General Terms and Conditions
1. Scope
(1) Diese allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen ... shall apply to contracts between Jacobi Übersetzungen and its customers insofar as no other terms have been expressly agreed or are required by law. (2) Jacobi Übersetzungen shall be bound by any General Terms and Conditions set out by the customer only if they have been expressly accepted by the former.
2. Scope of the translation task and commissioning
Our translation tasks will be completed with care in accordance with the professional standards acceptable in the sector. The customer will receive their translation in whatever form is contractually agreed. Commissioning may take place either in writing by post or by telephone, fax or e-mail. The confirmation of any commission by any of these media shall be taken as binding. This applies equally to the commissioning of orders by the customer and to any professionally competent third parties that may be engaged by Jacobi Übersetzungen to complete the commission.
3. Duty of collaboration and clarification on the part of the commissioning party
(1) The customer must inform Jacobi Übersetzungen in good time of the form in which the relevant translation is required (its destined purpose, the media to be used for delivery, number of copies, proofs, the external form of the translation, etc.). If the translation is destined for print publication, the customer will provide Jacobi Übersetzungen with a proof in good time before print deadline so that Jacobi can remove any errors that it may contain. Proper names and numbers should be checked by the customer. (2) The customer will provide Jacobi Übersetzungen with all information and materials necessary for the translation (a list of customer terminology, illustrations, graphics, tables, abbreviations, internal expressions, etc.) upon award of the commission. (3) Jacobi Übersetzungen will not be responsible for any errors and delays resulting from incomplete or delayed delivery of information and instructions. (4) The customer will be responsible for the intellectual property rights associated with a text, and to ensure that any permission that may be necessary in order to translate the text exists. Jacobi will not be responsible for any claims made by third parties.
4. Rights of the commissioning party in case of errors or omissions
(1) Jacobi Übersetzungen reserves the right to remedy any defects or omissions in its work. The customer shall initially only be entitled to the resolution of any defects or omissions in any translation that may be at issue. (2) Any entitlement to remedy must be claimed within 5 work days. Any such claim must be accompanied by a precise indication of the defect or omission. After the expiry of this period, the translation shall be deemed to be correct and to have been accepted as such by the customer. (3) If Jacobi Übersetzungen should fail to make good the reported defects or omissions within a reasonable period or if it should refuse to make good such defects, or if the correction process should fail to resolve the defects, then upon giving the service provider an hearing the customer may cause the defects to be resolved by another translator at the cost of the service provider, or may either require a markdown in the remuneration for the work or terminate the contract. The correction process shall be taken to have failed if the translation should continue to exhibit defects after several attempts to remove them.
5. Liability
(1) Jacobi Übersetzungen shall be responsible for any gross negligence or deliberate act. Damages due to computer failures or to transmission errors in e-mail deliveries or through viruses shall not be considered gross negligence. Jacobi Übersetzungen undertakes to take great care to prevent such risks through the use of anti-virus software. Responsibility for simple negligence shall apply only in cases of failure to discharge primary duties. (2) Any claim by the client against Jacobi Übersetzungen to make good any damages as described in Section 5 (1) Point 4 shall be limited to EUR 5,000 EUR, though in individual cases it may be possible by express agreement to fix a higher level of compensation. (3) The exclusion or limitation of responsibility described in Section 5 (1) and (2) does not apply to damages to a consumer arising from injury to the life, limb or health of a person. (4) Except where there is bad faith, any claim by the customer against Jacobi Übersetzungen arising out of defects or omissions in a translation (in accordance with Section 634a of the German Civil Code -- BGB) shall expire after one year has elapsed from acceptance of the translation. (Note: This provision shall only be applicable to contracts with businesses, and not to contracts concluded with consumers) (5) However, liability for consequential damages shall be limited to the legal limitation period set out in Section 634a BGB. Section 202 Para. 1 BGB shall remain unaffected.
6. Professional confidentiality
Jacobi Übersetzungen undertakes to treat all information revealed to it as part of its work for its customers in strict confidentiality.
7. Third party involvement
(1) Jacobi Übersetzungen shall have the right to contract employees or suitably qualified third parties to carry out its instructions. (2) Where it engages suitably qualified third parties, Jacobi Übersetzungen must ensure that such third parties undertake to respect the duty of confidentiality set out in Section 6.
8. Remuneration
(1) Jacobi Übersetzungen's invoices are due and payable without discount within 14 days of date of invoice. (2) All prices are net of Value Added Tax at its currently applicable rate. (3) In addition to its entitlement to agreed fees, Jacobi Übersetzungen shall be entitled to remuneration for any expenses actually incurred and agreed with the client. Value Added Tax shall be added to the amount invoiced wherever legally required. Where translations require particularly largescale effort, Jacobi Übersetzungen may require a reasonable advance payment. Jacobi Übersetzungen may agree in advance with the customer that the delivery of its work may be made conditional on payment of its full fee. (4) If the fee amount has not been agreed, then reasonable and usual remuneration in consideration of the type and difficulty of the work shall be due. This remuneration shall not be less than the applicable rate fixed by German Law on remuneration and compensation (JVEG). (5) Jacobi Übersetzungen reserves the right - especially in the case of large-scale commissions - to require the payment of a reasonable down payment from the customer before commencing translation work. Such a down payment will generally be between 25% and 50% of the total projected price of the translation. In such cases, services will be provided immediately upon receipt of the down payment in Jacobi Übersetzungen's account. (6) The payment of any suitably qualified third parties by Jacobi Übersetzungen will be made exclusively by bank transfer. Jacobi Übersetzungen will not make any payments on a cash-on-delivery or similar basis. Subcontractors (translators) assigned to projects by Jacobi Übersetzungen agree to these payment conditions by virtue of their acceptance of a translation commission.
9. Reservation of title and copyright
(1) All translations shall remain the property of Jacobi Übersetzungen until full payment has been received. Until that point the customer shall have no right to make use of it. (2) Jacobi Übersetzungen reserves any copyright that may arise.
10. Right of rescission
If the award of a translation commission is based on Jacobi Übersetzungen offer of translation services on the internet, the customer waives any possible right to rescission in cases where Jacobi Übersetzungen has already begun the translation and informed the customer of that fact.
11. Applicable law
(1) German Law shall apply to any commission and to all entitlements arising from any such commission. (2) The language of the contract shall be German. (3) The court of jurisdiction shall be Saarbrücken.
12. Severability clause
The nullity or inapplicability any individual terms of these Terms and Conditions shall not affect the applicability of the remaining terms. Any ineffective condition shall be replaced by a valid term coming as close as possible to the intended aim of the ineffective term.
13. Changes and clarifications
Any changes and clarifications made to these General Terms and Conditions shall only be applicable insofar as they have been agreed in writing. This shall apply even to the requirement for written agreement itself.
Status as of: October, 2010