General Terms and Conditions of Artefact Germany GmbH for Publishers

As of June 2020

 

Introduction

 

Artefact Germany GmbH (hereafter "Artefact") operates a platform (hereafter also "TripleA") as a content operator (together with EASY Marketing GmbH as technical operator) under the domain aaa.artefact.com, which enables suppliers of online goods and services registered with Artefact (hereafter "Advertiser") to advertise products within the framework of programs. For this purpose, persons registered with Artefact (hereinafter referred to as "Publishers") provide their advertising environment - e.g. website.

 

The object of the programs is the provision of media services via the Publishers’ advertising environments by means of advertising material - such as banners or text links - to support the Advertiser in the online distribution of goods and services.

 

1. Definitions for the purposes of these General Terms and Conditions

For the purposes of these General Terms and Conditions of Business (hereinafter referred to as "GTC") and all contracts with the Publisher.

Account is the access to the Artefact platform “TripleA” as it is provided by Artefact after successful registration and activation.

Call: A Call is a call made voluntarily and consciously by the user to a telephone number assigned to the Advertiser’s program and displayed in the Advertising Environment of the Publisher.

Click: A Click is a voluntarily and consciously executed call of a link to the program of the Advertiser by the user, which leads to the visit of the linked website of the Advertiser. The link must be embedded in the Publisher's Advertising Environment (e.g. the website) released in accordance with the Program Conditions. A later continuation of the User's action (e.g. in the case of a Lead or Sale) can also lead to a payment obligation of the Advertiser (Post-Click).

Cookie: Cookies are text information which are stored in the browser of a User for a website which the User has visited.

Lead: In the case of a Lead, a valid View, Click or Call is followed by a voluntary and conscious execution of a certain defined action on the website of the Advertiser (qualified action) by the User. Basically, Views (including Post-Views), Clicks (including Post-Clicks) and Calls can lead to a Lead. A Call may already be a Lead. Leads are logged by the system of Artefact, verified by the Advertiser and determined and confirmed by Artefact at its reasonable discretion.

 

Link is a reference to the Advertiser's website provided by the Advertiser via the Artefact platform “TripleA” for use by the Publisher in the Publisher’s Advertising Environment for the Advertiser's program.

 

Pay-Per-View/Click/Call/Lead/Sale Program: The claim for remuneration within the scope of a Pay-Per-View/Click/Call/Lead/Sale Program is dependent on the conditions regulated in these GTC.

 

Sale: In the case of a Sale, a valid View, Click or Call is followed by a voluntary and conscious acquisition of a chargeable good or a voluntary and conscious use of a chargeable service by the User. Basically, Views (including Post-Views), Clicks (including Post-Clicks) and Calls can lead to a Sale. Sales are logged by the system of Artefact, verified by the Advertiser and determined and confirmed by Artefact at its reasonable discretion.

 

User is any natural person or legal entity who accesses the Publisher’s Advertising Environment or the Advertiser’s website and carries out a View, Click, Call, Lead and/or Sale.

 

View: A View is a call of the Publisher’s Advertising Environment executed by the User, through which advertising material of the Advertiser is displayed according to the Program Conditions. After the call of the Advertising Environment and a Lead or Sale resulting from it even without a Click on the advertising material of the Advertiser, a payment obligation of the Advertiser can be triggered (Post-View).

 

Website (of the Advertiser) is the contractual internet offer of the Advertiser (e.g. websites, mobile sites, social profiles, apps etc.) under the exactly stated URL under which the Advertiser sells or advertises goods and/or services online and to which the Link to be used by the Publisher, according to the regulations of the program, refers.

