Terms and Conditions

Version: July 2026

§ 1 Scope

(1) Simon Bassermann, Postfach 7111, 53071 Bonn, Germany (“Simon Bassermann” or the “Studio”), provides all services exclusively on the basis of these General Terms and Conditions (“GTC”). They also apply to future business, even if not expressly agreed again.

(2) Terms of the customer deviating from these GTC in whole or in part are deemed not agreed unless expressly approved in text form. These GTC apply exclusively even where Simon Bassermann provides services without reservation in the knowledge of conflicting terms of the customer.

§ 2 Customers, definitions

The offer is directed at consumers and entrepreneurs (together the “Customer”). A consumer is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly neither commercial nor self-employed (§ 13 BGB). An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity acting in the exercise of its commercial or independent professional activity when concluding a legal transaction (§ 14 BGB).

§ 3 Contractual basis and conclusion of contract

(1) All services are based on the individual wishes and needs of the Customer. A customer-specific service offer is prepared on the basis of the Customer’s information (e.g. existing systems, planned extensions, functional requirements). The Customer is solely responsible for ensuring that the service description matches its wishes and needs. Simon Bassermann will point out if a service cannot achieve the desired result or is not feasible.

(2) Specifications of the Customer are binding only if agreed in text form.

(3) Offers are non-binding. An order is deemed accepted only upon express declaration of acceptance by Simon Bassermann (text form suffices).

§ 4 Performance, creative freedom, third parties

(1) Within the scope of the creative and design services undertaken, there is creative freedom: Simon Bassermann decides freely, within the Customer’s specifications, which concrete design best achieves the desired goal. Unless otherwise agreed, two correction rounds per service phase are included; further corrections are charged on a time-and-materials basis.

(2) Simon Bassermann may use third parties for the performance of services at any time and to any extent, provided this is reasonable for the Customer, in particular where the third party performs with the same quality and reliability and the Customer suffers no disadvantage.

§ 5 Customer templates and content, indemnification

(1) Templates provided by the Customer (e.g. photos, texts, logos, models, samples) are used on the condition that the Customer is entitled to use them.

(2) The Customer is solely responsible for its materials and content and warrants that they do not infringe third-party rights. The Customer fully indemnifies Simon Bassermann against all third-party claims based on the use of infringing materials and/or content of the Customer, including the resulting costs and expenses (including reasonable costs of legal defence).

(3) The Customer’s web presence, embedded content and email address designation must not violate statutory prohibitions, public morals or third-party rights (trademark, name, copyright, data protection rights, etc.). In particular, the Customer undertakes not to provide content that glorifies violence or is pornographic, right-wing extremist or otherwise unlawful. The Customer must comply with statutory labelling obligations (e.g. provider identification) for its content.

(4) Simon Bassermann is not obliged to review the Customer’s web presence for legal violations. Upon becoming aware of violations or inadmissible content, Simon Bassermann may block the services concerned until further notice; the Customer will be informed without undue delay and remains obliged to pay the applicable fees.

§ 6 Hosting and operational services

(1) Where hosting or operational services are part of the contract and unless otherwise agreed, the Customer has a data transfer volume of two gigabytes per month. The volume used results from the sum of all data transfers connected with the order (e.g. emails, downloads, uploads, web pages). Additional volume is provided within technical capacity for an additional fee according to the applicable price list; the Customer may specify a monthly upper limit in text form.

(2) Any storage capacity stated in the service description applies to the entire available storage space and also serves, among other things, to store log files.

(3) The agreed plan can be adjusted flexibly during the contract term (e.g. storage for web, email and databases as well as domains). When deselecting domains, the termination rules under § 8 apply.

(4) Email mailboxes may be used exclusively for handling email traffic, not as storage space for other files. The Customer retrieves incoming messages at regular intervals. Mass sending of advertising emails (“spamming”) and other unlawful activities (e.g. phishing) are prohibited; in the event of violations, Simon Bassermann may block the plan immediately.

