General Terms and Conditions of the “ist-surfacetechnology.com” platform

Springer Gabler | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH
Abraham-Lincoln-Straße 46
65189 Wiesbaden, Germany

Tel.: (+49) 0800-777 30 55
Fax: (+49) 06221-345 42 29
Email: springervieweg-service@springer.com

Managing Directors: Stefanie Burgmaier | Joachim Krieger | Juliane Ritt
Court of Jurisdiction: Regional Court of Wiesbaden, HRB 9754
VAT ID Nr. DE811148419

Responsible party in accordance with § 55 Par. 2 of the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement:
Stefanie Burgmaier, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Straße. 46, 65189 Wiesbaden

“ist-surfacetechnology.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: springervieweg-service@springer.com  (“Springer”).

1. Services

1.1 “ist-surfacetechnology.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 “Archive” 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 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 “Archive”, 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 Service”) for this purpose. The contract for use of the SSO 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 “ist-surfacetechnology.com” Portal and its services by entering the login details assigned to them by the SSO Service into the login form. Nevertheless, Springer reserves the right to deny access even if Customers have completed the registration process through the SSO 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 Service have the right to centrally disable the login details for the SSO 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 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 “ist-surfacetechnology.com” Portal.

3. Free services; newsletters

3.1 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.

3.2 Email newsletters

3.2.1 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.

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

3.2.3 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 (springervieweg-service@springer.com).

4. Paid Content, subscriptions, right of cancellation

4.1 Individual and subscription contracts

Some Content and some Products on “ist-surfacetechnology.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.

4.3 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; email: springervieweg-service@springer.com ; fax: +49-6221-345 42 29) 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.

Model cancellation form

Model cancellation form

(complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)

To our customer service at springervieweg-service@springer.com, or in writing to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 46, D-65189 Wiesbaden:

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.

 

5. Rights in Content 

5.1 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.

5.2 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.

6. Access to the Content

During the Licence Term, the Customer shall be granted access to the licensed Content via any 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.

7. Rights and obligations of Springer

7.1 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.

7.2 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.

7.3 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 ratareduction of the licence fee or any other form of compensation.

8. Obligations of the Customer

With respect to the offering and Content on “ist-surfacetechnology.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.

9.  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.

10. Warranty

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

10.2 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.

11. Liability

11.1 Special provisions applicable to free services and loss of data

11.1.1 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.

11.1.2 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.

11.2 General liability provisions

11.2.1 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.

11.2.2 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.

11.2.3 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.

11.2.4 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: springervieweg-service@springer.com

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: January 2016