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Terms of service

Pixelrein GmbH & Co. KG (Backlinked)
Last updated: 12 March 2024

This English version is a non-binding convenience translation provided for information purposes only. Only the German version of these General Terms and Conditions is legally binding (see § 22(1)).

§ 1 Basis

Pixelrein GmbH & Co. KG (hereinafter “Backlinked”) acts as an online service provider which, via its website (hereinafter the “Backlinked App”), enables its customers to place articles on third-party websites offered through the Backlinked App. Customers of Backlinked, as well as persons who register in the Backlinked App because they are interested in the services offered by Backlinked, are hereinafter referred to as “Participants”.

§ 2 Scope and General Information

Backlinked provides its services exclusively on the basis of the following General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter “GTC”). Any conflicting or deviating general terms and conditions of Participants shall only be recognised if confirmed by Backlinked in writing.

§ 3 Users

Users are natural persons, legal entities and partnerships with legal capacity that act on the Backlinked App for commercial, self-employed or freelance purposes (hereinafter “Users”). Eligibility requires that the User has reached the age of 18 and has full legal capacity. By submitting the registration form, the User declares that it is an entrepreneur (Unternehmer) within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and has unrestricted legal capacity.

§ 4 Registration

Admission requires registration via the registration form on the Backlinked App. The Participant must accept these GTC or refrain from registering. The Participant is obliged to provide complete and truthful current information as requested during registration. Each Participant may register only once. Individual access credentials are created for the Participant during the registration process. The Participant must undertake to keep the access credentials confidential and must not make them available to any unauthorised third party. The information entered can be reviewed and corrected before the registration is submitted.

By submitting the registration, the Participant makes a binding offer to use the Backlinked App. This offer is accepted, and a contract on the use of the Backlinked App is concluded, only once the Participant has received an email from Backlinked expressly confirming that the Participant has been activated for the use of the Backlinked App. Backlinked may refuse or terminate admission as a Participant without stating reasons. Independently of the confirmation email, Backlinked may send further emails relating to this order to the Participant.

Participants can change the information they have entered themselves within their account. By registering, the Participant authorises Backlinked to send it notification emails serving the processing of transactions via the Backlinked App. These notification emails do not contain any advertising.

§ 5 Conclusion of Contracts

  1. Contracts can only be concluded on the Backlinked App in the German language.
  2. A booking request (hereinafter “Booking Request”) is the Participant’s order to Backlinked. A Booking Request is binding on the Participant, but may be rejected by Backlinked or, via Backlinked, by the operator of or person responsible for the website concerned.
  3. Booking Requests are transmitted via the Backlinked App to the operator of or person responsible for the website on which the article placement is to be made.
  4. As soon as the operator of or person responsible for the website accepts the Participant’s Booking Request via Backlinked, a contract is formed between the operator and Backlinked.
  5. Upon acceptance of a booking, the operator of or person responsible for the website undertakes to perform the service components in accordance with the order.
  6. Once the operator of or person responsible for the website has performed the service in accordance with the order, the Participant is obliged to accept the service and to pay the remuneration.
  7. The processing of a booking (hereinafter “Booking Process”) begins with Backlinked’s acceptance of a Participant’s Booking Request and is deemed completed upon successful delivery by Backlinked.
  8. The contracting parties to a Booking Process or a campaign are bound by the deadlines (§ 7). In the event of non-compliance with the deadlines, the contracting parties agree in advance to the consequences (§ 7).
  9. The operators of or persons responsible for the respective websites permit Backlinked employees to contact them directly and personally by email or telephone in order to request and carry out bookings.

§ 6 Deposits and Conditions

  1. Before making bookings, Participants must top up a credit balance (hereinafter “Credit Balance”). The minimum top-up amount is EUR 10.00 plus statutory VAT of 19%. The Credit Balance is transferred to a non-interest-bearing bank account (transaction account) of Backlinked.
  2. The Credit Balance can be topped up via PayPal, credit card, SEPA, SOFORT and giropay.
  3. Initial registration on the Backlinked App is free of charge.
  4. Users are not entitled to have the Credit Balance paid out, unless Backlinked is aware, at the time of accepting the Participant’s order, that the operator of or person responsible for the website concerned does not accept orders for the marketing of its website, cannot be reached or is otherwise unavailable.

