THE DEEP FILES
Investigations • Documents • Evidence
Last Updated: 23 September 2026
1. Introduction
Welcome to THE DEEP FILES.
These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern access to and use of thedeepfiles.com, including its investigations, articles, reports, documents, databases, multimedia, research materials, and other services or content.
By accessing or using THE DEEP FILES, you agree to these Terms.
If you do not agree with these Terms, you should discontinue use of the website.
These Terms should be read together with our:
- Privacy Policy;
- Cookie Policy;
- Disclaimer;
- Editorial Policy;
- Corrections Policy; and
- AI Disclosure.
2. About THE DEEP FILES
THE DEEP FILES is an independent investigative journalism and research platform based in The Hague, Netherlands.
The platform publishes investigations, documents, evidence, analysis, research, commentary, and other material concerning matters of public interest.
Publication or investigation of a person, company, institution, or organization does not itself imply wrongdoing.
3. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COPYRIGHT
3.1 Ownership
Unless expressly stated otherwise, all original content created, commissioned, or owned by THE DEEP FILES is owned by or licensed to THE DEEP FILES and protected by applicable copyright, database-right, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws.
This includes, where legally protectable:
- Investigations;
- Articles;
- Reports;
- Original research;
- Written analysis;
- Editorial compilations;
- Timelines;
- Evidence matrices;
- Databases and original compilations;
- Graphics;
- Infographics;
- Photographs;
- Videos;
- Audio;
- Original document presentations;
- Website design;
- Logos;
- Branding;
- Original visual materials; and
- Other original editorial works.
THE DEEP FILES asserts and reserves its intellectual-property rights to the fullest extent available under applicable national laws and international treaties and conventions.
© 2026 THE DEEP FILES. All Rights Reserved.
3.2 Access Does Not Transfer Ownership
Making content publicly accessible on THE DEEP FILES does not transfer copyright, ownership, database rights, or other intellectual-property rights to users.
Viewing an investigation does not constitute permission to copy or republish it.
3.3 Prohibited Copying and Republishing
Except with prior written authorization from THE DEEP FILES or where expressly permitted by applicable law, users must not:
- Copy substantial portions of our articles or investigations;
- Republish complete articles;
- Republish substantial portions of investigations;
- Reproduce our reports on another website;
- Translate and republish protected content;
- Repackage our reporting as another publication’s work;
- Sell or license our content;
- Commercially exploit protected content;
- Reproduce our graphics, original photographs, videos, or other protected media;
- Remove copyright notices or watermarks;
- Falsely claim authorship of our work;
- Systematically extract our content;
- Build a competing database from our protected material; or
- Redistribute substantial portions of our protected content through websites, applications, newsletters, social media, video platforms, databases, or other services.
Attribution alone does not authorize substantial reproduction.
3.4 Limited Quotation
Reasonable and proportionate quotation may be permitted for legitimate purposes such as reporting, criticism, review, academic research, commentary, or other uses allowed by applicable law.
Where THE DEEP FILES is quoted, appropriate attribution should be provided.
Where technically possible and appropriate, attribution should identify THE DEEP FILES and direct readers to the original publication.
A quotation must not be expanded to such an extent that it effectively substitutes for the original article or investigation.
Breaking substantial copied material into several smaller extracts does not necessarily convert substantial reproduction into permitted quotation.
Nothing in these Terms restricts statutory rights or copyright exceptions that cannot lawfully be excluded.
3.5 Facts and Public Documents
THE DEEP FILES does not claim ownership over facts merely because we reported them.
Likewise, publication of a government document, court record, corporate filing, scientific publication, or other third-party material does not automatically transfer ownership of that material to THE DEEP FILES.
However, THE DEEP FILES may hold rights in its own:
- Original writing;
- Analysis;
- Selection;
- Arrangement;
- Compilation;
- Graphics;
- Presentation;
- Commentary;
- Database structure; and
- Other independently protectable editorial work.
Rights belonging to third parties remain with their respective rights holders.
3.6 Scraping and Automated Extraction
Except where permitted by applicable law or expressly authorized by THE DEEP FILES, users may not systematically scrape, crawl, harvest, download, extract, reproduce, or aggregate protected THE DEEP FILES content for the purpose of creating or populating another publication, database, commercial dataset, competing service, or content repository.
THE DEEP FILES reserves any applicable rights concerning text and data mining, database extraction, automated reproduction, and machine-readable use to the extent provided by applicable law.