 

Advertising Environment (of the Publisher): The Advertising Environment is the contractual Internet offer of the Publisher or a third party who acquires the rights to use the Internet offers of a Publisher, e.g. websites, mobile pages, social profiles, apps etc. However, the Advertiser can also expand the Advertising Environment in the Program Conditions (e.g. to include search engine marketing). If the Advertising Environment is a website, this means the Publisher's internet offering under the domains specified and registered by the Publisher with the content checked by the Advertiser. The domains specified in the Publisher's account may be visible to the Advertiser. The person who has administrative access to the program (hereinafter "Program Operator") will proactively review these or its contents at reasonable intervals and, where appropriate, notify the other parties.

 

 

2. Conclusion of contract

 

2.1 After the registration, the Publisher has the opportunity to participate in the platform "TripleA". The account is granted to the Publisher for an indefinite period of time. The Publisher can apply to the Advertisers' programs in order to be able to display their advertising material in his Advertising Environment.

 

2.2 Only legal entities and natural persons within the meaning of section 14 paragraph 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB) with unlimited legal capacity may open an account. Consumers are expressly excluded from participation. There is no right to participation.

 

2.3 Artefact or a third party commissioned by Artefact is entitled to request the presentation of suitable proof of identity from the Publisher for the purpose of identity control, such as valid trading licence, excerpt from the commercial register and/or proof of identity.

 

2.4 If an employee of a legal entity registers the legal entity as a Publisher, the employee must be authorised in writing by the legal entity. The same applies if another third party (e.g. an agency) opens an Account on behalf of a Publisher. Proof of the power of attorney is to be provided on request by Artefact.

 

2.5 With the complete registration, the acceptance of these Publisher GTC and the activation of the Publisher’s Account by Artefact, a contract for the participation of the Publisher in the platform "TripleA" with the content of these GTC is concluded. However, Artefact reserves the right to refuse the acceptance of the offer to conclude the contract without giving reasons. In this case no contract is concluded. The Publisher is not entitled to state different personal data when registering different accounts.

 

2.6 If the Publisher is the operator of a network with Sub-Publishers, he guarantees by his registration to communicate these GTC to his Sub-Publishers and to enforce and monitor their compliance. He is liable for the conduct of his Sub-Publishers and indemnifies Artefact from all claims resulting thereof.

 

3. Subject matter of the contract

 

3.1 Subject of these GTC are services within the scope of the use of the platform "TripleA".

 

3.2 Via the platform "TripleA" and through his Account, the Publisher has access to an overview of the Advertisers’ active programs in which he can participate. As part of these programs, the Publisher provides the Advertisers with Advertising Environments. The Advertiser needs these to promote the online sale of his goods and services. Via the platform "TripleA", the Publisher has the opportunity to participate in the Advertiser's Pay-Per-Click/View/Call/Lead/Sale affiliate programs or a combination of the aforementioned program types. The Publisher applies for the available programs via the Artefact platform "TripleA" by stating the Advertising Environments he operates. Alternatively, the Advertiser applies to enter into a cooperation with the Publisher, who offers his Advertising Environment to him within the framework of a program.

 

3.3 By applying to participate in a program, the Publisher accepts any additional specific terms and conditions of participation for the program stated on the platform "TripleA" (hereinafter "Program Conditions"). These contain the concrete conditions of the program, such as information about the type and remuneration of the service to be provided by the Publishers within the framework of the respective program and are created by the Advertiser, if necessary with the support of Artefact, and made available to the Publishers via the platform "TripleA".

 

3.4 The acceptance of the application or the offer to participate in a program is made by a declaration by the Advertiser or the Publisher in the form of the acceptance of the application or the offer for the particular affiliate program and in accordance with the Program Conditions that may be additionally stated on the platform "TripleA". The resulting program is finally activated by Artefact. Artefact is entitled to declare the rejection of the offer of the Publisher or Advertiser for the affiliate program for the Advertiser or the Publisher without giving reasons. In the absence of a declaration of acceptance, the application or the offer is deemed to be rejected. A claim of the Publisher against Artefact or the Advertiser for participation in an affiliate program does not exist. The Advertiser as well as Artefact for the Advertiser are entitled to reject an application without giving reasons. If a program is not activated by Artefact the application is considered to be rejected.

