General Terms and Conditions heidelberg business media GmbH

§ 1. Application
These terms and conditions apply to those persons or companies (hereinafter called "the client") purchasing any of the products and services of heidelberg business media GmbH (hereinafter called "the publishing company"). Special supplementary terms and conditions may apply for certain individual products (e.g. exhibitions, etc.).

§ 2. Placing an order
Orders must be sent in writing to the publishing company. Exceptions to this are those orders placed via the Internet, telephone or fax, which are only valid when supported by an approved charge to a valid credit card.

Orders for subscriptions, Buyers Guide and Premium Listings (Internet) are made for a one year term. The order is deemed to be tacitly extended for one year if it is not cancelled in writing three months prior to the due date. This is not applicable if the publishing company and the client stipulate different terms and termination notices within the order. The right of an extraordinary termination remains unaffected. The renewal of annual contracts is made as per the price list that is valid at that time and which is sent out by mail.

§ 3. Order confirmation
An order confirmation is produced for each order. The invoice for books and subscriptions, which is issued immediately after receipt of the order, constitutes the order confirmation. The same thing applies to orders for which a credit card that is to be charged has been specified.
It is no longer possible to cancel an order after it has been confirmed and this applies, in particular, to orders for a series of advertisements. The publishing company reserves the right to refuse to accept orders.

§ 4. Payments
The amounts that have been invoiced are due immediately without any deductions. Each subsequent payment demand will be subject to an additional charge of 15 Euros. The client is given the express right to prove that damage in value has not occurred or is materially lower than the said sum of 15 Euros.

Additional costs that are incurred in this respect can also be demanded. If the third demand for payment is not met without any valid objections being raised, the publishing company shall have the right to publish, on an ongoing basis, the amount that is unpaid, plus the name and the address of the defaulting client, if the client has been ordered to pay by a competent court and is legally bound to do so. The publishing company may demand payment in advance for certain products or from certain clients.

The publishing company is insured against sales shortfall with Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs AG (hereinafter called "the insurer"). The insurer will be notified of any defaulting debtors not later than 60 days after the due date. The insurer will claim outstanding amounts immediately after notification.

§ 5. Liability
The publishing company does not accept liability for the correctness of the contents of its publications. The publishing company likewise does not accept liability for the late delivery of published products.

The exclusion of liability does not apply in cases of a grossly negligent breach of duty by the publishing company or a deliberate or grossly negligent breach of duty by a statutory agent of the publishing company or by a person employed by it to perform the contract.

§ 6. Claims for compensation
Claims for compensation against the publishing company - irrespective of the grounds - may only be made on the basis of the supply of substitute or alternative items. That is to say, an advertisement can only be repeated and an undelivered issue only be subsequently delivered. The client is given the express right to claim a price reduction, if supplementary performance is unsuccessful, or to choose to terminate the contract.

§ 7. Advertisements
The publishing company does not link advertisements to editorial content. The positioning of advertisements is made in accordance with the best available knowledge and belief. Agreement to specific positioning for an advertisement will only be given against the payment of a positioning surcharge. Colours will also be reproduced as per the best available knowledge and belief for magazines. Nevertheless, colour variations are unavoidable and are accordingly not a subject for claims for compensation.

§ 8. Documents
The client is exclusively responsible for the timely submission of original artwork and documents. This applies in particular to advertising contracts. If the publishing company cannot fulfil an order for an insertion in a publication because of incorrect documentation the client is obliged to pay the agreed price in full. Printed documents, manuscripts and illustrations, etc. that are submitted, become the property of the publishing company. The publishing company is not obliged to retain the documents.

§ 9. Discontinuation of published products
Under certain circumstances it may be that the publishing company finds it necessary to discontinue a published product. In this respect, the publishing house is free to do as it wishes. Prepaid subscriptions for the product in question can be utilised within 12 months on other published products. The publishing party is in such a case obliged to inform the client immediately of the discontinuation of a product and the utilisation on other published products. In the case of utilisation on other published products no repayment will be made. If such utilisation is not possible within 12 months, the publishing company will refund any counter-performance by the client only if the costs of the money transfer do not exceed the amount refundable.

§ 10. Copyright
All contents belong to the publishing company. Any reproduction - regardless of the medium - is strictly forbidden. Exceptions to this are to be individually agreed with the publishing company in every case.

§ 11. Price fixing
The publishing house is not subject to price fixing agreements, nor to the Net Book Agreement.

§ 12. Data protection
Every client agrees to the electronic storage and processing of his/her contact details in accordance with the German Personal Data Protection Act.

§ 13. Court of jurisdiction
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. The place of jurisdiction with regard to any duty under this Agreement shall be Heidelberg, if the client is a trader in accordance with the German Commercial Code or a public legal entity or public separate estate.

§ 14. Severability clause
If any provision in this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable by a body of competent jurisdiction, such provision will be construed, limited or, if necessary, severed to the extent necessary to eliminate such invalidity or unenforceability. The parties agree to negotiate in good faith a valid, enforceable substitute provision that comes closest to the parties' original intentions in entering into this Agreement or to provide an equitable adjustment in the event that no such provision can be added. The other provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.