Last Updated: September 7, 2025

Finauthority respects copyright, trademarks, database rights and other intellectual-property rights.

At the same time, Finauthority is an independent financial research, directory and review platform. Our work may require us to identify financial companies, quote limited portions of documents, display company names or logos, refer to regulatory materials, reproduce limited screenshots, link to external sources and discuss third-party publications for purposes such as research, criticism, review, reporting, verification and identification.

This Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy explains:

• ownership of Finauthority content;
• permitted and prohibited uses of Finauthority materials;
• use of company names, trademarks and logos;
• use of third-party materials for research and reporting;
• quotations and source attribution;
• database rights;
• scraping and automated extraction;
• text and data mining;
• AI training and machine-learning use;
• user-submitted content;
• copyright complaints;
• trademark complaints;
• counter-statements and disputes;
• repeat infringement;
• preservation of legitimate criticism and research; and
• how to request permission to use Finauthority material.

Our central principle is:

We respect the intellectual-property rights of others and expect others to respect ours, while preserving lawful research, criticism, quotation, reporting and other uses permitted by applicable law.

1. About Finauthority

Finauthority is an independent financial company directory, research and review platform operated by:

Legal entity: FinAuthority

Registered office: Národní 135/14, Prague, Hlavní mesto Praha 110 00, Czech Republic

Country of registration: Czech Republic

Website: Finauthority.org

General enquiries: kancelar@finauthority.org

Privacy enquiries: privacy@finauthority.org

Legal enquiries: legal@finauthority.org

Company Review & Verification: check@finauthority.org

Finauthority operates from the Czech Republic while researching financial companies and services internationally.

2. Legal Framework

Finauthority’s intellectual-property practices are governed, where applicable, by Czech law and European Union law.

Relevant frameworks may include:

• Act No. 121/2000 Coll. on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright of the Czech Republic, as amended;
• Directive 2001/29/EC on copyright and related rights in the information society;
• Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases;
• Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market;
• Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act, where applicable;
• Czech trademark and unfair-competition law;
• European Union trademark law; and
• other applicable intellectual-property laws.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to restrict rights, exceptions or limitations that cannot lawfully be excluded.

3. Copyright Protection

Original material created for Finauthority may be protected by copyright from the moment the relevant legal requirements for protection are satisfied.

Copyright protection does not depend solely on the presence of a copyright notice.

4. Finauthority-Owned Content

Subject to third-party rights and applicable law, Finauthority or its licensors may hold rights in original materials such as:

• company research;
• financial-company analyses;
• editorial articles;
• regulatory summaries;
• original reviews and reports produced by our team;
• guides;
• methodologies;
• explanatory text;
• original graphics;
• diagrams;
• illustrations;
• photographs commissioned by Finauthority;
• videos;
• page layouts;
• proprietary classifications;
• original rating explanations;
• research compilations;
• databases;
• software;
• design elements;
• branding; and
• other original content.

5. Copyright Notice

Unless otherwise indicated, original Finauthority content may be treated as:

© FinAuthority. All rights reserved.

The absence of an individual copyright notice on a particular page does not mean that protected material is free from copyright.

6. Facts Are Different From Copyrighted Expression

Finauthority does not claim ownership over facts merely because those facts appear on our website.

Examples of underlying facts may include:

• a company name;
• registered address;
• license number;
• regulator;
• authorization date;
• corporate registration;
• public warning;
• company officer;
• publicly reported event; or
• other factual information.

However, Finauthority’s original:

• wording;
• selection;
• arrangement;
• analysis;
• presentation;
• classification;
• commentary; and
• database structure

may receive legal protection where applicable.

7. Public Regulatory Information

Regulatory information may originate from:

• financial regulators;
• central banks;
• securities authorities;
• government agencies;
• public registers; or
• other official sources.

Finauthority does not claim ownership over rights that legally belong to the relevant public authority or another rights holder.

Our original summaries, analysis and presentation may nevertheless be protected separately.

8. Company Information

Certain information appearing on company profiles may originate from:

• the company itself;
• regulators;
• public registers;
• users;
• third-party sources; or
• Finauthority research.

The intellectual-property status of individual components may therefore differ.

9. Third-Party Rights Remain With Their Owners

Unless expressly stated otherwise, third-party:

• trademarks;
• logos;
• company names;
• photographs;
• documents;
• screenshots;
• software;
• publications;
• videos;
• graphics; and
• other protected materials

remain the property of their respective rights holders.