(5) The Customer designs its web pages so as to avoid excessive server load (e.g. through computation-intensive scripts). Simon Bassermann may exclude pages that do not meet these requirements from access, will inform the Customer without undue delay and will make the pages accessible again once the Customer demonstrates the redesign.

§ 7 Domain registration, domain disputes

(1) Top-level domains are administered by a variety of national and international organisations. Where domains are part of the contract, the allocation terms of the respective organisation apply in addition; for .de domains, in particular the DENIC domain terms and guidelines (information at www.denic.de).

(2) In providing and/or maintaining domains, Simon Bassermann acts merely as an intermediary between the Customer and the respective allocation organisation and has no influence on the allocation. No warranty is given that requested domains will be allocated at all, are free of third-party rights or will endure.

(3) The Customer warrants that the requested domain does not infringe third-party rights. The Customer indemnifies Simon Bassermann, its employees and agents, the respective allocation organisation and other persons involved in the registration against third-party claims and all expenses based on the inadmissible use of a domain by or with the approval of the Customer.

(4) If third parties assert claims against Simon Bassermann for actual or alleged infringements, Simon Bassermann may immediately place the Customer’s domain in the care of the registrar and block the Customer’s presences.

(5) After expiry of the contract term or upon termination, Simon Bassermann may release the domain, whereupon all rights of the Customer from the registration lapse. In the event of early termination of individual domains or severable individual services, there is no entitlement to a free replacement domain or a refund, unless the termination is based on circumstances for which Simon Bassermann is responsible.

§ 8 Term and termination

(1) Contracts concluded for an indefinite period may be terminated by either party at any time without cause with 30 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month in text form. For contracts with a minimum or fixed term, the contract is extended for an indefinite period after expiry unless terminated with 30 days’ notice to the end of the term in text form.

(2) The right of both parties to terminate without notice for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists for Simon Bassermann in particular if the Customer defaults on fees in the amount of two monthly base fees (contracts with minimum/fixed term), defaults on payment for more than 30 calendar days (indefinite contracts), or breaches the obligations under § 5 (3), § 6 (4) and (5) or allocation terms or guidelines despite a warning with a deadline.

(3) If Simon Bassermann terminates for good cause due to a culpable breach by the Customer, Simon Bassermann may claim 75 % of the sum of all monthly base fees that the Customer would still have had to pay during the remaining term in the event of timely termination. The Customer remains entitled to prove that no damage or significantly less damage was incurred.

(4) If Simon Bassermann cannot maintain the registration of a Customer domain under the rules of the respective registry, Simon Bassermann may terminate the contract for these services extraordinarily with 14 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month in text form.

(5) Declarations of termination and withdrawal require text form.

§ 9 Prices, payment, price adjustment

(1) All prices are fixed prices. Unless otherwise agreed, payments are due within 14 days of invoicing without deduction. The statutory rules apply to the requirements and consequences of default (§§ 286, 288 BGB). Cheques are accepted only on account of performance.

(2) Operational services are invoiced monthly; work and other services on the day of performance. Amounts below EUR 75.00 per month are invoiced annually in advance; domains are always invoiced annually in advance. Simon Bassermann may activate a domain only after payment of the agreed registration fees.

(3) Simon Bassermann may adjust recurring fees at most once per quarter. The price adjustment requires the Customer’s consent; consent is deemed given if the Customer does not object within four weeks of receipt of the change notification. The notification will separately point out the consequences of a failure to object. A price adjustment takes effect no earlier than four weeks after announcement. In the event of an increase, the Customer has a special right of termination effective as of the effective date.

(4) In the event of a change in the statutory VAT rate, Simon Bassermann may adjust the fees for goods or services provided under continuing obligations accordingly as of the effective date of the change. If fees or their components change within a billing month, the respective service periods are billed separately.

(5) A right of retention of the Customer exists only within the same contractual relationship. If the Customer is an entrepreneur, it may set off only undisputed or legally established claims.

§ 10 Right of withdrawal for consumers

Consumers generally have a statutory right of withdrawal for off-premises and distance contracts. The withdrawal instruction communicated separately to the consumer before conclusion of the contract is decisive.

