General terms and conditions of business

  1. “Advertising Order” within the meaning of the following General Terms and Conditions is the contract for the publication of one or more advertisements by an advertiser or other interested party in a printed publication for the purpose of dissemination. Our General Terms and Conditions shall apply exclusively to all Advertising Orders; any terms and conditions of business or purchase of the Client shall hereby be rejected.
  2. In case of doubt, advertisements shall be placed for publication within one year of conclusion of the contract. If the right to place individual advertisements is granted within the framework of a concluded contract, the order shall be completed within one year of the publication of the first advertisement, provided that the first advertisement is placed and published within the period specified in sentence 1.
  3. If a contract is concluded the Client shall have the right to place further advertisements within the agreed period or the period specified in clause 2, even beyond the number of advertisements agreed in the order.
  4. If an order is not fulfilled under circumstances for which the Publisher is not responsible, the Client shall refund to the Publisher the difference between the discount granted and the discount corresponding to the actual purchase, without prejudice to any legal obligations. There shall be no refund, if non-fulfilment is due to force majeure within the Publisher's sphere of risk.
  5. The Publisher shall mark advertisements that are not recognisable as advertisements, for example, due to an editorial layout, as advertisements by adding the word “Advertisement”.
  6. Orders for advertisements and third-party inserts that are to be published exclusively in certain issues, editions or in certain places of the publication must be received by the Publisher in good time so that the Client can be notified before the closing date if the order cannot be executed in this way. Classified advertisements shall be printed in the respective section without requiring an express agreement.
  7. The price of an advertisement shall be subject to the respectively valid price lists. Discounts according to the advertisement price list shall only be granted for advertisements of an advertiser that appear within one year. The time limit for discounted advertisements shall start with the publication of the first advertisement that is eligible for a discount.
  8. The Publisher reserves the right to reject orders for advertisements and inserts - including individual placements within the framework of a concluded contract - on the grounds of their contents, origin or technical form in accordance with uniform, objectively justified principles of the Publisher if their contents violate laws or official regulations or if the Publisher cannot be reasonably expected to publish them. This shall also apply to orders placed at branch offices, receiving offices or with agents. Orders for inserts shall only be binding for the Publisher after the submission of a sample insert and its approval. Inserts which, due to their format or presentation, convey the impression to the reader that they are part of the newspaper or magazine, or which contain third-party advertisements, shall not be accepted. The Client shall be notified of the rejection of an order without undue delay. The Client shall bear sole responsibility for the contents and legal admissibility of the texts and images provided for the insertion. The Client shall indemnify the Publisher against third-party claims that arise against the Publisher from the execution of the order, even if it should be cancelled. The Publisher shall be under no obligation to verify whether orders or advertisements infringe the rights of third parties.
  9. The Client shall be responsible for ensuring that the advertising text is delivered in good time and that the copy material or inserts are free of errors. The Publisher shall request that recognisably unsuitable or damaged copy material be replaced without undue delay. The Publisher guarantees a quality of printing as is typical of the booked medium within the scope of possibilities afforded by the copy material.
  10. Should the printed advertisement be partly or wholly illegible, incorrect or incomplete, the Client shall be entitled to a price reduction or a substitute advertisement, but only to the extent that the purpose of the advertisement has been adversely affected. If the Publisher fails to meet a reasonable deadline set for this purpose or if the substitute advertisement is again not free of errors, the Client shall be entitled to a price reduction or cancellation of the order. In relations with entrepreneurs, claims for damages shall be ruled out regardless of the nature of the breach of obligations, including tort, except in cases of intent or gross negligence. If material contractual obligations are breached, the Publisher shall be liable for any negligence, but only up to the amount of the foreseeable damage. These limitations and exclusions shall not apply in the case of fraudulent conduct or liability for guaranteed characteristics. In relations with consumers, liability in the event of a breach of obligations due to ordinary negligence shall be limited to the foreseeable, direct average damage as is typical for the contract. Complaints shall be made within 4 weeks of receipt of the invoice and sample issue, except in the case of hidden defects.
  11. Proofs shall be supplied only on express request. The Client shall be responsible for the accuracy of the returned proofs. The Publisher shall take account of all error corrections communicated to it within the deadlines set on transmission of the proof.
  12. If there are no special size requirements, the actual printed height shall serve as the basis for calculating the price.
  13. If the Client does not make advance payment, the invoice shall be sent immediately, but where possible 14 days after publication of the advertisement. The invoice shall be payable within the period indicated in the price list, starting from receipt of the invoice, unless a shorter payment term or advance payment has been agreed in individual cases. Any discounts for early payment shall be granted according to the price list.
  14. Interest and collection costs shall be charged in the case of late or deferred payment. In the event of late payment, the Publisher may defer further execution of the current order until payment has been made and demand advance payment for the remaining advertisements. In the event of justified doubts as to the Client's ability to pay, the Publisher shall be entitled, even during the term of a concluded advertising contract, to make the publication of further advertisements dependent on the advance payment of the amount and the settlement of outstanding invoice amounts, irrespective of any originally agreed payment deadline.
  15. On request, the Publisher shall deliver up to two complete sample issues with the invoice. If a sample issue can no longer be obtained, it shall be replaced by a legally binding certificate from the Publisher confirming the publication and dissemination of the advertisement.
  16. Costs for the production of ordered copy material as well as for significant changes to originally agreed designs requested by the Client or for which the Client is responsible shall be borne by the Client.
  17. In the case of a contract for multiple advertisements, a decrease in circulation may entitle the Client to a price reduction if the overall average of the insertion year beginning with the first advertisement falls short of the average circulation stated in the price list or indicated otherwise, or if no circulation is stated, of the average paid circulation (in the case of trade journals possibly the average actually distributed circulation) of the previous calendar year. Furthermore, claims for price reductions shall be ruled out if the Publisher has notified the Client of the decrease in circulation in such good time that the Client was able to withdraw from the contract before the advertisement was published.
  18. Copy material shall only be returned to the Client on special request. The obligation to retain copy material shall end three months after expiry of the order.
  19. The place of performance shall be the Publisher’s registered place of business. In business relations with entrepreneurs, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law, the place of jurisdiction for legal actions shall be the Publisher’s registered place of business. Insofar as claims of the Publisher are not asserted by default action, the place of jurisdiction for consumers shall be determined by their place of residence. If the Client’s place of residence or habitual abode is unknown at the time of filing the action, even in the case of non-merchants, or if the Client has moved his or her place of residence or habitual abode outside the area of application of the law after conclusion of the contract, the place of jurisdiction shall be the Publisher’s registered place of business. These General Terms and Conditions and the entire legal relationship between the Publisher and the Client shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  20. The General Terms and Conditions of the Publisher shall apply mutatis mutandis to orders for bound inserts, tipped-in inserts or other special technical designs.
  21. If any provision hereof should be or become ineffective, this shall not affect the validity of all of the remaining provisions. Ineffective provisions shall be replaced by a provision which approximates as far as possible to the meaning and purpose of the ineffective provision.