10. Company Names

References to company names on Finauthority are generally made for purposes such as:

• identification;
• research;
• comparison;
• criticism;
• review;
• regulatory analysis;
• reporting; or
• user information.

The presence of a company name does not imply that the company:

• owns Finauthority;
• sponsors Finauthority;
• endorses Finauthority;
• approved the profile; or
• has a commercial relationship with us.

11. Trademarks

All trademarks, service marks and trade names belonging to third parties remain the property of their respective owners.

Use of a trademark by Finauthority does not imply ownership unless expressly stated.

12. Finauthority Trademarks

The Finauthority name, brand identity, logos, badges and other source-identifying elements may be protected by trademark, copyright, unfair-competition or other applicable law.

They may not be used in a misleading manner.

13. No False Endorsement

Third parties must not use Finauthority branding to falsely imply:

• endorsement;
• certification;
• regulatory approval;
• sponsorship;
• partnership;
• authorization; or
• another relationship that does not exist.

14. Finauthority Badges

Where Finauthority provides badges such as:

Claimed Profile

Verified Company Information

Regulatory Status Verified

or another status indicator, the badge must be used only according to its actual meaning.

15. No Modification of Badges

A company must not alter a Finauthority badge to create a stronger or different claim.

For example:

Claimed Profile

must not be modified into:

Finauthority Approved Financial Company

if Finauthority has not created that status.

16. Scores and Ratings in Marketing

A company may accurately refer to its current publicly displayed Finauthority Score where such use is lawful and not misleading.

The company must not:

• alter the score;
• remove material context;
• misrepresent the date;
• describe a historical score as current;
• convert the score into regulatory approval; or
• falsely imply endorsement.

17. Company Logos on Finauthority

Finauthority may display company logos for purposes such as:

• identifying a company;
• helping users distinguish brands;
• reporting;
• research;
• comparison; or
• commentary.

Such use does not necessarily imply sponsorship or affiliation.

18. Regulator Logos

Where appropriate and lawful, Finauthority may display or refer to names or visual identifiers of regulators to help users understand regulatory information.

This does not mean that the regulator endorses Finauthority or the company being discussed.

19. Screenshots

Finauthority may use screenshots where relevant to document or discuss matters such as:

• company claims;
• website disclosures;
• regulatory statements;
• historical website content;
• user interfaces;
• advertisements;
• potentially misleading representations; or
• other matters relevant to independent research.

20. Screenshots Should Be Proportionate

Where third-party copyright may apply, Finauthority aims to use only material reasonably necessary for the legitimate research, reporting, criticism, review or evidentiary purpose concerned.

21. Quotations

Finauthority may quote limited portions of lawfully available works where permitted by applicable law.

Quotations may be used for purposes such as:

• criticism;
• review;
• analysis;
• reporting;
• comparison;
• explanation; or
• verification.

22. Attribution

Where required and reasonably possible, quotations should identify appropriate information such as:

• author;
• organization;
• publication;
• document title; and/or
• source.

23. Extent of Quotations

Finauthority seeks to avoid reproducing more third-party material than reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

The amount appropriate in a particular case depends on:

• nature of the source;
• research purpose;
• context;
• applicable legal exception; and
• amount required to make the point understandable.

24. Criticism and Review

Copyright should not be used as a pretext to prevent lawful criticism or review.

Where applicable law permits quotation or other limited use for criticism and review, Finauthority may rely on those legal rights.

25. Reporting Current Events

Finauthority may use protected material where lawful and reasonably necessary to report current events or explain developments concerning financial companies or regulators.

Such use is subject to applicable legal requirements.

26. Linking to Sources

Finauthority may provide hyperlinks to:

• regulator records;
• company websites;
• public registers;
• official warnings;
• media publications;
• documents; and
• other sources.

Providing a hyperlink does not mean that Finauthority owns the linked material.

27. Hyperlinks Are Not Copies by Default

A link ordinarily directs the user to content maintained elsewhere.

The legal treatment of linking depends on the circumstances and applicable law.

28. External Sites

Third-party websites remain responsible for their own:

• content;
• copyright;
• permissions;
• security; and
• availability.

29. Archived Sources

Finauthority may refer to archived webpages or historical records when relevant to establishing:

• previous company claims;
• historical domains;
• previous legal entities;
• old licensing statements;
• former branding; or
• other material historical facts.

30. Source Preservation

Where lawful, Finauthority may retain limited evidentiary material necessary to document research.

Public availability and internal research retention are not necessarily the same.

