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Terms & conditions
Standard Business Conditions (SBC)
The following standard business conditions (SBC) are from Messrs Schöning GmbH & Co. KG, located at An der Hülshorst 5, 23568 Lübeck, who are represented by Bild-Druck & Verlag GmbH at the same location, who in turn are represented by Executive Director Christian Renk. They have established them as a basis for their Internet presence in relation to their clients, users, and suppliers (but not for providers of copyright and publishing rights, which are governed by the purchasing terms of Schöning).
The German version of the SBC [AGB, or Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen] shall take precedence over the English translation should there be any contradictions between them.
1. Provisions:
The SBC shall regulate the supply relationships between Schöning Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (hereafter referred to as Schöning) and their clients (users). This is also true for providers of services, including the current homepage (but not for providers of copyright and publishing rights as per the purchasing terms of Schöning).
2. Contracting Party, Contract Conclusion only with Business Owners:
The contracting party for all contracts concluded with regard to this homepage, whether in text form, in writing, orally, by telephone, or on the business premises of Schöning, shall be Schöning GmbH & Co. KG. Schöning shall only conclude contractual relationships with business owners. In accordance with Art. 14 BGB [Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (German Civil Code)], all business owners shall be natural and legal persons or partnerships with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, conduct commercial or professional freelance activities. The form shall comply with the following provisions:
3. Contract Conclusion:
1. Schöning reserves the express right to change, supplement, or delete partial pages or the entire proposal without separate notification. Schöning may likewise halt publication of same temporarily or definitively. Subject to conflicting individual agreements, a contract between Schöning and the user shall require confirmation by Schöning given in writing or conveyed via e-mail. In the case that Schöning provides a service without such confirmation, this shall constitute acceptance of the user order.
2. The contract shall not take effect until there is confirmation by Schöning as defined in Paragraph 1 or until action is taken by Schöning that effectively substantiates such confirmation.
4. Prices:
1. The list prices indicated on the Internet at the time the order was issued shall be valid for all purchases and sales as well as services and work performed by Schöning.
2. The user shall be required to pay in advance. Alternative agreements must be in written form and shall only be valid for the particular order issued. Prices at Schöning shall be ex works and not inclusive of packaging and shipping costs. A flat delivery fee indicated separately on the price list will be calculated for packaging and shipping. The minimum order value shall be 75.00 EUR. In addition, sales tax must invariably be paid for all order values. When accepting orders with a net order value less than 75.00 EUR, Schöning has the right to charge a surcharge for below-minimum quantities amounting to 5.00 EUR plus sales tax.
3. The invoiced amounts are due as soon as the invoice is received. Schöning shall reserve the right to send partial deliveries and invoice each particular delivery separately. In case of payment within 14 calendar days after the invoice date, Schöning shall grant a 2% discount on the merchandise value (= merchandise value without ancillary expenses such as packaging and shipping).
4. Insofar as the user fails to make payments either partially or completely despite their being due, he/she shall be considered to be in default of payment after receiving a warning or being 30 days past due. In case of default of payment, interest shall be charged as per Paragraph 288 BGB at the rate of 8 percentage points above the base interest rate. When there is default of payment, Schöning may refuse to continue carrying out the current order until payment is made or may demand an acceptable prepayment for further service without the user being eligible for any compensation.
5. Objectively justified doubts concerning the user’s ability to pay shall grant Schöning the right – even during the contract period – to terminate services partially or completely, if and insofar as any such inability to pay on the part of the user could negatively affect fulfilment of the contract.
6. The user shall only be permitted to counter with legally established or undisputed claims.
5. Liability for Unauthorised Use of Access Data:
The user shall be liable to pay Schöning obligatory fees if an order is made through unauthorised use of his login or password, unless the user can prove that he/she is not responsible for the unauthorised use.
6. Changes in Service:
Schöning shall reserve the right to change individual service features, insofar as this is reasonable for the contracting party. Schöning will inform the user of any changes in service in written or text form or via e-mail. At the same time, Schöning will expressly inform the user that the changed contractual relationship will only apply after the user has not objected to the changed contractual relationship within 14 days. The contractual relationship shall then proceed according to the changed conditions and payments. Excess and short deliveries up to 10% of the amounts ordered may not be the subject of any complaints. Invoicing shall reflect the amounts delivered.
7. Impairment of Services:
If contractual services cannot be rendered due to reasons that are not the responsibility of Schöning – in particular, force majeure – the order will be carried out later inasmuch as this is possible. If this is accomplished within an appropriate and reasonable period of time after the impairment has been removed, the right to remuneration of Schöning shall remain in force. If the delayed order cannot be carried out within an appropriate and reasonable period of time, the user has the right to be refunded any payments he/she has already made. Any other further claims on the part of the user shall be excluded.
8. Warranty Rights and Duties of Schöning and Users:
Production and shipping shall be carried out by Schöning with all due diligence. Schöning shall only be liable for intent or gross negligence. Excluded without exception shall be any liability claims against Schöning involving damages of a material or non-material nature that result from the use or non-use of the information presented or from the use of information or materials that are faulty or incomplete, unless guilt due to intent or gross negligence on the part of Schöning can be demonstrated.
The merchandise to be shipped apart from what is communicated electronically shall be insured according to the respective carrier’s forwarding terms. Fixed dates or agreements based on specific reference conditions or exclusive obligations shall only be binding if they have been confirmed by Schöning in writing. Should Schöning default on the provision of their services, the user is to grant an reasonable grace period. If default persists after the grace period elapses, the user may withdraw from the contract. Art. 323 BGB shall remain unaffected. Claims for compensation due to default may only be made against Schöning up to the amount of the order value.
