Terms of use for participants of German courses for the use of the online learning platform of DeutschAkademie GmbH
1. Preamble
DeutschAkademie GmbH (hereinafter referred to as the “DeutschAkademie”) offers German courses as online and face-to-face courses, which are either conducted by independent teachers with whom the DeutschAkademie has a contractual relationship (hereinafter referred to as the “teachers”) or are to be completed as self-study courses. DeutschAkademie operates a web-based online platform (hereinafter referred to as the “Online Platform”) for the purpose of conducting online courses and supplementing classroom courses. The online platform serves customers of the DeutschAkademie who have booked a German course (hereinafter referred to as the “Participant”, DeutschAkademie and Participant hereinafter also referred to individually as the “Party”, together the “Parties”) essentially to participate in the individual course units of online courses, as well as to make use of supplementary functionalities, such as communication between participants and teachers by means of a chat function, the sharing of materials and the retrieval of recordings of past courses (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Platform Services”).
2. Area of application
2.1 By booking a German course on the DeutschAkademie website, the parties enter into a contractual relationship for the provision of a German course (hereinafter: “course contract”).
2.2 These Terms of Use are an integral part of the Course Contract. In particular, they govern the implementation of the Course Contract through the use of the online platform and the provision of platform services by DeutschAkademie in connection with the individual Course Contract.
2.3 These Terms of Use shall be interpreted in accordance with the Course Contract. If in individual cases there are contradictions between these Terms of Use and the course contract or if these Terms of Use do not contain a clear provision, any other provisions of the course contract shall take precedence.
2.4 DeutschAkademie shall only provide services in accordance with these Terms of Use to participants who are consumers within the meaning of Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The use of the online platform and the platform services as a participant is therefore not permitted to entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 BGB, associations, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law.
2.5 Under no circumstances shall the Participant be entitled to claim that the previous terms of use shall continue to apply upon conclusion of a further course contract or amendment of an existing course contract.
3. Participant account
3.1 In order to use the online platform, the participant must register to open a participant account (hereinafter referred to as “account”).
3.2 The creation of an account is free of charge.
3.3 As part of the booking process for the conclusion of the course contract, the DeutschAkademie provides access data that enables the participant to use the online platform. The access data of an account cannot be used simultaneously via several end devices, must be treated as strictly confidential by the participant and must not be disclosed to third parties.
3.4 The account is not transferable. The transfer of the right to use the account and/or the online platform to third parties is not permitted. The participant is obliged to inform the DeutschAkademie immediately if he/she becomes aware that his/her account or access data is being used by unauthorized persons.
3.5 Each participant may only maintain one account at a time.
4. Functionalities of the online platform and platform services
4.1 If it is a German course that is not exclusively self-study, the German course is divided into course units that are conducted with the simultaneous presence of the teacher and the participants. In the case of an online course, simultaneous attendance is achieved by means of video conferencing. The DeutschAkademie offers the participant the opportunity to take part in the online course via the online platform and to enter the respective virtual course room.
4.2 The DeutschAkademie provides the possibility of using the online platform as it is and according to its current state of development in order to facilitate the implementation of the German course and to provide supplementary platform services.
4.3 The DeutschAkademie always endeavors to offer teachers and participants modern and user-friendly functionalities. The participant has no claim to the unchanged existence of the design and functionalities of the online platform, which may be subject to changes or updates in the course of the contractual relationship. Reasonable changes include, in particular, changes that become necessary due to legal or regulatory requirements, that serve to adapt to the current state of the art, security regulations or data protection regulations, in which service content is replaced in whole or in part with services of equal or higher value and the agreed scope of services remains essentially unchanged.
4.4 In this respect, the DeutschAkademie reserves the right to amend these terms of use, taking into account and weighing up the interests of the participants. The new terms of use will be sent to the participant in downloadable format as part of the registration process on the online platform. If the participant does not agree to the new terms of use, the DeutschAkademie reserves the right to terminate the course contract in accordance with the generally applicable regulations.
4.5 The DeutschAkademie uses freely available software from third-party providers (such as Zoom, Skype or similar services) to conduct the online course, which can be used via a web browser or as downloadable software. Joining the video conferences takes place via the online platform.
4.6 In the case of a German course that is to be completed exclusively through self-study, the DeutschAkademie provides texts, overviews, graphics, photographs, data, information or other content (hereinafter referred to as “materials”) on the online platform.
4.7 If it is a German course that is not to be completed exclusively through self-study, the teacher may provide materials on the online platform at their own discretion to supplement the German course. Materials provided by the teacher in this way serve to accompany the German course (e.g. as homework or for self-study by the participant) and have no further independent function.
4.8 In addition to the German course, which is not exclusively self-study, the participant can communicate with the teacher and other participants via a chat function. However, the teacher has the option of restricting or completely deactivating the chat function.
