The Internet platform free-aid.com, which is operated by the “Engagement für Menschen und Rechte e.V.” [commitment for people and rights, registered association] (hereinafter also referred to as Directory) offers its registered users (hereinafter referred to as Users) the possibility to publish own texts, images and own contents in a directory. The Users can publish their profile and their contents independently, they are solely responsible for the contents which are made available. Each User undertakes to comply with the principles of the Directory and, in particular, not to enter any contents, which are wilfully untrue and libellous or fulfil other elements of a criminal offence or which infringe rights of third parties. Incidentally, the customary rules of conduct in the Internet are to be complied with and the general modes of behaviour are to be safeguarded.
It is pointed out that the publication of contents and opinions by Users of free-aid.com does not represent any expression of an opinion of the Internet platform free-aid.com.
1. Scope
1.1 The following General Business Terms shall apply exclusively to the use of the Directory operated by the “Engagement für Menschen und Rechte e.V.” via the website www.free-aid.com. Contradictory business terms of the Users shall explicitly not apply unless “Engagement für Menschen und Rechte e.V.” explicitly approves their validity in writing.
1.2 free-aid.com reserves the right to change these General Business Terms with effect for the future insofar as the changes are deemed reasonable for the Users of the Directory by taking the interests of free-aid.com into consideration. This is in particular the case if the changes have no financial disadvantages for the Users, e.g. in case of changes in the registration process or adjustment to the General Business Terms by taking changed or new services or functionalities into consideration.
1.3 In the event of a change free-aid.com will inform the User of the changes to the General Business Terms by e-mail and point out to him that the changes shall be deemed as accepted if he does not object within four weeks since receipt of the e-mail.
2. Registration
2.1 Each User, who intends to use the services of the Directory, must register before participation. He must send the data requested in the registration form hereby, which he subsequently has to keep up-to-date for the duration of his registration.
2.2 The registration, which was carried out, will be confirmed to the User by e-mail. There is no legal entitlement to registration. The operator is entitled to refuse the registration without stating any reasons.
2.3 The User must complete all fields marked as mandatory fields with the registration correctly. Pseudonyms are not permitted hereby, nor is the entry of a non-existent e-mail address or an e-mail address, which belongs to a third party. If the entered data change after the registration then the User himself is obliged to correct the details in his member account immediately. A multiple registration is not permitted.
2.4 free-aid.com reserves the right to refuse a registration without stating any reasons. All information of the user, which was recorded at free-aid.com, will in this case be deleted within 5 workdays.
2.5 free-aid.com reserves the right to delete user accounts of registrations, which have not been carried out completely, after a reasonable period of time.
3. Password and obligations of the User
3.1 With the registration each User will receive an individual password. The access to the services in the Directory is only possible with this password.
3.2 With the loss of the password or with the justified presumption that a third party gains knowledge of the password the User is obliged to change the password immediately and to inform the administrators of the Directory in writing by e-mail or by fax.
3.3 Until the report of the abuse all declarations and entered contents submitted in the Directory will be attributed to the User. The User will be liable for each abuse of third parties until this time unless he does not bear any fault in this respect.
3.4 The User has to check all entered texts for the accuracy of the contents. The User undertakes to comply with the statutory provisions.
3.5 The User may not enter any contents or contributions, which infringe the rights of third parties (in particular name rights, personal rights, trademark rights, copyrights, ancillary copyrights, etc.), which are illegal, are unsuitable for minors or are offensive or may be considered to be such, which contain viruses, bypass devices or unsolicited bulk mail (so-called “spam”), which request for participation in a chain letter, pyramid game and free share actions, or which pursue commercial or otherwise advertising purposes. The User has to comply with existing copyrights and property rights of third parties and provisions under criminal law.
3.6 The following contents are not permitted and may not be entered by the user:
- pornographic goods
- unlawful/criminal contents
- libellous and immoral contents
- violent bodies of thought
- contents with reference to drug abuse
- bodies of thought with radical political or religious opinions.
If immoral or business-damaging contents are entered, free-aid.com is entitled to delete these and to forbid the User to continue to post items in the Directory.
3.7 The User is solely responsible for all data and information, which he distributes via the Directory and forwards to others. Insofar as the possibility exists to state so-called hyperlinks (hereinafter referred to as “links”), the User undertakes to examine the links set by him for unlawful, offensive, racist, youth-endangering, libellous, threatening, radical-political or pornographic contents and to delete links with such contents.
3.8 It is not permitted to hold more than one user access in the Directory, even if a User has various e-mail addresses.
3.9 It is further not permitted to use machines, algorithms or other automatic functions in order to generate site calls or contents.
3.10 free-aid.com reserves the right to report breaches of applicable law to the authorities of the respective country of the User. free-aid.com further reserves the right to assert claims for damages with breaches of the General Business Terms.