31. Research Does Not Transfer Ownership

Possessing a copy of a third-party document for research purposes does not mean that Finauthority owns copyright in that document.

32. Company Documents

Companies may provide:

• licenses;
• legal agreements;
• policy documents;
• corporate records;
• presentations;
• correspondence; or
• other material.

Submission does not automatically transfer ownership to Finauthority.

33. Permission to Process Submitted Materials

Where a company voluntarily submits material for publication, verification or profile management, it grants Finauthority the permissions reasonably necessary to:

• receive;
• store;
• review;
• process;
• display where appropriate;
• reproduce where necessary for Platform operation; and
• use the material for the purpose for which it was submitted,

subject to our Terms and applicable law.

34. Company Authority to Submit Content

Company representatives must have appropriate rights or authority to submit material to Finauthority.

They must not knowingly upload content that infringes the rights of others.

35. User-Submitted Content

Users may submit content such as:

• reviews;
• comments;
• evidence;
• screenshots;
• photographs;
• documents;
• company information; or
• other material.

Users retain whatever intellectual-property rights they lawfully possess in their original submissions, subject to the permissions granted to Finauthority.

36. User License to Finauthority

By submitting content for publication or Platform use, the user grants Finauthority a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license, to the extent necessary, to:

• host;
• store;
• reproduce;
• format;
• adapt for technical presentation;
• display;
• communicate to the public;
• distribute through the Platform;
• moderate;
• create necessary technical copies; and
• otherwise use the content to operate, secure and provide the relevant Finauthority services.

This license applies only to rights the user is legally entitled to grant.

37. No Transfer of Ownership

The user license does not automatically transfer ownership of the user’s original intellectual property to Finauthority.

38. Technical Modification

Finauthority may make reasonable technical changes to submitted content, such as:

• resizing images;
• compressing files;
• changing file format;
• correcting layout;
• creating thumbnails;
• adjusting display formatting; or
• removing unsafe metadata.

These changes do not necessarily alter ownership.

39. Editorial Moderation

Finauthority may also redact or restrict submitted material where required under:

• our User Review and Evidence Policy;
• Content Moderation and Notice-and-Action Policy;
• Privacy Policy;
• applicable law; or
• other relevant policies.

40. User Warranties

By submitting material, users represent that they have a lawful basis to submit and permit the relevant use of that material.

Users should not knowingly submit material that:

• infringes copyright;
• infringes trademark rights;
• violates confidentiality;
• misappropriates protected content;
• contains unlawfully obtained material; or
• otherwise violates third-party rights.

41. Evidence Submitted Privately

Evidence supplied privately for review verification does not automatically receive the same publication license as content intentionally submitted for public display.

Finauthority may process private evidence only as reasonably necessary for:

• verification;
• moderation;
• disputes;
• legal compliance;
• security; or
• other purposes described in our policies.

42. Private Evidence Is Not Public Content

A document submitted privately to prove a review does not become public merely because it was uploaded to Finauthority.

43. Database Rights

Finauthority may invest substantial resources in obtaining, verifying, organizing and presenting information concerning financial companies.

Where applicable legal requirements are met, the Finauthority database or substantial parts of it may be protected by:

• copyright;
• sui generis database rights; and/or
• other applicable rights.

44. Database Structure

Protection may apply, where legally available, to original aspects of:

• selection;
• organization;
• categorization;
• arrangement;
• verification;
• relationships between records;
• compilation; and
• presentation.

45. Facts Within the Database

Protection of a database does not automatically create ownership over individual underlying facts.

The database and the facts contained within it are legally distinct concepts.

46. Systematic Extraction

Except where authorized by Finauthority or permitted by mandatory law, users must not systematically extract or reutilize substantial portions of the Finauthority database.

47. Repeated Extraction

Repeated extraction of smaller portions may also be restricted where, taken together, the activity conflicts with applicable database rights or the normal operation of the Platform.

48. Scraping

Automated scraping of Finauthority may be restricted where it:

• violates applicable rights;
• bypasses technical controls;
• imposes unreasonable infrastructure load;
• collects personal data unlawfully;
• replicates substantial database content;
• creates a competing copy of Finauthority;
• circumvents access restrictions; or
• violates our Terms and Conditions.

49. Search Engines

Nothing in this Policy is intended to prohibit normal indexing by legitimate search engines where Finauthority has technically permitted such indexing.

50. Approved APIs

Where Finauthority provides an official API or data license, automated access should comply with the applicable API or licensing terms.