§ 7 Deadlines

In Booking Processes, the deadlines displayed on the Backlinked App for the respective order must be met. Every response within a Booking Process must be made within the deadlines agreed between the Participant and the operator of or person responsible for the website, or set by Backlinked. The Backlinked App provides for a standard deadline of 144 hours, which corresponds to 6 days. If a response is made within the deadline, a period of 144 hours begins for the other contracting party to respond.

If either contracting party fails to respond within the agreed deadline, Backlinked reserves the right to cancel the Booking Request or the Booking Process. This may also occur automatically through the Backlinked App system. All services rendered up to that point shall be deemed void and shall be neither remunerated nor offset. If a Participant fails to fulfil its order within its deadline, the operator of or person responsible for the website is automatically granted a positive confirmation via the Backlinked App and payment is executed.

Deadlines include Sundays and public holidays. Participants must take the inclusion of Sundays and public holidays into account when planning Booking Requests.

§ 8 Obligations of the Website Operators

Operators of or persons responsible for the respective websites (hereinafter “Website Operators”) are Users who market their websites via the Backlinked App. A User may be both a Participant and a Website Operator at the same time.

  1. If the Participant commissions content for an article placement from a Website Operator via the Backlinked App, it is hereby a requirement that the Website Operator creates unique content. The Website Operator is accordingly prohibited from offering a text that has already been published. In the event of a breach, the Website Operator must expect exclusion from the Backlinked App and legal consequences.
  2. Website Operators may only carry out their Booking Processes on the Backlinked App using the means provided by Backlinked.
  3. The Website Operator will be blocked immediately and without notice if it attempts to use the Backlinked App as an acquisition tool for obtaining direct contacts in order to subsequently carry out bookings outside the Backlinked App. If this becomes known, Backlinked may assert legal claims and may retain any existing Credit Balance for set-off. Outstanding amounts may be claimed by Backlinked, including by legal means. If statutory claims have to be asserted, any contractual penalty that may have been forfeited shall be credited against the damages claimed.
  4. The Website Operator may not remove the Participant’s bookings from its media at its own discretion. The Website Operator may publish its content in its media for a period of at least twelve months. If a booking is deactivated or ceases to exist before the expiry of twelve months, amounts already paid for it may be reclaimed. This does not apply if the deactivation or cessation was not caused by the fault of the Website Operator. If the Website Operator has entirely discontinued the medium concerned, this shall not constitute fault on the part of the Website Operator. In the event of deactivation or cessation without fault on the part of the Website Operator, or where a booking ceases to exist after the expiry of a deadline pursuant to § 7 of these GTC, the Participant cannot expect a refund of payments already made; rather, Backlinked is entitled to carry out a case-by-case review and subsequently to decide whether the deactivation or cessation occurred without fault on the part of the Website Operator. The same applies to any change to the content made by the Website Operator.
  5. Website Operators must ensure that content they create themselves does not infringe any third-party rights or competition law and, in particular, does not glorify violence and is not racist, defamatory or illegal.
  6. Any queries from Website Operators to Participants concerning a Booking Process must be worded unambiguously and must be made via Backlinked.
  7. In the event of a breach, the Website Operator will be excluded from the Backlinked App. Breaches may be recorded by means of screenshots in order to preserve legal claims.
  8. Both the Website Operator and the Participant mutually undertake to comply with all statutory requirements regarding the labelling of content as advertising, in particular links.

§ 9 Obligations of the Participant

Participants are Users who purchase article placements via the Backlinked App on the websites of the respective Website Operators listed in the Backlinked App, or who are interested in such a purchase and have registered for that reason.

