General Terms and Conditions (GTC)
bpk – Bildagentur
Märkisches Ufer 16-18
D – 10179 Berlin
contakt@bpk-bildagentur.de
www.bpk-bildagentur.de
General Terms and Conditions (GTC) Including the conditions for the use of the online image database of the bpk image agency (hereinafter also referred to as bpk)
I General
The image material offered by bpk-Bildagentur is only made available subject to the following General Terms and Conditions (GT&Cs) and only to companies, institutions, commercial parties, self-employed persons — and never to private individuals (i.e. those who fall under the term “consumer” as defined in section 13 German Civil Code (BGB)). The GT&Cs are a material component of the contract between you, the commercial user and bpk-Bildagentur, Märkisches Ufer 16-18, 10179 Berlin, Germany. If you order image material from bpk on behalf of a company or institution or use the bpk website, you warrant that you are authorised to accept these GT&Cs on behalf of the company or institution and that the company or institution agrees that it is liable to bpk in the event of any violations of these GT&Cs. These GT&Cs apply to all offers, deliveries and digital transfers as well as to bpk’s approval of the use of image material. Any varying terms and conditions of the user shall not become part of the contract and are hereby expressly rejected. Any varying provisions require prior written agreement with bpk. The image material offered may not be used without acknowledgement of these GT&Cs.
II Delivery and usage report
Image material shall only be provided to the user for his or her use for a temporary period within the framework of the approval and exclusively for the purpose agreed in each case. Analogue image material remains the property of bpk and must be returned to bpk after the agreed use; digital image material must be deleted after the agreed use. All types of use require the express consent of bpk in advance. The user is obliged to provide bpk with all information (e.g. medium/publication, print run, image size, distribution area, time limit of approval of use). The usage report must be made without undue delay and no later than seven days after use.
The image material of bpk may not be reproduced, copied, digitised, duplicated, archived, stored, modified or used in any other way without bpk’s prior consent. Any transfer to third parties is only permitted for viewing, selection and technical processing within the scope of the agreed use (special case agency, see part V).
III Complaints
Complaints concerning the transferred material must be reported in writing by no later than 48 hours of receipt or retrieval of the image material. Otherwise, it shall be deemed to have been received in accordance with the regulations and contractual provisions. In the event of justified complaints, bpk undertakes to effect a replacement delivery within the scope of its possibilities.
IV Reference copies, usage report
If bpk’s image material is published in printed matter, the user must deliver two reference copies without undue delay, free of charge and without being prompted after printing. The image motifs used and their image numbers must be listed in the usage report which is supplied at the same time.
V Approval of use, scope and restriction/collection of rights by agency
Unless otherwise agreed, bpk only authorises the user to use the image material once, for the contractually agreed purpose. If the image material is protected by copyright or related rights, bpk shall also transfer a non-exclusive right of use to the user within the contractually agreed framework. The user is responsible for complying with any other affected rights (e.g. copyrights to depicted artworks, personal rights of persons depicted, as well as design and trademark rights). Among other things, this applies to images of artworks still protected by copyright with regard to the preservation of artists’ rights (pursuant to the German Copyright Act (UrhG)). Further, bpk assumes no liability for the infringement of personal rights of persons depicted (pursuant to the German Act on the Protection of Copyright in Works of Art and Photographs (KUG)). It is the responsibility of the user to obtain the consent of these persons if necessary. The user is obliged to uphold the journalistic principles of the German Press Council (press code) and is also responsible for any form of falsification or distortion of the copyrighted works as well as for uses that degrade depicted persons or violate their personal rights, especially in a manner that is contrary to agreement or distorts meaning. Under these regulations, the user comprehensively indemnifies bpk against third party claims, including reasonable legal costs.
Only the original version of the provided image material may be used. It must be stored for the duration of the authorised use and then deleted. Any edits always require prior written consent.
