Terms and Conditions PHOTOSTOCK


Below you will find the Standard Terms and Conditions of PHOTOSTOCK



§ 1 Scope


  1. All offerings, shipments, and granting of license rights are without engagement only and do not exclusively apply to the following General Business Terms and Conditions ("hereinafter: Terms and Conditions") in the respectively current version, which is accessible under www.photostock.eu and can be inspected.
  2. Differing, contrary or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer only become part of the contract if and to the extent that PHOTOSTOCK specifically agrees to their validity in writing.
  3. In the meaning of this Terms and Conditions, PHOTOSTOCK is only offering "royalty-free image material". This is image material, which is created optically, digitally or in another way and which is displayed or stored in a non-physical form on a medium (e.g. photographs, graphics, illustrations, drawings, paintings or moving images)

§ 2 Subject matter of the contract


PHOTOSTOCK offers online, against payment, the licensing of rights of "royalty-free image material". The owning rights of the offered or delivered image material are not sold.


§ 3 Conclusion of the contract


  1. Prior to conclusion of the first contract, the customer must register with PHOTOSTOCK. Thereafter, the customer must declare his agreement to our Terms and Conditions by activating the respective item (with a click on the checkbox). Simultaneously, the customer is also agreeing to the storing of all customer data required for the business relationship to proceed by PHOTOSTOCK. This data is exclusively used within the scope of the business relationship.
  2. Conclusion of the contract takes place strictly via internet. Each customer order is binding and the receipt will be confirmed by PHOTOSTOCK via e-mail. The confirmation of receipt does not form a binding acceptance of order. The confirmation of the order receipt can be combined with the declaration of acceptance. If the customer desires immediate online licensing of image material, PHOTOSTOCK can declare acceptance of the order conclusively through the release of the image material for downloading.

§ 4 Extent of licensing rights/ownership rights


  1. The image material is made available to PHOTOSTOCK by its licensers (photographs). The image material is subject to copyright protection.
  2. PHOTOSTOCK and its licensers own all rights of the offered image material on the website. The customer acquires a non-exclusive, worldwide, non-transferable and non-sub-licensable right to use the selected image material through a medium of his choice for own informational, illustrational or advertising purposes under consideration of the following terms. The customer is entitled to reproduce, change and process the image material for own purposes, as well as to create a security copy of the image material for the purpose of storage and archiving. Any type of use beyond that requires the separate written approval of PHOTOSTOCK.
  3. Thumbnails and layout image material, which has the PHOTOSTOCK logo as a water-mark on it, can be used by the customer for personal or sketch purposes for free. Sample layouts and presentations belong to those. Free layout image material must not be used in end products — neither for internal, nor for external purposes. It must not be used on any other website, on a server with free internet connection, on an intranet of a company, on a CD, on a DVD or on any other comparable storage medium.

§ 5 Use of license-free pictures/Limitation of use


  1. Unless indicated otherwise, the image material may be used and modified by the customer, after he has paid the billed payment, which is due immediately.
  2. The image material may be used in the printing sector (e.g. brochures, advertisements, articles, catalogues, calendars, greeting cards, fair displays, advertising campaigns, advertising materials, packages, book covers and pages, CD covers, educational books, products of any kinds or the like). The image material may also be used in the multimedia sector (e.g. CD-ROMs, websites, online and multimedia presentations, TV shows, and theatre performances). The image material, though, must not be used in a downloadable or ftp format. The customer is furthermore prohibited from utilizing the licensed image material in collaboration with third parties or from constructing a network of servers with or without a central site, which enables access to the image material by third parties. The image material may exclusively be used on computers that are under the supervision of the customer.
  3. The customer is prohibited from giving away sub-licenses to third parties. The image material may not be sold, rented or in any other way given to third parties.
  4. When inserting the licensed image material into digital or electronic material, particularly websites, multimedia presentations and CD-ROMs, the image resolution may not exceed 72 dpi. Furthermore the type of insertion of the image material must make it clearly recognizable that it may not be downloaded or copied by third parties. Use of the licensed image material is not permitted in the manufacture of products for resale, where the majority of the value of the product is based on the value of the image material (e.g. postcards, posters). The use of image material must not violate trademark rights or other intellectual property rights of third parties. The licensed image material or parts of it, particularly with personal rights of persons depicted and other intellectual property rights of third parties in depicted motifs, are not to be used in a pornographic, defamatory, libelous or otherwise illegal manner, either directly or indirectly or in combination with other materials. In the event of intended use of the image material with morally questionable topics such as drugs, or physical and moral cruelty, AIDS, cancer or other serious physical or mental infirmity, as well as slander of a person or matter, the customer must obtain a written approval from PHOTOSTOCK in advance. The same applies to the use of personal photographs in connection with politics or political campaigns.