  1. Where Backlinked receives content for a booking or campaign, it is assumed that the text is unique. Participants may not publish content that has previously been published.
  2. The Participant will be blocked immediately and without notice if it attempts to use the Backlinked App as an acquisition tool for obtaining direct contacts with Website Operators in order to subsequently carry out bookings outside the Backlinked App. If this becomes known, Backlinked may assert legal claims and may retain any existing Credit Balance for set-off. Outstanding amounts may be claimed by Backlinked, including by legal means. If statutory claims have to be asserted, any contractual penalty that may have been forfeited shall be credited against the damages claimed.
  3. Participants must ensure that content they create themselves does not infringe the rights of third parties or competition law and, in particular, does not glorify violence and is not racist, defamatory or illegal.
  4. In the event of a breach, the Participant will be excluded and its Booking Requests, campaigns, Booking Processes and bookings will be cancelled.
  5. The Participant may not use the internal messaging system for spam, advertising or the transmission of content unrelated to orders.
  6. In the event of a breach, the Participant will be excluded from the use of the Backlinked App. Breaches may be recorded by means of screenshots in order to preserve legal claims.
  7. Both Website Operators and Participants mutually undertake to comply with all statutory requirements regarding the labelling of content as advertising, in particular links.

§ 10 Applicable Law and Content

“Content” means all material suitable for editorial publication on the websites of the respective Website Operators listed in the Backlinked App. This primarily comprises texts, graphics, documents and videos.

  1. Where content is delivered to another User, that User is granted an unrestricted and exclusive right of use in the content created for the article placement booked for that purpose. No other rights of use are permitted.
  2. Both Participants and Website Operators undertake to deliver unique content. Previously published content may not be reused. In the event of a breach, Backlinked shall decide whether rights of use, copyrights and these GTC have been infringed. Legal claims may be asserted.
  3. Users must ensure that content they create themselves does not infringe any third-party rights or competition law and, in particular, does not glorify violence and is not racist, defamatory or illegal.
  4. Users must ensure that their content stored on the Backlinked App does not infringe any third-party rights or competition law and, in particular, does not glorify violence and is not racist, defamatory or illegal.
  5. In the event of a breach, the Users concerned, their websites, Booking Requests, Booking Processes and bookings will be excluded. Breaches may be recorded by means of screenshots in order to preserve legal claims.

§ 11 Quality Control

  1. Backlinked hereby reserves the right to review registered websites intended for the publication of article placements for quality and subsequently to decide on their admission. A new application for listing may be submitted after three months.
  2. There is no entitlement to content review by Backlinked. However, the Backlinked App may be notified for quality control purposes.
  3. In addition, Backlinked has the right to carry out quality controls independently. Backlinked cannot be held liable for the substance, scope and result of reviewed content.

§ 12 Messaging System

Users may use the messaging system solely for Booking Processes. Users are not permitted to transmit spam, advertising or content unrelated to orders. In the event of a breach, the User will be blocked without notice.

§ 13 Confidentiality of Offers

Users are prohibited from retrieving and storing the offers in the Backlinked App by automated means, or from otherwise displaying them in large quantities (more than 100 offers). In the event of a breach, a contractual penalty of EUR 500 per offer shall become payable.

§ 14 Corrections

The messaging system on the Backlinked App may be used for communication between the Participant and Backlinked and for corrections of Booking Processes.

  1. A Participant may request corrections from the Website Operators concerned via Backlinked. Such requests must be worded unambiguously so that an effective correction is possible.
  2. The Website Operators concerned are bound by correction requests transmitted by Backlinked, provided that the service previously rendered does not sufficiently correspond to the booking order.
  3. The correction deadlines correspond to the deadlines set out in § 7.
  4. If a Participant or a Website Operator concerned contacts Backlinked because of an ambiguity, Backlinked will review the matter and make a decision that is binding on both parties.

§ 15 Media

  1. The websites intended for the publication of article placements constitute media. Before they can be admitted, Backlinked carries out a quality check. If accepted, they are available immediately; if rejected, the Website Operators may reapply for the listing of the rejected website after three months. Backlinked may reject websites without giving reasons.
  2. If websites concerned can no longer be found on the web, are displayed incorrectly, use unfair methods, or if the publication of articles containing links to Participants’ websites has a detrimental effect on those websites, Backlinked may exclude them from the Backlinked App without stating reasons. In this case, every article published on the website concerned via the Backlinked App must be deleted upon Backlinked’s request.

§ 16 Anonymity

Users remain anonymous in the Backlinked App in order to be protected against misuse and to enable the neutral treatment of all Users.

