General Terms and Conditions of Business

1. General Information
2. Prices
3. Delivery
4. Rights of Refund
5. Warranties and Claims for Damages
6. Due Dates and Payment Conditions
7. Reservation of Ownership
8. Place of Execution and Place of Jurisdiction
9. Final Clause

§1 General Information

1. In respect to business relations of all types between the firm
KULTURECHO e.K., Reckingerstr. 25, DE - 79790 Küssaberg
and its customers, the following General Terms and Conditions of Business hold true in their legally valid versions, respectively. Divergent conditions or general business practices of the customer have no legal validity unless a written agreement has been negotiated elsewhere.

2. All offers – whether they are transacted by telephone, telefax, Internet, e-mail or in any other form – only become legally binding for the firm Kulturecho if they have been confirmed in writing, or if the goods have been delivered and/or an invoice has been delivered.

3. The firm Kulturecho reserves the right to deny the promised service subsequent to determining that the goods are no longer available, both 1) after contractual settlement and 2) although a corresponding hedging transaction has been concluded. In such a case, the customer will be notified immediately. All reciprocations and considerations of any kind provided by the customer beforehand will be reimbursed without delay. It is then excluded that further legal claims be raised by the customer against the firm Kulturecho.

§2 Prices

1. For offers that are valid for “consumers”, defined by the German Civil Code § 13 (Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB) all prices are in cash, including value-added tax/sales tax, as well as other ensuing charges for packaging, handling and transportation.

2. For offers that are valid exclusively for “businessman or businesswoman”, defined by the German Civil Code § 14 (Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB) all prices are in cash, excluding value-added tax/sales tax, as well as other ensuing charges for packaging, handling and transportation.

§3 Delivery

1. Delivery occurs at the customer's own risk. As soon as the goods have been entrusted to a transportation company by the firm Kulturecho, the risk automatically transfers to the customer. This also holds true for partial deliveries. The delivery is sent to the delivery address indicated by the customer. Should the customer be a „consumer“ in the sense defined by § 13 German Civil Code [Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB], the danger of accidental perishability or the accidental ruination of the purchased goods – even in the event of a „sale to destination“ - first becomes the legal responsibility of the customer after the goods have been delivered. The same holds in respect to the delivery, should the customer receive the goods belatedly.

2. If the customer is “businessman or businesswoman”, defined by the German Civil Code § 14 (Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB) the goods must be examined immediately for transportation damages. Detectible damages must be reported without delay in written form to the firm Kulturecho by the customer or an authorized individual. Packaging damages are to be confirmed in written form by the transportation company upon delivery.

3. In general, any information concerning delivery dates is not legally binding, unless a definite date of delivery has been set in writing.

4. Claims for damages against the firm Kulturecho arising from non-fulfilment of contract or delay are excluded to the extent neither premeditation nor gross negligence can be established.

§4 Rights of Refund

1. The Customer, whose delivery and billing address is within the EU, has the possibility to return all articles from our current assortment without reason and within 30 days, and thus, to make use of our „money back guarantee“, i.e. to the extent the customer is a „consumer“ in the sense defined by § 13 German Civil Code [Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB]. This only holds true for sales contracts under delivery conditions or by indirect means (telecommunications) in accordance with § 312b German Civil Code [Fernabsatzvertaege]. The goods must be returned to the firm Kulturecho in orderly condition, without signs of wear and exempted from all third party claims. Punctual return is sufficient in order to satisfy legal deadlines.

2. Rights of refund exist when ordering media packaged in transparent film or sealed media such as CDs, audio cassettes, videos, DVDs, as well as newspapers and software, only when the respective goods have been returned in the original sealed packaging or with an undamaged seal.

3. Rights of refund can only be exercised through the return of the goods, unless it is not possible to send the goods as a package. The refund deadline begins with the reception of the delivery by the customer.

4. Rights of return are to be considered forfeited if the goods have been manufactured according to the order of the customer.

5. Should the customer make use of refund rights, the firm Kulturecho has the right to demand an appropriate compensatory payment for the period of time during which the goods remained in possession of the customer.

