Terms of Use
Website: https://pietrocottone.com
Last updated: November 2, 2026
- Introduction and Acceptance of Terms
Welcome to pietrocottone.com, the personal website of Pietro Cottone, Ph.D.
This website provides information and resources relating to scientific research, teaching, educational software, music, media appearances, and personal interests.
By accessing or using this website, you agree to comply with these Terms of Use and applicable laws. If you do not agree with these terms, please discontinue using the website.
These Terms apply to the website and its content, except where specific resources are governed by additional terms or licenses.
- Website Ownership and Independent Status
This website is independently maintained by Pietro Cottone, Ph.D., in Massachusetts, United States.
It is a personal, academic, educational, and creative website. It is not an official institutional website and does not directly operate an online store.
References to academic affiliations, research institutions, commercial organizations, or other entities are provided for informational and identification purposes and do not, by themselves, imply sponsorship or endorsement.
- Personal Views and Institutional Independence
The views, opinions, interpretations, and educational materials presented on this website are those of Pietro Cottone or their respective identified contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions, policies, or views of Boston University or any other affiliated institution.
References to Boston University, its departments, faculty appointments, research programs, and academic activities are provided to accurately describe professional affiliations, accomplishments, and collaborations.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the website and its independently presented content have not been reviewed, approved, sponsored, or endorsed by Boston University.
The use of professional titles or institutional affiliations does not imply that the author is communicating on behalf of the University.
Scientific simulators and other independently developed educational resources available through this website should not be considered official Boston University teaching or clinical resources unless explicitly identified as such.
- Intellectual Property and Copyright
Unless otherwise indicated, original materials published on this website are protected by applicable intellectual property laws.
Such materials may include:
- Original written content, educational explanations, and website materials.
- Independently authored interactive scientific simulators, including their software, mathematical implementations, graphics, and documentation.
- Original musical compositions, recordings, and associated artwork, to the extent of the author’s applicable rights.
- Original images, illustrations, and other creative materials.
Copyright and other intellectual property rights remain with their respective lawful owners.
Certain materials appearing on this website, including scientific publications, book covers, press articles, publication logos, photographs, and embedded content, may belong to third parties. Their appearance does not transfer ownership or grant visitors permission to reproduce them.
Except where expressly permitted by a specific license or applicable law, visitors may not reproduce, redistribute, republish, modify, commercially exploit, or incorporate protected website content into other products, websites, or services without authorization from the relevant rights holder.
Ordinary browsing, linking to publicly accessible pages, and uses permitted by applicable law, including fair use where applicable, are not prohibited by these Terms.
- Permitted Educational and Personal Use
Visitors are welcome to access and explore the website for personal, informational, scholarly, and educational purposes.
Reasonable quotation of original written materials with appropriate attribution is encouraged, subject to applicable copyright law.
Educators, students, and researchers may link to publicly available pages and educational resources on the website.
Specific permissions concerning scientific simulators, including classroom demonstrations and the reproduction of exported educational figures, are governed by the terms accompanying each simulator.
Access to a resource free of charge does not automatically authorize redistribution of its underlying software, source code, or other protected materials.
- Scientific and Educational Information
Content relating to pharmacology, physiology, neuroscience, medicine, and other scientific disciplines is provided for general informational and educational purposes.
Although reasonable efforts are made to present scientifically grounded information, the content may contain simplifications, interpretations, omissions, inaccuracies, or information that becomes outdated as scientific knowledge evolves.
Scientific information presented on this website does not constitute medical, pharmaceutical, psychological, or other professional advice to individual visitors.
It should not be used as a substitute for consultation with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional or for current authoritative scientific and clinical guidance.
Nothing on this website establishes a physician-patient, healthcare-provider-patient, or other professional advisory relationship with a visitor.
- Interactive Scientific Simulators
The website may provide interactive simulators illustrating selected pharmacological, physiological, or other scientific concepts.
These simulators are intended exclusively for educational and conceptual exploration.
