Last updated: 12 September 2022

Contents

1. Ad order and contract establishment
2. Ads
3. Content of ads
4. Impairment of service
5. Liability
6. Rate reductions, discounts and allotments
7. Payment and billing methods
8. Special ad formats
9. Digital job ads
10. Other
11. Final provisions

 
I. Ad order and contract establishment

1. The term "ad order" as used in the following General Terms and Conditions refers to the contract for the publication of one or several ads of an advertiser or other buyer of ad space in a printed publication, an E-paper, an E-magazine, an online news portal including digital job market, other internet appearances, and in mobile apps, as well as other media of a publisher represented by REPUBLIC Marketing & Media Solutions GmbH, Mittelstraße 2-4, 10117 Berlin (hereafter: Marketer) or another media company in Germany and abroad for the purpose of publication.

a. By placing an ad order, the customer recognises the Marketer’s terms and conditions and rate cards. The applicability of any terms and conditions of the customer is excluded as far as they deviate from these GTC.

b. The ad order is established when the customer books the ad (offer) and the Marketer confirms the booking in text form (confirmation). Booking and confirmation can also be carried out through the Online Booking System OBS (www.obs-portal.de). If a direct customer is represented by an agency, the Marketer must be explicitly notified in text form during the booking process at the latest, that the booking is to be handled on behalf of and on account of the direct customer. If such a notification is not received in time, the contract is considered effectively established with the agency, § 164 (2) BGB (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, German Civil Code). The Marketer is entitled to request written proof of the customer’s mandate.

c. Orders for ads can be placed in person, by phone, in writing, by e-mail, telefax or electronically. The Marketer is not responsible for transmission errors. The contract is not established until the Marketer issues the order confirmation, which is sent in writing or by e-mail subject to other individual agreements between publisher and customer. If the order is placed by phone, an order confirmation is only sent upon explicit request. Note: The right to withdraw does not apply, as the services at hand are based on individual selection and are tailored to the customer’s individual needs.

2. Cancellations must be issued in writing. If an ad is cancelled, the actual typesetting costs incurred are billed.

a. For premium and special ad formats/placements, the closing and copy date is six working days prior to the dates listed in the rate card, unless otherwise specified in the rate card.

b. Cancellations, changes of sizes, formats and colours are no longer possible after the closing date.

c. Content formats (in particular publisher’s specials, advertorials and digital storytellings) can be cancelled at no charge up to 20 working days prior to the planned start of publication. After that date, the customer is billed 100% of the cancelled order. Homepage and fixed placements can be cancelled free of charge up to ten working days prior to the start of publication. After that date, the customer is billed 100% of the cancelled order. For all other formats, cancellation free of charge is possible until five working days prior to the start of publication at the latest. After that date, the customer is billed 50% of the cancelled order.

II. Ads

1. Unless agreed otherwise, ads must be booked for publication within one year after the contract is established. If the contract grants the right to book individual ads, the order must be completed within one year after publication of the first ad, provided the first ad is booked and published within the period specified in sentence.

2. If contracts are established, the customer is entitled to book further ads within the agreed period, or the period specified in No. 1, in addition to the number of ads specified in the order.

3. Orders for inserts are binding for the Marketer only after submission of a sample no later than one week before the publication date of the insert and its approval. Inserts which, based on their format or design, give the reader the impression of being part of the newspaper or magazine or contain third party ads are therefore clearly identified as ads.

4. Orders for ads and third-party inserts which are intended for insertion exclusively in certain issues, certain editions or at particular locations in the printed publication must be delivered to the Marketer sufficiently in advance so the customer can be informed before the closing date if the order cannot be fulfilled as intended. As a general rule, ads can only be published in the formats specified in the applicable rate card. Classified ads are published in the respective section without the need for an explicit agreement. If no clear placement has been agreed, the Marketer and/or publisher or media company represented by the Marketer can choose the placement at their discretion.

5.The Marketer reserves the right to reschedule publication dates based on current events. This does not entitle the customer to any claims against the Marketer. The Marketer is not obligated to fulfil orders and provide damage compensation, in particular damage compensation for unpublished ads or late publication of ads.