§ 11 Acceptance, retention of title, attribution

(1) After completion and handover of the service, the parties agree on an acceptance date. A service is deemed accepted without reservation if the Customer uses it in the intended environment or uses it without restriction.

(2) Delivered goods remain the property of Simon Bassermann until full payment.

(3) Simon Bassermann is entitled to refer to itself on all developed information materials and measures and to present the services rendered for self-promotion purposes (e.g. portfolio, website, social media) without the Customer being entitled to any remuneration, unless expressly agreed otherwise.

§ 12 Usage rights

(1) Subject to the condition precedent of full payment of the agreed remuneration, Simon Bassermann grants the Customer the right to use the services rendered for the purpose underlying the contract, to the contractually agreed extent and for the contractually agreed duration. Unless otherwise agreed, the Customer receives the simple, non-exclusive, non-transferable right of use for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany to the contractually intended extent and in the intended environment. Use for purposes other than those contractually agreed, or for new or unknown types of use, requires an express agreement.

(2) Transfer of usage rights or the granting of sublicences is subject to a fee and permissible only if expressly agreed in text form or clearly resulting from the purpose of the contract.

(3) Without separate permission, the Customer is not entitled to change or edit the services rendered, except for changes and edits necessary to achieve the purpose of the contract.

(4) No ownership and no usage rights are granted in drawings, drafts, layouts, software and other materials handed over merely for presentation within the scope of offers and contract negotiations; passing them on to third parties requires express consent.

(5) Without a separate express agreement, Simon Bassermann is not obliged to hand over interim results, drafts, layouts, open working files or source code.

(6) For programs, the Customer generally receives only a simple, non-exclusive right of use for the contract term; otherwise, the licence terms of the respective program manufacturers apply. The Customer ensures that every user complies with these licence terms. The Customer may perform data backups in accordance with the state of the art and create the necessary backup copies. Copyright notices must not be changed or removed. Use, reproduction, editing, reverse engineering or transfer beyond the contractually intended or mandatorily permitted statutory scope, as well as renting, leasing and sublicensing, are prohibited.

(7) Drafts, illustrations and working drawings, including the attribution of authorship, may not be changed either in the original or in reproduction. Any imitation — including of parts or details — is inadmissible. In the event of a violation, Simon Bassermann may claim damages in the amount of the remuneration incurred for the creation of the original work; further claims remain reserved. The Customer remains entitled to prove that no damage or less damage was incurred.

§ 13 Warranty

(1) In the event of a defective service, the Customer is first entitled to cure. At its option, Simon Bassermann shall remedy the defect or deliver/produce a new item free of defects; in the case of replacement delivery, the Customer returns the defective item at Simon Bassermann’s expense. Instead of a new delivery, the Customer may be offered a new program version or release, which the Customer shall adopt if and as soon as this is reasonable, the change serves to avoid failures or remedy defects, and no further costs arise for the Customer.

(2) If the Customer is an entrepreneur, the limitation period for claims for defects is one year. For consumers, the statutory limitation periods apply. Claims for damages from injury to life, body or health and for intentional or grossly negligent breaches of duty remain unaffected in any case; the statutory periods apply to these.

(3) If the Customer is a merchant, § 377 HGB applies: the Customer shall inspect delivered goods without undue delay for defects, quantity deviations or wrong delivery and notify identifiable defects in text form without undue delay after discovery. Defects shall be documented meaningfully, in particular by logging displayed error messages.

(4) The Customer shall support Simon Bassermann in remedying defects to the best of its ability and shall fully back up programs, data and data carriers before any defect remedy, in particular before a machine exchange.

(5) Defects occurring after unreserved acceptance that already existed before acceptance and are not hidden defects do not give rise to a claim for remedy. The same applies to partial acceptance of individually usable services.

§ 14 Third-party property rights

(1) Simon Bassermann endeavours not to infringe third-party property rights when providing services but does not review such rights unless expressly agreed in text form. Freedom of the service from third-party property rights is warranted only if expressly agreed in text form; in all other cases, the Customer indemnifies Simon Bassermann against third-party claims arising from the infringement of property rights.

