German Social Lab
General Terms and Conditions
Last updated: 1 November 2026
§ 1 Scope, provider, definitions
(1) These General Terms and Conditions apply to all contracts concluded between the provider and its customers via the website germansociallab.com or in connection with it.
(2) The provider is:
Fatih Açık, GermanSocialLab
Rheinallee 12, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
Phone: +49 176 82418304
Email: info@germansociallab.com
(3) A “consumer” is any natural person who concludes the contract for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or self-employed profession (section 13 German Civil Code, BGB). A “business customer” (Unternehmer) is any natural or legal person or partnership with legal capacity that, when concluding the contract, acts in the exercise of its trade, business or self-employed profession (section 14 BGB); this includes organisations and providers that book a team access. Legal entities under public law and special funds under public law (e.g. public authorities) are treated in the same way as business customers (section 310(1) BGB). Consumers and business customers are referred to below together as “customers”, and the persons who use the services as “participants”.
(4) Any different, conflicting or additional terms of the customer only become part of the contract if the provider expressly agrees to them in text form.
§ 2 Services
(1) In particular, the provider offers:
- digital self-study courses (e-learning) as individual courses or as an e-learning flat rate (access to the self-study library) for individuals, and as team access for organisations;
- live online seminars, specialist conference days and workshops on fixed dates;
- in-house training, professional consultation, coaching and supervision by separate agreement.
(2) The specific scope of services is set out in the description of the course or offer at the time of the order.
(3) Live online seminars, specialist conference days, workshops, in-house training, consultation, coaching and supervision are separate services, each booked and paid for separately. They are not part of the e-learning flat rate or a team access unless this has been expressly agreed separately.
§ 3 Self-study courses and e-learning flat rate – nature of the service
(1) Self-study courses and the e-learning flat rate are offers for independent study. The provider makes learning content and materials available for participants to work through on their own, at their own pace.
(2) Monitoring or checking of learning success by the provider, by teaching staff or by any other person instructed by the provider is not part of the contract and does not take place. In particular, there is no entitlement to answers to questions on course content, to the correction or assessment of tasks, to assignments to be submitted, or to individual responses.
(3) The courses may contain voluntary reflection questions and exercises. They serve solely the participants’ own self-reflection; the provider neither assesses nor comments on answers. Where courses started before 18 October 2026 still contain voluntary knowledge checks, these are for the participant’s own orientation only and are not evaluated by the provider.
(4) Enquiries about technical matters, access, the contract and billing are welcome at any time (info@germansociallab.com).
(5) The courses serve professional orientation and professional development. Whether and to what extent participation counts towards statutory, contractual or professional obligations relating to further training, training or workplace instruction is decided by the employer or the competent body. The provider does not owe the fulfilment of any such obligations of the customer.
§ 4 Conclusion of contract, contract text, language
(1) The presentation of offers on the website is not a binding offer but an invitation to place an order.
(2) For online orders, the customer selects the offer and is forwarded to the payment process of the payment service provider. Before submitting, the customer can review all entries and correct them using the usual input and browser functions, or cancel the process. By clicking the button to make the payment, the customer makes a binding offer subject to payment. The contract is concluded when access is activated or when the provider confirms the order, whichever happens first.
(3) For team access, in-house services and other offers made on request, the contract is concluded when the customer accepts the provider’s offer sent in text form.
(4) The provider stores the contract text. After conclusion of the contract, the contract text cannot be accessed separately via the website; the customer receives a confirmation with the contract details by email. These Terms and Conditions can be accessed on this page at any time and can be saved and printed. Contracts can be concluded in German and in English. For contracts concluded via the English-language pages, the contract language is English; for contracts concluded via the German-language pages, it is German.
(5) Minors can only conclude contracts with the consent of their legal representatives.
§ 5 Prices and payment
(1) The prices stated at the time of the order apply. In accordance with section 19 of the German VAT Act (UStG, small business scheme), no VAT is charged or shown.
(2) Reduced rates (e.g. for students, school pupils, trainees and apprentices) require valid proof, which the provider may request before activation.
(3) Depending on the offer, payment is made via the payment service provider Stripe or by invoice. Invoices are payable without deduction within the period stated on the invoice.
(4) Access to digital content is activated after successful payment or, in the case of payment by invoice, after conclusion of the contract.
(5) The following also applies to customers who are business customers with their registered office outside Germany: invoices are issued in euros or in the currency stated at the time of the order and are payable by bank transfer without deduction. The customer bears the bank and transfer charges incurred on its side; for payments from countries outside the SEPA area, the customer bears all charges, including those of intermediary banks (charge option “OUR”). Business customers have no statutory right of withdrawal.
§ 6 Term of the e-learning flat rate and team access
(1) The e-learning flat rate and team access are concluded against a one-off payment for a fixed term of twelve months from activation. The contract ends automatically when the term expires, without the need for notice of termination; there is no automatic renewal.
(2) The right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. Consumers can also give notice of termination using the button “Cancel contracts here” (website footer, “Legal” section; on the German-language pages: “Verträge hier kündigen”).
(3) Unless stated otherwise in the course description, individual courses are activated without a fixed term for as long as the learning platform is operated. If the provider discontinues the learning platform or an individual course, it will inform customers in text form at least three months in advance; access remains available during this period. Participants may keep materials expressly provided for download and confirmations of participation they have received.
