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General Terms and Conditions of the “springerprofessional.de/.com” platform

“springerprofessional.de/.com” is offered by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH of Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46 in D-65189 Wiesbaden; telephone: 0800-777 30 55, fax: +49-6221-345 42 29, email: service@springerprofessional.de (“Springer”).

Preamble
On its Internet platform “springerprofessional.de/.com”, Springer makes various digital products (access to the Content of the information platform and specialist library for technology and commerce which can be combined into subscriptions for specific subject areas) available to its Customers. These General Terms and Conditions set out the rights and obligations of the Parties regarding the access to such products (hereinafter referred to as “Products” or “Content”) and the use of the Products if and to the extent that the provisions of the relevant Licence Agreement between Springer and the Customer for the digital Product concerned do not provide otherwise. The following terms and conditions (hereinafter referred to as the “General Terms”) shall apply to all services offered and provided through the “springerprofessional.de/.com” Internet portal (hereinafter also referred to as the “Portal”) and its individual websites. The following General Terms shall apply exclusively. Contract terms of the Customer which deviate from these General Terms shall only apply if confirmed by Springer.

Customer/Authorised User: For the purposes of these General Terms, “Customer” means a party with whom Springer enters into a contract according to these General Terms. The Customer shall be authorised to use Product itself if it holds a single-user licence or, if it holds a multi-user licence, shall name individuals to Springer who shall be authorised to use the Product (“Authorised Users”). If the Customer holds a multi-user licence, it may name up to such number of Authorised Users as equals the number of licences purchased. Moreover, a Customer holding a multi-user licence may define an IP range within which Authorised Users may access a Product purchased by the Customer without having to identify themselves by name. Authorised Users may be employees of the Customer or independent contractors or temporary employees acting on behalf of the Customer.

Order Form/Licence Agreement: For the purposes of these General Terms, “Order Form” means a document signed by both Parties which specifies the Content licensed by the Customer, the number of licences and the fees payable for them. The Order Form, together with these General Terms and any other agreements the Parties may have entered into with respect to the Content, constitutes the “Licence Agreement”. Alternatively, a Licence Agreement may also be formed electronically by offer and acceptance by Springer and the Customer, respectively, through the Website kept available by Springer for this purpose. Springer shall be free to decide at its own discretion for which Products an Order Form is required and which Products may be obtained directly from the Website.

Licence Term: “Licence Term” means the period during which the Content may be accessed in accordance with the Licence Agreement.

Website: “Website” means the Internet site through which the Content may be accessed.

1. Services

1.1 “springerprofessional.de/.com” is an information platform and specialist library for technology and commerce made available by Springer. The Portal offers a wide range of trade publications and information, newsletters, industry news, blanks and forms and other text, audio content, video and images for online purchase either individually or by subscription. Some of this Content and information is offered for free while some is provided for a fee.

1.2 Digitised journals and books may be accessed in the “Library” section of the Website, subject to a payable contract having been entered into or – in the case of Content which is temporarily available for free– subject to prior (free) registration. In addition, printed editions of newspapers and journals may be ordered from this section for a fee.

1.3 With the paid subscription "contentpass", the customer can visit all partner websites participating in "contentpass", including "springerprofessional.de/.com", without advertising and without tracking. If the customer is logged into their contentpass user account, they will no longer be asked to give their consent for the use of cookies for personalised advertising and tracking. "contentpass" is a service of Content Pass GmbH; the General Terms and Conditions of Content Pass GmbH apply.

1.4 To be able to use the services and/or place orders with Springer, users must be connected to the Internet and must have JavaScript enabled on the latest version of their Internet browser. To view articles and specialist journals in PDF format, users also need the current version of Adobe Reader, a software program by Adobe Systems Inc., or any other software that allows them to view and store PDF files. The Customer shall itself be responsible for ensuring that it has these technical requirements. All costs incurred for this shall be borne by the Customer.

2. Identification, registration, access to the Portal, use of login details

2.1 Identification and registration

Except for general information or Content which is temporarily available for free, access to the Portal shall be restricted to subscribers. Therefore, to be able to use most of the offerings of the Portal, in particular to be able to access Content from the “Library”, Customers first need to verify their identity and register an account and wait for the necessary login details, specifically a password, to be sent and activated. Springer uses its single registration and login platform (hereinafter referred to as the “SSO authentications service”) for this purpose. The contract for use of the SSO authentications service shall be subject to separate terms of use.