 

3.5 With the activation of the program, the possibility of publishing advertising material of the Advertisers on the Publishers’ Advertising Environments is created. If a User clicks on an advertising material and this User carries out an action which is defined in more detail in the Program Conditions, the Publisher receives a performance-related remuneration from the Advertiser, provided that the claim to this has arisen in a lawful manner. The settlement of this remuneration is carried out by Artefact via the platform "TripleA" for the respective Advertiser. The Advertiser as well as Artefact are entitled to terminate the participation of a Publisher in a running program at any time with immediate effect in text form. Section 9.6 applies accordingly for the termination. The termination has no effect on already acquired claims to remuneration of the Publisher.

3.6 Another component of the platform "TripleA" is the logging of the Views, Clicks, Calls, Leads and/or Sales carried out by the Users on to or on the website of the Advertiser by means of a tracking procedure for which Artefact provides the Advertiser with tracking codes for installation (hereinafter "Tracking"). The Tracking for the respective program can be viewed by the Publisher on the platform "TripleA”.

3.7 Within the platform “TripleA”, Artefact only acts as a technical provider. Contractual relationships with the Advertisers about the participation in the programs of the Advertiser by the Publisher are therefore exclusively concluded with the Advertiser. This also applies if Artefact, in addition to the technical offer of the platform "TripleA", also acts as Program Operator for the Advertiser. Artefact only supports the initiation and execution of the contract, but in any case, as the provider of the platform "TripleA" Artefact does not become a contractual partner of the respective Publisher and/or the Advertiser. A liability of Artefact for the Advertisers, especially for any action or omission of the Advertisers, is excluded.

 

4. Right to determine Performance/Provision of Services

4.1 Artefact and easy Marketing are entitled but not obliged to continuously develop the platform "TripleA" at their own discretion and to adapt it to legal and technical developments.

 

4.2 Artefact is also entitled to transfer its own service provision or parts thereof to third party service providers or vicarious agents to be independently handled.

 

4.3 Artefact is not obliged to review the advertising material/environment made available by the Advertisers in the framework of the partner programs for their admissibility or correctness.

 

4.4 The Publisher acknowledges that the techniques used by the Advertiser - especially those used in the tracking procedure or remuneration modalities - are the sole responsibility of the Advertiser. The Publisher is entitled to obtain information from the Advertiser about the technology used at any time.

 

5. Conditions of remuneration/Provisional Credit

 

5.1 The Publisher receives performance-related remuneration from the Advertiser for his services. The success of a service (and thus the obligation to pay remuneration) is determined by the respective additional Program Conditions. The obligation to pay remuneration may be triggered by a Call, Click, Lead, Sale or View, for example. A combination of these events may also trigger the obligation to pay remuneration. A claim for remuneration of the Publisher against the Advertiser arises for valid remuneration-triggering events credited to his account (e.g. Clicks, Views, Calls, Leads or Sales) only if these GTC and the Program Conditions of the respective affiliate program are observed, and only if the Advertiser verifies these as valid, and if Artefact has confirmed the validity on the basis of the verifications received from the Advertisers at its reasonable discretion. A Click, View, Call, Lead or Sale is only valid if the Program Conditions of the respective affiliate program and these GTC are fulfilled.

 

5.2 With Pay-Per-View, Pay-Per-Click, Pay-Per-Call affiliate programs the Views, Clicks or Calls are logged and verified on the basis of the Tracking and their validity is determined and confirmed by Artefact at its reasonable discretion.

 

5.3 Clicks which are not generated by Link and/or to the website of the Advertiser are not valid. Clicks, Views and Calls automatically generated by technical devices (e.g. click generators) as well as Clicks, Views and Calls of the same user generated repeatedly or in short succession - e.g. clicks on different links - are also not valid. Clicks, Views and Calls which are initiated by force or deception, or for which the User receives remuneration from the Publisher, are also not valid. Clicks that are connected with a compulsion to take action, such as sending an SMS message, participating in a competition or using the Click in a paid e-mail system, are also generally inadmissible without the prior written consent of Artefact or permission in the Program Conditions. In the absence of such consent or permission, Clicks, Views and Calls generated in this way are not valid.