6. The customer is responsible for the timely delivery of correct copy and advertising materials. The Marketer will immediately request replacements for unsuitable or damaged copy/advertising materials. The Marketer guarantees the print quality common for the booked print edition within the possibilities provided by the copy. The Marketer is not liable for faulty publication of ads which were transmitted in the form of open files (e.g. files saved in InDesign, QuarkXPress, Corel Draw). Copy documents and advertising materials are only sent back to the customer upon written request, otherwise they become the property of the Marketer. The Marketer is obligated to store the materials for six weeks after the publication of the ad. QR codes (Quick Response Codes) in ads must be in black and white. The customer is responsible for ensuring that the transmitted data do not contain computer viruses. The Marketer will delete files with computer viruses without entitling the customer to any claims. Furthermore, the Marketer reserves the right to assert claims for damage compensation if the computer viruses cause further damage to the Marketer.

III. Content of ads

1. By placing the ad order, the advertiser declares that they are in possession of all rights required to publish the ad order. They are solely responsible for the content and lawfulness of the text and images provided for publishing the ad, in the case of provided ad templates this applies in particular to the used images, logos, fonts and other elements. The advertiser further guarantees that the ad materials do not violate any third-party rights (in particular copyright, privacy rights or other commercial property rights) and/or do not violate other legal (in particular press, competition, data protection and consumer protection) regulations, and are not of a subversive, racist, or pornographic nature, glorify violence or are harmful to youth.

a. The customer is obligated to indemnify the Marketer and/or any publisher or media company represented by the Marketer against third-party claims arising from the fulfilment of the order, also if it was not suspended in time, against the Marketer and/or publishers or media companies represented by the Marketer. The Marketer accepts and reviews the ad texts with proper due diligence, but is not liable if the customer deliberately misleads or deceives the Marketer. They are not obligated to review orders and ads with regard to whether they impinge on third-party rights.

b. The customer indemnifies the Marketer and/or publishers or media companies represented by the Marketer against all claims arising from violations of the ads against legal regulations, in particular competition and copyright law. If the customer has been warned about the anti-competitive nature of an ad, or if they have committed to paying a contractual penalty to a third party, or if they have been barred from publishing this ad by a court of law, the Marketer must be informed of these circumstances immediately. The customer’s request not to publish the ad in question can only be accommodated by the Marketer if their written correspondence is received by the Marketer one day prior to the closing date for the respective ad.

c. To avoid being confused with private ads, commercial ads must be clearly recognisable as such, for example by being marked “Property” for property firms or “Automotive company” or “company” for other commercial advertisers. The customer uses such identifiers at their own risk. They are obligated to indemnify the Marketer or any publishers or media companies represented by the Marketer from third-party claims which arise against the Marketer or a publisher or media company represented by the Marketer due to inadequate identification.

d. By placing the ad order, the advertiser agrees to bear the cost of publishing a counter statement, calculated using the applicable ad rate.

2. The Marketer reserves the right, on their own behalf or that of a publisher or media company represented by the Marketer, to reject ad orders – also individual bookings within a contract – and insertion orders due to their content, their origin or their technical format based on uniform, objectively justified principles of the represented publisher or media company, if their content violates laws or official regulations, or their publication is unreasonable for the publisher. This also applies to orders which are placed with local offices or representatives. The customer is informed without delay if an order is rejected.

3. The design and identification of ads with an editorial look must be coordinated with the Marketer sufficiently in advance of publication. The Marketer has the right to clearly mark ads with the word “Anzeige” (ad) if the average reader would not recognise them as an ad. The Marketer also has the right to request the inclusion of a responsible person as defined by press law (Verantwortlicher im Sinne des Presserechts, V.i.S.d.P.) in accordance with the applicable legal regulations. Island ads (ads which border with at least three sides on editorial text and not on other ads) must differ from the editorial text in their base font. If they are not recognisable as ads due to their design, they are clearly marked as advertising.

4. Ads containing advertising of third parties or for third parties must be approved in advance by the Marketer in each individual case. This entitles the Marketer to add an umbrella surcharge. The customer is informed of the rejection without delay.

5. The customer must obtain permission from the Marketer to set links to third-party websites in their ads.

6. Proofs are only provided upon explicit request for ads larger than 50 millimetres. The customer is responsible for the correctness of the returned proofs. The Marketer will implement all corrections submitted to them within the deadline set when sending the proof.