3.7 AI and Machine Learning Use
Except where applicable law provides otherwise or THE DEEP FILES provides written authorization, users may not systematically reproduce or extract protected THE DEEP FILES content for the purpose of creating commercial datasets, training repositories, competing editorial products, or systems designed substantially to reproduce or substitute for THE DEEP FILES content.
Nothing in this section is intended to override mandatory statutory exceptions or rights that cannot legally be restricted by contract.
3.8 Enforcement
Unauthorized reproduction, republication, substantial extraction, commercial exploitation, or other infringement may result in enforcement action.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable jurisdiction, THE DEEP FILES may seek:
- Removal of infringing content;
- Preservation of evidence;
- Notices to hosting providers or platforms;
- Search-engine or intermediary action where legally available;
- Injunctive relief;
- Damages;
- Recovery of legal costs where permitted; and
- Other remedies available under applicable law.
Failure to enforce a right on one occasion does not waive that right.
4. Permitted Use
THE DEEP FILES is provided primarily for personal, informational, journalistic, educational, and research use, subject to these Terms and applicable law.
Users may access and read publicly available material and share links directing others to original THE DEEP FILES publications.
5. Prohibited Use
Users must not use THE DEEP FILES in a manner that:
- Violates applicable law;
- Attempts to compromise website security;
- Introduces malware or malicious code;
- Attempts unauthorized access to systems or accounts;
- Interferes with website operation;
- Impersonates THE DEEP FILES or its representatives;
- Falsely implies affiliation or endorsement;
- Uses automated systems in violation of these Terms or applicable law;
- Circumvents technical access restrictions;
- Harasses or threatens sources, contributors, staff, or other users through our services; or
- Infringes intellectual-property or other legal rights.
6. Investigative and Editorial Content
THE DEEP FILES publishes material concerning matters of public interest.
Investigations may contain:
- Documented facts;
- Allegations;
- Third-party claims;
- Analysis;
- Commentary;
- Legal or regulatory questions;
- Conflicting accounts; and
- Unresolved issues.
We seek to distinguish these categories appropriately.
The fact that a person or organization appears in an investigation does not itself establish wrongdoing.
7. Presumption of Innocence
Where criminal allegations or proceedings are discussed, individuals should be regarded as innocent unless and until guilt has been established according to applicable law by a competent court.
Charges, lawsuits, regulatory inquiries, allegations, investigations, or public controversy do not themselves constitute proof of guilt or liability.
8. Right of Reply
THE DEEP FILES may provide individuals or organizations materially affected by an investigation with an opportunity to respond before publication where appropriate.
A failure to respond does not constitute an admission or proof of wrongdoing.
Responses received after publication may be evaluated under our Editorial Policy and Corrections Policy.
9. Accuracy, Corrections and Updates
THE DEEP FILES seeks to publish accurate and appropriately sourced information.
Investigations may evolve as new evidence becomes available.
Material may therefore be:
- Corrected;
- Clarified;
- Updated;
- Annotated; or
- Supplemented by subsequent reporting.
A disagreement with our reporting does not automatically establish a factual error.
Material factual errors demonstrated by appropriate evidence will be assessed under our Corrections Policy.
10. Third-Party Content
THE DEEP FILES may quote, reproduce, discuss, embed, or link to third-party materials where legally and editorially appropriate.
Third-party statements remain attributable to their respective sources.
Publication of a third-party statement does not necessarily mean that THE DEEP FILES endorses or independently confirms that statement.
11. External Links
THE DEEP FILES may provide links to external websites, documents, archives, social-media platforms, corporate websites, government databases, court records, scientific publications, or other third-party resources.
We do not control independent third-party services.
A link does not necessarily constitute endorsement.
THE DEEP FILES is not responsible for subsequent changes made by third parties to external content.
12. Artificial Intelligence
THE DEEP FILES may use artificial intelligence as an editorial and research support technology.
AI may assist with tasks such as:
- Language improvement;
- Translation;
- Transcription;
- Summarization;
- Research organization;
- Document comparison;
- Data processing; and
- Editorial workflow.
AI-generated information is not automatically treated as fact.
Final editorial responsibility remains human.
Additional information is provided in our AI Disclosure.
13. User Submissions, Documents and Evidence
Users may contact THE DEEP FILES or submit information, documents, evidence, correspondence, or other materials.
Submitting material does not guarantee:
- Publication;
- Investigation;
- Response;
- Confidentiality in every circumstance; or
- Acceptance of the sender’s claims.
THE DEEP FILES may assess, verify, reject, retain where lawfully appropriate, or investigate submitted material according to its editorial standards and applicable law.