§ 6 Performance and place of performance


PHOTOSTOCK makes the licensed image material available for downloading. Alternatively, the parties can agree to postal delivery on a CD-ROM. In this case, the risk of coincidental loss and coincidental deterioration of the image material and the data carrier is transferred to the customer upon handover to the deliverer.


§ 7 Payment conditions


The license fees apply on the PHOTOSTOCK price list plus the applicable statutory VAT and possible shipping and handling costs. The customer can pay via credit card. The licensing of the rights of the image material, however, only applies after the credit of the charged payment. Payments on invoice or direct debit are only possible following the appropriate clearance by PHOTOSTOCK.


§ 8 Damages


  1. The customer is obliged to release and indemnify PHOTOSTOCK from all damages and liability claims by third parties arising from use of the image material that does not comply with the above-mentioned provisions.
  2. Damage liability on the part of PHOTOSTOCK is limited to intent and gross negligence and, in any case, to the amount of the license and download fee agreed upon by PHOTOSTOCK and the customer. This also applies to the personal liability of employees, colleagues, representatives and vicarious agents of PHOTOSTOCK.
  3. PHOTOSTOCK also has a right to object on the basis of contributory negligence. PHOTOSTOCK is not liable for the licensed image material being marketable (e.g. for the computer or fashion industry) or suitable for a specific purpose (advertisements, packages, etc.), for which it was acquired by the customer.
  4. PHOTOSTOCK is not liable for the functional capability of data networks or data lines to its data center, or for energy cuts or failure of networks of servers, insofar as PHOTOSTOCK has not caused the functional impairment or failure through intent or gross negligence.
  5. PHOTOSTOCK is not liable for the availability of the required permits for the respective use of the image material. The customer bears the sole responsibility for obtaining the required permits for the relevant use of the image material.

§ 9 Duration and termination of the license


The license of use is granted to the customer for an indefinite period and not exclusively. However, PHOTOSTOCK has a right at any time to terminate the license for use for an important reason. An important reason exists in particular if the customer violates the conditions for use or, despite a reminder with setting of a grace period, does not fulfill the obligation of paying the license fee. In case of termination of the license, the customer is obliged immediately to cease utilizing the image material, to erase completely the digital image material from his data carriers and to return to PHOTOSTOCK any data carriers that have been provided.


§ 10 References and links


As far as PHOTOSTOCK is giving any direct or indirect references to other websites (so-called "links"), it is to be pointed out that PHOTOSTOCK has no influence on the layout or content of those websites. Therefore, PHOTOSTOCK precautionary distances itself from the contents and design of those sites. PHOTOSTOCK is also not liable for any potential damages, losses or other disadvantages that might occur to the customer through the use of those sites.


§ 11 Termination


The agreement of use at hand can not be terminated by the customer. This still applies when the image material has not been used. Even in that case, the customer is still obliged to pay the stipulated license fee.


§ 12 Note of the author and agency


According to § 13 UrhG (German author civil code), a note of the author.s name, who made the image material available, as well as a note on the agency on PHOTOSTOCK is explicitly required. These notes must allow an unambiguous tracking of each respective image material. Prior to an abandonment of the provision of the author and agency note, a confirmation by PHOTOSTOCK in writing is required. PHOTOSTOCK reserves a right to charge an extra fee for such abandonment.


§ 13 Conditions for redeeming coupons:


  1. Coupons are linked to customers, and may only redeemed on our website
  2. Unless otherwise noted, coupons are valid six months from the date of issue.
  3. Please note that you may only use one coupon per purchase.
  4. Should the value of the coupon not be sufficient for the purchase, you may settle the difference by credit card, on account, or by advance payment.
  5. Remaining balances of coupons will be voided and not be credited.
  6. Coupons may not be cashed or resold.
  7. Should a bill be cancelled, the redeemed coupon will be regarded as used and may not be redeemed again.
  8. There are some special offers for new customers, where coupons may only redeemed if there is no existing customer account.
  9. When enquiring about coupons, please remember giving the coupon-code. You may reach us through our contact-form.

§ 14 Final Provisions


  1. This Terms and Conditions and all legal relationships between PHOTOSTOCK and the customer are subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, to the exclusion of German, international private law and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. This arrangement also and in particular applies to all legal relationships with foreign countries and foreign customers respectively. Insofar, the customer confirms explicitly by the acceptance of this Terms and Conditions that he is aware of this clause and has understood it.
  2. The place of performance and exclusive jurisdiction for all claims in connection with legal relationships between PHOTOSTOCK is Hamburg
  3. Oral or other agreements have not been stipulated. Amendments or supplements to the contract must be in text form in order to be valid.
  4. This Terms and Conditions are drawn up in original in the German language, being the only authentic text.


The customer is confirming that he is fully aware of this Terms and Conditions and accepting it before each conclusion of a contract.



Here you can download the terms of use as pdf.
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