Their mathematical models, visualizations, numerical outputs, and interactive functions may rely on simplified assumptions, prescribed relationships, idealized conditions, and approximations.
Consequently, simulated results may differ substantially from real biological behavior and should not be interpreted as validated predictions of physiological, pharmacological, or clinical outcomes.
The simulators are not intended for clinical diagnosis, treatment, patient management, medication selection, dosing decisions, or other patient-specific clinical applications.
The simulators may contain programming errors, numerical inaccuracies, incomplete representations, or other limitations.
Users are responsible for independently verifying any information or calculation before relying on it for teaching, research, publication, or other purposes.
7.1 Simulator licensing and redistribution
Each simulator includes an About & License section explaining permitted educational use, copyright, attribution, and restrictions on redistribution.
Unless expressly authorized by the applicable simulator license or by law, users may not copy, modify, republish, host, redistribute, commercially exploit, or incorporate the underlying simulator software into other websites, applications, or educational platforms without prior written permission.
Figures generated through supported export features may be reproduced or shared for noncommercial educational purposes in accordance with the applicable simulator’s licensing and attribution conditions.
Permission to use exported figures does not constitute permission to redistribute the simulator software itself.
Where specific simulator licensing terms differ from these general Website Terms, the more specific terms govern use of that simulator.
Additional consolidated Simulator Terms, License & Disclaimer may be published separately.
7.2 Models, assumptions, and limitations
Each simulator may provide a Models & Limitations or similarly titled section describing its scientific assumptions, mathematical methods, and limitations.
Users are encouraged to review these explanations before interpreting or sharing simulator-generated results.
- Music and Creative Works
The Music section contains information about musical compositions, recordings, albums, and related creative activities.
Music and associated materials are protected by applicable copyright and intellectual property laws, with rights held by their respective owners.
Links to Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming or distribution platforms are provided for convenience.
Music playback, downloads, subscriptions, purchases, and other transactions conducted through third-party services are governed by the policies and terms of those services.
This website does not directly process music purchases or payments.
The availability of music through a streaming platform does not grant permission to reproduce, redistribute, sample, commercially exploit, or otherwise use the recordings or compositions beyond the rights permitted by law or applicable licenses.
- External Websites and Commercial Relationships
The website contains links to third-party websites, including academic institutions, research databases, publishers, news organizations, streaming platforms, online retailers, and other independent organizations.
These links are provided for informational, educational, professional, or personal purposes.
9.1 Brainstoy LLC
The website may reference or link to Brainstoy LLC, a separate business associated with Pietro Cottone.
Any purchases, payments, shipping arrangements, returns, warranties, or customer-service transactions involving Brainstoy products occur through the Brainstoy website or its authorized sales platforms.
Such transactions are subject to the applicable terms, privacy policies, and commercial policies of those services, not these Website Terms.
9.2 Books, publishers, and retailers
The website may provide information about books or publications authored, edited, or contributed to by Pietro Cottone.
Links to Amazon, publishers, or other retailers are intended to help visitors locate those works.
Purchases and associated transactions are conducted by the relevant third-party retailer or publisher.
9.3 External service responsibility
Third-party websites and services operate independently and may maintain their own terms, privacy practices, content policies, and commercial arrangements.
The website owner does not control their availability, accuracy, security, pricing, or practices.
Links to external services do not imply endorsement of their entire content, products, policies, or activities.
Visitors should review the relevant third-party terms before using those services.
- Media Coverage and Third-Party Publications
The Media section may reproduce limited identifying material, article headlines, excerpts, screenshots, publication names, and logos to document media coverage and provide context for interviews, research reporting, and creative activities.
The respective publishers, journalists, photographers, and other rights holders retain their applicable intellectual property rights.
The inclusion of such materials is intended for identification, commentary, documentation, or other legally permitted purposes and does not imply that the publications sponsor, endorse, or are affiliated with this website.