2.2 Access to the Portal, use of login details

2.2.1 Customers will be able to access restricted parts of the “springerprofessional.de/.com” Portal and its services by entering the login details assigned to them by the SSO authentications service into the login form. Nevertheless, Springer reserves the right to deny access even if Customers have completed the registration process through the SSO authentications service.

2.2.2 The login details assigned to them – and the actual services made available – are intended to be used only by the relevant Customer itself and must not be disclosed to anyone (including family members and co-workers). Springer shall also as part of the SSO authentications service have the right to centrally disable the login details for the SSO authentications service . If a Customer is responsible for such misuse of login details, he or she shall also be liable to Springer for all consequences of use by a third party. In particular, a Customer shall be deemed responsible already if he or she enabled the unauthorised use of its login details through negligence. The liability of the Customer ends only if and when he or she has notified Springer of the unauthorised use of its login details and changed the password, if necessary.

2.3 Termination or withdrawal of access

2.3.1 In the event that a Customer breaches these General Terms, in particular if a Customer

• provides false information on registration,

• discloses or shares its login details, in particular its password, without authorisation, and/or

• makes improper use of the services on the “springerprofessional.de/.com” Portal,

Springer reserves the right to disable the login details of that Customer itself, independently of the SSO authentications service and without stating reasons, temporarily or permanently, and/or to terminate its access with immediate effect or within a period at Springer’s discretion, and to terminate the contract by extraordinary termination without notice.

2.3.2 If access is temporarily or permanently withdrawn from a Customer according to the SSO Terms of Use of Springer, or if its right of access expires, that Customer will also no longer be able to use the services that are available in the restricted parts of the “springerprofessional.de/.com” Portal.

3. Conclusion of contract

3.1 The presentation of the Products on the Portal is not an offer in the legal sense but a non-binding online catalogue and request to make an offer.

3.2 The following provisions shall apply to the conclusion of contracts for single-user licences through the Website: A Customer may select the desired Product and either place an order for it as a registered customer or enter the necessary data for ordering as a non-registered customer. Until the order is sent, the Customer may move back to any previous step of the order process to correct its entries. The Customer will have an opportunity to review its entries and make any necessary changes before submitting its order for processing. An order process may be ended at any time by closing the browser window. By clicking the “Buy Now” button, the Customer places a binding order for the Products in its shopping cart and declares with binding effect that it wishes to purchase the Products ordered. Springer will confirm receipt of the order by email or, if the order is for a free trial product, by a product activation notice on the Website, without undue delay. The confirmation email or activation notice on the Website shall not constitute acceptance of the order.

3.3 A contract will be concluded when Springer expressly accepts an order or access is activated.

3.4 All orders placed will be stored by Springer once a contract has been concluded. To this end, personal information necessary to process the order has to be stored with Springer. This is done as soon as the Customer has entered its address detail and accepted our General Terms and accepted our Privacy Policy.

3.5 Depending on the Customer’s selected language option, the contract may be formed on the Website either in German or in English. The contracting partner will be Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH of Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46 in D-65189 Wiesbaden, represented by its Managing Directors Stefanie Burgmaier, Andreas Funk und Joachim Krieger.

4. Free services; newsletters

4.1 Access to Content

Both in the public and in the restricted areas of the Portal, which are only accessible upon prior registration with the login details of the Customer, Springer shall also make free Content and information available to the Customer. Details on free services can be inferred from the Website and the explanations provided thereon. With regard to the right of withdrawal, the provisions of clause 5.3 shall apply.

4.2 Email newsletters

4.2.1 On the Portal, the Customer will be offered one or more free email newsletters from Springer. Newsletters will be sent to the email address provided by the Customer upon registration.

4.2.2 In addition to editorial Content and industry news, these newsletters may also contain advertising from Springer, cooperating specialist publishing houses or third parties.

4.2.3 Each newsletter contains a link to unsubscribe. Support for technical problems or other issues with unsubscribing is available to Customers through our customer service email address (service@springerprofessional.de).

