Terms

General Terms and Conditions for the ITMediaLaw member area

1. scope of application

(1) These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) govern the use of the member area on the website itmedialaw.com, operated by lawyer Marian Härtel, Rathenaustr. 58a, 14612 Falkensee. They apply to all registered users (hereinafter referred to as “members”) of the members’ area, including the forum, the community, the download areas and other digital functions. By registering and using the member area, the member accepts these GTC in full.
(2) These GTC shall apply exclusively. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary GTC of the member shall only become part of the contract if and to the extent that Marian Härtel has expressly agreed to their validity in writing. This requirement of consent shall apply in any case, for example even if Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel provides the services without reservation in the knowledge of the member’s GTC.
(3) Attorney Marian Härtel reserves the right to agree supplementary terms and conditions for individual services. These shall be brought to the member’s attention in good time before the respective service is used and shall require the member’s consent. In the event of contradictions between these GTC and the supplementary terms and conditions, the supplementary terms and conditions shall take precedence.
(4) The member area is aimed exclusively at persons of legal age. By registering, the member confirms that he or she has reached the age of 18. Marian Härtel reserves the right to request proof of age.
(5) These GTC shall also apply to future transactions between Marian Härtel and the member without the need for renewed reference to the GTC. The current version of the GTC can be viewed and downloaded at any time on the website itmedialaw.com.

2. registration and membership

(1) Use of the member area requires free registration. Upon successful registration, the user becomes a member of the community. The registration process includes entering personal data, choosing a user name and password and confirming that you have read and accepted these GTC and the privacy policy. After completing registration, the member receives a confirmation e-mail with an activation link.
(2) There is no entitlement to membership. Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel reserves the right to reject registration applications without giving reasons. This may be the case in particular if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the applicant may be in breach of applicable law or morality or has already been excluded from using the members’ area in the past. The rejection of an application for registration shall not give rise to any claim for damages or other claims against Marian Härtel.
(3) The member undertakes to provide truthful and complete information when registering and to update this information immediately in the event of changes. This applies in particular to changes to the e-mail address, as this is essential for communication and access to the member area. In the event of a breach of this obligation, Marian Härtel may terminate the membership without notice.
(4) Access data must be treated confidentially and may not be passed on to third parties. The member shall be responsible for all activities that take place under his/her user account. If unauthorized use of the user account is suspected, the member shall be obliged to inform Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel immediately and to change the password. Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel shall not be liable for any damage caused by the unauthorized use of the user account, unless the unauthorized use is due to the fault of Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel.
(5) Membership is personal and non-transferable. The member may not allow third parties to use his/her user account or create multiple user accounts. In the event of non-compliance, Marian Härtel reserves the right to block or delete all affected user accounts.

3. services and rights of use

(1) Attorney Marian Härtel shall provide members with various free and fee-based services in the members’ area, including a forum, a community, download areas and other digital functions. The exact scope of the services can be found in the respective service description in the members’ area. Marian Härtel endeavors to constantly improve and expand the members’ area in order to meet the needs of the members.
(2) Attorney Marian Härtel shall grant members a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the services offered. This right of use is limited to the duration of membership and expires automatically upon termination of membership. The right of use includes in particular the right to use the content of the members’ area for personal use, but not the right to reproduce, distribute or make it publicly accessible.
(3) Marian Härtel reserves the right to change, expand or restrict the scope of the services offered at any time. This may be necessary for technical, legal or economic reasons. Members shall be informed of any significant changes in good time. In the event of a significant deterioration in the scope of services, the member shall be entitled to an extraordinary right of termination.
(4) The availability of the member area may be temporarily restricted for technical reasons (e.g. maintenance work, system failures) or due to force majeure. Marian Härtel shall endeavor to keep availability as high as possible, but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability. Claims of the member due to temporary unavailability shall be excluded unless Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel has caused the unavailability intentionally or through gross negligence.
(5) Marian Härtel shall be entitled to use third parties as vicarious agents to provide the services. This applies in particular to technical service providers for the operation of the website and the member area. This shall not affect the responsibility of Marian Härtel towards the members.

