General Terms and Conditions

§ 1 Scope and Contracting Party

(1) These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") apply to all contracts concluded via the website empcora.de between

Marcel Schlüter IT-Services, Empcora, Kollwitzstraße 76, 10435 Berlin (hereinafter "Provider")

and the respective customer (hereinafter "User").

(1a) Domain scope: These GTC also apply to all domains of the Empcora brand family operated by the Provider that redirect to empcora.de:

• empcora.de
• empcora.com
• empcora.eu
• empco-pruefung.de
• empco-konform.de
• greenwashing-check.de
• greenwashing-pruefen.de
• greenclaim-guard.de

(2) These GTC apply equally to consumers (§ 13 BGB) and entrepreneurs (§ 14 BGB). Where provisions apply exclusively to consumers or entrepreneurs, this is expressly indicated.

(3) Deviating, conflicting or supplementary GTC of the User shall only become part of the contract if and to the extent that the Provider has expressly agreed to their application in writing.

(4) The language of contract is exclusively German (§ 312i Abs. 1 Nr. 2 BGB).

(5) Nature of the service — no legal advice: Empcora is a technical software tool for self-auditing and self-documentation. It is not a legal service within the meaning of § 2 Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz (RDG) and does not replace one. A binding legal assessment in an individual case — in particular the question of whether a specific advertising claim violates applicable law or would withstand judicial scrutiny — can only be made by a licensed solicitor. Detailed provisions on the nature and exclusion of liability for the compliance assessment are contained in § 10 of these GTC.

§ 2 Service Description

(1) Empcora is an automated Software-as-a-Service tool (SaaS) for analysing websites for potential violations of Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition (the so-called EmpCo Directive) as well as the Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG — Act Against Unfair Competition).

(2) The following plans and services are offered:

a) CHECK — Free Trial

• 1 domain, max. 5 pages, one-off trial scan
• Visible result without registration
• No PDF report, no AI reformulation
• Free of charge, no recurring billing

b) EINMAL_AUDIT — €49 one-off

• 1 domain, up to 100 pages
• PDF compliance report
• AI reformulations per problematic claim
• Legal basis per claim (reference to EmpCo article and UWG provision)
• One-off payment, no recurring billing

c) EINMAL_AUDIT_PRO — €149 one-off

• 1 domain, up to 1,000 pages
• Crawl duration up to 30 minutes
• PDF compliance report
• AI reformulations per claim
• Legal basis per claim
• One-off payment

d) EINMAL_AUDIT_BUSINESS — €299 one-off

• 1 domain, up to 5,000 pages
• Long crawls up to 2 hours
• PDF compliance report with AI reformulations
• Legal basis per claim
• One-off payment, no recurring billing

e) EINMAL_AUDIT_ENTERPRISE — €499 one-off

• 1 domain, up to 25,000 pages
• Long crawls up to 8 hours (soft cap 24 h)
• PDF compliance report with AI reformulations
• Legal basis per claim
• Priority crawling (worker preference in the queue)
• One-off payment, no recurring billing

Sites with more than 25,000 pages are offered individually via the custom audit form (/audit-bestellen).

f) MONITORING_BASIS — €19/month

• 1 domain, monthly re-scan
• Alert e-mail upon newly detected violations
• Compliance badge for score A or B
• Version comparison between scans

g) MONITORING_PRO — €59/month

• 5 domains, weekly re-scan
• Competitor comparison
• Evidence management
• Slack and e-mail alerts
• Configurable scan intervals

h) AGENTUR — €199/month

• 25 domains
• Daily re-scans
• White-label reports (PDF with your own logo)
• CSV export of all claims
• Multi-user accounts with roles
• Client separation in the dashboard

i) ENTERPRISE — €499/month

• 100 domains
• Up to 100,000 pages per domain
• Long crawls (soft cap 24 hours)
• 10 parallel page workers per crawl
• White-label reports
• CSV/JSON bulk export
• Multi-user accounts + role-based access control (RBAC)
• Slack/Microsoft Teams integration
• SSO via OAuth 2.0 (Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID)

Definitions

• "Domain": a hostname including subdomain specified by the User (e.g. shop.example.de) under which the crawler retrieves content
• "Page": an individual HTML resource accessible via a unique URL
• "Re-scan": a repeat, automatically triggered crawl and analysis process
• "AI reformulation": a suggested legally compliant alternative phrasing for a detected claim generated by AI

§ 3 Contract Formation

(1) The presentation of plans on the website does not constitute a binding offer but an invitation to the User to submit an offer.

