my-specialized-knowledge.com
my-specialized-knowledge.com
1.1 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH ("Springer" or "we"; see above for address and contact details) provides its online services at www.meinfachwissen.de (the "Platform") exclusively on the basis of these Terms and Conditions ("T&C"). We do not accept any provisions deviating from these T&C unless they are confirmed by us in writing. We hereby object to any deviating terms and conditions of the customer; such terms and conditions shall not become part of the contract even if we are aware of such terms and conditions.
1.2 We may amend these T&C if this should become necessary for an objectively justified reason (editorial changes; adaptation to changes in legislation or case law; adaptation to changes in the functions of our services); this does not apply to changes that would significantly restrict the use of our services by you or would be unreasonably disadvantageous for you for other reasons. We will notify you of any changes to these General Terms and Conditions in good time before their planned entry into force. If you do not object to the amendment within four weeks of receipt of the notification, you shall be deemed have accepted of the new T&C. We will draw your attention to this legal consequence when notifying you of the change. Should you have objected to the amendment, we may terminate the contract for good cause.
2.1 The goods and services (together: "Products") offered on the Platform are aimed at consumers as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. A consumer is a natural person who concludes a contract for purposes which are predominantly outside their trade, business, craft or profession.
2.2 Steps to the conclusion of a contract: Presenting our products and services on the platform does not constitute an offer to conclude a contract, but an invitation to place orders. After entering your data, you can review it and, if necessary, go back to correct any errors. You can cancel the order process at any time by closing the browser window. You submit a binding offer to conclude a contract only when you click on the "Order with obligation to pay" button.
2.3 Conclusion of the contract: We will immediately confirm receipt of your order by e-mail. This is not yet an acceptance of the order. The contract is concluded when we expressly accept your order, or tacitly upon delivery or activation of access, e.g. by transmitting the access data. If we do not accept an order, we will inform you of this within 3 working days.
2.4 Contract: We do not store the contract and is therefore not accessible to you after conclusion of the contract; however, you will receive a confirmation of the contract by e-mail which includes the content of your order and these T&C.
3.1 Delivery
3.1.1 The applicable shipping costs will be stated on the order page before you submit your order. For deliveries abroad, you shall be the increased shipping costs and any additional taxes and customs duties. We will state these costs on the order page where we can reasonably calculate them in advance; otherwise we will inform you that such costs may be incurred.
3.1.2 We deliver goods from Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH to the postal address which you have provided. Delivery will be made within 14 days by the shipping service provider Deutsche Post (courier and letters) or DPD (parcels and small parcels).
For magazines, however, the following applies: Depending on the publication frequency, the current print edition will be delivered within 3 to 75 days.
Springer Nature Customer Service Centre GmbH, Tiergartenstraße 15, 69121 Heidelberg, Germany, Tel +49 (0)6221 / 345 - 4303, Fax +49 (0)6221 / 345 - 4229, will carry out international shipments with a suitable shipping service provider of its choice. The place of performance is our distribution centre; if you are a consumer (Section 2.1), the risk shall not pass until the goods are handed over to you or a receiving agent appointed by you.
3.2 If goods or services are expressly offered by a third party via our platform, any contracts are concluded exclusively between you and the relevant provider. We do not act on behalf of the provider, but merely transmit your order to the provider. Any claims arising from such contracts are directed exclusively against the provider. All offers are subject to the respective price lists and terms and conditions of purchase of the provider that are applicable at the time when you place your order.
4.1 Access and authentication: During the term of the contract, the customer shall have access to the licensed content and/or services (together: "digital products") via Internet Protocol ("IP") authentication or via another authentication method specified by us in accordance with the product description by means of access data (e.g. licence key; e-mail address and password).
4.2 Registration as a User on the Platform is required before you can start using digital products and a User must accept these T&C. After conclusion of the licence agreement, Springer will provide the customer with a set of access data or inform the customer about the activation of the agreed IP address(es).
4.3 Authorised use and authorised users
4.3.1 Licence: Upon conclusion of the contract and subject to full payment of the fee (Section 5.4), Springer grants the Customer the non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to access and use the products that are made available to the Customer. Where the Customer has not purchased a Multi-User Licence (Section 9), only the Customer him:herself or an authorised user designated in their place has the right to use the access and the digital products (single licence).
