Add FDD dataset files

California.zip

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Illinois.zip

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Indiana.zip

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Maryland.zip

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Minnesota.zip

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New_York.zip

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North_Dakota.zip

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README.md

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----
-license: mit
----
+# Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) Dataset
+
+This repository contains a comprehensive collection of Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) from various states in the United States. It represents one of the largest publicly available datasets of FDDs to date.
+
+If you find this dataset useful, please cite:
+Arbel, Yonathan A., The Readability of Contracts: Big Data Analysis, Forthcoming J. Empirical Legal Stud. 21:4 (Dec. 2024)
+
+For the latest version of the paper, please visit: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4962098
+
+## Dataset Overview
+
+The dataset consists of text files (.txt) organized by state. Here's a breakdown of the files by state:
+
+- California: 15,276 files
+- Wisconsin: 1,660 files
+- Indiana: 1,606 files
+- New York: 1,396 files (1,394 in New_York folder, 2 in New York folder)
+- North Dakota: 1,376 files (1,374 in North_Dakota folder, 2 in North Dakota folder)
+- Virginia: 753 files
+- Minnesota: 568 files
+- South Dakota: 169 files (167 in South_Dakota folder, 2 in South Dakota folder)
+- Maryland: 111 files
+- Rhode Island: 48 files (47 in Rhode_Island folder, 1 in Rhode Island folder)
+- Illinois: 23 files
+
+**Total Files: 22,986**
+
+## What are FDDs?
+
+Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) are legal documents that franchisors are required to provide to prospective franchisees before they can sell a franchise. These documents contain crucial information about the franchisor, the franchise system, and the terms of the franchise agreement. FDDs are mandated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and are designed to help potential franchisees make informed decisions about their investments.
+
+## File Structure
+
+The FDDs are organized into separate ZIP files for each state. Additionally, there is a file that describes all the files in the dataset.
+
+## Usage
+
+This dataset can be used for various research purposes, including but not limited to:
+
+- Analysis of franchise agreement terms and conditions
+- Comparative studies of franchise policies across different states
+- Natural language processing tasks on legal documents
+- Franchise law and regulation research
+- Trend analysis in the franchising industry
+
+## Data Format
+
+Each file within the ZIP archives is a plain text document (.txt) containing a Franchise Disclosure Document. The FDDs are organized by state.
+
+## Accessing the Data
+
+To access the data:
+
+1. Download the desired state's ZIP file.
+2. Extract the contents using a ZIP extraction tool.
+3. Navigate through the extracted files to find specific FDDs.
+
+## Citation
+
+If you use this dataset in your research, please cite it as follows:
+
+```
+Arbel, Yonathan A., The Readability of Contracts: Big Data Analysis, Forthcoming J. Empirical Legal Stud. 21:4 (Dec. 2024)
+```
+
+For the latest version of the paper, please visit: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4962098
+
+## Disclaimer
+
+This dataset is derived from publicly available FDDs. While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, users should verify critical information against the original documents. The maintainers of this dataset are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
+
+## Contributing
+
+If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvements, please open an issue or submit a pull request.
+
+## License
+
+This dataset is provided under the MIT license.
+
+## Contact
+
+For questions or further information about this dataset, please contact yaarbel@ua.edu

Rhode_Island.zip

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South_Dakota.zip

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Virginia.zip

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Wisconsin.zip

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file_details.xlsx

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