IV. Impairment of service

1. In the event of entirely or partly unreadable, incorrect or incomplete printout of an ad, the customer is entitled to a reduced charge or an error-free replacement ad, but only to the extent the purpose of the ad was impaired. If the Marketer fails to react within an appropriate deadline set for them, or if the replacement ad again contains errors, the customer is entitled to a reduced charge or cancellation of the order. The entitlement to correction is excluded if it would incur disproportionate costs for the publisher. Complaints must be submitted within one week from receipt of the invoice and documentation, except if the error was not obvious.

2. Guarantee claims of merchants expire twelve months after publication of the respective ad.

3. In contracts for several ads, a reduction of circulation can result in an entitlement to a reduced rate, if the overall average of the insertion year beginning with the first ad is less than the average circulation specified in the rate card or other by another source or – if the circulation is not specified – the average number of copies sold (in case of professional journals possibly the average number of actual copies distributed) during the past calendar year. Reduced circulation only constitutes an impairment entitling the customer to a rate reduction if it comes to

• 20 percent with a circulation of up to 50,000 copies,
• 15 percent with a circulation of up to 100,000 copies,
• 10 percent with a circulation of up to 500,000 copies,
• 5 percent with a circulation of more than 500,000 copies.

4. In cases of operational interruptions or force majeure, illegal labour disputes, unlawful seizure, traffic impediments, general shortages of raw materials or energy, etc. – both in the operation of the publisher or media company represented by the Marketer and in external companies the publisher uses to fulfil their obligations – the Marketer is entitled to full payment for published ads. The following applies to ads: The Marketer is entitled to full payment of published ads if the publication was delivered by the publisher with a rate of 80% of the average circulation sold or otherwise guaranteed in the last four quarters.

5. The possible reduced circulation is calculated as the balance of circulation in excess of or less than the circulation of the booked editions within the insertion year. Reimbursement entitlements must be claimed within three months from the end of the insertion year. The reimbursement is remitted after the end of the insertion year based on the customer’s net balance, taking into account the already granted agency commission as credit in kind or – if this is no longer possible – as remuneration. Entitlements for reimbursements only apply if the reimbursement amount is at least 2,500 Euro, if they are for ad bookings that are not ordered as part of an offset transaction contract or other cooperations with the Marketer.

6. Beyond this, rate reductions due to circulation reductions are excluded for contracts if the Marketer informed the customer of the drop in circulation sufficiently in advance to allow the customer to withdraw from the contract before publication of the ad.

7. Minor deviations in colour and font in digital advertising material, in particular due to varying technical presentation or data processing, do not result in entitlements to damage compensation.

8. If the Marketer fails to publish an ad in the online marketplace for programming or technical reasons, in particular due to computer outages, force majeure, strike, based on legal regulations, disruptions in the purview of providers, network operators or service providers, or for comparable reasons, the customer has no entitlement to publication at a later date.

9. In cases of force majeure, any obligation to fulfil orders and provide damage compensation ceases.

10. Deficiencies in copy that are not immediately discernible do not result in an entitlement to reduced payments or replacement for the customer. If the same error appears in repeated ads and the customer did not lodge a complaint immediately after the first occurrence, the Marketer recognises a compensation entitlement for one ad only.

11. If the customer does not heed the Marketer’s recommendations regarding the creation and transmission of digital copy, they have no claims based on faulty ad publication. The same applies if the customer fails to observe other regulations of these GTC or the rate cards.

V. Liability

1. The following exclusions and limitations of liability also apply to tortious claims, as far as they compete with contractual claims.

2. Liability of the Marketer or publishing and media companies represented by the Marketer for damages of any kind is excluded. This exclusion does not apply to damages which the Marketer and/or a publisher or media company represented by the Marketer caused intentionally or in gross negligence; to damage to life, limb or health; notwithstanding the following regulations, to damages based on violation of essential contractual duties by the Marketer and/or a publisher or media company represented by the Marketer. Essential contractual duties are those duties that make the proper fulfilment of the contract possible, and whose fulfilment the customer regularly expects and has a reasonable right to expect.

