General Terms & Conditions

General Terms and Conditions (GTC) of Michael Bolk, 4weeks.io

1. Scope of the Contract

1.1 The following General Terms and Conditions ("GTC") apply to all legal transactions of Michael Bolk, 4weeks.io, Kiefernweg 2, 25436 Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany ("MB") with its contractual partners ("Clients").

1.2 These GTC apply exclusively. Deviating, conflicting, or supplementary general terms and conditions of the client become part of the contract only to the extent that MB has expressly consented to their validity. This requirement for consent applies in every case, for example, even if MB performs services to the client without reservation, knowing the client's general terms and conditions.

1.3 Individual agreements made with the client in specific cases (including side agreements, supplements, and amendments) take precedence over these GTC in every case. Unless proven otherwise, a written contract or our written confirmation is decisive for the content of such agreements.

1.4 Legally significant declarations and notices of the client concerning the contract (e.g., setting of deadlines, notice of defects, withdrawal) must be in writing, i.e., in written or text form (e.g., letter, email, fax). Legal form requirements and further proof, especially in cases of doubt about the legitimacy of the declarant, remain unaffected.

1.5 These GTC also apply to all future business relationships with the client, even if they are not expressly agreed upon again. These GTC apply only if the client is an entrepreneur (§ 14 BGB), a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law.

1.6 Consumers within the meaning of § 13 BGB are excluded from using the services.

2. Formation of the Contract

2.1 MB's offers are non-binding and without obligation.

2.2 In principle, a contract with MB is concluded in writing. MB sends the client the contract offer, which is then accepted by the client by counter-signing the contract. If a contract is exceptionally concluded orally, it must be confirmed in writing by both parties without delay.

3. Contractual Services of MB

3.1 MB provides services for clients in the areas of sales training, online marketing, and business consulting (online, video-based, telephonic, or direct on-site as needed and available, or in the form of customer events, the latter also involving horses and riding excursions). MB predicts the likelihood of success of certain measures based on experience. The client is explicitly aware that neither a work nor a specific success is owed by us. Deviating individual regulations require written form.

3.2 MB is authorized to use third parties as agents or assistants for the provision of services.

3.3 MB reserves the right to use the client's email address to inform them about its own similar goods or services (§ 7 Abs. 3 UWG, Art. 6 Abs. 1 S. 1 lit. f DSGVO). MB notifies the client that they can object to the receipt of direct advertising and the processing of data for the purpose of direct advertising at any time without stating reasons, e.g., by email to office@4weeks.io.

4. Protection of Intellectual Property

4.1 MB remains the owner of all materials protected by industrial property rights or similar positions of any kind (e.g., patent rights, trademark rights, design rights, copyright) and whether registered or not, that belong to MB at the time of service provision or are developed by MB (or third parties on behalf of MB) during the provision of services. The same applies to edits, modifications, and further developments.

4.2 All rights to the work results (e.g., videos, concepts, analyses, or survey results) belong exclusively to MB and its respective co-authors and licensors.

4.3 Unless otherwise agreed, the client receives from MB the simple, non-transferable, unlimited in time and space right to use the work results to the extent necessary for the client's own purposes as corresponds to the purpose pursued with the contract. MB does not transfer ownership of its work results, but only possession of individual (digital) copies.

4.4 Usage rights to work results that have not been fully paid for by the client at the time of provision remain with MB until full payment is made.

5. Prices, Performance, Termination, Duration

5.1 All prices are exclusive of sales tax at the applicable rate.

5.2 Payments are due immediately upon invoicing unless otherwise agreed. MB reserves the right to perform services only after full payment by the client.

5.3 Performance shall take place at the times specified in the consulting contract.

5.4 The contract between MB and the client is fixed for the duration agreed upon in the consulting contract.

5.5 Further free or early termination rights of the client within the contract term are excluded.

5.6 MB may terminate the contract with one month's notice without giving reasons.

5.7 The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected for both parties.

5.8 If the client terminates the contract for good cause, our contractually agreed compensation claim up to that point remains valid. The client bears all burdens of proof.

5.9 Termination of the contract by either party leads to (a) the withdrawal of the client's access rights to the user account, (b) the deletion of all user data of the client unless statutory regulations oppose.

5.10 If the client is unable to attend a scheduled program, cancellation must occur at least 24 hours in advance. If the cancellation is not made in time, a flat rate of EUR 250 plus VAT per started, agreed contract hour will be charged.

5.11 If the client's planned project proves to be impermissible due to professional regulations affecting them, this does not burden MB and does not affect the validity of this contract. The client is and remains responsible for complying with professional regulations. In particular, this does not give rise to a right of termination for the client.

6. Client's Duty to Cooperate

6.1 The client is obliged to support MB to the best of its ability and to create all necessary conditions for proper performance; in particular, it must provide all necessary documents, information, and any required infrastructure in a timely and complete manner.

6.2 The client's performance constitutes a genuine obligation, not merely a duty. If the client does not perform or properly perform the services required of it and this affects MB's services (e.g., because access to the necessary client systems is not provided in time), MB may – without prejudice to further rights – request an appropriate adjustment of the contractual agreements (e.g., changes in the schedule and remuneration). If MB incurs additional expenses due to improper or untimely performance of cooperation services, MB may charge the client for these additional expenses.