 

5.4 All Clicks, Calls and Views recorded as valid in accordance with sections 5.2 to 5.3 of these GTC are initially credited provisionally to the Publisher account from Artefact in the course of the daily evaluation. Artefact reserves the right to check the validity according to the regulations of these GTC and the Program Conditions of the respective affiliate program even after the crediting to the Publisher account.

 

5.5 For the validity and crediting of Pay-Per-Lead Affiliate Programs, Pay-Per-Sale Affiliate Programs or a combination with the above mentioned program types, the statements in sections 5.2 to 5.4 of these GTC apply accordingly, with the deviation that the verification of the valid Leads and Sales within the meaning of these GTC takes place by a comparison of the Leads and/or Sales logged via the Tracking with the Leads and/or Sales actually executed. For this purpose, the Advertiser provides Artefact with all data recorded by the Advertiser himself which is necessary for a comparison. The data matching in the context of the comparison carried out by the Program Operator is considered as verified by the Advertiser. Before the comparison is carried out and after the conditions of the respective affiliate program have been fulfilled, all Leads or Sales are initially noted provisionally. The provisional note in the Publisher Account does not constitute any acknowledgement that all conditions of the affiliate program have been fulfilled or that the Leads or Sales recorded are actually valid Leads or valid Sales. In the case of Pay-Per-Sale Affiliate programs with remuneration based on a percentage, the remuneration is calculated according to the net sales value of the goods or services (excluding auxiliary services and VAT).

 

5.6 The provisionally noted credits are each subject to confirmation by the Advertiser who verifies them as well as to confirmation by Artefact according to section 5.1 of these GTC. Only after the Advertiser has duly verified the Views, Clicks, Calls, Leads or Sales as valid and Artefact has confirmed them, the Publisher has a valid claim to the remuneration. This also applies if the noted credit according to section 6.2 of these GTC has already been paid out to the Publisher in advance.

 

5.7 The Advertiser is entitled to change the remuneration for all programs in favour of the Publishers, for example by means of temporary bonuses, at any time. The change is made by notification of the changed remuneration on the platform "TripleA" for the respective program and becomes effective at 0.00 o'clock on the second day after publication on the platform "TripleA".

 

5.8 If the Advertiser intends to make other, especially permanent changes to a running program, the Publishers participating in the program will be informed of the exact changes four (4) weeks before the changes come into effect.

 

6. Method of Payment/Remuneration

 

6.1 Artefact settles the remuneration of the Publisher for the respective Advertiser. For this, Artefact issues a monthly statement of account for all affiliate programs and for the respective account of a Publisher in accordance with section 5 of these GTC. The Publisher will be informed on the 1st of each month by e-mail about the amount of the expected payment for the previous month, according to the credit on the Publisher account held by Artefact up to that point. Artefact will pay out this credit to the Publisher on the 15th of that month, but no earlier than upon receipt of payment by Artefact from the respective Advertiser for the corresponding credit of the Publisher. A further condition is that the credit amounts to at least EUR 25.00 net. Otherwise Artefact will only pay out the credit in the month in which all credit noted on the Publisher account must cumulatively amount to at least EUR 25.00 net. For each payment Artefact will issue a credit note in accordance with the provisions of tax legislation. No interest is paid on the credit on the Publisher account.