51. Commercial Data Reuse

Commercial reuse of substantial Finauthority research, ratings, databases or original content may require written permission or a separate license.

52. Individual References

This Policy does not prevent users from reasonably referring to individual Finauthority findings in accordance with applicable law.

53. News and Commentary

Journalists, researchers and commentators may quote or reference Finauthority where permitted by applicable law.

Appropriate attribution is strongly encouraged and may be legally required depending on the use.

54. Educational Use

Certain limited educational uses may be permitted under applicable statutory exceptions.

This Policy does not remove statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

55. Academic Research

Academic researchers may contact Finauthority concerning permission to use larger datasets or substantial amounts of proprietary research.

General enquiries may be sent to:

kancelar@finauthority.org

56. Text and Data Mining

European and Czech copyright law provide specific rules concerning automated analysis of text and data.

Finauthority expressly reserves rights in its protected works and other protected subject matter against text and data mining to the maximum extent in which such reservation is legally effective.

57. Express Reservation of Text and Data Mining Rights

For publicly available Finauthority content, FinAuthority expressly reserves, where permitted by applicable law, the use of protected works and protected database content for automated text and data analysis.

This reservation includes uses described by Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 and corresponding provisions of Czech law, including Section 39c of Act No. 121/2000 Coll.

58. Machine-Readable Reservation

Where technically implemented, Finauthority may also communicate reservations concerning text and data mining through machine-readable means.

Users and automated systems are expected to respect applicable machine-readable reservations.

59. AI Training

To the maximum extent legally permitted, Finauthority does not grant an implied license to reproduce or extract protected Finauthority content for:

• training generative artificial-intelligence models;
• fine-tuning machine-learning models;
• building commercial language-model datasets;
• synthetic dataset creation;
• model evaluation datasets involving substantial reproduction;
• commercial knowledge-base replication; or
• similar automated uses.

A separate written license may be required.

60. AI Use and Statutory Exceptions

Nothing in this Policy seeks to exclude a statutory exception that applicable law makes non-waivable.

In particular, specific rules may apply to qualifying scientific-research organizations and cultural-heritage institutions.

61. Scientific Research Text and Data Mining

Where applicable law provides a mandatory exception for qualifying research organizations or cultural-heritage institutions conducting scientific research, this Policy does not purport to override that mandatory exception.

62. Lawful Access Still Matters

Any statutory text-and-data-mining exception remains subject to the conditions imposed by applicable law, including requirements concerning lawful access where relevant.

63. No Circumvention

A text-and-data-mining exception does not create permission to circumvent:

• authentication;
• paywalls;
• technical security measures;
• rate limits;
• access controls; or
• other protections

where such circumvention is unlawful.

64. Licensing Automated Use

Organizations wishing to use Finauthority data or content for substantial automated analysis, commercial databases or AI systems may contact:

kancelar@finauthority.org

65. Finauthority Research Methodology

The written expression and original organization of the Finauthority Research and Rating Methodology may be protected.

Competitors may not simply reproduce the entire methodology and present it as their own work.

66. Ideas and Methods

Copyright generally does not provide ownership over abstract ideas merely because they are described in a copyrighted document.

However, other legal protections may apply to particular:

• expressions;
• databases;
• software;
• trade secrets;
• branding; or
• contractual arrangements.

67. Scores

A numerical Finauthority Score displayed for a company may be publicly referenced where doing so is accurate and lawful.

Systematic reproduction of Finauthority’s entire rating database may raise different legal issues.

68. Score Context

Third parties quoting a Finauthority Score should not materially misrepresent:

• the company;
• date;
• scale;
• methodology;
• status; or
• relevant warnings.

69. No Fake Finauthority Reviews

Third parties must not create articles, certificates or marketing materials designed to appear as though they were published by Finauthority when they were not.

70. No Cloned Website

Copying Finauthority’s:

• branding;
• layout;
• database;
• editorial content;
• company profiles;
• ratings; and
• design

to create an impersonating or confusingly similar website may violate intellectual-property, unfair-competition and other laws.

71. Permission Requests

A party wishing to reproduce substantial Finauthority content may request permission.

Requests should identify:

• content concerned;
• intended use;
• amount to be reproduced;
• commercial or non-commercial purpose;
• distribution method; and
• requesting organization.

Requests may be sent to:

kancelar@finauthority.org

72. Permission Must Be Explicit

No permission should be assumed merely because Finauthority did not respond to a request.

Where a license is required, authorization should be obtained explicitly.

