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Terms & Conditions for Collections

1. Definitions, Scope of Application

1.1 The following Standard Terms & Conditions of Business (“T&C”) apply to the purchase of Collections via the Online Shop at www.springer.com (“Online-Shop”).

  • For customers domiciled or established in North, Central or South America, contracts are concluded with
    Springer Nature Customer Service Center LLC
    233 Spring St, New York, NY, 10013 United States,
    phone 1-866-839-0194,
    fax: +1 212 460 1700,
    email: customerservice@springernature.com
  • For customers domiciled or established in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Australia, contracts are concluded with
    Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH Tiergartenstr. 15-17, 69121 Heidelberg,
    Germany,
    phone +49 (0) 6221 345 4303,
    fax: +49 6221 345 4229,
    email: customerservice@springernature.com

(“Springer”).

1.2 As used in these T&C, the term “Customer” shall refer to users of the Online Shop and to purchasers of Collections at the Online Shop.

1.3 Any terms of business laid down by the Customer which diverge from these T&C shall not apply. Any confirmation from the Customer that is based on the latter’s own terms of business is hereby expressly refuted. The Customer’s terms of business shall not become an integral part of any agreements unless Springer has expressly confirmed same in writing.

2. Springer’s Performance

2.1 The details of a Collection are described on the product detail page.

2.2 After placing an order, Customers will get access to the Collection for use by Authorizes Users. 

2.3 Springer may, at its sole discretion, add further ePapers and/or eBooks to that Collection or replace existing content with revised editions. The customer shall, however, not be entitled to such additions or revisions of the Collection.

3. Use of the Online Shop

Customers intending to place orders at the Online Shop must first register to use the Online Shop. The Terms and Conditions for Direct Selling in the Online Shop at www.springer.com apply.

4. Purchase of Collections

4.1 The Customer has the option of ordering a Collection by clicking on the relevant shopping cart button provided for that offer and by subsequently completing the order process.

4.2 By clicking on the “Order Now” button, the Customer submits a proposal to conclude the relevant contract. Springer accepts this proposal by sending order confirmations by email, whereupon the contract is formed. Springer is under no obligation to accept the Customer’s proposal. Springer’s confirmation of receipt of an order does not constitute a binding confirmation of the actual order.

4.3 The right of withdrawal expires for Collections if the performance has begun with the consumer’s prior express consent and his acknowledgment that he thereby loses his right of withdrawal.

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Instruction on withdrawal

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on of the conclusion of the contract.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us:

  • for customers domiciled or established in North, Central or South America:
    Springer Nature Customer Service Center LLC,
    233 Spring St, New York, NY, 10013 United States,
    fax: +1 212 460 1700,
    email: customerservice@springernature.com;
  • for customers domiciled or established in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Australia:
    Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 15-17, 69121 Heidelberg, Germany,
    fax: +49 6221 345 4229,
    email: customerservice@springernature.com

of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail).

You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

The following form may be used to state your withdrawal, but it is not obligatory:

Model withdrawal form

(complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)

  • To Springer Nature Customer Service Center LLC, 233 Spring St, New York, NY, 10013 United States (for customers domiciled or established in North, Central or South America) (*)
  • To Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 15-17, 69121 Heidelberg, Germany (for customers domiciled or established in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Australia) (*):
  • I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following service (*),
  • Ordered on (*)/received on (*),
  • Name of consumer(s),
  • Address of consumer(s),
  • Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),
  • Date
  • (*) Delete as appropriate.

5. Prices, Terms of Payment

5.1 All the prices quoted in the Online Shop include German statutory turnover tax at the rate in force at the time.

5.2 Unless otherwise agreed, payment must be made in advance and shall fall due for payment immediately on completion of the order.

5.3 Springer may offer various means of payment. The purchase price may be paid either by credit card or by PayPal. For payments handled by a payment system provider (e.g. PayPal), the respective provider’s terms of business and terms of use shall apply exclusively; the Customer may need to have a user account with the respective provider.

