Software as a service, IT services, consulting, marketing, logistics and other services provided to business customers in Germany need terms that define the service, the service levels, the remuneration and above all the liability in a way that holds under German law. German courts strike down liability caps in standard terms far more often than courts in the United States or England, and a cap that is void leaves the provider with unlimited liability. We draft service terms for business customers for a fixed fee of 1,800 EUR, the most comprehensive of our packages because these contracts carry the highest risk.
What the fixed fee of 1,800 EUR covers
The general terms for services with the clauses on scope and changes of the service, cooperation duties of the customer, remuneration and payment, term and termination, intellectual property and usage rights, confidentiality, data protection with the reference to the data processing agreement, warranty, liability and indemnification within the limits of German case law, and applicable law and jurisdiction, plus a service level annex where the service requires one. The texts are delivered in English and German, ready to publish. We check the integration into your quotation and order process, the online sign-up where there is one, and the interplay with your data processing agreement, because terms that are not validly included are not part of the contract under § 305 Abs. 2 BGB. One round of revisions after your comments is included, and as attorneys we are liable for the result.
What you should know
German law distinguishes between a contract for services, a contract for work with a defined result and a lease, and software as a service is treated as a lease by the Federal Court of Justice, with consequences for warranty and termination. The classification decides which statutory rules apply when the terms are silent or void, so we draft with the classification in mind. The data processing agreement that your German customers will ask for is a separate document, which we can add at 300 EUR.
Not included
Individually negotiated master service agreements and the negotiation of the terms with a particular customer, which we do by time at rates agreed in advance. The privacy policy and legal notice for your website are covered by the website privacy compliance package, reduced to 150 EUR when ordered together.
Prices are net attorney fees. For business clients outside Germany no German VAT is added.
How to instruct us
Send us the details through the form below. You will receive our confirmation and, where required, our questions in English within one working day. We correspond in English throughout the mandate.
The German-language description of this offer, written for clients in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is available at AGB für Dienstleister im Bereich B2B. Please note that this link takes you to our German website matutis.de. You do not have to use it, everything you need to instruct us for the B2B services terms is on this page, and you are welcome to write to us in English at any time.