5. Paid Content, subscriptions, right of cancellation

5.1 Individual and subscription contracts

Some Content and some Products on “springerprofessional.de/.com” must be paid for. The offering includes, but is not limited to, specialist journals and articles in digitised form and other digitised Content (photos, videos, etc.) which are available for subscription or, if applicable, for individual purchase. Individual purchase of an article or publication, if offered, is not conditional on a subscription contract. Details of each Product are available on the Website.

5.2 Trial subscription

Depending on the offer, access to digitised Content may initially be ordered as a free trial subscription. In this case, access to the Content specified on the website and in the offer will initially be enabled for free. If the Customer is convinced by our offer, the service will automatically be converted into a paid subscription at the end of the trial period. If the Customer does not wish to continue to use the service as a paid subscription after the end of the trial period, it shall notify Springer in text form (e.g. by email or fax) at the address specified in clause 18 of these General Terms) before the agreed trial period ends.

5.3 Right of withdrawal

If the Customer is a consumer within the meaning of Sec. 13 of the German Civil Code [Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – BGB], i.e. a natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes which are, for the most part, outside his or her commercial or self-employed professional activities, the Customer has a statutory right of cancellation, of which it is hereby informed as follows by Springer:

Instruction on the right of withdrawal

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after fourteen days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden; phone: +49 (0)6221 345-4303 or by email: service@springerprofessional.de)
of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or e-mail). You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
 

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than fourteen days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

Please note: There is no right of withdrawal for contracts concerning the supply of digitised Content if the performance has begun with Customer’s prior express consent and Customer’s acknowledgment that Customer thereby loses their right of withdrawal and Springer has sent Customer a confirmation of the contract and said consent and acknowledgement via email.

Model cancellation form

(complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)
To Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden or by email service@springerprofessional.de.

I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/we (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following services (*)

Ordered on (*)/received on (*)

Name of consumer(s)

Address of consumer(s)

Signature of consumer(s) (only if submitted on paper)

Date

___

(*) Delete as applicable.

6. Ordering journals and books in the “Library” section

6.1 Conclusion of contract; term and termination

Registered individuals may order journals or books through the “Library” section of the Website in printed format by subscription or, if applicable, by individual purchase. In addition, subscribers to printed journals also have free online access to the journals they subscribe to. Details of the Product, the prices and other contract terms are included in the description of each offer on the Website. Clause 3 of these General Terms shall apply mutatis mutandis to the formation of the contract, the term of any subscriptions to journals and termination of the contract.

6.2 Terms of delivery; prices; terms of payment

Journals will be delivered to the delivery address specified by the Customer. The delivery date for each Product is specified on the website. Unless otherwise agreed, Springer shall deliver the journals to the Customer without undue delay, at the latest, however, within 20 days of formation of the contract. Apart from that, prices and the terms of payment are subject to the provisions of clause 8.

6.3 Right of withdrawal

If the Customer is a consumer within the meaning of Sec. 13 of the German Civil Code, i.e. a natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes which are, for the most part, outside his or her commercial or self-employed professional activities, the Customer has a statutory right of cancellation, of which it is hereby informed as follows by Springer:

6.3.1 In the case of subscription to a journal

Instruction on the right of withdrawal

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after fourteen days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the goods.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden; Phone: +49 (0)6221 345-4303 or by email: service@springerprofessional.de) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or e-mail).
You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than fourteen days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement. We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to us, without undue delay and in any event not later than fourteen days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of fourteen days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods.
You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods. 

(Model cancellation form: see clause 5.3 above)

6.3.2 In the case of a contract of purchase for a book by way of individual purchase (and not by subscription)

Instruction on the right of withdrawal

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after fourteen days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the goods.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden; phone: +49 (0)6221 345-4303 or by email: service@springerprofessional.de) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). 

You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than fourteen days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement. We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back or you have supplied evidence of
having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to us, without undue delay and in any event not later than fourteen days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of fourteen days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods.
You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods. 

(Model cancellation form: see clause 5.3 above)

6.4 Reservation of title

The goods delivered remain property of Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH until all principal and secondary claims arising from the contract that has been entered into have been paid in full.

