GDT Innovations Copyright Transfer Agreement and Informed Consent Policy
This Copyright Transfer Agreement (hereinafter “Agreement”) is entered into between myself, the “Author” and GDT Innovations, owner of CSurgeries (collectively, “GDT”). The covenants and terms of this Agreement are as follows:

Consistent with the terms and provisions of U.S. copyright law (17 U.S.C § 101, et seq.) and to allow for the timely publication of accepted videos and materials referenced in Exhibit A, GDT requires that Author transfers copyright to GDT at the time of submission of the video and associated materials, referred to below as the Submission. In the event that the Submission is not subsequently published by GDT, this “Agreement” will be considered null and void, with copyright reverting to the Author of the Submission. This Agreement pertains to all materials to be published, including audio and video files and all supplementary materials, such as the abstract, tables, graphs or figures.

I. Assignment of Publishing Rights Solely in exchange for publication of the Submission, Author hereby assigns and transfers to GDT the full term of Copyright and First Rights of Publication in the Submission submitted therewith that are intended for publication in all forms and media (whether now known or hereafter developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when and if the Submission is accepted for publication. The transfer of the worldwide copyrights include, but are not limited to all copyrights available in The United States of America, all Bern Convention member countries, and all countries not subject to international agreements on copyright law. Author agrees and understands that it will not be compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for the assignment and transfer of copyright to GDT.
II. IndemnificationAuthor agrees to hold harmless, indemnify, and defend GDT against all damages and/or expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, related to or resulting from a breach of the representations and warranties set forth in this document.
III.Revisions and AddendaAuthor understands that no revisions, additional terms or addenda to this Agreement can be accepted without GDT’s express written consent. By signing this Agreement, Author grants GDT the right to withdraw the Submission from CSurgeries should it be found to be a duplicated video publication, or it is seen by GDT or its agents to violate ethics guidelines. Prior to removal of published materials, Author or its agent will be notified of these intentions, and all rights will revert back to the Author.
IV. Retention of Rights for Scholarly PurposesAuthor understands that it retains and is hereby granted (without the need to obtain further permission) the Retained Rights and that no rights in patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights are transferred to GDT. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Submission, in initially submitted, accepted, or published form for personal use, internal institutional use, and for scholarly posting. Scholarly posting refers to the voluntary posting of the Submission on open web sites operated by the Author or the Author’s institution (as identified in Exhibit A) for scholarly purposes but not for commercial use or systematic distribution. Author understands that the Submission may also be used for classroom teaching and presenting at conferences. Author agrees to include the appropriate bibliographic citation when posting or sharing any portion of the Submission in any fashion. Author understands that deposit in or posting to subject-oriented or centralized repositories (such as PubMed Central), or institutional repositories with mandates for systematic postings, is permitted only under specific agreements between GDT and the repository, agency or institution.
V. Compliance with Open Access Requirement of Funding Agencies Now and in the FutureGDT does not seek to limit the Author’s ability to comply with the mandates of any funding body or government agency. The requirements and mandates of such bodies vary and are subject to change. GDT, therefore, requires that the Author abide by the following general stipulations during the course of compliance with such policies:
Where the funding body indicates an embargo period (i.e., the interval between when the Submission is deposited and when the submission is subsequently made publicly available), GDT requires that the maximum allowable embargo period be specified.
When allowable by the funding agency, GDT requires that no version of the Submission later than the final, accepted Submission be deposited for compliance.
On the deposited Submission, a bibliographic record and a link to CSurgeries must be provided so that users can access the final, published version of the Submission.
VI. Cooperation and Additional DocumentationAuthor agrees to provide all cooperation to GDT that is necessary or helpful to any effort by GDT to establish, perfect, or defend any of its rights in the Submission. Author understands that cooperation includes its agreement to execute and deliver, on request, such additional documentation as may reasonably be required by GDT to effectuate the purposes and intent of this Agreement. If Author is unable to or fail to sign and/or deliver such additional documentation, GDT is irrevocably authorized as Author’s attorney-in-fact to sign and deliver such additional documentation, it being agreed that this authorization and appointment is a right coupled with an interest and shall survive Author’s subsequent incapacity.
VII.CounterpartsThis Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be considered an original instrument, but all of which shall be considered one and the same agreement, and shall become binding when one or more counterparts have been signed and delivered by each of the parties hereto.
VIII.SeverabilityIf any term or other provision of this Agreement is invalid, illegal, or incapable of being enforced by any rule of law or public policy, all other conditions and provisions of this Agreement shall nevertheless remain in full force and effect so long as the economic or legal substance of the transaction contemplated hereby is not affected in any manner materially adverse to any party.
IX.Successors and AssignsThis Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the parties and their respective heirs, legal representatives, successors, and assigns.
X. Entire Agreement; Amendments; WaiversThis Agreement reflects the entire agreement of the parties relating to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior written or oral representations, understandings, or agreements relating thereto. It may not be supplemented or modified in any manner except by a writing signed by all parties hereto and expressly referencing this agreement. The failure of a party to enforce any terms or provisions of this agreement will not waive any rights under such terms and provisions.
XI. InterpretationTitles and headings are inserted for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be a part of or to affect the meaning or interpretation of this agreement.
XII. DurationThis Agreement shall extend for a period of twenty (20) years from the date signed by all parties hereto.
XIII.Choice of LawThe construction and performance of this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Pennsylvania and, as to the Copyright Act, the laws of the United States of America, without giving effect to the choice of law provisions thereof. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement has a reasonable relationship to the State of Pennsylvania. Any and all disputes concerning this Agreement, its subject matter, its interpretation, or in any way arising out of this Agreement, shall be submitted for resolution to a court of competent jurisdiction, either federal or state, located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and to no other court. The parties to this Agreement stipulate that this shall constitute an agreement for exclusive and mandatory venue in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania for any and all such disputes. The parties agree that this forum selection clause is a substantive term of this Agreement and will govern venue in any suit, regardless of where brought, whether concerning its subject matter, its interpretation, or in any way arising out of this Agreement.
XIV. Remedies; Attorneys feesThis Agreement is fully enforceable in a court of law. The obligations of each party hereto may be enforced by specific performance and/or mandatory injunction, in addition to an award of damages. If any party files suit to enforce or interpret this Agreement, or if litigation arises otherwise as a result of this Agreement, the successful party may be entitled to recover its reasonable attorney’s fees, costs, and expenditures (including expert witness fees) from the other party in addition to any other relief to which the party may be entitled.
XV. No Fiduciary or Partnership RelationshipNothing contained herein may be construed to create a fiduciary relationship between the parties and nothing contained herein shall be construed to create a partnership, joint venture, or similar relationship between the parties hereto.
XVI. NoticeAny notice which any party may be required or may desire to give hereunder shall be delivered personally, or delivered by internationally recognized parcel service (such as FedEx) or given by United States registered mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the other party at the address set forth below adjacent to their name, or at such other address as may later be designated in writing upon fifteen days prior notice. If notice is mailed, notice shall be considered given twenty (20) days after mailing.
XVII.Informed Consent and LiabilitiesIt is the lead author’s responsibility to follow their institution’s requirements for the informed consent process, and when required, to obtain a signature of informed consent from the patient being filmed prior to filming. The author may use their institution’s approved informed consent documents, or an informed consent document is available at CSurgeries.com. This form should be used in addition to any other form deemed reasonable or necessary by the author and his/her legal counsel. The author should have a thorough conversation with the patient, explaining that they plan to film the operation and submit it for online publication. It should be explained to the patient that while attempts will be made to protect the patient’s privacy, it is possible that their identity and medical conditions could be identified by someone viewing the video. It is the author’s responsibility to avoid showing the patient’s face or other identifying information during filming. All written consents must be obtained and retained by the author and copies of the consents and evidence that such consents have been properly obtained must be provided to CSurgeries promptly on request.
Particular care should be taken with obtaining consent where a child or any individual incapable of providing informed consent is involved, or where an individual’s head or face appears. Authors must take all reasonable measures to protect the privacy of the patient being filmed. Other than when necessary and appropriate due to the physical location of the procedure, the patient’s face should not be displayed in the video. In order to protect patient privacy, the patient’s name, age, date of birth, or other identifying information should not be visible or submitted to CSurgeries.

