General information

Terms
of Payment: Where a monthly fee has been agreed between the agency and the client, payment of the fee is due on the first day of each month and must be made without deduction.

All invoices are payable immediately and in full. For larger orders, the agency may issue interim invoices.

The agency is also entitled to issue advance invoices, particularly in the case of advertising orders.

In the event of late payment, interest at a rate of 2% above the relevant discount rate of the Deutsche Bundesbank shall be payable.

Copyright and Transfer of Rights
of Use The Agency is the copyright holder of all work and thus the sole owner of all rights of use.

It transfers the copyright usage rights to the client within the scope of the concluded contract.

The transfer of rights of use is limited to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and ends upon expiry of the underlying contract between the agency and the client.

Any use extending beyond the term of the contract requires a separate agreement between the client and the agency. The same applies to the use of copyright abroad.

In the event of use extending beyond the terms of the contract, the Agency shall be entitled to an additional, reasonable fee.

The transfer of copyright usage rights to third parties, as well as any form of duplication or reproduction that goes beyond the scope of the contractual use, requires the Agency’s express written consent.

Any transfer of rights of use to third parties, use abroad or use extending beyond the term of the contract, carried out without the Agency’s consent, shall trigger a contractual penalty amounting to five times the contract value of the wrongfully transferred right of use.

Where third parties are engaged, the Agency does not guarantee that the services provided by external third-party firms within the scope of the contract are not subject to copyright, performance rights or other third-party rights.

The Agency is entitled to be credited as the author when its work is used.

The Agency is permitted to use the results of its work, or extracts thereof, for the purposes of self-promotion – even after the contract period has ended – free of charge.

The Agency shall receive specimen copies from the Client upon completion of the assignment.

All work produced under the contract (final artwork, photographs, digital data, etc.) shall remain the property of the Agency and, upon termination of the contract, shall be returned to the Agency upon its request, provided that such work is in the possession of the Client or a third party.

Should the client continue to use the company branding, logos and similar items produced by the agency after the contract has ended, the agency shall be entitled to a reasonable fee.

Place of performance / Jurisdiction
The place of performance for all obligations arising from the contractual relationship is, for both parties, the Agency’s registered office.

German law shall apply. The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contractual relationship shall be the Agency’s registered office.

Warranty, Liability, Transfer
of Risk The Agency shall not be liable for artistic, literary or scientific quality.

The services provided by the Agency in fulfilment of the contract must be checked by the client immediately upon handover. Any complaint must be made in writing and must be received by the Agency no later than 8 days after the work has been handed over to the client. If the client fails to notify the Agency within this period, the work shall be deemed to have been approved. Any subsequent notice of defects is excluded. This also applies where an order consists of several individual services (concept development, lithography, printing, etc.). In such cases, the client is obliged to inspect each individual service in accordance with the above provisions. If a defect was not apparent upon inspection of the work, notice must be given immediately upon discovery. Otherwise, the work shall be deemed to have been approved, even in respect of the hidden defect.

In the event of a justified complaint, the agency is entitled to rectify the defect rather than rescind the contract or claim a reduction in price.

In all other respects, the statutory limitation period of 6 months applies, commencing upon acceptance of the work.

The client is obliged to accept the work following inspection. Acceptance of individual services may be given verbally or in writing.

The agency shall only be liable for damages in the event of gross negligence or wilful misconduct. Claims for consequential damages are excluded.

The Agency accepts no liability for external contractors engaged in agreement with the client.

Photographs, lithographic films, designs or other work produced by the agency must be sent by registered post. The risk of accidental loss during dispatch or return shall be borne by the respective sender.

The Agency shall not be liable for the accidental loss or deterioration of material handed over to the Agency by the client. The Agency shall only be liable for damage to, faulty processing of or loss of the material handed over by the client to the Agency up to the value of the material.

If the client is in default of accepting the agency’s services, the risk shall pass to the client.

Compensation and delay
If a deadline has been set for the Agency’s performance, the client shall have no claim for compensation arising from a delay in meeting the deadline for which the Agency is not responsible.

If the Agency is in default with the service it is required to provide, the Client must grant the Agency a reasonable period of 4 weeks to perform the service. Upon expiry of this period, the client is entitled to claim damages for non-performance or to withdraw from the contract if the service has not been provided on time. This shall not apply if the failure to provide the service is due to circumstances for which the agency is not responsible.

If orders are cancelled for reasons for which the Agency is not responsible, the Agency may claim a cancellation fee amounting to 50 per cent of the agreed fee. This does not affect the right to prove that no loss was incurred or that the loss was substantially lower; nor does it affect the Agency’s right to prove that a higher loss was incurred.

If an assignment that has commenced is not completed for reasons for which the Agency is not responsible, in particular if the client unreasonably and definitively refuses to fulfil the contract, the Agency shall be entitled to the full fee. This shall not affect the Agency’s right to assert any further claims for damages to which it is entitled. If the client’s action is required during the execution of the work, in particular the provision of documents etc., the Agency may demand reasonable compensation if the client is in default of acceptance due to failure to take such action.

If the time allocated by the Agency for the execution of an order is significantly exceeded for reasons beyond its control, the Agency shall be entitled to demand an increase in the agreed fee in proportion to the time overrun.