5.4 The Customer shall be billed electronically for the goods and services ordered, and invoices shall be sent to the email address he or she has specified. If the Customer also wishes hard-copy invoices to be sent, Springer may charge a separate fee for this.

5.5 If the Customer fails to honour his or her payment obligations, or if any amounts paid are reverse-charged, Springer shall be entitled to block the Customer’s access to the Online Shop and to the Collections, while at the same time reserving the right to assert further claims. If access is blocked because receivables are still outstanding and if the Customer balances the arrears, his or her access shall be reactivated.

6. License Terms for Collections

6.1   Definitions

6.1.1 “Affiliate” means a party controlling, controlled by, or under common control with another party, where “control” means the direct or indirect ownership of at least fifty percent (50%) of the stock or other equity interest of a party.

6.1.2 “Authorized Users” means the number of Customer’s full- and part-time employees, for which  Customer as obtained a license to use the Content. In case Customer is an individual, Customer shall be the Authorized User.

6.1.3 “Commencement Date” means the date from which Customer is granted access to the Content, which starts at the date of the order placed by Customer. In case Customer orders the product for more than one Authorized User, Licensor will activate access for such additional Authorized Users within 5 workdays.

6.1.4 “Content” means the journals, books, archives, databases and all other materials identified in the Product Pages and which are licensed to Customer under this License Agreement.

6.1.5 “Licensor” means Springer, acting on its own behalf and/or on behalf of certain of its Affiliates.

6.1.6 “Platforms” means Licensor’s websites and other content delivery systems to access Licensor’s content pursuant to this License Agreement.

6.1.7 “Product Page”  means  description of the licensed Content.

6.2.   Grant and Scope of License

6.2.1 Subject to Customer’s compliance with the License Agreement, and except as otherwise stated herein, Licensor hereby grants Customer a non-exclusive, revocable and non-transferrable license to, and in each case limited to the number of Authorized Users:

6.2.1.1 permit Authorized Users to access the Content for the duration and in the manner set forth in the License Agreement or, if Customer himself/herself is the Authorized User, to use the Content accordingly;

6.2.1.2 incorporate links on Customer’s intranet websites to the Content in full text format on the Platforms.

6.2.2 Authorized Users may solely for educational, scientific, or research purposes in the furtherance of Customer’s business:

6.2.2.1 access (including by remote access, with the exception of   walk-in-users), browse, view, collate, display, search and retrieve the Content,

6.2.2.2 download, store on a hard drive or removable media drive, print and copy in paper and digital form single articles, chapters or other individual items of the Content,

6.2.2.3 use single articles, chapters or other individual items of the Content for the preparation of internal training materials with all rights notices duly presented.

6.3 Prohibited Uses

6.3.1 Neither Customer nor Authorized Users shall:

6.3.1.1 remove, obscure or alter any copyright or other notices, trademarks, logos, service marks or any other proprietary rights appearing in or on the Content,

6.3.1.2 except as permitted by applicable law or this License Agreement, update, change, revise, adapt, modify, translate, transform or create any derivative work of the Content,

6.3.1.3  except  as permitted by Section 6.2 or by applicable law or this License Agreement, re- distribute, reproduce, or transmit the Content by any means including electronic (e. g., via e-mail, FTP) nor post it on personal or public websites or on public networks,

6.3.1.4 systematically  download  any  Content to its own or any third-party server,  use routines designed to continuously and automatically search and index the Content (full text and meta data), such as web-crawling or spider programs or engage in any activity likely to burden the Platforms, except as expressly allowed in the License Agreement,

6.3.1.5  directly or indirectly use or assist any third party to use the Content for any commercial or monetary purposes including without limitation any sale, resale, loan,   transfer   or   upload   of   the   Content   to   a commercial entity’s internet website, or otherwise charge a fee for access; or

6.3.1.6  otherwise use  the  Content in  a  manner that would infringe the copyright or other proprietary rights contained therein.

7. Term and Termination

7.1  “Term” means the effective period of this License Agreement for an individual Product, as set forth in the Product Pages, including any renewal term.