73. Written Licenses

Finauthority may grant written licenses subject to conditions such as:

• attribution;
• limited scope;
• duration;
• territory;
• commercial restrictions;
• data limits;
• technical restrictions; or
• fees.

74. Revocation and Expiry

Use after a license expires or is lawfully revoked may require renewed authorization unless another lawful basis exists.

75. Social Sharing

Users may use ordinary social-sharing functionality made available by Finauthority.

A link and brief contextual reference to a Finauthority article is generally different from reproducing an entire article on another website.

76. Republishing Entire Articles

Republishing complete or substantially complete Finauthority articles without permission may infringe applicable rights.

77. Framing

Third parties should not frame or embed Finauthority in a way that:

• obscures the source;
• falsely suggests ownership;
• removes advertising or disclosures;
• bypasses access controls; or
• creates misleading affiliation.

78. RSS and Syndication

Where Finauthority provides an official feed, syndication is subject to the scope and conditions of that feed.

The existence of a feed does not automatically authorize republication of all website content.

79. Regulatory Documents

Where Finauthority links to or displays extracts from regulatory documents, rights in the underlying document remain subject to the applicable law governing that source.

80. Court Documents

Court materials may be subject to specific national rules.

Public availability does not automatically mean unrestricted copyright reuse in every jurisdiction.

81. Press Publications

Finauthority may refer to or quote press publications where legally permitted.

We seek to avoid reproducing substantial third-party articles merely as a substitute for visiting the original publication.

82. Mere Facts From Press Publications

Finauthority may independently report factual information learned from legitimate sources where permitted by law.

The expression used by the original publication may remain protected even where the underlying facts are not.

83. Photographs

Photographs may receive copyright protection even when they depict public events, company offices or public figures.

Finauthority seeks to use photographs where it has:

• appropriate rights;
• a license;
• permission; or
• another lawful basis.

84. User Photographs

Users submitting photographs must have appropriate authority to upload them.

85. Profile Images

Company representatives uploading profile images or logos represent that they are authorized to do so.

86. Regulatory Screenshots

A screenshot of an official register may be used where lawful and appropriate to explain or document relevant regulatory information.

Where practical, Finauthority may instead link directly to the official source.

87. Attribution Does Not Always Replace Permission

Merely identifying the source does not automatically make any use of copyrighted material lawful.

A use may still require:

• permission;
• a license; or
• a statutory exception.

88. Copyright Complaint Mechanism

A rights holder or authorized representative who believes material on Finauthority infringes copyright may submit a complaint to:

legal@finauthority.org

89. Copyright Notice Requirements

A copyright complaint should, where reasonably possible, include:

1. identification of the protected work;
2. identification of the allegedly infringing material;
3. the exact Finauthority URL;
4. sufficient information to locate the material;
5. explanation of the rights claimed;
6. evidence or information showing ownership or authority;
7. complainant contact information;
8. requested action; and
9. a good-faith statement that the complaint is accurate to the best of the complainant’s knowledge.

90. Multiple Works

Where a complaint concerns multiple works, the rights holder should identify them with sufficient precision.

A general statement that:

“Everything on your website infringes our rights”

may not permit meaningful assessment.

91. Proof of Authority

Where a complaint is submitted by an agent, lawyer or rights-management company, Finauthority may request reasonable proof of authority to act.

92. Exact URL

Rights holders should identify the exact page containing the disputed material wherever possible.

This reduces unnecessary restriction of unrelated content.

93. Good-Faith Notices

Finauthority welcomes legitimate intellectual-property notices submitted in good faith.

A complainant does not need to use a particular legal phrase if the submission contains enough information to understand and assess the issue.

94. Initial Copyright Assessment

Following a complaint, Finauthority may consider:

• whether the material is present;
• apparent ownership;
• source of the material;
• nature and amount used;
• purpose;
• attribution;
• applicable license;
• applicable statutory exception;
• user submission history; and
• other relevant circumstances.

95. Notice Does Not Automatically Establish Infringement

A rights holder’s assertion is relevant but does not automatically settle every legal question.

Finauthority may consider whether the challenged use appears to fall within a lawful exception or another legitimate basis.

96. Possible Copyright Complaint Outcomes

Finauthority may:

• take no action;
• request additional information;
• add attribution;
• replace material;
• remove part of the material;
• temporarily restrict content;
• remove the material;
• contact the uploader;
• seek legal advice; or
• take another appropriate action.