(4) On request, organisations can receive free trial access for up to three persons for 14 days. Trial access ends automatically when this period expires; it does not convert into a paid contract and does not need to be cancelled.
§ 7 Access
(1) Access to the e-learning flat rate and to individual courses is personal. Login details must not be passed on to third parties; one access may not be used by several persons.
(2) For team access, the number of authorised users is limited to the team size booked. The organisation names the authorised persons.
(3) The provider endeavours to keep the learning platform available with as few interruptions as possible. Temporary restrictions due to maintenance, security updates or disruptions beyond the provider’s control may occur. Statutory rights in respect of defects remain unaffected.
(4) In the event of serious breaches of paragraph 1 or 2, the provider may block access after a prior warning in text form and terminate the contract for good cause; no warning is required if it would obviously be futile.
§ 8 Updates and changes to content
(1) The provider supplies the updates necessary to keep the content in conformity with the contract (section 327f BGB) and revises course content, in particular when the legal situation changes.
(2) For the e-learning flat rate and team access, the provider may develop the course catalogue further and add, merge, revise or replace individual courses with equivalent courses, provided there is a valid reason (e.g. a change in the legal situation, professional developments, merging courses with identical content), the customer incurs no additional costs as a result, and the customer is informed of the change clearly and comprehensibly. If a change impairs a consumer’s access or use more than insignificantly, the provider will inform the consumer in good time before the change, on a durable medium (e.g. email), about the features and timing of the change and about the right to terminate the contract free of charge within 30 days of receiving the information or of the change; otherwise section 327r BGB applies.
§ 9 Live online seminars and events
(1) Live formats take place on the dates stated.
(2) The provider may cancel or postpone an event if the minimum number of participants stated in the announcement is not reached, up to 7 days before the start at the latest, or for good cause for which the provider is not responsible (e.g. sudden illness of the speaker). In this case, fees already paid will be refunded without undue delay or – at the customer’s choice – credited towards an alternative date. Otherwise § 13 applies.
(3) The following conditions apply to cancellations by the customer – without prejudice to any statutory right of withdrawal (§ 10):
- up to 14 days before the start: free of charge;
- up to 7 days before the start: 50% of the fee;
- after that, or if the participant does not attend: 100% of the fee.
The customer remains entitled to prove that the provider has suffered no loss or a significantly lower loss. A substitute participant may be named at any time free of charge. Cancellations must be made in text form (e.g. email).
§ 10 Right of withdrawal for consumers
(1) Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal. Details and the model withdrawal form are set out in the separate Withdrawal Policy. Withdrawal can also be declared using the button “Withdraw from contract here” (website footer, “Legal” section; on the German-language pages: “Vertrag widerrufen”).
(2) For contracts for digital content (e-learning), the right of withdrawal expires once the provider has begun performance of the contract after the consumer has expressly consented to the provider beginning performance before the end of the withdrawal period, has acknowledged that by giving this consent they lose their right of withdrawal once performance begins, and the provider has provided them with a confirmation of this on a durable medium (e.g. email) (section 356(6) no. 2 BGB). Where the service is to be classified as a digital service, section 356(5) no. 2 and section 357a(2) BGB apply; details are set out in the Withdrawal Policy.
§ 11 Rights of use and copyright
(1) All course content, texts, graphics, materials and videos are protected by copyright.
(2) For the duration of access, the customer or the authorised participants receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the content for their own learning and professional development purposes. Working materials expressly provided for download (e.g. checklists) may be used for the participant’s own professional work or within their own organisation.
(3) Any further reproduction, distribution, making available to the public, adaptation or commercial use – including the use of the content to train AI systems – is not permitted without the provider’s prior consent in text form. Uses permitted by law remain unaffected.
§ 12 Confirmation of participation
(1) After working through all modules of a self-study course, or after attending an event, participants receive a confirmation of participation from GermanSocialLab.
(2) The confirmation of participation confirms participation. It is not a school or academic report, not a vocational or university qualification and not a form of state recognition. § 3(5) applies accordingly.
§ 13 Liability
(1) The provider has unlimited liability for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) and to the extent of any guarantee given.
(2) In the case of simple negligence, the provider is only liable for breach of an essential contractual obligation, i.e. an obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose fulfilment the customer may regularly rely (cardinal obligation). In this case, liability is limited to the damage that is typical for the contract and foreseeable.
(3) Otherwise, liability is excluded. The above limitations also apply in favour of the provider’s vicarious agents.
(4) The content is prepared with professional care and reviewed regularly. It serves professional orientation and does not replace legal, tax, medical or therapeutic advice in individual cases.
§ 14 Warranty
The statutory provisions apply, for digital products in particular sections 327 et seq. BGB.
§ 15 Data protection
Personal data are processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
§ 16 Consumer dispute resolution
The provider is neither obliged nor willing to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer conciliation body (Verbraucherschlichtungsstelle) (section 36 German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act, VSBG).
§ 17 Final provisions
(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. In relation to consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive the consumer of the protection afforded by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has their habitual residence.
(2) If the customer is a business customer without a general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is – to the extent permitted by law – Ludwigshafen am Rhein (the provider’s place of business). The provider may also bring proceedings at the customer’s general place of jurisdiction. For consumers, the statutory places of jurisdiction apply; mandatory statutory places of jurisdiction remain unaffected.
(3) Should individual provisions of these Terms and Conditions be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected; the invalid provision is replaced by the statutory provisions.