Terms of use for fotocommunity

March 1, 2004

  1. By getting registered as a member you acknowledge these terms as binding for the user relationship between you and us, the operators of fotocommunity (name and address to be found on each page under “Contact Us” [Imprint]). We shall not acknowledge any terms to the contrary. These Terms of Use are meant to protect and maintain your rights, our rights and the rights of third parties within the operation of fotocommunity. To the extent that commercial elements are handled through partners, the terms of use of such partners shall apply.
  2. The free Internet offer of fotocommunity comprises the possibility to upload your own photos for which purpose each member is allowed a limited amount of web space. In addition you can set up your own photographer’s profile, make contributions to discussions on photos, send photo mails, use the internal messaging system and take part in other forums or activities offered. Additional terms of use may be agreed upon for offers which are subject to a fee.
  3. The subject matter and price of the chargeable offer of fotocommunity can be found in the specification of services. We reserve the right to amend the latter to the extent that only a change due to a further development occurred which in most cases concerns the range of functionalities and is reasonably acceptable and not detrimental for the user. In the event of further-reaching changes we shall inform the user on the screen or by email in due time before such changes take effect. If you do not declare your disagreement before the coming into effect, the change shall be deemed accepted. If you disagree your membership shall be terminated.
  4. You alone are responsible for your photos and postings transmitted and for your behaviour within fotocommunity. Your access rights to fotocommunity are limited if you use the free offer. You undertake not to violate laws or other rules and regulations within your participation in the offer of fotocommunity. We reserve the right, at our own discretion, to immediately exclude you from membership and to remove your images and postings from fotocommunity in the event of violations of laws, good morals, these Terms of Use or upon other good cause shown.
  5. You hereby agree
    • not to transmit any content to fotocommunity the reproduction of which infringes copyrights or author’s rights or any other rights of third parties;
    • not to engage in advertising or distribute mass mailings (chain letters etc.);
    • not to offer any products or services except for private purposes within the buy and sell forums provided and only in compliance with the content of the forum set up by us;
    • not to transmit any content to fotocommunity containing software, applications, programs or viruses or any other data that impair or damage the functionality of hard- and software of fotocommunity or other participants;
    • not to offend, defame or otherwise annoy or cause damage to other members;
    • not to use the data and email addresses of other members obtained through fotocommunity for commercial advertising or to send unsolicited advertising;
    • not to use fotocommunity for pornographic or racist content or material which may be harmful to minors, conveys ideas of national socialism, glorifies violence etc.
  6. We reserve the right but do not undertake any obligation to review, edit, delete or disable your images and postings if these are in breach of your obligations as a member or if they violate the law. This shall also apply if such violation is suspected. We may delegate this right, e. g. to other members. A claim to the publication of images or postings in fotocommunity does not exist.
  7. By transmitting content to our server you guarantee us that you have the right to make this content available for use. At the same time you grant us a right of use in such content. This right of use granted to us comprises the revocable right to publication, distribution, transmission, reproduction in public, publication or similar use of the transmitted content on a worldwide scale, exclusively within the Internet offer of fotocommunity, without any claim for remuneration for yourself or any third parties. You may exercise your right of revocation at any time by deleting your photos.
  8. You shall indemnify us from all claims of third parties that these may assert against us for infringement of their rights, notably of copyrights and user, license, competition or other proprietary rights, based on the content you transmitted. You shall reimburse us the costs of any legal defence which may arise as a consequence of your infringing content. You undertake to use your best efforts to support us in the handling of any third-party claims based on your content and notably to submit to us all documents that may be required for defence.
  9. The content of fotocommunity is protected by copyright and/or other proprietary rights. Their use shall be subject to the applicable copyright and other protection laws. Any use of such content, also in part, notably for commercial purposes, requires the prior consent of the holder of the rights. The holders of such rights may be, among others, the members or the operators of fotocommunity. We show the name of the member who uploaded a photo to the website of fotocommunity for every photo. It is allowed to make a hard or soft copy of such content exclusively for personal, non-commercial use, subject to the proviso that captions or other information on the content source are not forged or deleted.