14. Rights in Submitted Material
A person submitting material should have a lawful basis for providing it.
Submission does not automatically transfer ownership of the sender’s original material to THE DEEP FILES.
Where publication or reproduction rights are required, THE DEEP FILES may seek appropriate permission or rely on another lawful basis where available.
Users should not knowingly submit material in a manner that unlawfully infringes third-party rights.
15. Confidential Sources
Individuals seeking confidential treatment should clearly communicate that request.
THE DEEP FILES recognizes the importance of journalistic source protection, but ordinary email, website forms, and internet communications cannot be guaranteed to provide absolute security or confidentiality.
Highly sensitive sources should consider communication security before transmitting information electronically.
16. Privacy
Personal information is handled according to our Privacy Policy and applicable law.
Use of cookies and similar technologies is described in our Cookie Policy.
17. No Professional Advice
Content on THE DEEP FILES is provided for journalistic, research, informational, and public-interest purposes.
It does not constitute individualized legal, financial, investment, medical, tax, or other regulated professional advice.
18. No Guarantee of Continuous Availability
THE DEEP FILES may modify, suspend, restrict, redesign, remove, or discontinue website features or content.
We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability of the website.
Maintenance, technical problems, security incidents, third-party services, or other circumstances may temporarily affect availability.
19. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, THE DEEP FILES does not guarantee that all website information will always be complete, current, uninterrupted, or free from error.
Use of the website and reliance on its content are subject to applicable law and these Terms.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by law.
20. Indemnification
To the extent permitted by applicable law, a user who unlawfully misuses THE DEEP FILES, infringes our intellectual-property rights, violates these Terms, or uses our services in violation of applicable law may be responsible for resulting losses, liabilities, claims, or reasonable enforcement costs where legally recoverable.
Nothing in this provision creates liability beyond what applicable law permits.
21. Copyright Complaints
If you believe material published by THE DEEP FILES infringes intellectual-property rights that you own or represent, you may contact:
Please provide sufficient information to identify:
- The protected work;
- The allegedly infringing material;
- Its location on THE DEEP FILES;
- The basis of your claim; and
- Your contact information.
We may request additional information necessary to evaluate the claim.
22. Reporting Unauthorized Use of THE DEEP FILES Content
Unauthorized copying or republication of THE DEEP FILES material may be reported to:
Please provide the original THE DEEP FILES publication and the location of the suspected unauthorized reproduction.
23. Suspension or Restriction of Access
Where technically and legally appropriate, THE DEEP FILES may restrict access to interactive or account-based services for users who materially violate these Terms, compromise security, abuse services, or repeatedly infringe applicable rights.
This provision does not restrict rights that users possess under mandatory law.
24. Changes to These Terms
THE DEEP FILES may amend these Terms to reflect changes in:
- Website functionality;
- Editorial operations;
- Applicable law;
- Technology;
- Security requirements;
- Commercial services; or
- Other legitimate operational requirements.
The “Last Updated” date identifies the latest version.
Continued use of the website after updated Terms become effective may constitute acceptance where permitted by applicable law.
Where applicable law requires another form of notice or consent, we will seek to follow that requirement.
25. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.
26. No Waiver
Failure by THE DEEP FILES to enforce any provision of these Terms on one occasion does not necessarily constitute a waiver of that provision or any other legal right.
27. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands, subject to mandatory rules of applicable European Union law and any mandatory consumer or other legal protections that cannot lawfully be excluded.
28. Jurisdiction
To the extent legally permitted, disputes relating to these Terms or use of THE DEEP FILES shall be subject to the competent courts in the Netherlands.
Nothing in this provision deprives consumers or other users of mandatory jurisdictional protections available to them under applicable law.
29. Relationship With Other Policies
These Terms should be read together with THE DEEP FILES’:
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Disclaimer
Editorial Policy
Corrections Policy
AI Disclosure
Where a specific policy provides additional rules concerning a particular subject, that policy should be read together with these Terms.
30. Contact
Questions concerning these Terms, permissions, copyright, licensing, editorial matters, or other website issues may be directed to:
THE DEEP FILES
The Hague, Netherlands
Email: contact@thedeepfiles.com
Website: thedeepfiles.com
For licensing or permission to reproduce substantial THE DEEP FILES content, please contact us before publication.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2026 THE DEEP FILES. All Rights Reserved.
Original THE DEEP FILES content is protected under applicable copyright and other intellectual-property laws.
Unauthorized substantial copying, republication, distribution, systematic extraction, or commercial exploitation may result in enforcement action to the fullest extent available under applicable law.