7. Term of contract

7.1 Various Products may be accessed through the Website by subscription. Unless otherwise stipulated in the Licence Agreement, subscription contracts run for a term of 12 months from the date specified in the Licence Agreement.

7.1.1 Unless expressly provided otherwise in the Licence Agreement, the following notice periods shall apply to Customers who purchase a multi-user licence (e.g. for an entire company or any part thereof): Upon expiration of the first 12 months, the Licence Agreement shall be extended automatically for another 12 months unless terminated by either Party on two months’ notice to expire at the end of the initial Licence Term. Upon expiration of the 12-month renewal term, the Licence Agreement shall be extended for consecutive periods of 12 months until it is terminated by either Party on two months’ notice to expire at the end of the current renewal period.

7.1.2 The following notice periods shall apply to individual customers who purchase a single-user licence: Upon expiration of the first 12 months, the Licence Agreement shall be extended automatically for an indefinite period of time unless terminated by either Party on 30 days’ notice to expire at the end of the initial Licence Term. Upon expiration of the 12-month term, the Licence Agreement can be terminated at any time by either Party on 30 days’ notice. The licence fee shall be payable in advance for periods of 12 months each.

7.1.3 A sole termination of individual products covered by the Licence Agreement is in general not possible. However, if the additional module „Springer Professional PatentFit“ resp. „Springer Professional Book Archive“ is part of the Licence Agreement, it can be terminated individually, subject to the periods of notice stipulated in the preceding paragraphs. The rest of the Licence Agreement will then be extended in accordance with the provisions in sections 7.1.1 resp. 7.1.2 without this additional module. The licence fee to be paid by the Customer shall be reduced accordingly from the time the licence for use of the modules „PatentFit“ resp. „Springer Professional Book Archive“ is terminated.

7.1.4 This shall be without prejudice to either Party’s right to extraordinary termination for cause.

7.2 Notice of termination must be given in text form (by letter, fax, email).

8.  Prices and terms of payment

8.1 If the services of Springer are subject to a fee, the prices communicated upon order on the Portal shall apply. All prices are inclusive of VAT at the applicable statutory rate and generally exclusive of postage (if applicable), unless the costs of postage are stated to be included in the price.

8.2 Unless otherwise agreed, the fee shall become due and payable in advance on ordering the goods or activation of the services. In the case of a subscription contract, Springer reserves the right to offer the Customer different charging periods to choose from on the Portal. Invoicing will be handled according to the payment method chosen by the Customer (direct debiting, invoice). However, Springer shall be under no obligation to offer the Customer different payment methods.

8.3 The Customer shall be issued with an invoice for the publications ordered that will be sent in electronic format to the email address specified by the Customer. If the Customer also wishes to be sent a paper invoice, Springer may charge an extra fee for this.

8.4 The Customer may be invoiced by the Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH (Tiergartenstr. 15-17, 69121 Heidelberg) for claims arising out of the contract or parts thereof. In such cases, the Customer may and should make their payments out to the Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH .

8.5 If the Customer does not meet its payment obligations, Springer shall have the right to withhold its services, specifically to disable access to the service concerned. Once the outstanding liabilities have been paid, the services will be resumed and/or access will be re-enabled. Springer reserves the right to assert other or further-reaching claims, including, without limitation, claims for compensation for default damage and the right to pursue its rights out of court, if applicable, and to terminate the contract by extraordinary termination if the statutory grounds for this are fulfilled.

9. Rights in Content 

9.1 The Content of the Portal, including, without limitation, contributions, specialist articles and journals, photos, videos, etc. are protected by laws governing copyrights and ancillary copyrights. The Customer shall have the right to do all acts of reproduction, only for its own purposes, necessary to enable the Content to be used in accordance with the contract, to undertake research for its own purposes and to copy a selection of files from the Content into the working memory of its terminal device. Moreover, the Customer shall have the non-exclusive, non-transferrable and non-sublicensable right to save one copy of the Content permanently and to create one additional copy of any Content by printing it (download and print) for its own use only for research and CPD purposes.

If the Customer wishes to make more than one permanent reproduction and/or more than one physical copy of any Content (e.g. by copying it to removable data carriers and/or by printing or copying), or if what the Customer wishes to save and/or print is not individual pieces of Content or any part thereof but full online editions, series, categories or other synopses of teaching materials and/or Content, this shall be subject to the prior written consent of Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH.