(2) Each party will inform the other without undue delay if conflicting property rights become known; the parties will then jointly agree on how to proceed.

(3) Liability for the infringement of third-party property rights is limited to rights positively known to Simon Bassermann at the time of the infringement or unknown due to gross negligence. Where liability exists, cure is effected at Simon Bassermann’s option by an equivalent work-around or by acquiring a licence.

(4) Liability is excluded to the extent the infringement results from (i) the combination of the service with other services or products, (ii) changes or modifications of the service by the Customer or third parties, (iii) specifications of the Customer or services and products of third parties, or (iv) unforeseeable use or operation of the services.

§ 15 Liability

(1) Simon Bassermann is liable without limitation in accordance with the statutory provisions for damage to life, body and health based on a negligent or intentional breach of duty by Simon Bassermann, its legal representatives or agents, and for damage covered by the German Product Liability Act. For other damage based on intentional or grossly negligent breaches of contract or fraudulent intent, liability follows the statutory provisions. For damage based on the absence of a guaranteed characteristic that does not occur directly to the goods, liability exists only if the risk of such damage is evidently covered by the guarantee.

(2) For damage caused by simple negligence, liability exists only insofar as it is based on the breach of rights that the contract is specifically intended to grant to the Customer and/or of obligations whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the Customer may regularly rely (cardinal obligations); in this case, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract.

(3) Liability for loss of data is limited to the recovery effort that would have been incurred had the Customer performed proper and regular data backups. Within the scope of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG), its liability provisions remain unaffected.

(4) Any further liability is excluded irrespective of the legal nature of the claim asserted. The above limitations do not apply to consumer claims to the extent that mandatory statutory provisions conflict with them.

§ 16 Customer obligations, data backup, passwords

(1) The Customer warrants that the data provided are correct and complete and will inform Simon Bassermann of changes without undue delay.

(2) The Customer keeps received passwords strictly confidential and informs Simon Bassermann without undue delay upon knowledge or suspicion that unauthorised third parties know the password. Persons using the Customer’s password when making declarations concerning the contractual relationship are deemed authorised by the Customer. If third parties use services of Simon Bassermann through misuse of passwords due to the Customer’s fault, the Customer is liable for usage fees and damages, unless the unauthorised use was recognisable to Simon Bassermann.

(3) The Customer is responsible for performing a data backup after each working day on which its data was changed; data stored on Simon Bassermann’s servers must not be backed up on those servers. Before work by Simon Bassermann begins and before installing delivered hardware or software, the Customer performs a complete data backup. The Customer thoroughly tests each program for freedom from defects and usability in its specific situation before commencing operational use; this also applies to programs received under warranty and maintenance. Even minor changes to software can impair the operability of the entire system.

§ 17 Data protection

(1) Simon Bassermann is entitled to store the data relating to the specific order and to process and use it for operational purposes in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions. Personal data is passed on to third parties only if and to the extent this is necessary for the fulfilment of the contractual purpose (e.g. domain registration, commissioning of subcontractors) and is limited to the extent required.

(2) The Customer is advised that, given the current state of technology, data protection cannot be comprehensively guaranteed for data transmissions in open networks such as the internet. The Customer is itself responsible for the security of data it transmits to the internet and stores on web servers.

(3) In addition, the privacy policy applies.

§ 18 Dispute resolution

In the event of disagreements arising from a contract, we endeavour to settle them amicably. Simon Bassermann is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

§ 19 Final provisions

(1) The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contract is Bonn, Germany, if the Customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law, a special fund under public law or has no place of jurisdiction in Germany. Simon Bassermann is additionally entitled to sue the Customer at the Customer’s general place of jurisdiction.

(2) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). For consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive them of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of the state of their habitual residence.

(3) Agreements between the parties for the execution of an order as well as amendments, supplements and side agreements require text form.

(4) The place of performance is the registered office of Simon Bassermann.

(5) Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.