4.3.2 Authorised user: The customer shall specify once which person shall be authorised to use the products licensed by the customer as an authorised user. Authorised users may only include the customer's own employees, including temporary employees and freelancers/contractors acting in the name of and on behalf of the customer; employees of other companies/institutions, including affiliated companies, are excluded. The customer shall be responsible for the fault of an authorised user to the same extent as its own fault (§ 278 German Civil Code).
4.3.3 Access data: Access data may be used only by the authorised user. Access data is technically restricted to access on single-user computers. The customer and the authorised users must keep their access data confidential and protect them by appropriate measures. The customer and the authorised users are prohibited from sharing access data with third parties or letting third parties use their access and/or the licensed content in any other way; this also applies to other employees of the same company. If the customer or the authorised user becomes aware or has reasonable grounds to suspect that unauthorised third parties have access to their access data or are using their access, he is obliged to set a new password immediately or to inform us.
4.3.4 Personal use: A licence, together with the access data, is permanently assigned to the person of the authorised user and is not transferable. It is not permitted to transfer a licence to other employees of the same company, unless an explicit exception has been made for special cases (e.g. the departure of an employee). If the customer him:herself is a natural person, the customer him:herself is the authorised user unless he designates someone else as the authorised user.
4.3.5 Obligation of the Authorised User by the Customer: The Customer is (a) shall contractually impose the obligations set out in sections 4.3.3 and 4.3.4 on the Authorised User when granting them the right of use; (b) shall draw the Authorised User's attention to Springer's intellectual property and to the limits of the scope of the licence (section 4.4); (c) shall monitor the Authorised User's compliance with the aforementioned obligations and restrictions by means of appropriate measures, including the threat of proportionate and dissuasive sanctions in the event of breaches (section 4.3.6).
4.3.6 Action against offences: If the Customer becomes aware of a breach by an Authorised User, he:she shall immediately take the necessary measures to prevent continued or repeated abuse, in particular block the breaching user’s access and/or impose appropriate sanctions.
4.3.6 Springer's rights: Depending on the nature and extent of the unauthorised use or misuse, we may also take measures against the Authorised User concerned at our reasonable discretion, e.g. block their access data and/or exclude them from using the Platform; this shall be without prejudice to other legal remedies or claims, e.g. for damages.
4.4.1 A licence includes the following rights of use:
The right to store content in machine-readable form is always limited to the term of the contract; only hardcopies may be kept and used beyond this period.
4.4.2 Unauthorised use:
The Customer and Authorised Users are not authorised:
The systematic, permanent storage of search results, e.g. in a database, is not permitted.
The customer may not make Springer's services available to third parties under any circumstances or in any way.
4.5 Information intermediaries: The use of a product by an information intermediary of the Customer (e.g. librarian, knowledge manager) who is not him:herself an Authorised User is only permitted where the information intermediary acts on behalf of an Authorised User, the Authorised User does not carry out the query him:herself and the materials are transmitted only once and only to the Authorised User. The information intermediary shall delete the data immediately thereafter; the Customer shall be responsible for such deletion.
4.6 Copyright restrictions and reservations of use: The Customer and the Authorised Users may use the software beyond the scope of the licence exclusively in accordance with the statutory exceptions and limitations of copyright.
Springer reserves the right to use content for text and data mining (Section 44b (3) German Copyright Act). Text and data mining is therefore only permitted to the extent that this is authorised by an express contractual or statutory provision. Springer also reserves the right to use the content for the training of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
4.7 Removal of content: Springer may remove parts of the content from the Platform to which Springer no longer holds publication rights or in respect of which it has reasonable grounds to believe that they infringe copyrights or otherwise violate legal provisions. Springer will endeavour to inform the Customer in good time.
4.8 Rights of the Customer: Springer will endeavour to provide an equivalent substitute for removed content (Section 4.7). If the change nevertheless significantly affects the Customer’s use of the service as a whole, the Customer has the right to set Springer a reasonable deadline and to give written notice of termination after expiry of the deadline without remedy. We shall only be liable for damages in the event of culpable conduct and within the limitation set out in Section 8.
5.1 Payment shall be made against invoice. Payment shall be due immediately. After placing your order, you will receive an order confirmation with information on payment options and on dispatch and access to the digital content.
5.2 You shall be in default at the latest if you do not make payment within 30 days of the due date and receipt of the invoice; if you are a consumer (Section 2.1), this shall only apply if you have been informed of this consequence explicitly in the invoice.
