread an audience as possible. As the data collected during fieldwork for the 1st Atlas were subsequently added to those of the 2nd Atlas to allow certain comparisons, the Atlas managers agreed, within the framework of the 2nd Atlas, to extend this "open access" to data from the 1st Atlas.
3. Conditions of use - Any request submitted for data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas implies that the applicant has read, and agrees to comply with, the conditions defined in this policy document. Depending on the nature of the request, more stringent conditions may apply, and these will be determined following assessment of the demand. Where this applies, the applicant will be notified and data release will be conditional on agreement to respect the stricter conditions.
4. Authorization procedure - All requests for data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas must be: 1) accompanied by a full description of the project for which the data will be used; and 2) submitted via the NatureCounts website (but see section 5, below, concerning species at risk). Applications for projects intending to post analyzed data (e.g., maps or tables) on the Internet must clearly specify the nature of these data, and how they will be diffused. The Atlas managers reserve the right to refuse any application that may compromise bird protection, and to consult third parties before accepting or refusing an application. When an application is accepted, an Atlas manager will notify the applicant and authorize the data transfer.
5. Species at risk - Any request for data regarding the precise location of nesting sites used by species at risk must be sent directly to the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, which manages the SOS-POP database that houses the data concerning these species that were collected during fieldwork for the 2nd Atlas. The relevance of applications for data concerning species at risk must be clearly demonstrated before any transfer can be authorized.
6. Fee - Generally, there will be no fee for the transmission of data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas. Requests requiring manual customized extractions or additional analysis may be charged at a rate of CAN$75 per hour, CAN$500 per day, or CAN$1,500 per week. The Atlas managers will consider waiving this fee in part, or in full, for applications from partners, not-for-profit organizations, graduate students, or equivalents.
7. Intellectual property rights of the data - Under all circumstances, the titles and intellectual property rights associated with the data collected during fieldwork for the 2nd Québec Breeding Bird Atlas remain the property of the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Bird Studies Canada. Under all circumstances, the titles and intellectual property rights associated with the data collected during fieldwork for the 1st Atlas remain the property of the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada. However, all titles and intellectual property rights associated with original products derived in whole or in part from the use of data from the 1st or 2nd Québec Breeding Bird Atlas remain the property of the content owner or owners, and may therefore be protected under applicable laws.
8. Data review - Although the data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas were validated by expert ornithologists, some errors or inaccuracies may still exist. The Québec Breeding Bird Atlas therefore offers no guarantee regarding the accuracy, validity, or any other characteristics of the data transmitted. At no time may the Atlas managers be held responsible by claim, suit, or any other means, for any loss, damage or cost suffered by the applicant that results from the possession or use of the Atlas data. Applicants agree at all times to release the managers of the Atlas from any liability for any claim, demand, loss, damage, cost, action or other proceeding brought against them based on the use of the Atlas data, or any products derived from them.
9. Use of data - This agreement grants data recipients the right to use, reproduce, adapt, extract, and enhance, in whole or in part, the data provided. However, data recipients may not use any identifier or trademark of the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas, or the names of the Atlas managers, in such a way that implies that they are speaking on their behalf; that they hold a data distribution agreement; or that they have access to confidential or any other information to which another party would not have access. Data recipients must immediately notify the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas of any violation by a third party of the Atlas data entrusted to them. If possible, they will provide proof of the infringement and work with the Atlas managers to enforce intellectual property rights. Data recipients may not take any legal action, or action against violations of Canadian intellectual property rights, without the prior written consent of the Atlas managers.
10. Redistribution of raw data - It is prohibited for data recipients to circulate raw data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas, or to make them available for download.
11. Bibliographic reference - Any publication (e.g., article, book, web page, or presentation) using data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas – whether they were obtained following an official request or directly from the Atlas website – must clearly state the data source. The reference to the Atlas data must be formulated as follows:

"Québec Breeding Bird Atlas (state year in which the data were received). Data consulted on the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas website or Data obtained following a request submitted via the NatureCounts website. Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Bird Studies Canada. Québec, Québec, Canada."

12. Acknowledgements - Data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas were collected thanks to the volunteer commitment of hundreds of citizens, and the work of the Atlas managers. Any publication (e.g., article, book, web page, or presentation) using the Atlas data – whether they were obtained following an official request or directly from the Atlas website – must thank them appropriately. The following text must be included in the acknowledgements section of any publication:

    "We thank the managers of the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas (i.e., the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Bird Studies Canada) for supplying Atlas data, as well as the hundreds of volunteer participants who helped collect them."

13. Co-authorship and scientific review - If a data request is accompanied by a research proposal or details of a research project in which the managers of the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas are required to participate in a significant manner, an agreement must be reached, prior to data transfer, concerning the role of the personnel involved, the question of co-authorship, and the order of the authors on any published documents (e.g., article, website, or presentation). The Atlas managers request to review manuscripts (or portions of manuscripts) using Atlas data before they are submitted for publication, especially if they review or discuss the Atlas methodology used.
14. Copies of publications - Authors of all publications (e.g., articles, books, web pages, or presentations) that use data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas should send the Atlas managers a copy of their publication, or the appropriate information needed to consult the results of their work.
15. Effective date and revocation of privileges - This agreement comes into force on the date that the data recipient downloads, consults or uses data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas, and it remains in force until such time that an Atlas manager notifies them of the revocation of their right to use the Atlas data. Any person not abiding by the terms and conditions set out in this agreement, or the terms and conditions relating to the filing of a data request may be prohibited or revoked from using data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas. In the event of a revocation of these privileges, the recipient may continue to distribute works produced using the data prior to termination, provided that they continue to comply with the requirements of this agreement, including those related to data protection and data source identification.
16. Applicable law - This agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws in force in the Province of Québec.

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Click here to apply for data from the Québec Breeding Bird Atlas.