6.3 The client commits to complying with and independently fulfilling its GDPR-related obligations.

6.4 If the client creates a customer account, they are obliged to keep their password secret, to store it securely, and not to make it accessible to third parties. If the password becomes known to third parties, the client must inform MB immediately in writing so that the old password can be blocked and a new password can be assigned.

6.5 MB reserves the right to verify identity by requesting a copy of the client's ID card. This can be done by MB itself or a designated third party.

6.6 The client permits MB to contact them at the provided email address to verify any doubts about the accuracy of the client's data.

6.7 The client provides MB with all content necessary for the performance of MB's services free of charge. All content will be handled carefully by MB, protected from unauthorized third-party access, and used exclusively for the respective service provision. The client indemnifies MB from any damages that could arise from sharing customer-owned login data.

6.8 The client is prohibited from any action capable of impairing the functionality of MB's systems or websites or overly burdening them. In particular, the client must not use data that, due to its nature or condition, size, or replication, is capable of endangering the existence or operation of MB's systems or websites.

6.9 If the client defaults in acceptance, omits a cooperative action, or delays a service provision for other reasons attributable to the client, MB is entitled to claim compensation for the resulting damage, including additional expenses, and is relieved of its duty to perform for the duration of the omitted cooperation.

7. Liability Indemnification

The client is solely liable for the contents, data, and social media profiles they provide. If the use of the contents infringes the rights of third parties (especially IP rights, rights related to GDPR, and usage rights of social media platforms), the client shall indemnify MB from all third-party claims due to such infringement upon first request and bear the reasonable costs of defense. The same applies to claims arising from the publication of MB's work results by the client.

8. General Limitation of Liability

8.1 Unless otherwise provided in these GTC, including the following provisions, MB is liable for violations of contractual and non-contractual obligations under the statutory provisions.

8.2 MB is liable for damages – regardless of the legal basis – within the scope of fault-based liability in cases of intent and gross negligence. In cases of simple negligence, MB is liable only (a) for damages resulting from injury to life, body, or health, and (b) for damages resulting from the breach of a fundamental contractual obligation (an obligation whose fulfillment is essential for the proper execution of the contract and on whose compliance the client regularly relies and may rely); however, in this case, MB's liability is limited to the compensation of the foreseeable, typically occurring damage.

8.3 Automated drip campaigns over LinkedIn, Email, and/or Social Media may require the use of so-called "3rd Party Apps." These "3rd Party Apps" might be unwelcome on some business and social media platforms. MB possesses the necessary knowledge to configure the "3rd Party Apps" in a way that they do not impair the functionality of user profiles. However, whether the platforms restrict the functionality of user profiles depends on the entire usage history of a user profile. For this reason, MB does not guarantee the continued, unrestricted functionality of the user profiles used in the program.

8.4 The limitations of liability arising from sections 7. and 8.2 also apply to third parties and in the case of breaches of duty by persons (also for their benefit) for whose fault MB is responsible according to statutory provisions. They do not apply insofar as a defect was fraudulently concealed or a guarantee was assumed.

9. Confidentiality

9.1 MB will treat all information concerning business and trade secrets as well as knowledge of business operations and internal, particularly confidential matters of the client ("confidential information") confidentially and agrees not to use it for purposes other than contract fulfillment.

9.2 Information is not considered confidential if MB can prove that (a) the information was already public knowledge, or (b) the information became public knowledge through means other than a breach of MB's contractual obligations, or (c) MB was legally provided the information by a third party who was authorized to disclose it to MB, or (d) MB already had knowledge of the information when it was disclosed by the client.

9.3 MB is to disclose confidential information only to those employees and third parties who are directly involved in fulfilling the contract and are bound by confidentiality requirements of the same extent as regulated herein.

9.4 The provisions of section 10 apply during the entire duration of the contract and for a further five (5) years after the end of the contract, regardless of the reasons for termination.

10. Business Transition

If and as soon as MB establishes a company (e.g., GmbH) for the management of further business, MB reserves the right to transfer the consulting contract to the company to be established. MB will inform the client in writing or by email before the transfer. The rights and obligations of MB will in this case be transferred to this company. The rights and obligations of the client remain unaffected.

11. Final Provisions

11.1 The client is not authorized to assign claims without the consent of MB.

11.2 Set-off or the assertion of a right of retention by the client is only permissible with recognized or legally established counterclaims.

11.3 If MB is prevented from fulfilling its obligations by the occurrence of unforeseeable, extraordinary circumstances which MB cannot avert despite the due care reasonable to it, e.g., operational disruptions, governmental interventions, energy supply difficulties, pandemics, strikes, or lockouts, whether these circumstances occur in the area of MB or in the area of its appointed third party, the deadline for performance shall be extended by a reasonable extent, if performance does not become impossible. If performance becomes impossible due to the aforementioned circumstances, MB is released from its performance obligations.

11.4 MB is authorized to change these GTC at any time. In case of a change, MB will inform the client about it. The client's consent to the changes is deemed to be granted if the client does not object to the change within four (4) weeks after receiving the change notification. MB will explicitly remind the client of this consequence of a failure to object in the change notification. If the client refuses consent to the changes, MB may terminate the contract.

11.5 The place of jurisdiction is Elmshorn (Germany, Schleswig-Holstein).

11.6 Should any provision of these GTC be wholly or partially invalid or lose its legal validity at a later date, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. Instead of the invalid provision, a suitable regulation shall apply in the way of contractual adjustment, which economically comes closest to what the parties would have wanted if they had been aware of the invalidity of the regulation.

GTC effective as of August 18, 2023