4. paid memberships

(1) Additional paid memberships can be booked within the member area after free registration. These offer extended functions and content that go beyond the scope of the free membership. The exact scope of the various membership models is described in detail in the member area.
(2) The prices, scope of services and terms of the fee-based memberships are displayed transparently in the logged-in area. All prices quoted include the statutory value added tax. Attorney Marian Härtel reserves the right to change the prices for paid memberships. Price changes will be announced in good time before they come into effect and only apply to new contracts or renewals.
(3) The contract for a paid membership is concluded when the member selects the desired membership and confirms the booking. Before completing the booking, the member is shown an overview of the selected services, the price and the term. Upon confirmation of the booking, a binding contract for the paid membership is concluded.
(4) Payment shall be made according to the selected payment method. Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel reserves the right to exclude individual payment methods or to allow only certain payment methods. In the case of recurring payments, the member shall be obliged to ensure that the specified account has sufficient funds. Costs incurred due to non-payment or chargeback shall be borne by the member, insofar as the member is responsible for them.
(5) Paid memberships are automatically extended by the originally selected term if they are not terminated with 14 days’ notice to the end of the term. Notice of termination may be given in text form (e.g. by e-mail) or via a corresponding function in the member area. Attorney Marian Härtel shall inform the member of the automatic extension and the possibility of termination in good time before the end of the notice period.

5. duties of the members

(1) Members undertake to comply with the applicable laws and the rights of third parties when using the members’ area. This includes in particular the observance of copyright, trademark, personality and data protection rights. Members shall ensure that the content they publish does not infringe the rights of third parties and does not violate applicable law.
(2) It is prohibited to post content that:
violates applicable law or morality
infringes third-party rights, in particular copyrights, trademark rights or personal rights
is offensive, racist, discriminatory or pornographic
contains advertising, unless this is expressly permitted
contains viruses, Trojans or other harmful programs or refers to such
(3) Members are responsible for the content they publish. Before posting content, they undertake to check whether it is lawful and does not infringe the rights of third parties. In case of doubt, members are obliged to refrain from publication or to seek legal advice.
(4) Members undertake not to misuse the members’ area. In particular, it is prohibited:
to place an excessive load on the technical infrastructure of the members’ area
to spy out or use access data of other members
to use automated systems or bots to use the members’ area
to disrupt or manipulate the functionality of the members’ area
(5) In the event of violations of these obligations, Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel reserves the right to delete the corresponding content, to warn the member or to terminate the membership. The member shall indemnify Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel against all third-party claims arising from breaches of duty by the member.

6. rights of lawyer Marian Härtel

(1) Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel reserves the right to delete or edit posts and content without prior notice if they violate the terms of use. However, there is no obligation to review the content posted by members. Attorney Marian Härtel shall only take action in response to specific indications of legal violations.
(2) In the event of violations of these GTC, Marian Härtel may warn, temporarily block or permanently exclude members from using the members’ area. The choice of measure shall be at the discretion of Marian Härtel and shall depend on the severity of the violation. In the event of repeated or serious violations, members may be permanently blocked immediately.
(3) Marian Härtel shall be entitled to further develop, change or discontinue the members’ area and the services offered. This may be necessary for technical, legal or economic reasons. Members shall be given reasonable notice of any significant changes.
(4) Marian Härtel reserves the right to make the use of certain functions of the members’ area dependent on the fulfillment of additional requirements. This may include, for example, verification of identity or proof of certain qualifications.
(5) In the event of a violation of these GTC or applicable law, Marian Härtel shall be entitled to take all necessary measures to prevent further violations and to limit any damages incurred. This includes the disclosure of information to competent authorities to the extent permitted or required by law.
7. Liability and limitation of liability
(1) Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel assumes no liability for the content published by members and its accuracy. The information provided in the member area, including forum posts and AI-generated answers, does not constitute legal advice in individual cases and does not establish a client-lawyer relationship unless this is expressly agreed in writing.
(2) The liability of attorney Marian Härtel for damages arising from the use of the members’ area is limited to intent and gross negligence, insofar as legally permissible. This applies in particular to indirect damage, consequential damage, loss of profit and immaterial damage.
(3) In the event of a slightly negligent breach of an obligation that is essential for achieving the purpose of the contract (cardinal obligation), the liability of Marian Härtel shall be limited in amount to the damage that is foreseeable and typical for the type of transaction in question.
(4) Marian Härtel shall have no further liability. In particular, there is no liability for the uninterrupted availability of the member area or the loss of data, unless the loss was caused intentionally or through gross negligence.
(5) The member shall indemnify Marian Härtel against all third-party claims arising from legal violations by the member. This shall also include the costs of the necessary legal defense, including all court and attorney’s fees.

