1.General Terms and Conditions for Language Services
1. Scope of application
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter referred to as the “GTC”) apply to all legal transactions between Planet A Language Solutions (hereinafter referred to as “Planet A”) and the Customer, unless otherwise expressly agreed or prescribed by law.
1.2 The Customer’s general terms and conditions are only binding for Planet A if they have been expressly accepted by the latter.
1.3 These General Terms and Conditions shall also apply to all future contractual relationships, even if not referred to expressly in supplementary agreements.
2. Scope of the language service
2.1 Planet A provides the Customer with the services offered via the website www.planetalanguagesolutions.com, in addition to the planning and execution of associated additional services as part of the project management process.
2.2 Planet A shall carry out all services to a professional standard and in accordance with the principles of proper professional practice.
3. Pricing
3.1 Prices for the respective language services are based on the provider’s per-word or hourly rate, or on a fixed project fee, and correspond to the offer agreed in writing and signed by the Customer.
3.2 All prices are net and exclusive of Value Added Tax, which will be charged if applicable.
4. Customer’s obligation to cooperate and provide information
4.1 Upon placing the order, the Customer shall inform Planet A of the specific characteristics of the project (target audience, intended use, print-readiness, contact person(s) for queries, delivery on storage media, number of copies, external form of the documents, etc.).
4.2 If the service product is intended for printing, the Customer shall provide Planet A with a proof in good time prior to printing so that Planet A can correct any errors. Names and numbers must be checked by the Customer.
4.3 When the order is placed, at the latest, the Customer shall provide the Language Service Provider with useful information and documents for executing the order (existing translations, glossaries, style guides, explanations of abbreviations, illustrations and tables, relevant publications, websites, parallel texts, background texts, etc.).
4.4 Planet A will not be responsible for any errors or delays resulting from the Customer’s failure to provide the relevant information, material and instructions.
5. Payment
5.1 Invoices issued by Planet A are due and payable without deduction within 30 days of the invoice date. Unless otherwise agreed, payment must be made by bank transfer to the account specified by Planet A.
5.2 In the case of extensive texts, Planet A may request a reasonable advance payment, which shall be agreed with the Customer in advance.
5.3 If partial payment has been agreed between the Customer and Planet A, the latter is entitled, in the event of late payment by the Customer, to suspend work on current assignments for that Customer, without legal consequences for Planet A, until such time as the Customer has met their payment obligations. In any case, Planet A shall inform the Customer immediately of the suspension of work.
5.4 In the event of late payment, interest on arrears will be charged at the legally stipulated rate.
6. Project delivery
6.1 The delivery date for the work shall be agreed between Planet A and the Customer and forms an integral part of the contract accepted by Planet A. If, for any justified reason, Planet A is unable to meet the delivery date, they shall inform the Customer immediately, stating the revised delivery date for the service.
6.2 If the Customer fails to fulfil their obligation to provide the necessary documentation or to make an advance and/or partial payment in good time, the delivery date will be extended in line with the duration of the delay by which the required documents were provided to Planet A, or the payment received by Planet A.
6.3 The service product is delivered at the Customer’s risk, and is usually in electronic form and in single copy. Planet A shall not be liable for any damage to or loss of the service product during the course of electronic transmission.
6.4 Unless otherwise agreed, the documents provided by the Customer to Planet A shall remain with Planet A after completion of the assignment. Planet A must ensure that these documents are securely stored to prevent access by unauthorised persons, that the duty of confidentiality is not breached and that the documents cannot be used in breach of the contract.
6.5 Delivery is deemed to have taken place when the service product has demonstrably been sent by email to the Customer (indicated as having left the Outbox). Upon request, the service product can be delivered as a CD or a printout. Delivery by post will be invoiced separately.
7. Force majeure
7.1 In the event of force majeure, the parties shall, insofar as possible, immediately notify each other thereof. Force majeure entitles both the Customer and Planet A to withdraw from the assignment. In this case, Planet A shall be entitled to claim any expenses already incurred and a reasonable fee for the services already rendered.
8. Defects
8.1 The technical and linguistic accuracy of the source text is the sole responsibility of the Customer.
8.2 Planet A reserves the right to correct any defects. The Customer is initially only entitled to request the correction of possible defects in the language service product.
8.3 A request for correction of defects must be made within two weeks of receiving the language service product. Defects must be sufficiently explained and proven in writing by the Customer.
8.4 Planet A shall not be responsible for errors that occur as a result of poorly legible, incorrect or incomplete source texts or non-existent text contexts.