97. Proportionate Response

Where a dispute concerns one image in a long independent article, removing the entire article may not be necessary if the issue can reasonably be resolved by removing or replacing the image.

98. Temporary Restriction

Where infringement appears credible but requires additional assessment, Finauthority may temporarily restrict the disputed material.

Temporary restriction does not necessarily constitute an admission of infringement.

99. Informing the Uploader

Where appropriate and lawful, Finauthority may notify the person who submitted the disputed material and provide an opportunity to respond.

100. Counter-Statement

An affected user may explain why they believe:

• they own the material;
• they have permission;
• a license applies;
• the wrong material was identified;
• a statutory exception applies; or
• the complaint is otherwise incorrect.

101. Counter-Statement Is Not Automatic Restoration

Submitting a response does not automatically require restoration.

Finauthority may evaluate the competing claims and applicable law.

102. Complex Ownership Disputes

Finauthority is not a court.

Where ownership is genuinely complex and cannot reasonably be resolved through Platform procedures, parties may need to obtain an appropriate legal determination.

103. Binding Decisions

Finauthority will comply with binding legal obligations applicable to it, including valid orders from competent courts or authorities.

104. False Copyright Complaints

Persons must not knowingly use copyright notices to:

• suppress legitimate criticism;
• remove negative reviews unrelated to copyright;
• harass competitors;
• conceal regulatory evidence;
• remove unfavorable factual reporting; or
• manipulate company ratings.

105. Copyright Is Not a Reputation-Management Tool

A company should not claim copyright over ordinary factual criticism merely because it wants the criticism removed.

106. Screenshots and Criticism

A company claiming rights in a screenshot used within an independent analysis should identify why the specific use is unlawful.

Merely stating:

“This is our website, therefore you must delete the article”

may not resolve whether Finauthority’s limited use is legally permitted.

107. Trademark Complaints

Trademark concerns may also be submitted to:

legal@finauthority.org

108. Trademark Complaint Information

A useful trademark complaint should identify:

• trademark;
• registration information where relevant;
• rights holder;
• exact Finauthority use;
• relevant URL;
• reason the use is allegedly unlawful or misleading; and
• requested action.

109. Nominative Identification

Finauthority may need to use a company’s name or mark to identify the company that is the subject of research.

A trademark complaint should therefore distinguish between legitimate identification and use that allegedly creates unlawful confusion.

110. No Implication of Sponsorship

Where necessary, Finauthority may add or maintain language clarifying that use of a third-party mark does not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

111. Domain Names

Concerns about use of protected names within domains or URLs may be assessed according to applicable trademark, unfair-competition and domain-name rules.

112. Impersonation

Finauthority may act against users who upload protected marks or materials in order to impersonate:

• another financial company;
• a regulator;
• a rights holder;
• Finauthority; or
• another person or organization.

113. Repeat Intellectual-Property Violations

Accounts that repeatedly submit material found to infringe intellectual-property rights may be subject to proportionate restrictions.

114. Relevant Factors

In deciding whether account-level action is appropriate, Finauthority may consider:

• number of violations;
• seriousness;
• whether the conduct was intentional;
• prior warnings;
• account history;
• successful challenges; and
• attempts to evade restrictions.

115. A Single Mistake Does Not Automatically Create Repeat-Infringer Status

Good-faith mistakes and genuinely disputed legal issues should be distinguished from systematic infringement.

116. Restoration and Account History

Where a copyright decision is reversed, Finauthority may take that reversal into account when evaluating the user’s infringement history.

117. DSA Notice-and-Action

Where an intellectual-property complaint also constitutes a notice of alleged illegal content under applicable Digital Services Act provisions, it may additionally be handled under our:

Content Moderation and Notice-and-Action Policy

118. Separate Processes May Overlap

A submission may simultaneously involve:

• copyright;
• trademark;
• privacy;
• user moderation; and
• factual correction issues.

Finauthority may route different parts of the request through the appropriate procedures.

119. Personal Data in Copyright Evidence

Rights holders should avoid sending unnecessary personal information when submitting copyright documentation.

Privacy enquiries may be directed to:

privacy@finauthority.org

120. Confidential Material in Claims

If evidence submitted in an intellectual-property dispute is confidential, the sender should identify that clearly.

Finauthority cannot guarantee confidentiality where disclosure is legally required or reasonably necessary to resolve the dispute.

121. Preservation of Claims

Finauthority may retain appropriate records of intellectual-property complaints and responses for:

• legal compliance;
• dispute resolution;
• consistency;
• abuse prevention;
• defense of claims; and
• Platform security.

