General Terms and Conditions (GTC)

 

You will find our General Terms and Conditions below. A printable version (PDF) can be found under the menu item MediaCenter.

 

Section 1: Scope of application

1. The subject of the General Terms and Conditions is any contract and/or agreement concluded with the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group. They also apply to business relationships that are continued without the need for a new and explicit agreement. All the services are exclusively provided in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions. Any conflicting General Terms and Conditions of a contractual partner shall not become part of the contract unless they are expressly acknowledged in writing by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group. The GTC are deemed to have been accepted by placing the order or accepting the delivery.
2. Agreements deviating from or supplementing these GTC must be made in writing.

Section 2: Offer and conclusion of contract

1. Offers and cost estimates from the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group are subject to change and are non-binding. Offers must be accepted within 14 days by means of a written order (post, fax, email) from the client. A contract is only concluded after written confirmation (post, fax, email) by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group in accordance with these terms and conditions.
2. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is entitled to have orders or partial orders carried out by third parties.
3. If an order cannot be carried out due to technical or other difficulties, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is entitled to cancel the order. In this case, only those services that have actually been provided up to the time of cancellation will be invoiced. Any assertion of claims for damages by the client against the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is excluded.
4. If technical details are stated in the offer, they are to be regarded as approximate values. Any deviations within material, production-related or technical tolerances are permissible.

Section 3: Services

1. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group provides management, consulting, communication, conception and implementation services in the areas of corporate management, marketing and sales strategies, brand management, product communication, positioning and advertising, among others.
2. The respective range of services is defined by the underlying offer and the order confirmation.

Section 4: Delivery and completion dates

1. Delivery and completion dates are based on assumptions and are therefore non-binding. Delivery and completion dates specified by us are only binding if the scope of the services is precisely defined, delivery and completion dates are specified in writing and expressly designated as binding, and the client has expressly agreed a binding performance time.
2. If in the course of providing services it is determined that additional and/or other services are required, the service time will be delayed accordingly.
3. Binding delivery or completion dates require written confirmation (post, fax, email). The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group shall not be responsible for a delay in delivery for which the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is not responsible, for example due to force majeure, industrial action and similar events which cannot be influenced, or for delays caused by third parties such as suppliers or subcontractors.
4. A delivery period is only binding if the client duly fulfils every obligation to cooperate and all the measures, information, documents, and approvals required for orderly order processing are promptly carried out or provided. The client bears the burden of proof with regard to the fulfilment of these obligations to cooperate.
5. In the event of a delay in the performance of the service for which the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is responsible and the failure to meet a binding delivery or completion date, the client must grant a reasonable period of grace for the service(s) to be provided. Any claim for damages after the expiry of this period of grace is only permissible up to the amount of the agreed fee. Payments already made or to be made to third parties for services rendered, production costs or similar shall be invoiced in full and must be made by the client.

Section 5: Remuneration and payment deadlines

1. The remuneration that has been agreed as a result of the offer(s) made by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group and its/their confirmation by the client (plus the statutory value added tax that is applicable) as well as the payment modalities stated therein shall apply.
2. Any invoice from the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is due in full and without any deduction on the payment date indicated in the invoice. This is usually within 14 days of invoicing.
3. If payment is delayed, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group reserves the right to charge interest on arrears in accordance with Section 288 (2) German Civil Code. Any further claims for damages remain unaffected.
4. Depending on the offer, any third party costs, production and printing costs, contributions to artists’ social insurance, licence fees, customs duties, shipping, packaging and postage costs, travel costs, etc. will be calculated and invoiced separately unless they are regulated within the offer.
5. If unforeseen additional costs arise in the course of a project, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is obliged to inform the client about these deviations and seek their immediate approval. If this approval is not granted, the contract can be terminated by either party with a notice period of 14 days. In this case, the client is obliged to bear all the costs that have already been incurred or are still to be settled in full.
6. If additional costs are required and they are due to changes, additions or the like that have subsequently been requested by the client, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is obliged to notify this immediately. In this case, the client cannot refuse to approve these additional costs.
7. Until the agreed remuneration has been paid in full, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group expressly reserves the ownership rights to any services, delivery items, and usage rights. Usage rights that have been granted in advance can be withdrawn at any time until full payment is made.