If bpk’s contractual partner is an agency that obtains an approval of use for its customer, it is entitled to pass such authorisation on to its customer for the customer’s use within the contractually agreed scope. The information about the usage carried out (see IV) must then be included with the customer information. The agency remains the contractual partner (and the primary liable party to bpk).
VI Sources, agency notice, liquidated damages, compensation
The user is obliged to provide the source reference to bpk in the following form each time image material is published:
bpk Bildagentur or the abbreviation bpk/name of partner agency (if specified)/name of photographer (if specified).
In the case of illustrations of works of art or collection items, the location of the original (e.g. name of the museum or name of the library) must also be mentioned. There must be no doubt about the allocation of image and proof of origin. If individual (or all) of these obligations are disregarded, liquidated damages totalling 100 percent of the basic remuneration per breach of obligations will be levied.
In the event of failure to report usage, unauthorised use or disclosure of the image material to third parties, bpk shall charge the user a surcharge of 200 percent of the usual remuneration of the respective applicable price list in the form of liquidated damages (without prejudice to further claims for compensation) for the costs of media control.
VII Costs and remuneration
Any use of bpk image material is chargeable (based on the current price list at the time of billing), unless otherwise agreed in writing. The amount of the remuneration depends on the type and extent of use (medium, level of circulation, image size, distribution area, time limit for approval of use etc.). All details of remuneration are stated as net amounts and are subject to the statutory VAT In the event of missing or insufficient information from the user, bpk is entitled to set a flat-rate fee.
Remuneration agreements apply to one-time use per image for the specified purpose. Any additional use incurs a further remuneration obligation and requires prior written agreement. Payment is due on the retrieval of high-resolution image files or at the latest on use. The approval of use is conditional on full payment of the due remuneration.
The retrieval of high-resolution image files from the bpk image database may incur download costs per retrieved image file in addition to the remuneration for approval of use, which is displayed beforehand or submitted as information. Processing costs are charged for image deliveries or electronic image transfers, the amount of which depends on the scope and effort of the search, the number of images delivered and the form of dispatch.
VIII Terms of payment
If approval of use is obtained online, the fee must be paid in advance as part of the payment methods offered on the website. The user will then receive a corresponding electronic invoice by email. In other cases, bpk’s invoices are payable immediately upon receipt, without deduction, whereby additional reminder fees and statutory default interest will be incurred under statutory requirements after 30 days of receipt of the invoice.
IX Limitation of liability
bpk shall bear full liability in accordance with the legal provisions for death, personal injury and damage to health. It shall also be liable for damages based on intentional or grossly negligent breaches of contract that are attributable to it. In addition, bpk excludes any warranty for the economic usability, quality and suitability of the image material for specific uses or compatibility with specific technical devices, as well as the completeness or accuracy of image and text information.
X Using the image database
Users shall be given access to their Internet image database by bpk after registering accordingly. Access authorisation is enabled via the sending of login data and activation, the latter being at bpk’s discretion with no obligation to effect an activation. The user is fully responsible for protecting his or her login data. He or she must treat this data confidentially and is liable for all access and damage caused by misuse of his or her login data (including remuneration for image usage made possible as a result). bpk does not guarantee the constant availability of its database; it is entitled to temporarily or permanently shut down the server and to change or delete stored content. The user has no entitlement to access to the database. bpk may block the user’s access at any time without giving reasons. This shall have no bearing on any approvals of use that have already been granted.
XI Changes to the GT&Cs, other
If bpk amends the GT&Cs due to legislation, case law or, in particular, altered economic or organisational conditions, the user will be informed of this and will be given a four-week right of objection. The bpk database, the delivery of image files and the granting of approvals of use can only take place upon acceptance of the bpk GT&Cs as amended from time to time. The exclusive place of jurisdiction and place of performance is Berlin, insofar as permitted by law; German law is deemed to have been agreed to the exclusion of the UN sales of goods law.
01.12.2021