122. No Sale of Submitted Evidence

Evidence submitted in copyright or trademark disputes is not a commercial product and is not sold to advertisers merely because they have a relationship with Finauthority.

123. Commercial Independence

A company that advertises with Finauthority receives no special copyright enforcement rights beyond those supported by applicable law and our policies.

124. Non-Paying Rights Holders

A rights holder does not need to purchase a service from Finauthority in order to submit a legitimate intellectual-property complaint.

125. Rights of Finauthority Contributors

Where Finauthority commissions work from employees, contractors, photographers, designers, writers or other contributors, ownership and licensing are governed by applicable law and the relevant agreements.

126. Moral Rights

Applicable law may protect personal rights of authors independently from transferable economic rights.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to claim a transfer of rights that cannot lawfully be transferred.

127. Open-Licensed Material

Finauthority may use material made available under open licenses where appropriate.

Such use should comply with relevant license terms, including requirements concerning:

• attribution;
• modification;
• share-alike terms; or
• other conditions.

128. Public-Domain Material

Material that is genuinely in the public domain may be used according to applicable law.

Care should be taken because:

• different rights may expire at different times;
• photographs of public-domain works may raise separate issues;
• trademarks may remain protected; and
• database rights may apply independently.

129. Creative Commons

Where material is licensed under Creative Commons or a similar framework, Finauthority should comply with the applicable version and conditions of that license.

130. Government Materials

The copyright status of government materials differs between jurisdictions.

Finauthority does not assume that every government document worldwide is automatically free of copyright restrictions.

131. Company Press Kits

A company press kit may grant certain implied or explicit permissions for media use.

Use beyond the scope of those permissions may require additional authorization.

132. Press Releases

Information in press releases may be used for research and reporting, but wholesale republication of protected expression may require an appropriate legal basis.

133. Correction Requests Are Separate

A company claiming that a Finauthority statement is factually inaccurate should ordinarily use our:

Corrections, Complaints and Right of Reply Policy

rather than attempting to characterize the factual disagreement solely as a copyright issue.

134. Regulatory Disputes Are Separate

Questions concerning:

• license status;
• company identity;
• regulatory warnings; or
• financial legitimacy

should generally be submitted to:

check@finauthority.org

135. Copyright Cannot Change Regulatory Status

Ownership of a logo, screenshot or company document does not allow the rights holder to directly alter Finauthority’s independent Regulatory Status or Finauthority Score.

136. Removal of Material May Not Remove the Finding

If a particular photograph or screenshot must be removed for intellectual-property reasons, Finauthority may still retain an independently supportable factual or editorial conclusion.

137. Replacing Material

Where appropriate, disputed visual material may be replaced with:

• original Finauthority graphics;
• a text description;
• a licensed alternative;
• a link to the original source; or
• another lawful presentation.

138. Source Corrections

If attribution is materially incorrect, Finauthority may correct the attribution without necessarily removing otherwise lawful content.

139. Language Versions

Translations of Finauthority’s original content may also be protected by applicable intellectual-property law.

Unauthorized translation and republication of substantial Finauthority articles may require permission.

140. Machine Translation by Users

Using a browser’s ordinary machine-translation function to understand Finauthority content is different from systematically reproducing translated copies on another commercial website.

141. Caching

Ordinary technical caching required for normal internet operation is different from creating a permanent commercial mirror of Finauthority content.

142. Mirrors

Creating a mirror or replica of substantial parts of Finauthority without authorization may violate our rights and Terms.

143. Competitive Databases

Third parties should not systematically extract Finauthority’s independently researched profiles and ratings to build a competing database without an appropriate legal basis or license.

144. Data Licensing

Finauthority may offer commercial or research licenses for certain data products in the future.

The terms of any such license will govern the permitted use.

145. Open Data

Where Finauthority intentionally designates specific data as open data, the applicable open-data license will control use of that material.

Material not expressly designated open should not be assumed to carry an open license.

146. Robots and Automated Agents

Automated agents accessing Finauthority must comply with applicable:

• technical restrictions;
• machine-readable instructions;
• access rules;
• rights reservations; and
• Terms and Conditions.

147. Security Research

Legitimate cybersecurity research does not automatically authorize wholesale extraction of proprietary content.

Security concerns should be reported through the appropriate Finauthority contact channel.

148. Commercial Monitoring Services

Organizations that wish to monitor or reproduce Finauthority content at scale should contact us regarding appropriate access or licensing.