§ 17 Term, Termination and Limitation Period

  1. The contract is concluded for an indefinite period.
  2. The contracting parties may terminate this contract with 30 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month (by email, fax or letter).
  3. Backlinked may terminate the contracts of Website Operators of websites intended for the publication of article placements who have not used their user account for a period of 3 months. Unless otherwise expressly agreed, Backlinked may terminate any contract with 30 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month (by email, fax or letter).
  4. Backlinked may terminate the contracts of Participants who have not used their account for a period of 12 months. Unless otherwise expressly agreed, Backlinked may terminate any contract with 30 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month (by email, fax or letter).
  5. Backlinked will effect termination taking into account any ongoing Booking Processes.
  6. The right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected for both Backlinked and the Participant. In the event of serious breaches, Backlinked has the right to terminate the contract with the Participant without notice.
  7. Mutual claims, or claims of Users against Backlinked, become time-barred after one year. The limitation period begins upon expiry of the notice period.

§ 18 Term of Content Bookings

  1. Bookings made by Participants are secured by the Website Operator concerned for a period of at least 12 months.
  2. The Participant must be aware that the websites concerned may cease to be operated and that the content may therefore no longer be available on the internet.
  3. Refunds of payments by Backlinked to the Participant are generally not possible.
  4. Refunds from the Website Operators concerned to the Participant may be possible where there are breaches of § 9.
  5. Backlinked shall under no circumstances be liable for the duration for which published content remains available in the media of the Website Operators concerned. However, Backlinked will review reports of discontinued websites and, in individual cases, exclude less reliable websites.
  6. If a Website Operator’s website is frequently unavailable, Backlinked will review the matter and reserves the right to exclude the website of the Website Operator concerned.

§ 19 Liability and Claims for Defects

  1. Backlinked cannot guarantee anyone any business or revenue via the Backlinked App.
  2. Backlinked is not liable for the accuracy and completeness of the information and declarations provided by Users, nor for the solvency of Users. Furthermore, Backlinked is not liable for the quality and fitness for use of the article publications offered.
  3. Backlinked is not responsible for content passed on by third parties via the Backlinked App or in connection with bookings that are possible or have been made via the Backlinked App. Backlinked is not liable for damage resulting from incorrect information provided by Users. The User agrees that it publishes such content and discloses it to other Users at its own risk, and that it shall not assert any warranty claims against Backlinked.
  4. Backlinked is not liable for breaches of duty by representatives or employees, unless essential contractual obligations, injury to life or body, or claims under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) are concerned.
  5. Backlinked is not liable for damage caused by errors, delays or interruptions in transmission, by incorrect content, by loss or deletion of data or by viruses, unless such damage was caused by Backlinked intentionally or through gross negligence.
  6. Backlinked is not liable for technical malfunctions that were not caused by Backlinked intentionally or through gross negligence, or that are due to force majeure.
  7. Users are obliged to comply with applicable laws. Each User is itself responsible for ensuring that the content of the websites and other media concerned, and the manner of publication, are lawful. Backlinked is responsible for establishing contact between the Participant and the Website Operator, but expressly not for the content published on the websites, the manner of publication, or publication in other media in connection with the bookings concerned. In cases of doubt, it is recommended to seek legal advice.

§ 20 Backlinked Affiliate Programme

  1. Visitors and users of backlinked.com and app.backlinked.com are free to register for an affiliate programme.
  2. The terms and conditions of the affiliate programme can be found here.
  3. Registered users (“Affiliates”) are free to promote Backlinked and its products in accordance with German law.
  4. Should an Affiliate violate German law or data protection regulations in doing so, Backlinked reserves the right to exclude that user from the affiliate programme.
  5. Creating one or more additional accounts in order to refer oneself and benefit from the advantages of the affiliate programme is not permitted. Backlinked reserves the right to exclude users from the affiliate programme in the event of such conduct.

§ 21 Storage and Access to the Contract Text

These GTC can be archived by downloading or printing them.

§ 22 Final Provisions

  1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies. Where versions of these GTC have been produced in languages other than German, only the German version is binding on all Users.
  2. Should any provision of these GTC be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.
  3. Users agree to the above terms and undertake to inform any further authorised users thereof before they first make use of the services, to draw their attention to these GTC and any amendments in an appropriate manner, and to ensure that such authorised users comply with the above terms.
  4. Backlinked reserves the right to amend its GTC at any time.