Scope of application, general

1. This document contains the terms of use under which Malte Marten GmbH, Heimatstraße 19, 79102 Freiburg, represented by the management ("Malte Marten" or "Provider") provides various services on the platform offered at maltemartenmethod.com ("Platform"). 

2. The platform is a digital network and resource on the subject of the handpan. It offers online courses for learning the instrument, further education and training opportunities for handpan teachers as well as various community offerings.

3. The use of the platform functions requires the creation of a user account. Users are authorized to use the platform as intended.

4. The processing of paid services offered on the platform, e.g. fee-based online courses, is not covered by these Terms of Use.
   

Subject matter of the contract

1. The Platform is only made available as it is offered by the Provider. The Provider assumes no liability for the functionality of the Platform and does not agree any specific quality with the Users. Users are also not entitled to any specific functionality or quality. The Provider may change the Platform at any time and remove functions in whole or in part or add functions, in particular through updates and new versions. Descriptions of the scope of functions are therefore purely informative.

2. Users can submit and publish their own content on the Platform, such as profile information, comments and other content or information ("User Content") and view content from other users and get in touch with other users. 

3. Provider provides the technical infrastructure for displaying content via the platform. 

4. The platform may contain links to and integration of other external sites, the content of which cannot be influenced by providers. However, it cannot be ruled out that the linked content may be subsequently changed by the respective providers. Users themselves are responsible for checking links that they incorporate into their own content.
    

Simple user profile, registration, conclusion of contract 

1. Some parts oft he Plattform require registration. By registering and agreeing to these terms, natural and legal persons can become users of those part of the platform. Natural persons are only permitted to register if they are at least 18 years old and have unlimited legal capacity. The Provider is entitled to request appropriate proof of identity to verify the User's age. There is no entitlement to registration. The Provider is entitled to refuse registration without giving reasons.

2. When registering, users choose a username and password. There is no entitlement to a specific username or password.

3. User accounts are non-transferable and may only be used by the user. The same applies to members of an organization profile. Re-registration after termination by the provider is prohibited.

4. Provider reserves the right to delete user accounts with incorrect or incomplete data entries after a reasonable period of time.

5. A prerequisite for using the website is an internet-enabled device and standard browser software.
   

Obligations of the users

1. Users must keep their access data and the associated passwords secret, not disclose them to third parties and secure them adequately. If there are indications that the passwords have been accessed or spied on by third parties, users shall change them immediately.

2. Users are responsible for actions taken under their account, unless they are not responsible for these actions. Users shall also be responsible for use by third parties that is made possible through the fault of the user. Users shall indemnify the provider against any damages arising as a result.

3. Users shall inform the Provider immediately if there is any suspicion that the access data or passwords may have become known to unauthorized persons. Irrespective of this, users remain obliged to take suitable measures themselves in such a case to avert possible dangers, such as immediately changing access data and/or passwords that have become known.

4. Users must ensure that messages from the provider reach them. For this purpose, the email address provided by the user must be kept up to date. Spam filters and filter rules must be set correctly and the mailbox must be checked regularly.
   

Publishing of content by users, blocking of content

1. By transmitting or submitting User Content while using the Service, you will only transmit or submit User Content that (a) is accurate and non-confidential; (b) does not violate any applicable laws, contractual restrictions or third party rights and for which you have the permission of any third party whose personal information or intellectual property is contained in the User Content; (c) is free of viruses, adware, spyware, worms or other harmful code. The User Content must not contain any information that identifies another person or violates a user's privacy. In addition, User Content must not contain any of the following:
   

   – Comments or other materials that are sexually motivated, explicit or suggestive, or that exploit people in a sexual or violent manner;

   – Comments or other materials that are violent or derogatory towards any ethnic, gender or religious group;

   – Comments or other materials that harass or advocate harassment of another person;

   – Comments or other materials that promote the illegal use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco or firearms/weapons;

   – Comments or other materials that are false or misleading, or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous; 

   – Comments or other materials that infringe a third party's trade mark, trade secret or copyright; or

   – Comments or other materials that violate these Terms of Use.
   

2. We reserve the right to take appropriate measures if user content violates these provisions or applicable law. Appropriate measures may include, in particular Removing, blocking, editing, moving, disabling or permanently deleting content.