In the event of any claim arising from a video, the author submitting the video shall have an absolute obligation to indemnify, protect, defend and hold harmless CSurgeries, GDT Innovations, and each of their owners, members, representatives, agents, employees, consultants, users and editors from any and all liability, damages, loss, claim, judgment, cost and expense (including attorney’s fees and related expenses) arising from such claim or the submission of the video, regardless of fault and whether arising in contract, tort, strict liability, at law, or in equity. The foregoing obligation shall include but not be limited to claims arising from violation or alleged violation of privacy rights, intellectual property rights, applicable law or contractual rights.

Submission of each video constitutes a full representation and warranty from the author that:

1. the procedure was performed and is being submitted in conformance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, as well as the highest standards of ethical and moral principles;
2. the author has taken all steps reasonable and necessary to fully comply with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), including but not limited to obtaining express written authorization from any individual shown in the video and removing all identifying information, and in full compliance with any other patient privacy, personal information, data protection, or other laws, rules and regulations applicable to the author and patient such as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) of Canada and the European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive and all Acts giving implementation thereto;
3. the author owns and properly obtained all intellectual property rights necessary to transfer and publish the video and hereby grants to CSurgeries and its owners a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, perpetual, assignable, sub-licenseable, fully paid-up, royalty-free right and license to publish, display, distribute, reproduce, modify, make use and derivative works of the video (in whole or in part) and to incorporate it into other works, without the necessity of any additional consent from or notice to you, the subject of the video, or other third party.
Should any video not comply with the above requirements, it is prohibited from being submitted to CSurgeries.

XVIII. Author Representations
1. I have reviewed and complied with the relevant Instructions for Authors and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Policy. I have disclosed any real or potential conflicts of interests that could be seen as having an influence on the Submission (e.g. financial interests in a procedure or surgical instruments, or funding by an equipment or materials manufacturer).
2. The Submission is original, the represented surgery has been performed by the author(s) listed in Exhibit A, and supplementary materials were written by the authors listed in Exhibit A.
3. I have the full authority to enter into this agreement with GDT.
4. The Submission has not been published by another journal or website, is not currently being considered for publication by any other journal or website, and will not be submitted for such review while under review by GDT.
5. The Submission contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any copyright, trademark, patient, personal, proprietary or statutory rights of any other person or entity.
6. I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Submission. I understand that any fees charged by the copyright holder for use of the materials is my responsibility as the Author and not GDT’s responsibility.
7. Prior to filming, I obtained written permission or consent from the patient shown in the submission materials (or, where applicable, next of kin). (Note: Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to GDT upon request).
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