149. Enforcement

Where Finauthority reasonably believes its rights are being infringed, it may take measures such as:

• contacting the alleged infringer;
• requesting cessation;
• restricting access;
• issuing technical blocks;
• sending formal notices;
• pursuing contractual remedies;
• seeking legal remedies; or
• taking another appropriate action.

150. Proportionality

Finauthority aims to address intellectual-property issues proportionately.

A small good-faith attribution error is different from deliberate mass copying of the Platform.

151. No Waiver

Failure to enforce a right in one circumstance does not automatically waive that right in another circumstance.

152. International Enforcement

Because Finauthority is available internationally, infringement may involve several jurisdictions.

Applicable law, jurisdiction and available remedies may vary.

153. Copyright Contact

Copyright infringement notices should be sent to:

legal@finauthority.org

154. Trademark Contact

Trademark and brand-right complaints should also be sent to:

legal@finauthority.org

155. Licensing and Permission Requests

Requests for permission, data licensing or substantial reuse may be sent to:

kancelar@finauthority.org

156. Company Research Contact

Questions concerning financial-company identity, licenses or regulatory information should be sent to:

check@finauthority.org

157. Privacy Contact

Personal-data enquiries should be sent to:

privacy@finauthority.org

158. Postal Contact

FinAuthority
Národní 135/14
Prague, Hlavní mesto Praha 110 00
Czech Republic

Website: Finauthority.org

159. Changes to This Policy

Finauthority may update this Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy to reflect:

• Platform development;
• changes in Czech or EU copyright law;
• changes to database functionality;
• new AI and text-and-data-mining practices;
• new licensing models;
• changes to user-generated-content functionality;
• new legal guidance; or
• improvements to rights-management procedures.

The latest revision date will appear at the beginning of this Policy.

160. Related Finauthority Policies

This Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy should be read together with:

• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Legal Notice
• Financial and Regulatory Disclaimer
• Editorial Standards and Independence
• Research and Rating Methodology
• User Review and Evidence Policy
• Corrections, Complaints and Right of Reply Policy
• Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure
• Company Profile and Claiming Policy
• Content Moderation and Notice-and-Action Policy

161. Our Intellectual Property Commitment

Finauthority’s intellectual-property principles can be summarized as follows:

We Protect Original Finauthority Work

Our original research, analysis, database organization, writing and branding may be legally protected.

We Do Not Claim Ownership of Facts

A public license number or company address does not become our property merely because we report it.

Third-Party Rights Remain Third-Party Rights

Company logos, photographs and other protected materials remain subject to their owners’ rights.

Identification Is Not Endorsement

Displaying a company’s name or logo does not mean that the company sponsors Finauthority.

Research Requires Context

Limited quotations, screenshots and references may be necessary for lawful criticism, review, verification and reporting.

Attribution Matters

Where required and reasonably possible, relevant sources should be identified.

Attribution Is Not a Universal Permission

Simply naming the source does not make every form of copying lawful.

Users Must Have Rights to What They Upload

Users and company representatives should not knowingly submit infringing material.

Private Evidence Remains Private by Default

Submitting evidence for verification does not automatically make the document publicly available.

Our Database Cannot Simply Be Cloned

Systematic extraction and republication of substantial Finauthority content may violate copyright, database rights, contractual rules or other law.

Finauthority Reserves Text-and-Data-Mining Rights Where Permitted

Protected Finauthority material is expressly reserved against text and data mining to the extent such reservation is legally effective.

AI Training Is Not Automatically Licensed

Public accessibility does not itself grant an implied license to reproduce substantial protected Finauthority content for commercial AI training.

Mandatory Legal Exceptions Remain Intact

We do not attempt to contract away rights or exceptions that applicable law makes non-waivable.

Copyright Complaints Must Identify the Actual Problem

Intellectual-property law should not be used as a vague mechanism to suppress criticism or unfavorable financial research.

Rights Holders Have a Practical Reporting Mechanism

Legitimate copyright and trademark complaints can be submitted directly to Finauthority.

Users Can Respond

Where appropriate, users whose material is challenged may explain their ownership, license or other lawful basis.

Removal Should Be Proportionate

If one image is problematic, it may not be necessary to erase an entire independently researched article.

Intellectual Property Does Not Buy Editorial Control

Owning a company logo does not give a company the right to rewrite Finauthority’s independent assessment.

Finauthority’s objective is to protect original creative and research work while preserving the lawful exchange of information necessary for independent financial research, criticism, verification and public understanding.