3. The user must - as far as possible - be informed before the measures in accordance with this section are implemented. In any case, information must be provided after the measure has come into effect. The information shall include a clear justification for the measures taken and a reference to the complaints procedure in accordance with Section 3.

4. Users who have knowledge of content that violates these terms or applicable laws can contact us at the following e-mail address: contact@maltemartenmethod.com. Further information about our DSA (Digital Services Act) contact point can be found here: [link].
   

Measures in case of violations against the user account

1. If a user violates these terms of use or applicable law when using our services, we are authorized to exclude the user from using the services we offer. The exclusion may be permanent or temporary. It is also possible that we will only restrict the use of certain functions for the user. The type and scope of the measures we impose depend on the severity of the offense.

2. As far as possible, the user must be informed before the measure is implemented. In any case, information must be provided after the measure has come into effect. The information shall include a clear justification for the measures taken and a reference to the complaints procedure in accordance with section 7.
   

Complaints procedure

1. A user may lodge a complaint against a measure taken in accordance with section 5 or 6 that affects him/her. To do so, the user can contact the following e-mail address: contact@maltemartenmethod.com. 

2. We will then re-examine the facts of the case in a complaints procedure.

3. In particular, the complaints procedure will examine whether the determination of the original measure sufficiently esnsured that the measure was based on a careful, objective and proportionate examination of the facts, taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of all parties involved and the fundamental rights of users enshrined in the Charter, such as the right to freedom of expression, freedom and pluralism of the media and other fundamental rights and freedoms.

4. We will inform the user of the result once the review has been completed. The result of the review may be that the measure(s) taken remain in place, are amended or revoked.

5. Further information about our DSA (Digital Services Act) contact point can be found here [Link].
   

Property rights, rights to data

1. Insofar as the Provider's services are based on software, the user shall be given the opportunity to administer or otherwise use the functionalities of the software as SaaS for the contractually agreed purposes via the Internet. The customer shall not receive any rights to the software. The software shall not be made available on the user's computers or handed over for installation on the user's own or third-party resources. In particular, the user shall not receive any rights to the source code of the software or to the platform. The user is not authorized to download, save, reproduce or edit the software. 

2. Copyrights and other ancillary copyrights, patent rights, trademark rights (in particular trademarks and work titles), all other industrial property rights and intellectual property rights to the software and the documentation that the Provider provides or makes accessible to the User in the context of the initiation or execution of the contract are the exclusive property of the Provider in the relationship between the parties.

3. The Customer is also not entitled to examine the functionality of the software or the platform by means of reverse engineering, to decompile it, to break it down into its components and/or to use it as a basis for the creation of its own software programs. The Customer shall also not be entitled to carry out technical load and/or penetration tests of the Provider's systems without consultation with the Provider. Any statutory authorizations pursuant to §§ 69d, 69e UrhG, § 11 PatG remain unaffected.
   

Availability

1. For the provision of the Platform, the Provider strives to achieve an availability of 98.5% per calendar year within its area of responsibility. The availability of the Platform on the server used by the Provider is decisive. The area of responsibility does not include, in particular, the telecommunications channels, the hardware and software environment at the user's premises.

2. During periods of unavailability ("downtimes"), the accessibility of the platform may be impaired or impossible. In particular, downtimes may occur when carrying out necessary care and maintenance work on the IT infrastructure. The Provider shall endeavor to schedule such Downtimes during periods of low capacity utilization, particularly at night. Provider shall announce downtimes with reasonable advance notice. The announcement of downtimes may also be made in particular on the Platform or the Provider's website. This does not affect the right of the Provider to take appropriate measures at any time, even without notice, to prevent specific threats to the security and integrity of the systems.
   

Fault processing

1. If technical faults occur during the provision of the platform, the provider shall endeavor to rectify these within a reasonable period of time, taking into account the respective situation, in particular the cause, severity and effects of the faults. 

2. Faults can also be processed by the provider providing a workaround solution. 

3. The Users shall reimburse the Provider for expenses incurred for the examination and measures to remedy a malfunction, provided that the cause of the malfunction falls within the sphere of responsibility of the Users and if the Provider has pointed this out at the beginning of the services. 
   