 

6.2 Artefact strives to pay out credits to the Publisher as early as possible and therefore cannot do this without reservation. The payment of the credits may be carried out without a final check by Artefact as to whether the credits on the Publisher account were based on valid Views, Clicks, Calls, Leads or Sales and possibly without the Advertiser having verified these. As far as a validity requirement according to section 5 of these GTC has not been met or the Advertiser does not give his verification or withdraws it, or the generation of a View, Clicks, Calls, Leads or Sale was based on a manipulation or deception or violation of the conditions of the affiliate program, the standard conditions for participation in the (aggregated) program, or these GTC or for any other reason after a review a valid View, Click, Call, Lead or Cale cannot be determined, Artefact is entitled to charge back the account of the Publisher within a period of twelve (12) weeks after payment or to reclaim the amount paid out. Artefact also reserves the right to reclaim a payment at a later date, within the statutory periods of limitation, if Artefact proves that the payment to the Publisher was not based on a justified claim for remuneration.

 

6.3 Artefact is not obliged to make any advance payment when paying out the credit balance to the Publisher. Artefact is therefore entitled to pay out the credit balance only after the corresponding payment of the Advertiser for the remuneration of the Publisher has been received by Artefact. 

 

6.4 The Publisher is obliged to check the credit on his Publisher account regularly and at short notice and to give notice of obvious or recognisable defects to Artefact in text form according to commercial standards immediately, at the latest however within fourteen (14) days. Any credit/remunerations become time-barred within the statutory periods of limitation.

 

 

7. Obligations of the Publisher

7.1 The Publisher is obliged to use the Advertiser's links, URLs and advertising material exclusively as intended and lawfully and to design and present their Advertising Environment including all entries in search engines, directories or link lists of third parties in such a way that exclusively valid Views, valid Clicks, valid Leads or valid Sales are generated by Users for the Advertiser.

 

7.2 The Links required for participation in an affiliate program together with the URL of the respective page of the Advertiser's website or other advertising material are provided by the Advertiser or Artefact for the Advertiser to the Publisher for retrieval. The Publisher shall not modify the HTML code or banners etc. provided by the Advertiser or Artefact for the Advertiser. The provided advertising material may only be used in the Publisher’s Advertising Environment. The use of these advertising materials is only permitted in connection with the participation in an affiliate program and within the scope of the intended, approved use.

 

7.3 The use of names, protected brand names and trademarks, the company or logos of Artefact or a third party - in particular of the Advertiser - is only permitted if the Publisher has the consent of the rights holder. The Publisher undertakes to design his Advertising Environment in such a way that the rights of third parties including copyrights are not violated. Furthermore, the Publisher undertakes not to violate applicable law, in particular data protection laws.

 

7.4 The sending of e-mails or other messages, communications or contacts with advertising for Artefact or the affiliate programs is only permitted to the Publisher after prior written approval by Artefact and in compliance with the legal requirements and current jurisdiction.

 

7.5 The Publisher is obliged to provide his businesslike offer with a provider identification, § 5 TMG. The Publisher is obliged to design his Advertising Environment in accordance with legal provisions on consumer protection.

 

7.6 Depictions of violence, sexually explicit or pornographic contents or discriminating statements or depictions regarding race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age are not permitted in the Publisher's Advertising Environment and/or in connection with the participation in the Advertiser's affiliate programs. The design of the Advertising Environment must not be capable of damaging the reputation or the esteem of the goods or services, the brand or the business operations of Artefact or the Advertiser. The Publisher undertakes to provide all necessary cooperation in the case of information to be provided to authorities.

 

7.7 The above regulations also apply if the Publisher refers to pages of third parties through links.

 

7.8 The Publisher may place any number of Links and/or associated advertising material to the Advertiser's website at any point in his Advertising Environment. However, Artefact can demand (also for the Advertiser) that the Publisher changes the placement of the Link if this is likely to damage the reputation or the appreciation of the goods or services, the brand or the business operations of Artefact or the Advertiser.

