Terms of Use

Disclaimer: The original version of this legal document is in German and legally binding under German law. This English version is a non-binding translation provided for convenience.

1) Scope of Application

These Terms of Use of Dr. Christa Gescher, acting under "Dr. Christa Gescher" (hereinafter "Operator"), apply to the use of the website operated by the Operator by the user.

By using the website, the user agrees to these Terms of Use.

2) Services of the Operator

2.1 The Operator provides the website in its current state and on the basis of current availability. The Operator owes neither a specific quality, compatibility, security, a specific range of functions, nor that the website is suitable for a particular purpose.

2.2 The Operator does not warrant that the website will function without interruption or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the website or the servers through which the website is made available are free of viruses or other harmful software.

2.3 The Operator is entitled to change or discontinue the operation of the website in whole or in part at any time.

3) Links to Third-Party Websites

The Operator’s website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties, over whose content the Operator has no influence. The provision of these links does not imply that the Operator approves of these websites, the content contained therein, their operators, or their practices. Should the Operator become aware or be notified by third parties that the linked websites contain illegal content, the Operator will remove the link to the website in question immediately.

4) Usage Restrictions

The user may use the website and its content only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use.

In particular, the following behaviors are prohibited:

• Any use of the website in a manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the website;
• Use of programs or other technical aids for text and data mining, monitoring, or duplication of content on the website;
• Use of programs or other technical aids that interfere with the proper operation of the website;
• Introducing malicious software such as viruses, Trojans, or worms;
• Impairing the website with a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack;
• Any attempt to gain unauthorized access to or interfere with parts of the website, the server on which the website is stored, or any server, database, or terminal device connected to the website.

5) User Responsibility for Content

Each user is solely responsible for the content of the information they post on the Operator's website, in particular for its truthfulness and legal harmlessness. The user warrants that the data provided by them is true. The user shall ensure that the content posted by them does not violate these Terms of Use or applicable law. In particular, the user must fully comply with intellectual property requirements (copyrights, patent rights, trademark rights, etc.) at all times and behave in such a way that the rights of third parties are not impaired and no danger can arise for the Operator, for example, due to claims by third parties.

In particular, the publication of the following is prohibited:

• Copyright-protected content if no authorization for use exists (e.g., photos for whose publication on the Internet the photographer and/or a depicted person has not consented);
• False factual claims;
• Contributions aimed at personally attacking or defaming other users;
• Racist, xenophobic, discriminatory, or offensive content;
• Content harmful to minors;
• Content glorifying violence;
• Links to pages that do not comply with legal provisions or these Terms of Use.

6) Moderation and Restriction of Content

6.1 The Operator is generally not obliged to proactively check the content posted by users for its legality or compatibility with the rights of third parties or these Terms of Use. Nevertheless, the Operator reserves the right to check the user's content for legality on its own initiative in individual cases and, in the event of established violations, to take measures at its own reasonable discretion to remove them.

6.2 Users and affected third parties may report suspected illegal content to the Operator using the e-mail address provided in the Operator's legal notice (Impressum). The Operator is free to forward the content of a report to the user who posted the reported content. The identity of the reporting person will only be disclosed to the user if this is strictly necessary.

7) Comments

7.1 The Operator grants users the opportunity to submit comments.

7.2 Users are obliged to provide only truthful information in the comments submitted. The comments submitted must be factual and must not contain abusive criticism (Schmähkritik).

7.3 Any misuse of the comment function is prohibited.

7.4 The comments are not reviewed by the Operator without specific suspicion and may be inaccurate or misleading.

7.5 If a user is of the opinion that an inaccurate or otherwise inadmissible comment has been made about them by another user, they may contact the Operator with a complaint at the e-mail address specified in the legal notice (Impressum). The complaint must include a justification as to why the comment in question is, in the opinion of the affected user, inaccurate or otherwise inadmissible. In the event of a substantiated complaint, the Operator will request the author of the comment in question to take a position. If the author refuses to amend or withdraw their comment, the Operator will decide at its own reasonable discretion, taking into account the interests of the users concerned, whether the comment will continue to appear on the website, if necessary until the facts of the matter have been clarified by a court.