7 Copyrights and rights of use

(1) The content made available in the members’ area is protected by copyright. Members are only granted a simple, non-transferable right of use. This right is limited to the duration of membership and expires automatically upon termination of membership.
(2) The right of use includes the right to use the content for personal use, but not the right to reproduce, distribute or make it publicly accessible. The content may not be passed on to third parties, even in part, without the express written permission of Marian Härtel.
(3) For content that members publish in the members’ area, they shall grant Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel a right of use free of charge, unlimited in time and space. This right includes, in particular, the right to store, reproduce, edit and make the content publicly accessible.
(4) The member guarantees that they have the necessary rights to the content published by them and that no rights of third parties are infringed by the granting of rights of use. In the event of an infringement of rights, the member shall indemnify Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel against all third-party claims.
(5) Attorney Marian Härtel reserves the right to delete or block content that violates these GTC or applicable law without prior notice. There is no entitlement to the restoration of deleted content.

8. data protection

(1) The collection, processing and use of personal data is carried out in accordance with Marian Härtel’s privacy policy, which is an integral part of these GTC. The current version of the privacy policy can be viewed at any time on the website itmedialaw.com.
(2) The member agrees to the collection, processing and use of their personal data in the context of using the member area. This includes in particular the storage of IP addresses and usage data to improve the service and prevent misuse.
(3) Marian Härtel undertakes to comply with the applicable data protection regulations and to take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data.
(4) The member has the right at any time to request information about the personal data stored about him/her and, if necessary, to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted, insofar as this does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations.
(5) Upon termination of membership, all personal data will be deleted unless there are statutory retention obligations. In this case, the data will be blocked for further processing.
10. Right of withdrawal for consumers
(1) Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal for paid memberships. The revocation policy is provided as part of the booking process and can be viewed at any time in the member area.
(2) The right of revocation is 14 days from the date of conclusion of the contract. Timely dispatch of the revocation is sufficient to comply with the revocation period.
(3) The revocation must be sent to:
Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel
Rathenaustr. 58a
14612 Falkensee
E-Mail: info@itmedialaw.com

(4) In the event of an effective revocation, the services received by both parties shall be returned. Any payments already made will be refunded immediately, at the latest within 14 days of receipt of the notice of revocation.
(5) The right of withdrawal shall expire prematurely if Attorney Marian Härtel has begun to perform the service with the express consent of the consumer before the end of the withdrawal period or if the consumer has initiated this himself.

9. changes to the GTC

(1) Marian Härtel reserves the right to amend these GTC at any time. Members shall be informed of changes in an appropriate manner, usually by e-mail or by a notice in the member area.
(2) The amended GTC shall be deemed approved if the member does not object within four weeks of receipt of the notification of amendment. This legal consequence shall be pointed out separately in the notification of amendment.
(3) In the event of an objection, Marian Härtel shall be entitled to terminate the membership at the earliest possible date.
(4) Amendments to the GTC shall only become effective if they are made in consideration of the member’s legitimate interests and do not lead to a significant deterioration in the member’s contractual position.
(5) The current version of the GTC can be viewed and downloaded at any time in the member area.
12. communication
(1) Attorney Marian Härtel may communicate with members by e-mail, via the platform itself or other digital communication channels such as WhatsApp or Discord, provided the member has consented to this.
(2) The member shall be obliged to keep his/her e-mail address stored in the member area up to date and to check it regularly for messages. Messages from Marian Härtel shall be deemed to have been received if they have been sent to the last e-mail address provided by the member.
(3) Communication via the platform, in particular in the forum, is public and can be viewed by other members. The member is advised not to share any confidential or personal information publicly.
(4) Attorney Marian Härtel reserves the right to moderate communication in the member area and to delete or edit posts that violate these GTC or applicable law.
(5) The use of messaging services such as WhatsApp or Discord is voluntary and subject to the respective terms of use of the service provider. Rechtsanwalt Marian Härtel assumes no liability for the security and confidentiality of messages transmitted via these services.
13. Final provisions
(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. This choice of law shall only apply insofar as the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which the consumer has his habitual residence is not withdrawn.
(2) Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a valid provision that comes closest to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.
(3) The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contractual relationship is Falkensee, insofar as legally permissible. This also applies if a member does not have a general place of jurisdiction in Germany or if the place of residence or habitual abode is not known at the time the action is brought.
(4) These GTC were last updated on 14.03.2025. Earlier versions of the GTC lose their validity when this version comes into force.
(5) There are no verbal collateral agreements. Amendments or supplements to these GTC must be made in writing. This also applies to the waiver of the written form requirement.