5.3 You will be invoiced on our behalf by the following companies: (a) in case of German language titles: Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH, Tiergartenstraße 15, 69121 Heidelberg, Germany, phone +49 6221 345 - 4303, fax +49 6221 345 – 4229; (b) in case of worldwide magazines: Customer Service Springer Fachmedien, 65341 Eltville, Germany, phone +49 6123 9238-204, fax +49 6123 9238-244, email: worldwide-magazines@vuservice.de.
5.4 We shall retain full title to the purchased goods until the purchase price has been paid in full.
5.5 The rights of use with respect to digital content which we grant you are subject to the condition precedent (Section 158 (1) BGB) of full payment of the licence fee, which shall be due in advance for the current billing period. We may restrict or suspend access to the licensed content without prior notice until all licence fees due have been paid; this shall be without prejudice to further legal remedies and claims, e.g. based ob default.
Consumers (Section 2.1) have a statutory right of cancellation.
There is no right of withdrawal for contracts relating to
The right of withdrawal expires in the case of a contract relating to
the supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium if the performance has begun with the Customer’s prior express consent and their acknowledgment that he:she thereby loses their right of withdrawal and the Customer has received confirmation of the contract and this consent and acknowledgement by e-mail.
a) The following applies to sales contract relating to goods delivered as part of a single delivery:
Instructions on withdrawal Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 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, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel +49 (0)611 / 78 78 - 0, springerfachmedien@springernature.com) 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 14 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 14 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 14 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. |
b) The following applies to a sales contract relating to goods that were ordered in one order and are delivered separately:
Instructions on withdrawal Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 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 last good. To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Straße 46, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel +49 (0)611 / 78 78 - 0, springerfachmedien@springernature.com) 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 14 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 14 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 14 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. |
c) The following applies to a sales contract relating to the regular delivery of goods during a defined period of time, e.g. print subscriptions, but also combined subscriptions (print magazine plus e-magazine):
Instructions on withdrawal Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 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 first good. To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Straße 46, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel +49 (0)611 / 78 78 - 0, springerfachmedien@springernature.com) 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 14 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 14 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 14 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. |
d) The following applies to contracts relating to the supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (downloads, e-papers/e-magazines, e-books; access to licensed content; but not combined subscriptions, see c) above):
Instructions on withdrawal Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 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 first good. To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Straße 46, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel +49 (0)611 / 78 78 - 0, springerfachmedien@springernature.com) 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 14 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. |
e) You may use the following model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory:
Model withdrawal form (If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please complete and return this form.) To Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Abraham-Lincoln-Straße 46, 65189 Wiesbaden, Tel +49 (0)611 / 78 78 - 0, springerfachmedien@springernature.com: – 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 service(*) – Ordered on (*)/received on (*) – Name of consumer(s) – Address of consumer(s) – Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper), – Date (*) Delete as appropriate. |
7.1 We do not guarantee that our websites will be available at all times. The platform or parts or individual functions of the platform may be temporarily unavailable, in particular due to maintenance work or technical faults. Wherever possible, we will schedule planned maintenance work for times when there is little traffic, and we will announce more extensive maintenance work well in advance.
7.2 In the event of an insignificant interruption or restriction of the availability of the licenced content, you shall not be entitled to any claims. An interruption/restriction of availability is insignificant as long as the licenced content is available more than 95% of the time on a monthly average. In the event of an impairment that is more than insignificant, section 4.8 sentence 2 shall apply accordingly.
8.1 Warranty rights: There are statutory warranty rights with respect to goods and digital products. Warranty claims expire within two years of receipt of the goods or provision of the digital product; in the case of the permanent provision of a digital product at the earliest 12 months after the end of the period of provision.
8.2 Limitation of liability: We shall only be liable for damages where damage is the result of wilful conduct or gross negligence, or where slight negligence has resulted in a breach of an obligation whose fulfilment is essential for the proper performance of the contract and on whose compliance the contractual partner may regularly rely (essential obligation); in the latter case, liability shall be limited to such damages which are typical for the nature of the contract and which were foreseeable when the contract was concluded. Liability for injury to health, body or life as well as liability under the Product Liability Act shall always remain unaffected.
8.3 Force Majeure:
8.3.1 The provisions of this Section 8.3 shall not apply to the provision of digital products if the customer is a consumer (Section 2.1).
8.3.2 If one party is temporarily unable to perform a contractual obligation due to Force Majeure, the performance obligations of both parties shall be suspended, i.e. if it is impossible to deliver the goods or provide digital products, the customer shall not yet have to pay any purchase price or licence fee. This suspension shall continue until the impediment to performance ceases to exist; subsequently, the affected obligation shall be performed within a reasonable period of time, if possible; the time of performance shall therefore be postponed by the duration of this period. In the case of a contract for access to digital products for a specific period, there shall be no licence fee for the period in which we were suspended from our obligations as a result of Force Majeure.