6. Furthermore, customers exercising their rights of refund must compensate the firm Kulturecho for any diminishment in value or for the complete value of the goods, to the extent the customer was not able to return the goods in orderly condition, as the customer is responsible for the ruination, perishability or other deficiency of the delivered wares. This does not hold true in respect to the ruination of goods whose damaged condition was caused exclusively by a
standard examination, as would have been possible in a normal shop. Moreover, the duty of value compensation can be avoided by not making use of the article as the proper owner would, and by refraining from any activity which would reduce the value of the article.

7. The returned goods are to be sent to:
KULTURECHO e.K., Reckingerstr. 25, DE - 79790 Küssaberg

§5 Warranties and Claims for Damages

1. Defects or other damages owing to faulty or inappropriate handling, unsuitable packaging or shipment, the use of inappropriate accessories or an alteration of the original components by the customer or by a third party not authorized by the firm Kulturecho are not protected by warranty.

2. Naturally occurring signs of wear are equally excluded from warranty protection.

3. Should the customer accept the goods or commissioned wares despite prior knowledge of deficiencies, warranty rights only exist to the extent described below, if the customer reserves these rights expressly and in written form directly after having received the delivery.

4. Warranty claims arising from transportation damages may only be enforced by the customer if the formalities in accordance with § 3, numeral 2 have been fulfilled. This in turn does not hold true if the customer is a „consumer“ in the sense defined by § 13 German Civil Code [Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB].

5. The warranty period extends to 24 months for new articles. The period begins subsequent to the passage of risk in accordance with German Law. The warranty period extends to 12 months for used articles. If the customer is a „businessman or businesswoman“ in the sense defined by § 14 German Civil Code [Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB], the warranty period for new articles extends to 12 months and to six months for used articles following the passage of risk.

6. Otherwise, warranty formalities are carried out in congruence with the usual legal regulations.

7. The firm Kulturecho is liable for damages arising from other causes than the detriment to life, body and health only to the extent these have their basis in a premeditated act, gross negligence or the culpable violation of a fundamental contractual obligation on the part of the firm Kulturecho or its legal proxies (e.g. itsdelivery service partners). Liability for compensation claims above and beyond this are excluded. The legal stipulations of German product liability laws have no application in such cases. Should a fundamental contractual obligation indeed be violated in a negligent manner, the liability of the firm Kulturecho is limited to foreseeable damages alone.

§6 Due Dates and Payment Conditions

1. Invoices sent by the firm Kulturecho – as long as no agreements of a divergent nature have been set in writing – are to be paid in full without delay.

2. Should the customer be in arrears in respect to paying the designated purchase price, interest is to be paid on the sum of the purchase price at a value of five percentage points above the standard German interest rate for the period of delinquency. In the event the firm Kulturecho is in a position to substantiate greater damages caused by delay, the firm reserves the right to raise corresponding legal claims.

§7 Reservation of Ownership

1. Until all payment responsibilities have been fulfilled by the customer, including all subsidiary obligations which may have arisen, the delivered goods remain the legal property of the firm Kulturecho. In respect to contracts negotiated with consumers, cp. § 13 German Civil Code [Buergerliches Gesetzbuch/BGB], the firm Kulturecho reserves its right of property until the full remittance of the purchase price.

2. The customer is not authorized to tender the goods to third parties until the purchase price has been paid in full, or to take any other measures which would endanger the property of the firm Kulturecho. Already now, the customer has relinquished his/her future claims in deference to the acquiring party at the amount of the purchase price negotiated between the firm Kulturecho and the customer, including interest and any subsidiary demands to be brought against the firm Kulturecho. The firm Kulturecho accepts this relinquishment of rights.

§8 Place of Execution and Place of Jurisdiction

1. Legal jurisdiction is exercised by the Federal Republic of Germany exclusively.

2. The place of execution for all services and products negotiated in business transactions with the firm Kulturecho is Federal Republic of Germany, i.e. to the extent the customer is a businessman or businesswoman, dealer, legal person from the public sector or special property of the public sector.

3. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for any legal proceedings against the firm Kulturecho is Waldshut; Federal Republic of Germany. The same holds true for legal action taken by the firm Kulturecho against its customers, i.e. to the extent the customer is a businessman or businesswoman, dealer, legal person from the public sector or special property of the public sector.

§9 Final Clause

Should any of these individual contractual conditions – for which reasons whatsoever – not be legally enforceable, this does not mitigate the legal validity of the remaining agreements in any way.