(2) By selecting a plan and completing the order process via Stripe Checkout, the User makes a binding offer to conclude a contract. Prior to clicking the pay button, the User has the opportunity to review the contract content.

(3) The contract is concluded upon successful confirmation of the payment by Stripe and dispatch of a confirmation e-mail to the User.

(4) The contract text is stored by the Provider. The GTC are available at any time at /en/agb. Order data will be sent to the User by e-mail.

§ 4 Prices and Payment Terms

(1) All prices are stated in euros (€) and are gross prices inclusive of the applicable statutory value added tax (standard taxation; § 19 UStG does not apply).

(2) One-off audits are due immediately and in full. Monitoring plans are billed monthly in advance on the respective due date of the contract period.

(3) Payment is made exclusively via the payment service provider Stripe. Accepted payment methods:

• Credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
• SEPA direct debit
• Apple Pay, Google Pay (where activated)

(4) In the event of default in payment pursuant to § 286 BGB, the Provider is entitled to block access to the service after an unsuccessful reminder with a reasonable period of at least 14 days. For consumers, default pursuant to § 286 Abs. 3 BGB requires that the invoice expressly draws attention to the consequences of default.

(5) Set-off against counterclaims is only permissible if these are undisputed or have been established by final judgment.

§ 5 Right of Withdrawal for Consumers

(1) Consumers (§ 13 BGB) have a statutory right of withdrawal pursuant to § 312g in conjunction with § 355 BGB.

Model Withdrawal Form

(If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please complete this form and return it.)

§ 5a Satisfaction Guarantee (14-day money-back)

(1) In addition to the statutory right of withdrawal (§ 5 GTC, applicable to consumers only), the Provider grants a voluntary satisfaction guarantee for all Users (including entrepreneurs within the meaning of § 14 BGB):

• Monitoring subscriptions (MONITORING_BASIS, MONITORING_PRO, AGENTUR, ENTERPRISE): Within 14 days of the initial conclusion of the contract, the User may request a full refund of the amount already paid for the first billing period without giving reasons. Pro-rata refunds for consumed scan quotas are excluded — the guarantee operates on an "all or nothing" basis.
• One-off audits (EINMAL_AUDIT, EINMAL_AUDIT_PRO, EINMAL_AUDIT_ENTERPRISE): If the crawler was able to successfully analyse fewer than 30% of the specified pages (status TEILWEISE_BLOCKIERT) or a complete technical failure occurs (status FEHLER), the Provider shall upon request grant a full refund (see § 10 Coverage Guarantee).

(2) The refund is processed upon request in the logged-in customer account (Account → Billing) or by e-mail to [email protected] within typically 5 working days via the original payment method through Stripe. No reason is required.

(3) The satisfaction guarantee does not exclude the statutory right of withdrawal for consumers but is in addition to it. In the event of a conflict, the provision more favourable to the User applies. Repeated use for the purpose of circumventing the payment obligation (e.g. re-conclusion of a contract by the same User within 90 days of a refund) is excluded pursuant to § 242 BGB.

§ 6 Contract Duration and Termination

(1) One-off audits (CHECK, EINMAL_AUDIT, EINMAL_AUDIT_PRO, EINMAL_AUDIT_ENTERPRISE) are one-off services with no recurring obligation. Cancellation is not required.

(2) Monitoring plans (MONITORING_BASIS, MONITORING_PRO, AGENTUR) are concluded as monthly cancellable subscriptions. The contract term is one month and renews automatically for a further month each time unless cancelled by the end of the current period at the latest.