8) Granting of Usage Rights by the User, Indemnification

8.1 The Operator is entitled to use content and information made available by users for the website or to have it used by third parties.

8.2 The user grants the Operator, free of charge, a non-exclusive and at any time revocable right of use required for this purpose, in particular the right to permanent provision and storage and to making it available to the public, the right of reproduction and publication as well as the right of processing and distribution, and warrants that they are entitled to grant these usage rights.

8.3 The user indemnifies the Operator against all claims asserted by other users or other third parties against the Operator due to infringement of their rights because of content posted by the user or because of their other use of the website. In this context, the user also assumes the necessary costs of legal defense, including all court and attorney's fees in the statutory amount. This does not apply if the user is not responsible for the legal infringement. In the event of a claim by a third party, the user is obliged to provide the Operator immediately, truthfully, and completely with all information required for the examination of the claims and a defense.

9) Granting of Usage Rights by the Operator

9.1 The Operator grants the user a non-exclusive, at any time revocable right to use the website operated by the Operator within the framework of these Terms of Use.

9.2 Unless and insofar as the specific circumstances indicate otherwise, users are generally prohibited from reproducing content of this website in whole or in part for their own business purposes, making it available to the public, or passing it on to third parties.

9.3 The use of copyright-protected and/or trademark-protected content located on the website, such as logos, images, videos, or texts, is prohibited unless the Operator has expressly consented to the use. Exceptions to this are the downloading, copying, and/or printing of pages of the website for exclusively personal and non-commercial use.

9.4 Statistical data and/or other information outside the scope of statutory copyright may be used exclusively for editorial purposes, naming the Operator as the source within a reasonable scope.

10) Legal Consequences of Improper Use

The Operator reserves the right to temporarily or permanently prohibit the user from accessing the website if the user violates applicable law or these Terms of Use. The assertion of other rights, in particular the assertion of damages, remains unaffected by this.

11) Liability of the Operator

The Operator shall be liable to the user for all contractual, quasi-contractual, and statutory claims, including claims in tort, for damages and reimbursement of expenses as follows:

11.1 The Operator shall be liable without limitation for any legal reason

• in the event of intent or gross negligence,
• in the event of intentional or negligent injury to life, body, or health,
• on the basis of a guarantee promise, unless otherwise regulated in this respect,
• on the basis of mandatory liability, such as under the Product Liability Act.

11.2 If the Operator negligently breaches an essential contractual obligation, liability shall be limited to the contract-typical, foreseeable damage, unless liability is unlimited according to the preceding paragraph. Essential contractual obligations are obligations which the contract imposes on the Operator according to its content in order to achieve the purpose of the contract, the fulfillment of which enables the proper execution of the contract in the first place and on the observance of which the user may regularly rely.

11.3 Otherwise, liability on the part of the Operator is excluded.

11.4 The above liability regulations also apply with regard to the liability of the Operator for its vicarious agents and legal representatives.

12) Amendment of the Terms of Use

The Operator reserves the right to change these Terms of Use at any time. Changes will be announced by publishing the amended version of the Terms of Use on the Operator's website. The user agrees to the changes by continuing to use the website after the changes have been announced.

13) Applicable Law

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to all legal relationships between the parties. In the case of consumers, this choice of law shall only apply insofar as the protection granted is not withdrawn by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has their habitual residence.

14) Place of Jurisdiction

If the user acts as a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law with its registered office in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is the registered office of the Operator. If the user has their registered office outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the registered office of the Operator is the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract if the contract or claims from the contract can be attributed to the professional or commercial activity of the user. In the aforementioned cases, however, the Operator is entitled in any case to call upon the court at the registered office of the user.