8.5 Stylistic improvements and adjustments of specific terminology (in particular, industry or company-specific technical terms) are not considered defects and are excluded from any liability.
8.6 The Customer shall grant Planet A a reasonable period of time and the opportunity to improve its language service product in order to remedy defects. If the Customer refuses to do so, Planet A is released from liability for defects.
8.7 If Planet A remedies the defects within the reasonable period of time, the Customer shall not be entitled to a price reduction.
8.7 If Planet A allows the reasonable period of grace to elapse without remedying the defects, the Customer may claim a reduction in the remuneration (price reduction). In the case of insignificant defects, there is neither a right to withdraw from the contract nor a right to a price reduction.
8.8 Claims made by the Customer against Planet A due to defects in the service provided shall become statute-barred one year following acceptance of the service product, unless there is malice.
9. Liability
9.1 Planet A shall only be liable in cases of gross negligence and intent. Gross negligence shall not include damage caused by computer failure, transmission errors during the sending of emails, or computer viruses. Planet A shall take precautions against this by using anti-virus software.
9.2 Liability for slight negligence shall apply exclusively in the event of a breach of essential contractual obligations, but shall be limited to the typically foreseeable damage.
9.3 Claims for damages against Planet A shall be limited to the amount of the invoice, unless otherwise prescribed by law, and shall be submitted within six months of knowledge of the damage, and no later than 12 months after termination of the respective service contract. The Customer must provide evidence that the damage is due to the fault of Planet A.
9.4 The Customer may only use the language service product for the purpose specified by the Customer. Otherwise, Planet A shall not be held liable.
10. Confidentiality and data processing
10.1 Planet A must keep confidential all business matters of the Customer that come to their knowledge; in particular, business and trade secrets.
10.2 Any data processing shall be carried out in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Customer expressly consents to the processing of personal data by Planet A. For tax, company and contractual purposes, personal data may be processed by Planet A and stored even after the end of the contractual relationship, provided that such storage or processing is necessary for fulfilling contractual or legal obligations. On expiry of this period, the data shall be deleted.
10.3 The Customer has the following rights in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR: the right to be informed, the right to rectification, erasure and restriction of the processing of their personal data, and the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority. If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact either Lisa McCarthy or Katrin Nell by email at info@planetalanguagesolutions.com.
11. Involvement of third parties
11.1 Planet A is entitled to engage the services of competent third parties to carry out the assignment.
11.2 If Planet A engages the services of a third party, Planet A shall ensure that the third party undertakes to maintain confidentiality in accordance with clause 10.1.
12. Retention of ownership
12.1 The language service product remains the property of Planet A until all obligations arising from the contract have been paid in full. Until such time, the Customer has no right of use.
12.2 Unless otherwise agreed, translation memories or terminology databases created by Planet A during the course of one or more orders remain the property of Planet A. Should the Customer wish to transfer ownership, this shall be considered an additional order and shall be remunerated accordingly.
12.3 Unless otherwise agreed, translation memories and terminology databases provided by the Customer remain the property of the Customer.
13. Copyright
13.1 Planet A is not obliged to check whether the Customer is entitled to have the source texts translated or otherwise edited. The Customer shall expressly ensure that they hold all the rights necessary to carry out the order.
13.2 The name of the language service provider may only be added to a published text or part of a text if the entire service product is rendered unchanged from the version originally submitted by the service provider.
13.3 The Customer is obliged to indemnify and hold Planet A harmless against all claims made by third parties arising from infringements of copyright, industrial property rights or personal rights. This also applies if the Customer has not specified the intended use, or if the service product is used for purposes other than those specified.
14. Right of withdrawal
14.1 The Customer expressly waives their right of withdrawal if Planet A has already started to execute the order and has notified the Customer accordingly.
15. Severability clause
15.1 The validity of these General Terms and Conditions shall not be affected by the invalidity or ineffectiveness of individual provisions.
15.2 The ineffective provision shall be replaced by an effective provision that comes as close as possible to the intended purpose or result.
16. Amendments and additions
16.1 Planet A reserves the right to amend or make additions to these GTC at any time. The version valid at the time of concluding the contract shall be authoritative in each case.
16.2 All amendments and additions to these GTC and other agreements between the Customer and Planet A must be made in writing.
17. Applicable law and jurisdiction
17.1 The location for the performance of all contractual relationships governed by these GTC shall be the place of business of Planet A.
17.2 Any legal disputes arising from this contractual relationship shall be resolved by the Courts of Barcelona, the city in which Planet A is based.
17.3 The order and any claims arising from it shall be governed by Spanish law.