9. Reservation of Proprietary Rights and Rights of Retention:
1. The merchandise delivered by Schöning shall remain the property of Schöning until full payment has been made for all outstanding debts of the client that exist on the day of the invoice. The user is only authorised to resell in the course of regular business and shall hereby use the resale to pay his/her debts to Schöning at the respective invoiced amount of each particular delivery. Schöning will accept such payment.
2. If the contracting partner is a merchant or a commercial enterprise as defined by HGB [Handelsgesetzbuch (German Code of Commercial Law)], Schöning shall be entitled to rights of retention concerning any printing blocks, manuscripts, raw materials or other items delivered by the contracting party as per Art. 369 HGB until all debts payable from the business relationship have been settled. Should the debt remain unpaid, Schöning shall be authorised to use printing materials, films, etc. for their own purposes. In such cases, any duplication, processing and distribution rights of the user shall be transferred to Schöning. Charges for the concomitant rights shall be calculated according to the above-mentioned purchasing terms of Schöning and the rates established there. Printing material produced by Schöning from original user artwork and charged on a pro rata basis shall remain the property of Schöning. Delivery to the client will require a special agreement and shall only occur once a separately arranged partial cost payment has been made.
10. Proofreading Obligation:
1. The risk of any errors is transferred to the user once he/she has given permission to print unless the errors are such that they did not occur or were not evident until the production process following the permission to print. The same will be true for all other release declarations by the user for further production.
2. In case of legitimate complaints and insofar as there are no other demands, Schöning shall be authorised to choose whether to carry out remedial work or supply a replacement, at a value amounting to that of the order, unless a guaranteed characteristic would be lacking or Schöning would be guilty of intent or gross negligence. Liability for consequential defects shall be excluded, provided that intent or gross negligence is not involved.
3. Texts will be only repeated by Schöning for order confirmations upon special request. Complaints that are due to errors arising from difficult-to-read text or unclear or incorrect order specifications shall not be regarded.
4. In case of colour copies, no objections may be made concerning common colour deviations from the original. The same shall be true for deviations between the press proof and the production print.
11. Copyright:
1. Schöning shall retain the unlimited copyright to all items they produce themselves. Once the ordered products, in particular photos, enlargements and slides, have been delivered, Schöning shall only convey the right for them to be copied, processed and if and insofar as this has been expressly arranged in writing and the agreed upon consideration has been provided. The same shall apply to the transmission of self-generated pictures, graphics, audio documents, video sequences and texts.
2. Schöning will carefully handle all original artwork, films, print substrates and other items for producing the commodities that the user provides Schöning in the course of contractual agreements. In case of damage or loss, Schöning shall only be liable for intent or gross negligence. Return consignment shall be at the user’s risk and expense. With prior written agreement between the user and Schöning, both the above-mentioned items as well as the printer’s copies produced according to the user’s original artwork shall also be stored at Schöning for a duration of five years after the order has been delivered. Even then, Schöning shall only be liable for damage and loss in case of intent and gross negligence. If the above-mentioned items are to be insured, the user must see to this himself/herself.
3. The user alone shall be liable if carrying out the order according to the documents he/she has submitted leads to the infringement of any rights, especially third party copyrights. The user must indemnify Schöning from all third party claims due to such infringement of rights.
12. Electronic Storage and Dissemination of Personal Information:
The user shall permit Schöning to use electronic data processing to store the user’s personal information.
A record will be made of every time the Schöning homepage is visited or a file on the homepage is accessed. This information is stored for internal system-related and statistical purposes. The following data are recorded: name of the accessed file, date and time it was accessed, data quantity transferred, notice of successful access, web browser and requesting domain. Moreover, the IP addresses of the requesting computer will be recorded.
The only other personal information that will be stored is that which the user has voluntarily divulged through an inquiry, during registration or when concluding a contract.
Personal user information will only be passed on or otherwise conveyed to third parties without his/her consent if this is necessary for the purpose of fulfilling the contract – especially with regard to passing on order information to suppliers – or for invoicing. The user shall permit Schöning to pass on information from the contractual documents and the execution of the contract to a credit information agency.
Permission that has been granted may be revoked at any time for future effect. The stored personal information will be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed to fulfil the purpose of its being stored or if storing it is prohibited for other legal reasons.
13. Limitations to Liability:
With the exception of expressly guaranteeing characteristics, Schöning shall only be liable to business owners for intent and gross negligence. Schöning shall not be liable for loss of profits. The liability of Schöning, except in cases of intent or gross negligence of legal representatives, managing staff or other agents, shall be limited to damage that is typically foreseeable at the time the contract was concluded. The exceptions and limitations to liability indicated above shall not be valid in the case of liability under the product liability law.
14. Written Form and Conveying Rights to Third Parties:
1. Unless expressly exempt, all data and declarations are conveyed to Schöning and produced in the course of the above-mentioned contractual relations must be in written form.
2. Users may only convey the rights and duties from this contract to third parties after prior written consent has been given by Schöning.
15. Choice of Law, Court of Jurisdiction, Other Provisions:
1. Insofar as sections or individual phrases of this text do not conform to the valid legal status, whether not at all, no longer, or not completely, the other sections of this SBC shall remain unaffected with regard to their content and validity.
2. All contracts with Schöning shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany with the exception of UN CISG [Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods]. Insofar as the contracting partner is a merchant, legal entity under public law or special fund under public law, the place of fulfilment and court of jurisdiction shall be Lübeck for all claims that have arisen or will arise from this contractual relationship.