(3) Cancellation may be declared at any time with effect from the end of the respective billing period. It is possible:

• in the Stripe customer portal (Account → Manage subscription)
• by e-mail to [email protected]
• via the cancellation button in the logged-in customer account ("Cancel account")

(4) The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected.

(5) Ordinary cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. The User may use the service without restriction until the end of the period; no pro-rata refund of the payment made for the current period will be made. If the Provider is responsible for giving cause for extraordinary termination, the User shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund for services not yet rendered.

§ 7 Availability, Warranty and Force Majeure

(1) The Provider delivers the service on a "best effort" basis. No specific availability or response time is expressly guaranteed. The non-binding target availability is 99% per annum; no contractual guarantee or service level agreement is established by this.

(1a) Warranty for defects: To the extent that the service does not provide the contractually agreed services in a manner that permanently impairs its proper use, the provisions of tenancy law (§§ 535 ff. BGB) shall apply mutatis mutandis. The User must report detected defects to [email protected] without undue delay in text form. The Provider shall remedy the defect within a reasonable period (subsequent performance). If subsequent performance fails twice, the User may terminate the contract extraordinarily or reduce the remuneration proportionally.

(2) Planned maintenance work will be communicated to the User with reasonable advance notice and carried out outside normal business hours where possible.

(3) Outages due to force majeure, third-party attacks or disruptions at deployed data processors (e.g. Cloudflare, Hetzner, Stripe, Anthropic) fall outside the Provider's sphere of responsibility.

(4) Force majeure: Force majeure means unforeseeable events not attributable to the Provider, in particular war, natural disasters, pandemics, official orders, strikes, large-scale cyberattacks (e.g. national internet disruptions, DDoS attacks against backbone providers), energy supply failures and comparable events. During a period of force majeure, both parties are released from their performance obligations. If the event lasts longer than 30 days, both parties are entitled to extraordinary termination.

§ 8 User Obligations

(1) The User is obliged to submit for scanning only domains over which they themselves have authority or for which they have been expressly commissioned by the owner (e.g. as an agency).

(2) In particular, the following are prohibited:

• Having third-party domains scanned without a mandate
• Using the service for purposes that serve unlawful activities
• Circumventing technical blocks of the service
• Carrying out load tests, benchmarks or automated bulk requests without prior agreement
• Reselling the service or passing it on under a sub-licence model (except in the AGENTUR plan within the scope of its intended use)

(3) The User is responsible for the security of their access credentials. The Provider must be notified immediately if unauthorised access is suspected.

(4) Data backup obligation: The User is obliged to keep regular backups of data entered into or created within the service (account master data, scan configurations, reports, evidence uploads) in accordance with the state of the art and commensurate with data criticality. This obligation is a prerequisite for the following liability limitations in the event of data loss (§ 9 para. 4).

(5) In the event of a breach of these obligations, the Provider is entitled to block or terminate the account without notice.

§ 9 Liability

(1) The Provider shall be liable without limitation

• for intent and gross negligence
• for injury to life, body or health
• under the provisions of the Produkthaftungsgesetz (Product Liability Act)
• to the extent of a guarantee expressly assumed by the Provider

(2) In the case of simple negligence, the Provider shall be liable — except in the cases of paragraph 1 — only for the breach of a material contractual obligation (cardinal obligation) whose fulfilment is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the contract and on whose compliance the User may regularly rely. Liability shall in such cases be limited to the foreseeable, typically contract-related damage.

(3) Any further liability is excluded.

(4) In the event of data loss, the Provider shall only be liable to the extent that the damage would have occurred even with a regular backup by the User in accordance with the state of the art (cf. § 8 para. 4). In the case of simple negligence, the Provider's liability for data loss is additionally capped at a maximum of €500 per individual case. This cap does not apply in cases of intent or gross negligence, injury to life, body or health, or claims under the Produkthaftungsgesetz (para. 1).

(5) The limitations in this clause also apply in favour of the Provider's legal representatives and vicarious agents if claims are asserted directly against them.

(6) No guaranteed characteristics: The Provider expressly does not guarantee any particular quality or durability of the tool results — in particular their legal robustness, their suitability as evidence or their ability to withstand judicial scrutiny. Descriptive marketing statements (e.g. "self-audit template", "structured documentation", "indicators of EmpCo risks") are purely service descriptions and do not constitute a guarantee within the meaning of § 443 BGB.