9.2 The Customer is not granted any other rights in the Content. The Customer shall in particular not have the right to reproduce, distribute, display or broadcast any Content or make it publicly accessible and/or to publish or exploit adaptations of the Content in any way that goes beyond the statutory permissions and the permissions stipulated in clause 9.1. This applies above all to the granting of access to saved Content to third parties, the feeding of Content into a network (the Internet, an intranet, etc.) and to acting as an information agency on a commercial or self-employed basis. Springer reserves the right to Text and Data Mining. Text and Data Mining is therefore only permitted to the extent that it is authorised by an explicit contractual or statutory provision.

10. Access to the Content

During the Licence Term, the Customer shall be granted access to the licensed Content via Internet Protocol (“IP”) authentication or via any other authentication method specified by Springer (e.g. email address, password). Once the Licence Agreement has been entered into, Springer shall provide a set of login details to the Customer. These login details may only be used by an authorised Customer and must not be transferred to any other parties. The login details are technically restricted to access to single workstations. The Customer and/or the authorised Customers shall keep the login details secret. The Customer and/or authorised Customers shall be prohibited from disclosing the login details to any third parties.

11. Rights and obligations of Springer

11.1 Springer reserves the right to analyse the log files in line with applicable data protection laws and regulations to identify any misuse by the Customer and/or third parties of the access granted.

11.2 Springer may remove any parts of the Content from the Websites in which Springer no longer has rights of publication or which it has reason to believe infringe copyrights or otherwise violate applicable law. Springer shall endeavour to notify the Customer in reasonable time if any such situation arises.

11.3 To ensure availability of the Content, Springer shall make the same technical arrangements by which it generally makes such Content available to its Customers, at least, however, in line with the technical standards prevailing in the market. Springer shall take appropriate and reasonably acceptable measures to ensure that the Customer and/or the authorised Customers uninterrupted access to the website and the Content is available at all times. If access to the website is blocked or suspended due to a failure of the Springer server, Springer shall take action without undue delay to restore access to the Content. If access is not restored in line with the technical standards prevailing in the market, Springer and the Customer shall liaise with each other to agree on a pro rata reduction of the licence fee or any other form of compensation.

12. Obligations of the Customer

With respect to the offering and Content on “springerprofessional.de/.com”, the Customer shall be under an obligation to respect the position Springer and the other right holders hold under the laws governing copyrights and ancillary copyrights. Distinguishing marks, logos and copyright notices must not be removed or altered.

13.  Data backups

The Customer shall itself be responsible for backing up all data and information of relevance to the Customer on a regular basis, in line with technical standards appropriate to the significance of such data and information, to prevent it being lost, damaged or altered.

14. Warranty

14.1 The provision of Sec. 600 BGB shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to free Content and free newsletters.

14.2 The paid services are generally covered by statutory warranty, provided, however, that the following special provisions shall apply if the Customer uses the services of the Portal in its capacity as an entrepreneur within the meaning of Sec. 14 BGB:

The warranty period is reduced to one year, unless the warranty claims concerned are based on damage resulting from injury to life, limb or health, on any guarantees given by Springer or on intent or fraudulent concealment of a defect on the part of Springer. Moreover, the Customer shall inspect the performance obtained under the contract without undue delay after delivery of the goods/provision of the services. If the inspection reveals a defect, the Customer shall report the defect to Springer in writing without undue delay. If such a defect is detected only at a later point, the Customer shall report the defect without undue delay after its detection. If a defect is not reported in due time according to the foregoing provisions, no claims for warranty can be made anymore.

15. Liability

15.1 Special provisions applicable to free services and loss of data

15.1.1 To the extent that the damage is associated with the use of the Portal or use of the newsletter, Secs. 599, 600 BGB shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to free Content and the free newsletters.

15.1.2 If the Customer suffers damage due to a loss of data, Springer shall not be liable for this, irrespective of any involvement, to the extent that the damage could have been prevented if the user had fully backed up all relevant data in a manner appropriate to their purpose on a regular basis.