8.3.2 The party prevented from fulfilling a performance obligation by an event of Force Majeure shall notify the other party of this circumstance and the expected time at which the performance can be made up for as soon as possible.
8.3.3 If the impediment to performance lasts longer than 2 weeks or if it is likely that performance will be postponed by at least 2 weeks, both parties shall have the right to give written notice of termination of the contract with immediate effect.
Multi-User Licence are only aimed at institutional customers such as enterprises (legal entities or independent traders/freelancers), associations, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law. The provisions of this Section 9 therefore do not apply to consumers.
9.1 Licensee: "Licensee" within the meaning of this clause is the Customer who concludes a licence agreement with Springer for a Multi-User Licence.
9.2 Authorised users: The Licensee may designate Authorised Users (Section 4.3.2) up to the number specified in the contract or in the ordering process; Section 4.3 applies accordingly. If a form of access has been agreed that is linked to specific persons, the Licensee is obliged to document each grant of the right of use to an individual Authorised User. Upon request, the Licensee shall disclose the relevant Authorised Users’s names to Springer and provide documentation for granting them the right of use.
9.3 Authorised use and obligations of the Licensee: Springer grants the Licensee the non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right of use to grant this right of use to an Authorised User (licence). Each Licence has the scope described in Section 4.4. The Licensee has the obligations under Section 4.3 with regard to the Authorised Users; Springer's rights under Section 4.3.6 are reserved.
9.4 Licence fee: The Licensee is obliged to pay the licence fee agreed in the licence agreement. Unless otherwise stated on the offer page in the order process, the licence fee is payable plus statutory VAT. The Licensee may not deduct any sales, value-added or comparable taxes, government levies or other taxes. If licence fees are not paid on time, Springer has the rights set out in section 5.4.
9.5 Adjustment of licence fees:
Springer may adjust periodically recurring licence fees by giving 2 months' notice to the Licensee. To this end, Springer will submit a new contractual offer to the Licensee that replaces the previous contract. If the new contract offer is not accepted by the Licensee, Springer may terminate the previous contract with a notice period of 2 months.
9.6 Contract term: Unless expressly stated otherwise in the product description, the licence agreement is valid for 12 months from the start of the contract and is always extended by another twelve months if neither party has given written notice of termination with a notice period of 3 (three) months before the end of the current contract term. Bothe parties’ right to give notice of termination for cause remains unaffected.
9.8 Termination: It is not possible to terminate the contract for certain products covered by the licence agreement on an individual basis (partial termination). Any notice of termination, for whatever reason, must be made in writing.
9.9 Indemnification: The Licensee undertakes to indemnify Springer against any claims and losses arising from unauthorised use of the licensed content which it could have prevented if it had exercised due care (Section 276 BGB) (Sections 4.2.5 and 4.2.6). In such a case the Licensee shall indemnify Springer against third-party claims and reimburse Springer for the expenses incurred, including the costs of legal defence and prosecution.
9.10 Data protection: Springer processes users' personal data in accordance with Springer's privacy policy, which can be found at the following link: https://www.meinfachwissen.de/kundenservice/datenschutz/
10.1 Written form: If a written declaration is required in these GTC, e.g. notice of termination, the declaration can be sent by post, fax or e-mail; a verbal or telephone declaration shall not be sufficient.
10.2 Governing law and place of jurisdiction: The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, shall govern all contracts. If you conclude a contract for a purpose that is outside your trade, business, craft or profession, this shall not have the result of depriving you of the protection afforded to you provisions that cannot be derogated from by agreement by virtue of the law of the country where you have your habitual residence. If you are a trader, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law or have your domicile or habitual residence abroad, the place of jurisdiction for all claims shall be Wiesbaden; however, we may also take legal action at your general place of jurisdiction.
10.3 Customer service: The companies mentioned in section 5.3 provide customer service in the same cases where they send the invoice.
10.4 Consumer dispute resolution: We are obliged to provide the following information: The EU Commission has set up an online platform for alternative dispute resolution between consumers and traders, which can be accessed via the following external link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We are, however, neither obliged to nor do we declare our willingness to participate in dispute resolution procedures before a consumer arbitration board.
Last revised: September 2024
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