§ 10 Compliance Notices: Nature, Limits and Exclusion of Liability

(1) Nature of the service: Empcora delivers exclusively automated technical notices through rule-based comparison of the content provided by the User with the official wording of Directive (EU) 2024/825 (EmpCo Directive), the Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG) and selected publicly available supreme court case law as at the date of the most recent update to the tool database. The Provider does not carry out any independent legal interpretation but restricts itself to comparison with the official regulatory text. The results do not constitute a legal service within the meaning of § 2 Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz (RDG) and therefore do not constitute legal advice; they do not replace it.

(2) Responsibility for use: The final legal assessment of an advertising claim and the decision on its legal admissibility rest solely with the User or a solicitor admitted in a Member State of the European Union commissioned by them. A review of the tool results by a licensed solicitor prior to productive use (e.g. before publishing an AI reformulation, before using the PDF report vis-à-vis third parties or before relying on an achieved score) is, given the nature of the service as a technical notice tool, strictly necessary. If the User forgoes such a review, they act at their own risk; the Provider's liability for resulting consequences is excluded to the extent permitted by law (cf. § 10 para. 5, § 9).

(2a) Currency and versioning of the tool database: The database underlying the tool (directive wording, UWG provisions, case law datasets, AI reformulation patterns) is maintained by the Provider on a regular basis but without any guaranteed update schedule. Between the reference date of the last update and the date of the scan, the directive itself, its national implementing legislation and regulations, the administrative practice of the competent authorities and supreme court case law (BGH, OLG, EuGH) may have changed without this already being reflected in the database. The Provider accepts no liability for the completeness, currency or accuracy of the legal sources stored in the tool database. The User is obliged to verify the currency of the cited legal bases themselves or through a licensed solicitor before productive use.

(3) Nature of the PDF report: The PDF report generated by the tool is a technical summary of the audit carried out. It serves internal documentation, handover to the User's own solicitor or as a basis for discussion. The report has no legal effect whatsoever. In particular, it does not constitute a legal opinion, a legal statement, a binding compliance certificate or a guaranteed characteristic within the meaning of § 443 BGB.

(4) Nature of AI reformulations: Generated reformulation suggestions are algorithmic proposals based on publicly available legal sources. They may contain factual, linguistic or legal errors. The User is obliged to review each suggestion themselves or have it reviewed by a solicitor before use. The Provider is not liable in particular for the legal admissibility of adopted reformulations.

(4a) Nature of the compliance score: The compliance score output by the tool (levels A to F or traffic-light colours GRÜN/GELB/ROT) is an automated technical indication of the risk level calculated by the algorithm on the basis of the stored rules and data sources. The score expressly does not constitute a quality seal, certification, official or legal clearance certificate or a blanket authorisation in the sense of a legally binding compliance certificate. A high score (in particular A or B or GRÜN) does not release the User from the obligation to carry out an independent legal review (para. 2) and does not create any legitimate expectation vis-à-vis third parties, authorities or courts.

(5) Exclusion of liability for consequential damages: The Provider shall not be liable for cease-and-desist letters, injunctions, lawsuits, fines, dispute values, contractual penalties, legal costs, claims for damages or other legal or economic consequences suffered by the User as a result of using the tool, adopting AI reformulations, using the compliance score or publishing the PDF report. In particular, there is no liability if:

• the tool fails to detect a violation (false negative);
• the tool flags a permissible statement as problematic (false positive);
• the legal position is modified between the scan date and actual use of the statement by legislative changes or case law;
• the User does not or only partially implements the tool's notices;
• a statement classified as "GRÜN" or with score "A"/"B" is subsequently assessed as inadmissible by a court or authority.

(6) Relationship to § 9: The limitations contained in this provision do not affect liability under § 9 para. 1 (intent, gross negligence, injury to life, body or health, product liability, expressly assumed guarantee). Any liability for the compliance assessment beyond this is excluded.