15.2 General liability provisions

15.2.1 Apart from that, Springer shall be liable in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions for all damage suffered by the Customer as a result of intent or gross negligence, absence of a guaranteed quality or condition [garantierte Beschaffenheit] of the subject matter of the contract, culpable breach of material contractual obligations (known as “cardinal obligations”), culpable injury to life, limb or health or to which liability under the German Product Liability Act [Produkthaftungsgesetz – ProdHaftG] applies.

15.2.2 Cardinal obligations are contractual obligations the very discharge of which is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the contract and on the discharge of which the other party to the contract can as a rule rely and the non-fulfilment of which, on the other hand, puts the achievement of the purpose of the contract at risk.

15.2.3 Provided that the damage caused is only due to slight negligence and no injury to life, limb or health is involved, liability for breach of a cardinal obligation shall be limited to such types of damage as are typically to be expected to occur in the context of the provision of services of the kind forming the subject matter of the contract.

15.2.4 Insofar as the provider also arranges goods and services for third parties as part of its electronic service, any contract is only concluded between the user and the respective provider. Claims from such contracts are therefore directed exclusively against the third party and not against the provider.

15.2.5 Apart from that, all liability (on whatever legal grounds) of Springer and its vicarious agents [Erfüllungs- und Verrichtungsgehilfen] shall be excluded.

16. Data protection

Springer shall treat the data of the Customer as confidential and shall comply with all applicable data protection laws and regulations. Full details on the protection of data can be found in our Privacy Policy

17. Changes to these General Terms and Conditions

17.1 Springer reserves the right to change these General Terms, without giving reasons, at any time. The new General Terms shall be communicated to the Customer by email. If the Customer does not object to them within 14 days of receipt of the email, the new General Terms shall be deemed accepted. The objection must be in text form. In its email, Springer shall specifically inform the Customer of the possibility to object, the time limit for objection and the legal consequences of the user remaining silent. If a Customer objects to the new General Terms, either Party shall have the right to terminate the agreement concerned by giving notice to the respective other Party with immediate effect.

17.2 However, the possibility to change these General Terms shall not apply to amendments which restrict the scale and scope of use of the “springerprofessional.de/.com” service available to the Customer to its disadvantage, nor to the introduction of new obligations of the Customer not previously provided for in these General Terms.

18. Customer service, complaints

If you have any questions regarding the order process or wish to complain, please contact our customer service team:

Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden

Email: service@springerprofessional.de

18.1 Complaints: The EU Commission has created an online platform for extrajudicial conflict resolution between customers and companies. This gives customers the option of clarifying disagreements arising from online orders without initially involving a court of law. The platform can be reached via an external link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

18.2 Out-of-court settlements: We Springer do not engage in out-of-court settlements before consumer arbitration bodies.

19. Final provisions

19.1 The contractual relationships with the Customer and these General Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed solely and exclusively in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. The application of German conflict of law rules and the UN Sales Convention is hereby excluded.

If the user is a consumer, the mandatory consumer protection provisions applicable in the country where the user has his or her habitual residence shall apply in addition to the extent that they provide for more comprehensive protection for the user.

19.2 If the Customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a separate estate created under public law or does not have a permanent residence in Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be Berlin. If the Customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a separate estate created under public law or does not have a permanent residence in Germany, Berlin shall also be the place of performance of all rights and obligations arising out of the contractual relationships with the Customer.

19.3 If any individual provision(s) of these General Terms are or become invalid and/or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby. By applying the German interpretative principle of construing incomplete contracts [ergänzende Vertragsauslegung], any invalid and/or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by such valid and enforceable provision as, taking into account the interests of both Parties, is most suitable to achieve the desired economic result. The same shall apply mutatis mutandis to any gaps in these General Terms which need to be filled. Sentences 2 and 3 of this clause 19.3 shall not apply if the Customer is a consumer within the meaning of Sec. 13 BGB.

19.4 The terms of contract and full consumer information are available in German and English. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH does not provide any specific contract documents. Therefore, the substance of the contract entered into with Springer is made up of these General Terms and Conditions of the “springerprofessional.de/.com” platform combined with the identity of Springer and the Customer and the subject matter of the contracts entered into. In other words, Springer does not store “the contract” entered into with each individual Customer.

Last amended: March 2024

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