Unless expressly indicated otherwise, news articles and interviews reflect the reporting, editorial choices, and interpretations of their respective publishers.
The website owner does not necessarily endorse every characterization, interpretation, or conclusion appearing in third-party coverage.
Visitors seeking complete articles should consult the original publications through the links provided.
- Accuracy, Updates, and Availability
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate and useful website content.
However, information may contain errors, omissions, outdated references, broken links, or technical inaccuracies.
Research findings, institutional affiliations, statistics, professional information, and external resources may change over time.
The website owner does not guarantee that all content will remain current, complete, or continuously available.
Website content, interactive tools, and individual features may be revised, corrected, suspended, or discontinued without prior notice.
Temporary interruptions may occur because of hosting issues, server maintenance, software updates, technical failures, or circumstances beyond the website owner’s control.
- Acceptable Use
Visitors agree to use the website lawfully and in a manner that does not interfere with its operation or other visitors’ access.
Prohibited activities include:
- Attempting unauthorized access to website administration, protected systems, or accounts.
- Introducing malicious software or attempting to compromise website security.
- Deliberately disrupting or overloading website resources.
- Using automated methods to extract or reproduce substantial protected content in violation of applicable law or express licensing restrictions.
- Misrepresenting the ownership, authorship, licensing, or institutional endorsement of materials obtained from the website.
- Using the website or its resources for unlawful activities.
These restrictions do not prohibit lawful security research, statutory exceptions, or other uses protected by applicable law.
The website owner may take reasonable technical measures to protect the website against misuse.
- Disclaimer of Warranties
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the website and its independently provided content, educational software, and related resources are made available on an “as is” and “as available” basis.
No warranty is made that the website or its resources will be uninterrupted, error-free, completely accurate, secure, or suitable for every intended purpose.
In particular, no guarantee is made concerning the scientific accuracy, computational reliability, completeness, or suitability of educational simulator outputs for real-world decision-making.
Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or protections that cannot lawfully be excluded.
- Limitation of Liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Pietro Cottone shall not be liable for losses or damages arising from reliance on inaccurate or incomplete educational information, misuse of simulator outputs, temporary website unavailability, or the acts or omissions of independent third-party services.
Visitors assume responsibility for evaluating whether information or resources obtained through this website are suitable for their intended use.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or limit liability where doing so would be prohibited by applicable law, or to restrict rights that cannot lawfully be waived.
- Privacy and Cookies
The website processes certain information in connection with contact inquiries, website operation, security, and third-party services.
Further information is available in the Privacy Policy.
Cookies and similar technologies are addressed through the website’s Cookie Policy and consent-management interface.
Visitors can review available privacy and cookie preferences through the controls provided on the website.
These Terms of Use do not replace the Privacy Policy or any rights available under applicable data-protection laws.
- Copyright Concerns and Requests for Permission
Individuals who believe that material published on this website infringes their copyright or other intellectual property rights may contact the website owner.
Please identify the material in question, its location on the website, the rights claimed, and sufficient contact information to allow the matter to be reviewed.
Requests for permission to reproduce original website materials, use simulator software, commercially exploit exported figures, or obtain other authorizations may also be submitted through the Contact page.
Requests will be reviewed as appropriate. Submission of a request does not itself constitute permission or establish a license.
- Modifications to These Terms
These Terms of Use may be updated periodically to reflect changes in website functionality, educational resources, legal requirements, or operational practices.
The date displayed at the beginning of this document indicates the most recent revision.
Updated terms will apply prospectively as permitted by applicable law. Continued use of the website after an update may constitute acceptance of revised terms where legally enforceable.
- Governing Law
These Terms are intended to be interpreted in accordance with the applicable laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States, without overriding mandatory legal protections or jurisdictional rights that may apply to visitors.
Nothing in these Terms restricts rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable law.
If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent legally permissible.
- Contact
For questions concerning these Terms of Use, requests for permission, or notices regarding website content, please contact:
Pietro Cottone, Ph.D.
Massachusetts, United States