Granting of rights by the users

1. The Users grant the Provider all rights necessary for the provision of the Platform to store, copy, distribute, host, execute, display, edit, modify and publish the content and information published, uploaded, shared or posted by them on the Platform within the scope of the purpose of the contract and to make it publicly accessible and to create derivative works thereof. The users grant the provider the non-exclusive, non-revocable right to use their user content, anonymizing the user profile and without spatial, temporal, content-related or other restrictions for all known and unknown types of use, in particular to reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, further develop and edit the content and to reproduce, distribute and make publicly accessible the result of the editing. The Provider is entitled to use the results of editing and further development without the User's approval to the same extent as the User Content, unless the results distort the meaning. The Provider is entitled to transfer these rights to third parties or to grant sublicenses.

2. In particular, the provider is also entitled to transfer user content to third parties or to grant sublicenses so that third parties can use the user content to advertise their services in digital or print form via any medium or form of advertising worldwide and for an unlimited period of time.

3. Users warrant that they have all necessary rights of use with regard to the User Content, which include the use by the Provider in accordance with this section.

4. The right of recall under § 41 UrhG is excluded to the extent permitted by law.

5. Even after the removal of user content from the platform, the provider remains entitled to retain a reasonable amount of data for backup and verification purposes.
   

Amendment of the Terms of Use

1. The Provider reserves the right to amend or supplement these Terms of Use and the provisions in the service descriptions. The Provider shall inform the User of any changes or additions. Amendments and additions shall be deemed accepted by the User unless the User objects in text form within 6 weeks of notification. The Provider shall inform the Customer of the consequences of the User's silence in the notification of the amendment or addition to these Terms of Use. If users object to the amendments or additions, either party may terminate this contract. The termination may also be declared by the Provider together with the notification. In the event of changes or additions to the Terms of Use that are mandatory under applicable law or by court or official order, the aforementioned periods may also be shorter.

2. Amendments and supplements to these Terms of Use must be made in text form. This also applies to the amendment or revocation of this clause.

3. This clause does not apply to adjustments or changes to the services in continuing obligations that do not have a significant impact on the equivalence relationship. In particular, the provisions of these Terms of Use regarding changes to the systems or changes to the services due to updates remain unaffected.
   

Liability

1. The following provisions on the provider's liability and warranty apply to all claims for damages, defects or claims for compensation in lieu thereof by the user arising from or in connection with the use of the platform, irrespective of the legal grounds on which they are based (e.g. warranty, default, impossibility, any breach of duty, existence of an impediment to performance, tort, etc.), but not to claims by the user
   

   for damages resulting from injury to life, body and health;

   – in the event of fraudulent concealment of a defect by the supplier or due to the absence of a quality for which the supplier has assumed a guarantee;

   – which are based on intentional or grossly negligent behavior on the part of the provider or its legal representatives;

   – under the Product Liability Act and

   – which are covered by § 69 or § 70 TKG. 

   The above exceptions are subject to the statutory provisions.
   

2. The provider shall only be liable for slight or simple negligence in the event of a breach of material obligations, i.e. obligations that enable the proper execution of the contract or the purpose of the contract or on whose compliance the contractual partner may regularly rely. In the case of slight or simple negligent breach of essential obligations, the liability of the provider is limited to compensation for the typical damage foreseeable for the provider at the time of conclusion of the contract. Otherwise, the provider's liability for slight or simple negligence is excluded.

3. The Provider shall only be liable for intent and gross negligence. The liability for defects is limited to the fact that the Provider is obliged to compensate the User for the resulting damage in the event of fraudulent concealment of a defect in the law or a defect in the software. The Provider shall not be liable for slight or simple negligence. The Provider shall not assume any duties of conduct towards the Users for whose negligent breach the Provider is liable.

4. The provider shall be liable for grossly negligent damage caused by vicarious agents limited to compensation for typical damage foreseeable by the provider at the time the contract was concluded.

5. The strict liability of the provider for errors already existing at the time of conclusion of the contract under applicable tenancy law is expressly excluded.

6. The provider is not responsible for disruptions to services due to force majeure (in particular strikes, lockouts, official orders, natural disasters, failure of communication networks or gateways, disruptions to the services of carriers).