7.2 Either Licensor or Customer may terminate the License Agreement immediately upon notice to the other party if the other party (including, with respect to Customer, an Autorized User) materially breaches this License Agreement and fails to cure such breach within thirty (30) days after notice from the non-breaching party specifying the breach in reasonable detail.

7.3 In the event Customer fails to pay the License Fee for Content provided, and fails to cure such non-payment within 30 calendar days following notice from Licensor, Licensor may, in its sole discretion, either (a) immediately and without further notice suspend access to  the  Content licensed or (b) terminate the License Agreement pursuant to Section 7.2.

7.4 Licensor may suspend the provision of the Content to a Customer with immediate effect on notice if Licensor has reasonable grounds to believe that Content is being used in a manner contrary to the terms of this License Agreement, without prejudice to any other rights Licensor may have at law or in equity.

7.5 In  the  event  of  termination  or  expiration  of  the License Agreement for any reason (a) the license  grant shall terminate with regard to the Content, (b) Customer shall discontinue accessing the Content via the Platforms, (c) Customer shall delete or destroy all copies of the Content on electronic and physical storage mediums in its possession or control, and (d) use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that its Authorized Users delete or destroy Content on their personal electronic devices and physical storage mediums. At Licensor’s request, Customer shall provide a certificate executed by an officer of Customer attesting that such deletion or destruction has been fully effectuated. All indemnification, confidentiality, and payment obligations in the License Agreement up to the termination date shall survive such termination or expiration.

8. Warranty and Liability

8.1 Springer shall be held liable in accordance with statutory regulations for any loss or damage sustained by the Customer that is caused by intent or gross negligence; is due to the object of performance lacking a warranted characteristic; is based on a culpable breach of so-called “cardinal obligations;” results from the loss of life, limb, or health; or is covered by liability under product liability law.

8.2 Cardinal duties are those contractual duties, performance of which enables due implementation of the contract in the first place and which the contractual partner fundamentally may rely on being performed, and the breach of which jeopardises attainment of the very purpose of the contract.

8.3 If a cardinal duty is breached, liability – provided the loss or damage is merely due to slight negligence and does not involve the loss of life, limb, or health – shall be limited to that loss or damage, occurrence of which is typical or foreseeable in connection with providing services such as those constituting the subject-matter of the contract.

8.4 In all other respects, liability towards Springer and Springer’s vicarious agents – for whatever cause in law – is hereby ruled out.

8.5 Where damages sustained by the Customer result from loss of data, Springer shall not be held liable if such damage could have been avoided had the Customer regularly saved all the relevant data and made complete backups at intervals that duly reflect the value of the data.

9. Contract Document

9.1 Springer makes no provision for separate contract documents based on these T&C. Springer therefore will not store “the contract document” that specifically relates to the Customer personally. When logged in to the Online Shop however, the Customer will see the subscriptions taken out in his or her name.

10.  Data Protection

Springer attaches great importance to the protection and safety of the Customer’s personal data. All the relevant information is contained in Springer’s Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

11. Miscellaneous

11.1 If the Customer is a registered trader, a public corporation or a special trust managing public assets, Berlin shall be the place of jurisdiction for all legal disputes arising directly or indirectly from the contractual relationship between Springer and the Customer. In such event, Berlin shall be deemed to have been agreed as the place of performance.

11.2 The same shall apply if, subsequent to the conclusion of the contract, the Customer’s place of residence or habitual place of abode is located at some place outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany or is relocated to such a place. This shall also apply if the Customer’s place of residence or habitual place of abode is not known at the time when legal action is filed.

11.3 German law shall apply exclusively. Any application of CISG is hereby ruled out.

11.4 If any provision of these Standard Terms & Conditions of Business is ineffective, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In any such case, the parties shall negotiate for a clause that is to substitute the ineffective provision and that reflects the content of the original provision as closely as possible.

12. Out-of-court settlements

We do not engage in out-of-court settlements before consumer arbitration bodies.