  10. You undertake not to submit any false or misleading information in your registration, not to get registered under a false identity and to keep your data up to date. You shall treat the password you chose for your registration as confidential. You shall be responsible for any activities performed under your password. You undertake to inform us immediately of any unauthorized use of fotocommunity under your name. Non-compliance with this obligation gives us the right to termination without notice.
  11. A right to participate in any raffle or competition held by us does not exist, and neither is there a right to be granted a prize. If the prize granted is defective, the winner shall only be entitled to delivery of a defect-free prize if we were unaware of the defect of the prize due to gross negligence.
  12. The content and correctness of offers in the buy and sell and bartering forums shall be the responsibility of the offering member. A contract shall be concluded only between the members involved. We do not act as agents. The implementation of such contract shall be your sole responsibility. Only you shall be responsible for mutual performance. We only offer the electronic platform for the conclusion of your contract and do not provide any further assistance in the implementation of the contract.
  13. Upon registration you are granted almost unlimited access to all functions for a 14-day trial period. Within these 14 days you can decide whether you let the offer continue automatically as a free membership with restricted functionality or whether you want to become a paying member.
  14. The membership for use of the free offer runs for an indefinite term. Such membership may be terminated at any time by you or us, without observing any notice period and without stating reasons. Termination shall be effected in writing or by email and shall become effective upon receipt. You declare your consent to the displayed images being deleted after termination and we undertake to delete all of your photos within 14 days of receipt of your notice of termination.
  15. Membership for the chargeable offer is concluded for a term of one month upon payment of a one-off amount and expires automatically. In addition to this we offer subscriptions. There are quarterly and annual subscriptions. The subscription renews for the period chosen if it is not terminated by 2 days before expiry of the period paid for. Subscriptions and payments are handled through our payment service providers whose terms of use you also acknowledge hereby. Notice of termination has also to be given to them. Moreover, it is possible to buy vouchers to use the offers for a certain period.
  16. We guarantee that statutory provisions on data protection are adhered to. We process and save personal data only to the extent necessary for implementation of the contract. In your registration you gave your express consent to our publication within fotocommunity of the data you submitted unless we expressly stated otherwise. Any activity within fotocommunity is saved with the IP address pertaining thereto. If there should be a suspicion of a criminal offence, investigators may use the data of the access provider to identify the relevant user.
  17. By becoming a member you declare your consent to advertising being displayed.
  18. We and our vicarious agents shall only be liable for breach of contractual obligations and in tort only in events of intent and gross negligence unless cardinal obligations are affected and/or mandatory legal provisions exist to the contrary. To the extent legally permitted, we and our vicarious agents shall only be liable up to the amount of typically foreseeable damage. We do not guarantee that the offer of fotocommunity will be available without interruptions. Rectification of faults and maintenance works may make it necessary to interrupt the service and access to the offer. We reserve the right to change parts of the offer of fotocommunity. We do not accept any responsibility for contents to which you are transferred through a link which obviously takes you out of fotocommunity. We have no influence on the content of such third-party websites and do not appropriate such content either.
  19. We reserve the right to change these Terms of Use without stating reasons. We shall inform you in due time of such changes during your first visit to fotocommunity after the changes have been made and shall request your consent to the changed Terms of Use. If you do not disagree the Terms of Use shall be deemed accepted. If you disagree your membership shall be terminated.
  20. Should any provision of these Terms of Use be invalid or unenforceable, it shall be replaced by a valid or enforceable provision that comes as close as possible to the legal intention of the invalid or unenforceable provision. These Terms of Use and the entire legal relationship between you and us shall be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. To the extent admissible, Bonn shall be agreed as place of jurisdiction for all legal disputes that may arise. In all other aspects the statutory provisions shall apply.