 

7.9 The Publisher is prohibited from any improper obtainment of Views, Clicks, Calls, Leads and Sales which is contrary to these GTC or the Advertiser’s Program Conditions. The Publisher is not entitled to remuneration for such Views, Clicks, Calls, Leads and Sales. Furthermore, in the case of a breach of the regulations of these GTC or the Program Conditions of the affiliate program the Publisher undertakes to bear, in addition to compensation for any damage caused by this, such reasonable costs and expenses which are incurred by Artefact in order to protect the interests of Artefact, including any claims made by a third party.

 

7.10 It is the responsibility of the Publisher to inform himself regularly about changes of program structures, e.g. rate changes, on the platform "TripleA".

 

7.11 The Publisher undertakes to pay a contractual penalty of EUR 10,000 to Artefact for each case of infringement of the provisions of this agreement, in particular those in section 7 of these GTC.

 

7.12 The obligations of the Publisher set forth in clause 7 hereof are also assumed by the Publisher with effect in favour of the respective Advertiser (so-called contract in favour of third parties (Vertrag zugunsten Dritter)).

 

 

8. Legal relationship with the Advertisers

8.1 Contracts for the provision of services to support the Advertiser in the online distribution of goods and services are concluded exclusively between the Publishers and the Advertisers in accordance with section 3 of these GTCs. Artefact itself is not a party to the contract.

 

8.2 As far as an Advertiser does not fulfil his obligations towards the Publisher, the Publisher has to assert all claims resulting from this, in particular claims for remuneration, information, omission and damages, exclusively towards the Advertiser. There is no claim against Artefact in this respect.

 

9. Deactivation of the Account and Termination of Contract

 

9.1 Artefact and the Publisher may terminate the Publisher's participation in the platform "TripleA" with a notice period of two weeks. Artefact is also entitled to terminate and deactivate the Publisher’s Account with a notice period of five (5) working days if

 

9.1.1 the Publisher has not participated in a program or generated revenues within a period of twelve (12) months

 

9.1.2 the Advertising Environment specified in the registration or application for a specific program does not correspond to the Advertising Environment actually used; or

 

9.1.3 the Publisher has breached section 7 of these GTC.

 

The right of the Advertiser and of Artefact to terminate the participation of a Publisher in a running program at any time with immediate effect in text form remains unaffected.

 

9.2 The right of extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists if essential contractual obligations, especially the obligations of the Publisher according to section 7 of these GTC, are breached.

 

9.3 The notice of termination in accordance with these provisions must be given in text form. The notification of the deactivation of access is not subject to any form requirement.

 

9.4 In case of termination of the participation in the platform "TripleA" the access to the platform "TripleA" will be deactivated.

 

9.5 In the event of deactivation of the Account, any existing Publisher credit balance will be settled. Any credit balance in the Publisher Account below the threshold specified in section 6.1 will expire.

 

9.6 After termination, the Publisher is obliged to remove all Links and other advertising material to the relevant Affiliate Program from all websites and Advertising Environments immediately and to cease participation in the relevant Affiliate Program. From the effective date of the termination, the Publisher will no longer be paid any remuneration, even if the Publisher does not remove the respective Link or other advertising material from the Websites or Advertising Environments or otherwise acts for the relevant Affiliate program.

 

9.7 A Publisher whose account has been deactivated in accordance with section 9.4 of these GTC is not entitled, unless otherwise agreed with Artefact, to register again for the Artefact platform "TripleA". Violations of this provision oblige the Publisher to pay damages to Artefact. A possible credit balance of the Publisher which was achieved in breach of contract expires.

 

10. Liability and Indemnifications

 

10.1 Defects and malfunctions of the platform "TripleA" are to be reported to Artefact immediately, at the latest within two (2) weeks of knowledge, in writing or by e-mail.

 

10.2 Artefact is not responsible for the content of websites of third parties, for damage or other disturbances that are based on the defectiveness or incompatibility of software or hardware of the participants or for damage that has arisen due to the lack of availability or the faultless functioning of the internet.

