General Terms and Conditions
1. Scope and Provider
(1) These General Terms and Conditions apply to contracts between the interpreter/translator/copy editor/text producer (in the following text called “Provider”) and his Contracting authority, as far as nothing else is expressly agreed or indispensably required by law.
(2) General terms and conditions of the Contracting authority are only binding for the Provider, if he has expressly writtenly acknowledged them.
(3) Provider: Friederike Falb, Translations Texts Spanish English German, c/o BITS – Bühler Innovations- und TechnologieStartUps GmbH, Am Froschbächle 21,77815 Bühl, Germany; falb[at]translations-texts.de; +49 (0)1573 3326680; www.translations-texts.de.
2. Scope of work
(1) Each order is carried out carefully, corresponding to the conventions of proper professional practice, to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, the Provider cannot guarantee completely error-free work. The Contracting authority receives the contractually agreed execution oft he service.
(2) The Provider reserves the right to to ask the Contracting authority back in case of lacks of clarities in the prefield of an interpreting service or in the source text. However he has selectively the right in such a case to generate a service to the best of his knowledge on grounds of the meaning to be understood.
3. Formation of a contract
(1) The Contracting authority can direct a request to the Provider by e-mail, phone or post. The Provider then submits an offer to the Contracting authority. The contract is concluded when the Contracting authority accepts this offer by e-mail, phone or post. However, if problems arise due to contracts agreed only by phone or otherwise informally, these go at the expense of the Contracting authority.
(2) The provider reserves the right to refuse or cancel the execution of an order in individual cases, if punishable or illegal contents are communicated, contents contravene against the good morals or in the presence of other special circumstances, the execution of the order is unacceptable. In this case, there are no claims for compensation between the Provider and the Contracting authority.
4. Cooperation and clarification duty of the Contracting authority
(1) The Contracting authority shall inform the Provider in due time about desired forms of execution of the order (purpose of use, informations about the company, delivery on data carriers, number of copies, readiness for printing, external form of the service, formats etc.). If the work is intended for printing, the Contracting authority shall provide the Provider with a galley proof in due time before prepress date so that the Provider can remove potential errors. Names and numbers are to be checked by the Contracting authority.
(2) Information and documents necessary for the performance of the service the Contracting authority allocates to the Provider upon placing the order (terminology of the Contracting authority, illustrations, drawings, tables, abbreviations, internal terms etc.). Errors and delays resulting from the lack of or delayed delivery of these informations and documentations shall not be at the expense of the Provider.
(3) The Contracting authority assumes liability for the exploitation rights to a text and ensures that the text may be processed. He releases the Provider from copyrights or personal rights of third parties.
5. Rights of the Contracting authority in case of defects
(1) If the Contracting authority complains about a not insignificant defect objectively present in the written service, the Contracting authority is entitled to the removal of the defects in the written service (retrospective fulfilment). This retrospective fulfilment must be asserted by the Contracting authority against the Provider in writing and immediately after discovery stating the exact nature of the alleged defect. For the retrospective fulfilment a reasonable period of time shall be granted to the Provider by the Contracting authority.
(2) The claim for retrospective fulfilment is excluded if the notice of defects has not arrived to the Provider within 14 days after handover of the completed written order to the Contracting authority (§ 640 BGB, Civil Code of Germany). In this case, the service is classified as accepted (§ 640 BGB). Statutory warranty rights of Contracting authorities who are not entrepreneurs remain unaffected.
(3) If the Provider does not remove the asserted defects within a reasonable period of time or if he refuses the removal of the defects or if the removal of the defects is considered as a failure, the Contracting authority may, after hearing the Provider, have the defects removed by another Provider at the Provider’s expense or optionally demand the reduction of the compensation or withdraw from the contract.
6. Legal liability
(1) The Provider shall only be liable in the event of his own grossly negligent or intentional breach of duty in a reasonable amount (maximum order amount). Not to be classified as gross negligence are damages caused by computer failures and transmission disturbances when sending e-mails or during video conferences or by viruses. The provider takes precautions against this through anti-virus software. The liability in case of own slight negligence applies exclusively in case of breach of essential contractual obligations.
(2) Liability of the Provider for damage or loss of the materials handed over by the Contracting authority is excluded. The client has to ensure a sufficient backup of his data.
(3) The maximum amount for damage claims shall not exceed the amount of the respective order value.
(4) The exclusion or limitation of liability according to No. 6 (1) and (3) does not apply to damages of a consumer resulting from injury to life, body or health.
7. Professional secrecy
The Provider is subject to strict professional discretion. He undertakes to maintain silence about all facts that become known to him in connection with an activity for the Contracting authority. This obligation also applies after termination of the contractual relationship.
8. Third party involvement
(1) The Provider is entitled to engage employees or expert third parties for the performance of the order.
(2) In case of involvement of expert third parties, the Provider shall ensure that they undertake to maintain discretion in accordance with No. 7.
9. Remuneration
(1) The invoices of the Provider are due and payable without deduction by bank transfer within 30 days after the invoice date.
(2) In addition to the agreed fee, the Provider is entitled to refund of the expenses actually incurred and agreed with the Contracting authority. The Provider may, in the case of extensive services, demand an appropriate advance on his remuneration.
10. Specific function, retention of title and copyright
(1) Interpreting services are intended exclusively for immediate hearing. Recording is only permitted after separate agreement and with the consent of the Provider. An additional fee to be agreed separately is required here.
(2) The written ordered work remains the property of the Provider until the full payment.
(3) In the case of translations, the Provider reserves any copyright that may have arisen.
(4) In the case of text productions, the Provider has the copyright.
11. Right of withdrawal, cancellation
(1) Insofar as the granting of the order is based on the fact, that the Provider has offered the provision of services on the Internet, the Contracting authority renounce his possibly existing right of withdrawal in the event that the Provider has started work and informed the Contracting authority thereof.
(2) If work is ordered and subsequently cancelled, the Contracting authority has to pay to the Provider a sum corresponding to the work performed to date.
12. Applicable law
(1) German law applies to the order and all claims arising therefrom.
(2) The contract language is German.
13. Severability clause
The validity of these General Terms and Conditions is be affected by the invalidity or ineffectiveness of individual assignments. The invalid assignment shall be replaced by a valid assignment that comes as close as possible to the economic result or the intended purpose.
14. Changes and additions
Changes and additions to these GTC are only valid, if they have been agreed in writing. This also applies to the change of the written form requirement itself.