3. In cases of slightly negligent violation of essential contractual duties, liability of the Marketer and/or a publisher or media company represented by the Marketer is limited – with the exception of damage to life, limb or health – to damage typical for the contract and such damage as was foreseeable for the Marketer on establishing the contract or upon committing the violation. In this respect, liability of the Marketer and/or publishers or media companies represented by the Marketer is excluded for damage that is entirely within the responsibility of the customer.

4. The above exclusions and limitations of liability also apply to liability of the Marketer and/or publishers or media companies represented by the Marketer for their organisational bodies, employees and vicarious agents, as well as the personal liability of the executive bodies, employees and vicarious agents of the Marketer and/or the publisher or media company marketed by it.

5. The Marketer is liable for each damage claim caused by gross negligence of vicarious agents who are not legal representatives or management employees, but only up to the amount of the remuneration concerned. Exceptions to this limitation of liability are damage claims based on injury to life, limb or health.

6. The customer is liable for ensuring that transmitted files do not contain viruses. The Marketer can delete files with viruses without entitling the customer to any claims. The Marketer reserves the right to claim damage compensation if the viruses cause any damage.

7. Regarding ads and changes of dates or editions, text corrections and cancellations submitted by phone, the Marketer does not assume any liability for transmission errors and faulty records.

8. If the copy documents are transmitted digitally, the Marketer assumes no liability for changes of the digital data due to transmission errors. The same applies in cases where data transmitted by the customer cannot be processed by the publisher because of system issues (incompatibility). Assurances of certain properties are only valid if the Marketer issues them in writing.

9. The Marketer does not guarantee the inclusion of ads and third-party inserts in particular editions and in particular placements.

10. The above exclusions and limitations of liability do not apply if the Marketer can obtain business liability insurance common to the industry and appropriate to their business operations. They also do not apply to claims under the German product liability law (Produkthaftungsgesetz) if liability is mandatory under that law. Finally, they do not apply if and to the extent that the Marketer has given assurances of certain properties.

11. Damage compensation claims by the customer due to slight negligence of the Marketer and/or publisher or media company represented by the Marketer as defined in the sections above are excluded in any case if they are not asserted in a court of law within a period of three months after rejection of the claims with an appropriate notification by the Marketer and/or the publisher or media company represented by the Marketer or their insurer.

VI. Rate reductions, discounts and allocations

1. Orders eligible for rate reductions can only be placed for the account of one and the same natural or legal person. Companies with whom the customer has established an executive contract can be included in orders eligible for rate reductions. This does not apply for the merging of different independent governmental organisations or mergers involving public corporations.

a. If joint discounts are claimed for affiliated companies, written documentation of the group status of the advertiser is required. Affiliated companies for the purposes of this regulations are companies with a participation relationship of at least 50 percent. Corporations must demonstrate the group status by means of confirmation by an auditor or submission of the last annual report, partnerships must provide an excerpt from the trade register. The documentation must be submitted no later than the end of the insertion year. Documentation submitted at a later date cannot be applied retroactively. In any case, group discounts require explicit written confirmation by the publisher. Group discounts are only granted for the duration of membership in the group. The Marketer must be informed without delay of termination of group membership. Upon termination of group membership, application of group discounts ceases as well.

b. The entitlement to a retroactive rate reduction expires if it is not claimed within one month after end of the one-year period.

c. It is not possible to include ads in the numbers and quantities of a contract to which no rate reduction applies. It is also not permissible to establish a discounted contract at the full base rate for ads at a discounted base rate to which no rate reduction applies, or to include such ads in an ongoing contract to which a rate reduction applies at the full base rate.

2. If an order is not fulfilled due to circumstances for which the Marketer and/or publisher or media company represented by the Marketer are not responsible, the customer, regardless of any other possible legal obligations, must reimburse the Marketer for the difference between the applied reduction and the reduction based on actual purchase. The reimbursement is not required if the failure to fulfil the order is due to force majeure within the risk of the Marketer and/or publisher or media company represented by the Marketer.

3. Advertising brokers and advertising agencies must conform to the Marketer’s rate card in their offers, contracts and billing. The agency commission granted by the publisher may not be passed on, neither entirely nor partially.  

a. The agency commission is 15 percent.

b. If ad rates change, the new conditions take effect immediately even in existing contracts, unless explicitly agreed otherwise.

c. If an agency customer changes agencies during the term of a contract, the Marketer assumes that the former agency will transfer the contract relationship with all rights and obligations to the new agency.