 

10.3 Artefact is only liable for intent and gross negligence. Deviating from this, Artefact is liable in the case of simple negligence for damages resulting from a breach of material contractual obligations, a so-called cardinal obligation (obligation the fulfilment of which makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on the observance of which the contractual partner regularly relies and may rely on); in this case, however, the liability is limited to the replacement of the foreseeable, typically occurring damage and an amount of maximum € 5,000 per case of damage.

 

10.4 Liability for indirect and unforeseeable damages, loss of profit, missed savings, loss of data and pecuniary loss due to third-party claims is excluded in the case of simple negligence.

 

10.5 The above exclusions and limitations of liability also apply in the case of breaches of obligations by or in favour of representatives of Artefact, executive employees and other persons whose fault Artefact is responsible for according to legal regulations.

 

10.6 The limitations of this section 10 shall not apply with respect to claims arising from the German Product Liability Act, if Artefact has expressly assumed a guarantee or has fraudulently concealed a defect, nor do they apply to the liability for damages from injury to life, body or health.

 

10.7 The Publisher indemnifies and holds harmless Artefact and the Advertisers from all claims for damages, liability claims, warnings, cease-and-desist declarations of third parties and other claims as well as any costs and expenses in connection with these which have been caused by a causal behaviour (also omission) of the Publisher. This applies in particular in the event of an infringement of copyright, trademark, competition and data protection rights or third party rights.

 

 

11. Data protection

11.1 Artefact and the Publisher will comply with their respective obligations under the applicable law on privacy and data protection, as well as similar laws applicable to data processing in connection with this contract and in accordance with the supplement to the agreement on data processing attached to these general terms and conditions. In case of discrepancies, the Supplement to the Data Processing Agreement shall prevail over the General Terms and Conditions.

 

12. Confidentiality

12.1 The Parties agree to keep strictly confidential all operational, technical and other business information and knowledge of the other party which is made accessible to them in connection with this contract and which is designated as confidential or which is recognisable as a business or trade secret of a party according to other circumstances, for an unlimited period of time and also after the end of the contract and - unless required to achieve the purpose of the contract - not to record it, disclose it or use it in any other way.

 

12.2 The Parties shall ensure by appropriate contractual agreements with their employees and agents working for them that they, too, shall refrain for an unlimited period from any own use or unauthorized recording of such confidential information as well as of business and trade secrets. Each Party is obliged to consult with the other party to the contract if any doubts should arise as to whether or not information is to be treated as confidential in a specific individual case. In case of doubt, information shall be treated as confidential.

 

13. Right of Modification

 

Artefact will offer changes to these GTCs to the Publisher in text form at the latest six (6) weeks before the intended date of their entry into force. If the Publisher does not object in due form or time, the amended terms and conditions will come into force at the intended time. The objection is only in due form and time if the objection is made in text form and is received by Artefact within four (4) weeks after receipt of the notification. Artefact will point out to the Publisher the possibility of an objection, its form and deadline and the legal consequences of an objection not made in due form or time.

 

14. Scope of application

 

14.1 Deliveries, services, offers and contracts between Artefact and the Publisher are always based on these GTCs. Conflicting terms and conditions of the Publisher are therefore invalid unless their validity has been expressly agreed in writing between Artefact and the Publisher.

Possible counter-confirmations of the Publisher with reference to his terms and conditions are hereby contradicted.

 

14.2 Unless otherwise agreed between Artefact and the Publisher, collateral agreements, modifications or amendments require the written form to be effective. The annulment of this written form requirement must also be made in writing to be effective.

 

14.3 Artefact's employees are not entitled to make changes to these terms and conditions.

 

15. Place of jurisdiction, choice of law and severability clause

 

15.1 The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from these GTCs, including actions on bills of exchange and cheques, is Hamburg.

 

15.2 German law shall apply under exclusion of the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

 

15.3 Should one or more provisions of these GTC be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. The invalid provisions shall be replaced by an appropriate provision which comes closest to what the Parties to the contract intended.