4.9 If it is a German course that is not to be completed exclusively through self-study, the teacher has the technical possibility to record course units digitally. The teacher should only make use of the recording option in individual cases if the participant is unable to attend a course unit. The teacher can make these recordings available to the participants of the respective online course via the online platform.
4.10 At the discretion of the DeutschAkademie, these recordings, materials and other contents of the German course may remain accessible after the end of the course.
5. Rights of the DeutschAkademie and the teacher
5.1 If it is a German course that is not to be completed exclusively through self-study, the DeutschAkademie will appoint a responsible teacher for each German course. The participant has no claim to the selection of a specific teacher.
5.2 The DeutschAkademie shall decide at its own discretion whether the German course has been successfully completed. If it is a German course that is not to be completed exclusively through self-study, the participant must generally attend 75% of the course units in order to pass.
5.3 If the German course is not exclusively self-study, the teacher determines the content and structure of the German course, including the use and provision of materials, at his/her own discretion. Materials that the teacher makes available to the participant as part of a German course for the purpose of “homework”, self-study or as a test essentially serve to repeat the content of the German course.
5.4 If a participant violates these terms of use, in particular the behavioral obligations under Section 6.4, or other applicable laws or regulations, the DeutschAkademie may take appropriate and reasonable remedial measures, if available through the respective teacher. This may include, in particular, admonishing the participant, informing the DeutschAkademie, removing illegal content and excluding the participant from individual course units. The DeutschAkademie reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the participant's continued participation in the German course and the scope of his/her use of the online platform and platform services.
6. Obligations of the participant
6.1 The participant must provide the hardware (e.g. end device, microphone, webcam), software (including freely available software from third-party providers, e.g. for conducting video conferences) and a broadband Internet connection required to use the online platform and platform services at their own expense. If the third-party provider requires the creation of an account to use its software, the participant is obliged to register for such an account. The DeutschAkademie is not responsible for failures or other technical problems that arise in connection with the use of this third-party software.
6.2 The participant is responsible for taking the necessary precautions to protect the hardware and software used by him, including his system, from access by third parties. This includes, in particular, using the standard security settings of the browser software used by the participant, regularly backing up data and using a firewall and up-to-date protection software to ward off computer viruses.
6.3 The participant may only access and use the online platform and the platform services in a manner for which he has been granted the right of access and use and as is reasonably necessary for the purpose of the course contract.
6.4 The participant must always behave in the interests of the proper operation of the online platform and refrain from any activities that could interrupt or disrupt the proper running of the German course. In particular, the participant must
6.4.1 ensure that third parties are not able to use the online platform or the German course;
6.4.2 to enter the virtual course room on time;
6.4.3 to participate attentively in the course units, to be approachable and to participate actively at the teacher's request, to respond to speeches and to interact with the teacher and other participants;
6.4.4 aggressives, beleidigendes sowie rassistisches oder sexistisches Verhalten zu unterlassen;
6.4.5 to refrain from aggressive, offensive, racist or sexist behavior;
6.4.6 refrain from unauthorized recordings of the content or the German course;
6.4.7 to comply with generally applicable technical security standards;
6.4.8 to refrain from the provision and use of malware, viruses and other malicious programs.
6.5 The use of the online platform, the platform services and the participant's other behavior must comply with the applicable laws. The Participant is solely responsible for knowing and complying with the laws and regulations applicable to it.
6.6 When retrieving, creating, providing, making publicly available and distributing materials, chat messages and other content, the license conditions under which this content is made available on the online platform must be observed.
6.7 The participant bears sole responsibility for all content that they post on the online platform. The participant shall refrain from retrieving, creating, providing, making publicly accessible and disseminating illegal content, in particular content that violates criminal or personal rights provisions or third-party industrial property rights. The participant will only undertake such an action if, to the best of his knowledge
6.7.1 is the owner of all rights to the Content or holds all necessary licenses, permissions to use, make publicly available and publish the Content;
6.7.2 the Content does not infringe any intellectual property rights or other rights of third parties;
6.7.3 to the best of its knowledge, the content does not violate any laws or other regulations, and in particular is not defamatory or offensive.
6.8 DeutschAkademie reserves the right to remove content that violates these requirements. However, this does not mean that the DeutschAkademie proactively reviews content or checks its legality. DeutschAkademie initiates such measures without recognizing any legal obligation, without prejudice to and without waiving existing claims, rights or legal remedies and expressly reserves the right to assert them. In the case of illegal content provided by participants, the requirements of Section 8 of these Terms of Use must also be observed.
7. Reporting and redress procedures for illegal content
7.1 As part of the opportunity for participants to provide materials via the online platform and to use the chat function, the DeutschAkademie stores information provided by the participant on their behalf.
7.2 If participants believe that these materials are unlawful in that they do not comply with European Union law or the law of an EU member state, they have the option of reporting them to the DeutschAkademie. This can be done by e-mail to service@deutschakademie.com.