4. If a customer with an allotment agreement did not use the agreed allotment during the agreed term, the remainder of the allotment is forfeited after the end of the term.

VII. Payment and billing methods

1. Ad invoices are due for payment in full within ten days after receipt of the invoice. The so-called pre-notification period of the SEPA basic direct debit is shortened to one day. Payments can be remitted via credit card (Eurocard/ MasterCard, VISA), wire transfer or direct debit. The general acceptance of the individual payment methods is described on the respective website or in the respective offer. In the event of a return debit (credit card charge, direct debit transaction, etc.) due to incorrect information or lack of funds, the publisher has the right to charge a flat return debit fee. For returned direct debits, the fee is up to 35 EUR per booking, unless the customer proves that the Marketer did not incur any damage or lesser damage due to the return debit. If a credit card charge is not carried out by the publisher directly, it can be processed by a payment services provider assigned by the Marketer. In case of past due payments, all open invoices or follow-on charges become due for payment immediately. For deferments or past due payments, interest is charged according to § 288 BGB. Dunning and collection costs incurred due to past due payments are borne by the customer. In the event of past due payment, the Marketer can suspend the further fulfilment of the ongoing order until payment is remitted, and request advance payment. If there is reasonable doubt about the customer’s ability to pay, the Marketer has the right to make the further publication contingent on advance payment of ad charges and payment of open invoices, even during the term of a contract, and even if different payment terms were originally agreed. For orders placed by telephone, orders by customers without contract (see No. 5) are processed via SEPA direct debit; the direct debiting is carried out one day after the invoice date for the full invoice amount. Faulty ad invoices can be corrected within six months from the invoice date. The customer may offset invoice amounts against counter claims only if those counter claims are legally confirmed and uncontested.

2. The customer agrees to receiving electronic invoices by e-mail and accordingly commissions the Marketer to send electronic invoices to the e-mail address they provide. The customer waives receiving invoices by regular mail. The customer must ensure as the recipient that all electronic mailings of the invoice can be properly delivered by the Marketer via e-mail to the e-mail address provided by the customer, and to adapt technical equipment such as filter programmes or firewalls accordingly. Possible automated responses to the publisher (e. g. out-of-office notification) cannot be taken into account and do not render the message delivery invalid. The customer must inform the Marketer without delay, in writing and in a legally valid manner, of any changes to the e-mail address to which the invoice must be sent. Mailings of invoices by the publisher to the last known e-mail address provided by the customer are considered delivered to the customer if they did not notify the Marketer of a change of e-mail address. The Marketer does not accept liability for damage resulting from any increased risk of electronic mailing of invoices compared to receiving invoices by regular mail. The customer bears the increased risk of unauthorised third-party access caused by the saving of electronic invoices. REVOCATION: The customer can revoke their participation in electronic billing by e-mail at any time. After the Marketer has received and processed the written revocation, the customer will receive invoices by mail to the last mailing address provided to the publisher. The Marketer reserves the right to switch from billing via e-mail to billing to the last mailing address provided by the customer for important reasons on their own initiative. CHANGE OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR ELECTRONIC BILLING BY E-MAIL: A change of terms and conditions for electronic billing by e-mail is brought to the customer’s attention by way of electronic billing by e-mail. This change takes effect 30 days after delivery and is considered accepted if the customer does not revoke their participation in electronic billing by e-mail within that period as described in the section “REVOCATION” above. The Marketer will explicitly inform the customer of the change of terms and conditions, the 30-day period, the beginning of the period and the significance of their response.

3. Upon request, the Marketer will supply a specimen copy with the invoice. If a proof can no longer be obtained, a confirmation by the publisher of the publication and distribution of the ad will be sent in its stead. Original proofs are only supplied at a charge. The publisher supplies specimen copy upon request only of ads of a quarter page or larger.