7. Provider shall not be liable for the information accessible or transmitted via the platform, in particular not for its quality, completeness, accuracy or timeliness, nor for the suitability of the information for the intended purpose of the user. Provider is also not liable for ensuring that the user content is free of third-party rights or that the author has violated applicable laws or other standards in the course of transmission. Furthermore, the provider is not liable in particular for any damage resulting from the incorrect further processing of the content by the user, from the use of the content made available or from the misuse of the possibility of use by third parties. 
   

Further development, changes, availability

1. The provider is entitled but not obliged to further develop the platform at its own discretion. The provider does not promise any functionalities or features of the platform. The provider reserves the right to adapt, restrict and change all content and functionalities of the platform at its own discretion. Significant changes are regularly announced on the platform.

2. The Provider does not owe the User any specific availability of the Platform. This also applies to the content and functionalities that can be accessed via the Platform. In particular, the Provider is entitled to carry out planned or unplanned maintenance work on the Platform at any time and to restrict availability for Users for this purpose. In particular, unannounced maintenance work is to be expected at any time for reasons of IT security.
   

Termination and notice of termination

1. The contract of use established by registration is concluded for an indefinite period. 

2. Users can terminate the contractual relationship at any time by deactivating or deleting their account.

3. The provider is entitled to terminate the contract of use at any time without giving reasons and without observing a notice period. 

4. In the event of serious or repeated violations of these Terms of Use, the Provider is entitled to immediately block the account of users. Blocked users are prohibited from re-registering on the platform under a different profile and/or name.

5. The Provider reserves the right to discontinue the operation of the Platform and all associated services at any time. The provider will inform users of this with as much advance notice as possible.

6. Upon termination of the contract, the user's access to the user account shall be blocked and the profile deleted. The provider is not obliged to transmit content to the user or store it for the user, even at the end of the contract. If a profile is deleted, the content shared via the profile remains on the platform, the user's name is then anonymized and their profile information is deleted.

7. The Provider is entitled to delete the User's data at any time after termination of the user relationship. This shall not affect the Provider's right to store data insofar as this is necessary to fulfill legal obligations. The applicable data protection declarations of the provider provide information on the specific deletion periods.

8. Provisions of these Terms of Use which, according to their meaning and purpose, are intended to continue to apply beyond the end of the contract of use shall continue to apply even after termination of the contract of use.
   

Data protection/disclosure to third parties

1. The current privacy policy available at https://www.maltemartenmethod.com/privacy-policy provides information on the handling of the user's personal data by the provider. The provisions of the privacy policy take precedence over this section.

2. With regard to their content, users shall ensure compliance with all data protection obligations towards the data subject, in particular those arising from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). In particular, users shall ensure that any information obligations of the data subject, which (also) affect the provider, are fulfilled by the users by posting the content with the provider. The users are aware that the provider does not inform any data subjects beyond the privacy policy on the platform without a specific reason or request.

3. The Provider is entitled to disclose data about Users and the User Content to third parties if third parties assert corresponding claims against the Provider. Third parties in this sense may be other users, parties affected by the processing of personal data, government agencies or authorities or other third parties. The disclosure of the data is permissible in particular if the Provider informs the Users of a corresponding request and the factual or legal basis of the request is not refuted by the Users within the set period of time by providing credible evidence. The Provider is entitled to demand the submission of the original of an affidavit for submission to the court within the same period of time in order to substantiate the User's actual claims, insofar as this is appropriate. 
   

Applicable law 

1. The legal relationship between the provider and the user is subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the conflict of laws rules of private international law shall not apply. Users may assert claims arising from consumer protection standards in accordance with German law or the law of the EU member state in which they live.
   

Miscellaneous

1. In case of doubt, the place of fulfillment, performance and success for all obligations arising from this usage relationship is the registered office of the provider.

2. If the written form is provided for in these Terms of Use, the written form may be replaced by the electronic form in accordance with Section 126a BGB, unless expressly agreed otherwise. 

3. German law shall apply exclusively, to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of April 11, 1980 ("UN Sales Convention") and such provisions that may lead to the application of foreign law. The user may assert claims arising from consumer protection standards in accordance with German law or the law of the EU member state in which he lives.

Status: March 2024