4. Granted rights by the User
4.1 The User assigns the operator a remuneration-free, unlimited, comprehensive right of use, in particular to the reproduction, distribution, editing to all works or work parts, which the User transmits to free-aid.com within the scope of the Directory, including the right to publish these contents in print media, online, on CD-ROM, in the Internet etc., also for advertising purposes. The right of use shall only comprise such uses, which are necessary for fulfilling the contractual obligations of the operator. The User reserves the right to object to individual uses.
4.2 The User shall permit free-aid.com to adjust his personal data and already provided information to the Directory and for the required format templates and if applicable to change images.
4.3 With the entry of texts, images, image sequences and codes the User declares that he is the holder of all rights to the texts, images, images sequences and codes, which are made available.
4.4 The granted rights shall lapse with the termination of the membership or the removal of the information by the User.
5. Deletion of the registration
Each User can have his registration deleted at all times. The participation entitlement will cease to apply with the deletion of the registration. free-aid.com is entitled to delete an existing registration without stating any reasons and will in particular do this if the User has provided false details with the registration or breaches the Terms of Use. A deletion of the registration will be communicated to the respect User by free-aid.com in writing, by fax or by means of electronic post (e-mail). In the event of the deletion of the registration no claims will exist against free-aid.com, in particular not for deletion of contributions in the Directory or on the platform.
6. Liability
6.1 free-aid.com will only be liable in cases, in which free-aid.com itself, a legal representative or a vicarious agent is responsible for wilful intent or gross negligence. The aforementioned shall not apply insofar as liability is assumed for damages from the injury to life, the body or the health as well as in the event of the breach of essential contractual obligations. Apart from with wilful intent, gross negligence and damages from the injury to life, the body or the health the liability is limited with regard to the amount to the typically foreseeable damages.
6.2 The User will be solely liable as provider of this information for damages, which are suffered from the use of already provided information in particular by the use of the Directory.
6.3 The User will be principally liable for all activities, which are carried out by using his member account. If the User is not responsible for the abuse of his member account, because here is no breach of the existing obligations to show care and attention, the User will not be liable.
7. Indemnification from liability
The User shall indemnify free-aid.com from all claims, which other Users or other third parties assert against free-aid.com owing to the infringement of their rights due to contents entered by the User or owing to his other use of the Directory. The User will bear the costs of the necessary legal defence of free-aid.com incurred for this purpose including all court and lawyer’s costs in the statutory amount. This shall not apply if the User is not responsible for the infringement of rights. The User is obliged to make all information available to free-aid.com immediately, truthfully and fully for the event of the assertion of a claim by third parties, which is necessary for examining the claims and for a defence.
8. Warranty
free-aid.com cannot assume any warranty for technical defects, in particular for the constant and uninterrupted availability of the website and its contents or for the full and error-free depiction of the contributions made available by the User. The services in the Directory are offered by free-aid.com free of charge and without obligation, without any legal obligations to maintain the operation. free-aid.com reserves the right to discontinue the Directory in full or in part or to render this liable to costs without a prior announcement at all times.
9. External links and viruses
9.1 free-aid.com has no influence on the contents of external links; exclusively their operators are responsible for such contents. free-aid.com explicitly distances itself from all contents of external links and does not assume any liability for their contents.
9.2 The User shall be liable for the fact that the files transmitted by him are free of viruses. free-aid.com reserves the right to assert claims for compensation owing to damages due to viruses against the User.
10. Data protection
The User is informed about the type, scope, place and purpose of the collection, processing and use of the personal data, which are necessary for the registration for free-aid.com and the conducting of business transactions, by the operator (see data protection declaration). The User is aware that free-aid.com stores all called sites as well as the duration of each call in order to optimise the Directory. The User is further aware that personal information such as for example an e-mail address is displayed in the Directory if a registration is carried out. free-aid.com is entitled to communicate with the User by using electronic or other means and the User hereby agrees to such communication. The User undertakes, subject to an explicit approval by free-aid.com, not to use any data of other users which have become known through the Directory in any form. It is in particular forbidden to use such information for advertising, unsolicited e-mails, other unsolicited contacts or for other inadmissible purposes.
11. Final provisions
11.1 The contractual language is German.
11.2 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to contracts between free-aid.com and the User under the exclusion of the laws governing the international purchase of movable goods. This choice of law shall only apply with consumers insofar as the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the state of the consumer’s customary abode of the consumer is not withdrawn from the customer.
11.3 Insofar as the User is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or special assets under public law, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes from contractual relationships between the customer and the seller is the registered seat of “Engagement für Menschen und Rechte e.V.”. This shall also apply if the customer has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany or the EU, or his place of residence or his customary place of abode is not known at the time when the action is filed.
Source: Lawyer Metzler – Lawyer for competition law, trademark law and copyright law
Licence: Creative Commons cc-by-sa