Section 6: Warranty and exclusion of liability

1. The liability of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group and its vicarious agents is limited to gross negligence and wilful intent. Claims for damages against us (of any kind whatsoever) are excluded if we, our legal representatives, or vicarious agents have caused the damage as a result of ordinary negligence. Physical injuries are excluded.
2. Unforeseeable, unavoidable events for which we are not responsible (e.g. force majeure, strikes or lockouts, operational disruptions, protracted illness, lack of manpower or energy, measures taken by authorities, as well as difficulties in obtaining permits) shall extend the performance period by the duration of the disruption and its effects. This also applies if the obstacles occur during an existing delay. If the hindrance is not merely temporary, either party is entitled to withdraw from the contract. Claims for damages are excluded in such cases.
3. All the work and services delivered and handed over by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group must be inspected by the client immediately after receipt.
4. Any complaints must be made in writing immediately after receipt of the service or goods, and at the latest within five working days. If the service or work is not objected to within this period, the client shall no longer have any claims against the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group for rectification, warranty, or similar.
5. The obligation to deliver on the part of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is deemed to have been fulfilled when the service or goods have been handed over for dispatch. Any transport risk is to be borne by the client. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group assumes no liability for loss, damage or delay in the shipment of goods. At the request of the client, transport insurance can be taken out at the client’s expense.
6. Defects in any part of the service cannot result in complaints about the service as a whole.
7. Any change to the subject of the contract or the service provided that is made by the client shall invalidate any warranty and liability claims that are made against the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.
8. If a complaint is made within the time limit, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is entitled to two attempts to rectify the issue, and is only obliged to provide a replacement/substitute service (free of charge) while excluding any further claims.
9. The client must be informed if an investigation of the complaint reveals that the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is not responsible for the defect(s). Any rectification of a defect will thus become a new (independent and chargeable) order.
10. The client is solely responsible for any errors caused by inadequate information, details or materials that they have provided. Any warranty or liability on the part of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is excluded.
11. The client is solely responsible for any reviews of patent, copyright, trademark or competition legislation and its admissibility. By releasing and putting into circulation the subject of the order, advertising measure, etc., the client becomes its originator and publisher and bears sole responsibility as defined by the German Copyright Act, the German Product Liability Act, and the German Civil Code (Sections 823 ff). The client shall indemnify the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group from any limitation of liability or claim by third parties.
12. The client’s approval of (galley) proofs, etc. releases the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group from any responsibility for errors which have not been objected to. If the client approves print orders verbally or in writing, any errors in printed matter shall be at the expense of the client.
13. If external services are awarded, the respective subcontractors shall not be considered as vicarious agents of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group, and any liability for these external services is excluded.
14. If the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group provides the client with proofs, viewing copies or other work samples as agreed or at its own discretion, the client is obliged to check these copies within three working days of receipt and to complain in writing if necessary. After this period has expired, they shall be deemed to have been approved by the client and shall form the basis for further order processing. Any subsequent objections and changes shall constitute a new order which must be remunerated separately.

Section 7: Data privacy

1. Unless otherwise agreed, data provided to the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group will be used exclusively for the processing of orders. Data will only be passed on to third parties if this is necessary for the completion process.
2. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is committed to protecting the privacy of all persons and to treating personal data confidentially.

Section 8: Mention of references

1. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group reserves the right to utilize without restriction those services and products that have been provided in the form of specimen copies or some other way and to keep them available as a reference, for archiving, for test purposes, and for its own marketing purposes unless the client’s justified interests (such as non-disclosure agreements) militate against this. The client agrees that the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group may be named in the source codes of websites, in the legal notice of print productions, or in any other appropriate manner.
2. The client agrees that their company’s name shall be included in the list of clients of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group for the purposes of self-promotion unless the client’s justified interests militate against this; if so, this must be notified in writing to the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.

Section 9: Copyright and usage rights

1. Any products, works, sketches, drafts, data carriers, presentations, documents, etc. created by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group within the scope of a contractual agreement are protected by copyright and – unless other contractual agreements have been made – may not be used in their original or modified form without the express consent of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group. The products that have been created remain the property of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group, which is the sole owner of the rights, even after full payment has been made.
2. For those works that have been created in accordance with the order, the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group grants its client (subject to full payment) a restricted and ordinary right of use for the duration of the contract and limited to the contract territory (usually Germany) in accordance with Section 31 para. 2 of the German Copyright Act, which includes all necessary types of use within the scope of the agreed usage. A right of ownership is not transferred. Simply paying the fees that have been agreed does not in any way imply the transfer of copyrights and usage rights to the client.
3. Any further use must be expressly approved in writing by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.
4. If the client provides the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group with materials, photos, logos, graphics, drafts or the like, they are obliged to that they have all the copyrights and other rights thereto and that they do not violate any existing copyrights, patent rights, license rights, trademarks, design patents or other industrial property rights of third parties. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is not obliged to verify this. In this respect, the client shall indemnify the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group from any claims of third parties. For use for its own purposes (as described under 8.1), the client shall transfer to the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group the ordinary usage rights pertaining to the designs and so forth that have been delivered insofar as they form part of the finished product that has been provided by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.
5. The transfer by the client to third parties of usage rights that have been granted requires the prior written consent of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group, and shall be remunerated separately.
6. Any work equipment or materials that the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group has produced or had produced by third parties within the scope of the preparation and execution of the contract shall remain the property of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group. There is no obligation to hand over or store such work equipment or materials.
7. Any drafts, samples and other materials made available within the framework of the execution of the contract are non-binding unless they have been released and confirmed in writing by the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.
8. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is entitled to refer to its involvement on any advertising material produced and in any advertising initiatives without the client being entitled to any remuneration in this respect.

Section 10: Presentations / pitches

1. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group shall receive a corresponding fee for any costs incurred in the context of a selection process /pitch (staff and material costs, travel expenses, as well as external costs paid).
2. If an order is not subsequently placed, any services, materials, drafts, presentations, etc. provided up to that point shall remain the property of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group. The client is not entitled to use them in any way whatsoever and shall not receive any copyrights, usage rights or property rights even if the fee has been paid. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group is entitled to demand the return of any documents, etc. provided to the client.
3. The Dr. Erkens Consulting Group remains the owner of any services and the underlying ideas and concepts and may continue to use them at its own discretion.
4. The transfer of materials and presentations, etc. to third parties is not permitted and, as with their publication, reproduction, or distribution of any kind, requires the express consent of the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group.

Section 11: Final provisions

1. All the legal relationships between the Dr. Erkens Consulting Group and its contractual partners are exclusively subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany.
2. Any changes or additions to the contract must be made in writing. This also applies to the preceding stipulation concerning the written form. Should individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions be or become inoperative, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected. Inoperative provisions shall be replaced by operative provisions whose commercial outcome is as close as possible to the intended purpose of the inoperative provision.
3. The place of jurisdiction is Darmstadt, Germany.