4. In countries with representatives of the publishers, payments and processing are subject to the terms and conditions of that representative. In countries without a representative, advance payment is required, preferably via credit card (Euro/ Mastercard, American Express or VISA) via wire transfer. Customers based outside of Germany must provide a valid VAT identification number (USt-ID-Nr.) or proof of business activity or a certificate of exemption from German VAT along with their ad order. If the ad order is not subject to VAT, the invoice is issued without VAT. The Marketer has the right to bill the VAT portion retroactively if the financial authority confirms that an ad is subject to tax.

VIII. Special ad formats

1. Special ad formats are possible after coordination and review by the Marketer. For advertising collectives, special publications and publisher’s inserts, the Marketer reserves the right to impose special rates and conditions.

2. Advertorials are parts produced by a third party which differ distinctly from the editorial parts of the newspapers, magazines and editorial digital content in terms of their format and design, and can contain both text and advertising of third parties. Advertorials are clearly identified with the word “Anzeige” (ad). The Marketer reserves the right to publish advertorials after submission of a binding sample, as well as the right to impose special rates for special publications.

3. The Marketer is not liable for the loss of individual inserts en route to the point of sale. Placement requests, e.g. insertion in certain newspaper products, cannot be taken into account. In the editorial portion, an insert notification can be published. This must not contain any advertising beyond the name of the company. Inserts must be for one customer only. Distribution of product samples, also in connection with inserts, is not possible. Orders for inserts cannot be included in ad contracts.

IX. Digital job ads

1. The Marketer does not check the content of applications and does not guarantee the correctness of information provided by applicants.

2. If explicitly agreed between the parties, the customer can provide the Marketer with digital job ads for publication also via server synchronisation or HR-XML. The parties will provide one another with the necessary technical information for this process.

3. The customer is not permitted to set cookies or comparable technologies through the ads. The Marketer and/or publisher or media company represented by the Marketer are not obligated to check ads for cookies. Such content can be removed, entirely or in part, without prior notification. Publication (even repeated publication) of ad documents containing cookies or comparable technologies does not constitute tacit agreement to their use.

X. Other terms

1. Replies to box number ads are kept available for pick-up for four weeks after the publication of the ad, or they are sent to the customer by regular mail (also if they are express or certified mail), or, in the case of e-mails, forwarded to the customer as electronic mail. After this period, the replies are destroyed. Replies weighing more than 500 grams or larger than DIN A4, as well as product, book, catalogue and advertising mailings and packages are excluded from forwarding and are only stored for pick-up. The publisher reserves the right not to forward obviously commercial offers unless the customer issues explicit written instructions to forward them. The customer can authorise the publisher to open replies on their behalf and with their declared consent.

2. The customer bears the costs for the preparation of ordered printing plates, printing documents, digital advertising materials and drawings, and for significant changes to originally agreed versions requested by the customer or for which the customer is responsible. For extensive typographic work and preparation of artwork, films and other print documents or digital advertising materials beyond the usual scope, the Marketer reserves the right to charge this work separately.

3. If the customer does not require a base colour for the preparation of colour ads, the rate is not reduced. Colour complaints must be lodged within seven days of receiving the proof, as colours change due to ageing processes.

4. The websites of portals and mobile apps contain links to other websites. The Marketer cannot continuously check the content of these websites or influence their content. The Marketer does not take ownership of the content of third-party websites and therefore assumes no responsibility or liability for these websites.

XI. Final provisions

1. As part of the business relationship, the Marketer stores the customer data of electronic data processing in accordance with applicable data protection regulations. For further information on data protection, in particular the customer’s rights, please refer to the Privacy Statement.

2. Place of fulfilment is the Marketer’s registered office. For business transactions with merchants, legal persons under public law or for special funds under public law, court of jurisdiction for legal action is the Marketer’s registered office. As far as claims of the Marketer are not asserted by dunning procedure, court of jurisdiction for non-merchants is their home of record. If the customer’s home of record or habitual residence, also that of non-merchants, is not known at the time the action is filed, or if the customer has moved their home of record or habitual residence out of the area subject to the law, the Marketer’s registered office is agreed as the court of jurisdiction.

3. The Marketer is neither willing nor obligated to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board unless they are legally required to participate. The European Commission has established a platform for dispute resolution, which can be accessed at: ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. Consumers can use the platform to resolve their disputes.

4. Should one or several of these General Terms and Conditions be invalid, entirely or in part, the validity of all other terms remains unaffected.