§ 11 Intellectual Property and Rights of Use

(1) For the duration of the contract, the Provider grants the User a simple, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to use the service for its intended purpose.

(2) All rights to software, source code, database content and reports remain with the Provider.

(3) The User may use generated PDF reports for their own internal purposes, for submission to their solicitor or for defending against cease-and-desist letters, lawsuits or administrative proceedings. Any further publication of the reports (e.g. on the User's own website or in the press) requires the prior written consent of the Provider; consent is granted on a blanket basis in the AGENTUR plan within the scope of the white-label report.

(4) Data export before contract end (data portability): The User is entitled during the contract term and for 30 days after its end to a complete export of their data stored in the service in a structured, common and machine-readable format (JSON or CSV). The export covers account master data, domain list, scan results, claims, uploaded evidence and PDF reports. The Provider shall make the export available free of charge on request via the account dashboard or by e-mail attachment within seven working days. This provision serves to fulfil Art. 20 GDPR and to avoid a "lock-in" effect.

§ 12 Data Protection and Data Processing Agreement

(1) The processing of personal data is governed by the separate Privacy Policy.

(2) To the extent that the User has domains scanned via the service whose content includes personal data of third parties (e.g. employee websites), such data is processed by the Provider on behalf of the User. The User is the controller within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 7 GDPR and the Provider is the processor within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 8 GDPR. A corresponding data processing agreement (DPA) pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR will be provided individually by the Provider on request via the contact form.

(3) The User warrants that they are entitled to process the scanned content. In the event of a breach of this warranty, the User shall indemnify the Provider in the internal relationship against all third-party claims (in particular GDPR fines).

§ 13 Dispute Resolution

The Provider is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (§ 36 VSBG).

§ 14 Final Provisions

(1) This contract is governed exclusively by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). As regards entrepreneurs (§ 14 BGB), this choice of law applies without restriction. As regards consumers (§ 13 BGB), mandatory consumer protection provisions of the Member State in which the consumer has their habitual residence remain unaffected pursuant to Art. 6 para. 2 Rome I Regulation, provided the Provider directs its activities to that state.

(1a) Multilingual versions and scope of notices: The Provider may make the tool interface and marketing content available in further languages (in particular English, French, Dutch). The authoritative language of contract remains exclusively German; other language versions are purely translations without independent normative content. The compliance notices output by the tool refer primarily to Directive (EU) 2024/825 as a Union legal act and to the German UWG. To the extent that the User uses the tool to review content subject to another Member State's law (e.g. national implementing legislation in France, the Netherlands or Austria), the Provider accepts no liability for the notices completely or accurately reflecting the respective national implementing law, administrative practice or case law in that jurisdiction. A review by a solicitor admitted in the relevant Member State is particularly strongly recommended in such cases. The only authoritative text is the language version of the Directive published by the European Union in the Official Journal (available in all 24 EU official languages on EUR-Lex); any wording cited in the tool interface or PDF report serves purely for quick reference and does not replace the original text.

(2) The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract — where the User is a merchant, a legal person under public law or a special fund under public law — is the Provider's registered seat. Otherwise, the statutory place of jurisdiction applies.

(3) Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become wholly or partially invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by the applicable statutory rule.

(4) Amendments to these GTC will be notified to the User at least six weeks before they take effect in text form (e-mail suffices).

a) For amendments that are immaterial to the User or that take account of changes in statutory requirements (e.g. changed tax rates, technical adjustments, clarifications without material effect, addition of further functions at no extra cost), the amendments shall be deemed accepted if the User does not object in text form within six weeks of receipt. The notification will specifically draw attention to this consequence.

b) For material amendments — in particular price increases, restrictions or elimination of agreed services, expansion of the User's obligations, or stricter liability provisions — the amendment requires the express consent of the User. If the User does not give consent, the previous terms continue to apply unchanged; in this case the Provider is entitled to terminate the contractual relationship on ordinary notice with a period of six weeks.

This differentiation takes account of the case law of the BGH (judgment of 27 April 2021, case no. XI ZR 26/20), pursuant to which a deemed consent by the consumer to material amendments is invalid.