General Terms and Conditions

1. Scope of application

(1) These contractual terms and conditions shall apply to contracts between the translator and her customers, unless otherwise expressly agreed or mandatorily required by law.

(2) The customer's general terms and conditions shall only be binding upon the translator, if expressly acknowledged by her.

2. Scope of the translation job

The translation job shall be carried out according to the principles of proper professional conduct. The customer shall receive the translation copy that has contractually been agreed upon.

3. Customer's duty to cooperate and to provide explanations

(1) The customer shall be obliged to inform the translator in time on how he or she wants the translation to be performed (intended purpose, delivery on data carriers, number of copies, readiness for printing, outward appearance of the translation, etc.). If the translation is meant for printing, the customer shall let the translator have a galley proof in good time before the translation goes to press. Names and figures shall be verified by the customer.

(2) Upon placement of the order, the customer shall provide the translator with all pieces of information and all documents needed for the translation process (customer's terminology, illustrations, drawings, tables, internally used terms, etc.).

(3) Errors and delays resulting from the failure to deliver information material and instructions or from their delayed delivery shall not be at the expense of the translator.

(4) The customer assumes liability for the rights to the text and ensures that a translation may be made. He shall release the translator from any demands made by third parties.

4. Customer's rights in case of deficiencies

(1) The translator reserves the right to supplementary performance. In the first instance, the customer shall only be entitled to have possible translation deficiencies corrected.

(2) The right to supplementary performance shall be alleged by the customer indicating the exact details of the deficiencies.

(3) If the translator does not eliminate the alleged deficiencies within an adequate period of time, or if she refuses to eliminate the deficiencies, or if the elimination of the deficiencies is to be regarded as unsuccessful, the customer shall be entitled to have the deficiencies eliminated by another translator after having heard the contractor, or to demand reduction of the remuneration, or to withdraw from the contract. The elimination of the deficiencies shall be regarded as unsuccessful, if the translation is still deficient after several attempts of subsequent improvement.

5. Liability

(1) The translator shall be held liable in case of gross negligence and intent. Deficiencies resulting from computer failures or from problems during email transmission or from computer viruses shall not be considered gross negligence. The translator shall take precautionary measures against these occurrences with the help of antivirus software. The translator's liability for ordinary negligence shall only apply if principal obligations are violated.

(2) The customer's claim for compensation of damages caused according to clause 5 (1) sentence 4, which he or she asserts against the translator, shall be limited to 1,000 EUR; in individual cases a higher claim for damages may be expressly agreed upon.

(3) Customer's claims against the translator arising from deficiencies in the translation (art. 634a BGB [Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, German Civil Code]) shall become statute-barred after one year as from the date of acceptance of the translation.

(4) Contrary to art 634a BGB, liability regarding consequential damages arising from a deficiency shall be restricted to the statutory period of limitation. This shall not affect art. 202 para 1 BGB.

(5) The customer shall be responsible for the final content check of the translated text, unless expressly agreed otherwise (i.e. by asking for a sworn translation).

6. Professional secrets

The translator undertakes not to disclose any facts she becomes aware of in connection with the performance of the tasks for the customer.

7. Involvement of third parties

(1) The translator shall be entitled to execute the order with the assistance of employees or third-party experts.

(2) If the translator is supported by third-party experts, she shall have these experts undertake, according to clause 6, not to disclose any facts.

8. Compensation

(1) The invoices of the translator shall be due and payable strictly net within 14 days as from the date of invoice.

(2) All prices are net prices excluding the statutory value-added tax.

(3) In addition to the fees agreed upon, the translator shall be entitled to demand remuneration of the actually incurred expenses agreed upon with the customer. As far as legally necessary, the value-added tax shall be charged additionally in all cases. In the case of large translation projects, the translator shall be entitled to demand an adequate advance payment. By way of prior written agreement, the translator may agree with the customer to condition the transmission of the translation on the prior payment of her complete fee.

(4) If the parties have not agreed upon a fixed rate, the customer shall owe the translator an adequate and generally accepted fee based on the kind and complexity of the translated material. Such fee shall not fall below the rates applicable according to the Justizvergütungs- und -entschädigungsgesetz (JVEG, German law on remuneration and compensation by legal authorities).

9. Reservation of ownership and copyright

(1) The translator retains title to the translation until full payment has been received. Before the translator has received full payment, the customer shall not be granted any right of use.

(2) The translator reserves the right to any copyright that might apply to a translation.

10. Right of withdrawal

As far as the placement of the translation order is based on the fact that the translator offered to provide translations over the internet, the customer shall renounce a possible right of withdrawal, if the translator has started her translation work and informed the customer accordingly.

11. Applicable law

(1) The order and all claims arising from it shall be covered by German law.

(2) The governing language shall be German.

12. Severability

The effectiveness of these contractual terms and conditions shall remain unaffected by the invalidity or ineffectiveness of individual terms. The ineffective term shall be replaced with a valid term which most nearly achieves the economic result of what was originally intended.

13. Alterations and amendments

Alterations and amendments of these General terms and conditions shall not be valid unless they have been agreed upon in writing. This shall also apply to the alteration of the requirement of written form itself.