Contributor Terms

Last updated: 29 October 2026

These terms explain how the Queer India Archives hold the stories, papers, photographs and other material you entrust to us. Our approach is simple: what you share remains yours, and it is held on the terms you set.

1. You keep ownership

Contributing material to the Archives does not transfer ownership. You continue to own the copyright in any text you have written, the rights to any photographs you have taken and the rights to any creative work you have made.

What you give us is permission to digitise the material, keep the digital copies, catalogue and preserve them, and make them available, on the terms you set.

2. You set the access terms

Each contribution is held on the terms you choose:

• Open access: available to all visitors through the Digital Library and the Archives, and on request.
• Restricted access: available only to researchers, journalists, students or others we approve. You may set the criteria.
• Embargoed: held privately for a period you choose (for example five years, twenty years, or until a date you name), then made available on the terms you specify.
• Sealed: held privately for a generation or longer, with access conditions you specify.

You may change your access terms at any time by writing to us.

3. Your identity

You decide how you are named in the Archives:

• by your full name;
• by a chosen name or pseudonym;
• by initials only; or
• anonymously.

You may also tell us how other people who appear in your material, such as partners, family members or colleagues mentioned in letters, should be represented. We will work with you to handle this with care.

4. Withdrawing your contribution

You may withdraw your contribution at any time, for any reason, by writing to us. You do not need to explain why. We will:

• remove the material from public access straight away;
• return any original material that is still with us for processing;
• delete any digital copies we have made, except where the law requires us to keep them; and
• make reasonable efforts to withdraw any published references to the material, although we cannot recall copies that have already circulated.

5. Care of physical materials

We hold physical materials only while we process them, for example to digitise, catalogue and document them. During that time we handle them according to standard archival practice: suitable storage, careful handling and no processing that could damage them.

Once processing is complete, we return the originals to you. Original material always remains your property, and only the digital copies stay with the Archives.

6. Use by researchers

Approved researchers may consult and cite material on the access terms you have set. Researchers must:

• credit the Queer India Archives and you, in the way you have chosen to be named;
• respect any limits on quotation, photography or reproduction; and
• send us a copy of any published work that uses the material.

Researchers do not gain copyright or ownership through access.

7. Use in Queer Ink publications

If we would like to use your contribution in a Queer Ink publication, such as an anthology, an edited collection, an oral history or an article, we will:

• discuss the proposed use with you first;
• ask for your written consent for that specific use;
• honour your choices about identity, credit and any restrictions; and
• pay any royalties or fees agreed with you at the time.

You may decline any specific use. Declining does not affect the rest of your contribution.

8. Long-term care

The Archives are meant to last across generations. The terms you set travel with your material, and any future arrangement for looking after the collections will be bound by them.

9. No fee

Contributing to the Archives is free. We do not charge contributors, and we do not pay contributors unless we agree a fee for a specific publication use.

10. Starting a conversation

Every contribution begins with a conversation, with no pressure and no obligation. Use the contact form and choose “Archiving”, or write to us directly.