Responsible Use of the Rudolf Steiner Archive
Revised March 2026
The Rudolf Steiner Archive exists to preserve, share, and make accessible the life work of Rudolf Steiner for the benefit of all. As stewards of these texts, we are committed to ensuring their respectful use. Rudolf Steiner’s works are not merely content to be processed—they are spiritual impulses meant to awaken the human being.
To ensure our content is used in a way that aligns with our mission and capacity, we have established specific Terms of Service that include our requirements for use of our Services and materials for all purposes including research, teaching, automated access and the use of our content in AI-related applications. We have summarized some fundamental requirements below for your convenience. Your use of this website constitutes your agreement to these Terms.
✦ Attribution and Support
If you are using material from this Site—whether for personal study, public dissemination, or integration into software or educational tools—we kindly ask that you:
- Attribution. Clearly attribute the Rudolf Steiner Archive of Steiner Online Library (SOL), rsarchive.org , as the Site from which the text was copied.
- Linking. Link to the document on rsarchive.org so others may access the full text from this Site. If linking is not possible in printed material, provide the website address.
- Consent. Obtain prior written consent of SOL to reproduce our original content, including blog articles and our Biographical Timeline of Rudolf Steiner's life. Avoid representing or implying that we endorse or are affiliated with your use of the content unless you obtain our express written consent of SOL.
- Support. Consider making a donation to SOL to support the Rudolf Steiner Archive and the continued digitization and stewardship of Rudolf Steiner’s legacy.
❖ If you or your organization are benefiting financially from the use of this Site and our research Services (e.g., donations, dues, or other fees) please donate a reasonable percentage of profits. Donations can be made by mailing us a check, direct funds transfer, or online here.
✦ AI and Automated Access: Our Policies
The Rudolf Steiner Archive is not a dataset—it is a living collection of spiritual, philosophical, and cultural contributions. As such, we take seriously how it is used by automated systems.
❖ Prohibition on AI Model Training Without Permission
Use of our content—whether through direct scraping, data mining, or other automated means—for the training of AI models (such as large language models or machine learning systems) is strictly prohibited without prior, express, written permission from Steiner Online Library, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Rudolf Steiner Archive.
This includes:
- Any form of automated scraping or downloading of the content for inclusion in AI datasets.
- Text and data mining (TDM) for model input or derivative system creation.
We ask that developers and organizations interested in such uses contact us first to discuss collaborative or ethical licensing options.
❖ Automated Access and Robots.txt Compliance
- All automated systems (including bots, scrapers, and crawlers) must comply with the directives in our robots.txt file.
- Disallow directives within that file clearly prohibit access to specified parts of the site for any purpose— including AI training, data harvesting, or similar tasks.
- Failure to adhere to these directives constitutes a violation of our Terms of Service.
❖ Rate Limiting and Respect for Our Infrastructure
To ensure a stable and fair experience for all human users, we enforce a rate limit of one request per second per IP address or user.
Activity exceeding this rate may result in:
- Temporary or permanent blocking of access
- Investigation or legal recourse in cases of sustained abuse
We rely on this policy not just to protect our servers, but to preserve the contemplative, non-intrusive spirit of this site and its community.
✦ Other Uses
If you are a developer, educator, researcher, or organization interested in using this Site and our Services in ways not explicitly permitted in our Terms, please contact us at [email protected] with a proposal.
We appreciate your support in ensuring the sustainability and success of this site and Service, through your responsible use of its content.