7.3 The following information must be provided in such a notification:
7.3.1 a duly substantiated explanation as to why the information in question is considered illegal content;
7.3.2 a clear indication of the precise electronic location of such information or, where necessary, further information relevant to the nature of the content and the specific type of service in order to identify the illegal content;
7.3.3 the name and e-mail address of the reporter; this does not apply to information that the reporter assumes relates to a criminal offense in connection with sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child pornography, contacting children for sexual purposes or inciting, aiding or abetting or attempting to commit such offenses. In these or other cases in which the reporting party wishes to submit a report without the possibility of identification, they can contact the DeutschAkademie live chat (see Contact);
7.3.4 a declaration that the reporting party is convinced in good faith that the information and details contained in the report are correct and complete.
7.4 The DeutschAkademie will process all reports promptly, carefully, objectively and free of arbitrariness. The DeutschAkademie will inform the notifier immediately of its decision on the illegality of the content and point out any legal remedies. In the event of a restriction, the DeutschAkademie will give clear and specific reasons for its decision to all affected parties.
8 Technical measures, maintenance and support
8.1 In order to protect the online platform from harmful programs and content such as viruses, Trojans or spam messages, DeutschAkademie may take technical protective measures. This may also include the use of filter systems, insofar as this is appropriate to protect the telecommunications and data processing systems.
8.2 DeutschAkademie shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the online platform is available no less than 99.1% of the calendar year. This does not include temporary unavailability due to scheduled or unscheduled maintenance work or for reasons beyond the control of DeutschAkademie. DeutschAkademie will make reasonable efforts to announce scheduled interruptions of the online platform or platform services in advance. Availability at all times is not owed.
Furthermore, DeutschAkademie is not obliged to carry out maintenance work on the online platform or the platform services or updates, upgrades or patches at regular intervals or on the instructions of third parties. Should such maintenance work occur, DeutschAkademie points out that the usability of the online platform and the platform services may be restricted during such maintenance windows.
8.3 In the event of technical problems with the online platform, the participant can contact the DeutschAkademie live chat (see Contact).
9. Rights of use, granting of rights
9.1 DeutschAkademie or its licensors are the owners of all rights to the online platform and its content.
9.2 DeutschAkademie grants the participant a non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable right to access and use the online platform and platform services for the purposes of the course contract, i.e. loading and calling for participation in the course units, communication with teachers and other participants as well as the recordings and materials, for exclusively private, non-commercial purposes. With regard to the recordings of course units, the right of use is limited in time to one year after the end of the German course.
9.3 The DeutschAkademie reserves the right to revoke the license for access to content on the online platform at any time if the DeutschAkademie is obliged to do so for legal reasons or deactivates access to individual content or the online platform for other equivalent reasons. This is the case, for example, if DeutschAkademie determines that the content is illegal within the meaning of Section 7 of these Terms of Use.
9.4 The participant grants the DeutschAkademie a non-exclusive right on a worldwide basis to make the materials and other content provided on the online platform publicly accessible and to retrieve and use them for the purposes of the course contract and the implementation of the German course.
10. Liability
10.1 The DeutschAkademie is liable for damages in cases of intent and gross negligence.
10.2 In the case of simple negligence, the DeutschAkademie shall only be liable for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health and for damages resulting from the breach of an essential contractual obligation. An essential contractual obligation is an obligation whose fulfillment makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the participant regularly relies and may rely. In the event of a breach of a material contractual obligation, the liability of DeutschAkademie shall be limited to compensation for the foreseeable, typically occurring damage, unless it concerns claims for damages due to injury to life, body or health or a limitation of liability is not permissible for other reasons.
10.3 The limitations of liability according to Section 10.2 shall not apply if DeutschAkademie has assumed a guarantee or has fraudulently concealed a defect in the contractual services. These limitations of liability also do not apply to claims under the Product Liability Act and applicable laws for the protection of personal data.
10.4 The liability regulations from Sections 10.2 and 10.3 shall also apply to the liability of the legal representatives, vicarious agents, organs and employees of DeutschAkademie.
10.5 Insofar as rental law is applicable to the platform services, DeutschAkademie shall not be liable for initial defects unless the requirements of Sections 10.2 and 10.3 are met.
10.6 Claims for compensation by the participant against DeutschAkademie expire within 12 months. This does not apply if the claims are based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of a primary or secondary obligation by DeutschAkademie, injury to life, body or health, breach of a cardinal obligation or, if applicable to the platform services, on warranty claims for defects.
10.7 In addition to the requirements of Sections 10.2 and 10.3, the Participant's claim for damages due to loss of data shall be limited to the amount of damage that would have occurred even if the Participant had properly backed up the data.
11. Data protection
The applicable and relevant data protection regulations apply, in particular those of the General Data Protection Regulation or the Federal Data Protection Act. For information on the processing of the participant's personal data, please refer to the data protection information.
12. Final provision
If one or more provisions of these GTC are invalid, ineffective or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity, effectiveness or enforceability of the remaining provisions.
