General Terms and Conditions

Berliner Union Film GmbH & Co. KG

§ 1 General information

The following general terms and conditions are part of every contract offer of Berliner Union-Film. Contradictory, deviating or supplementary terms and conditions of a contractual partner shall not become part of the contract, even if Berliner Union-Film does not expressly object to them.

§ 2 Services of Berliner Union-Film

The modalities of service provision by Berliner Union-Film are determined by these terms and conditions.
Locations and times of service provision result from the respective agreement between Berliner Union-Film and the contractual partner. As far as time and place do not expressly result from the agreement, these are determined by unilateral determination of Berliner Union-Film under consideration of their capacities.
Berliner Union-Film accepts no liability for deviations and restrictions in the provision of services due to circumstances for which Berliner Union-Film is not responsible.

§ 3 Rooms and Spaces

Berliner Union-Film shall provide the contractual partner with the rooms and spaces specified in the agreement for the agreed period of time for the agreed use.
The contractual partner is entitled to use the premises in accordance with their designated function and the agreements made with Berliner Union-Film. Any other use requires the prior written consent of Berliner Union-Film. In particular, consent may be made conditional on the conclusion of an additional insurance policy.
The contractual partner is not entitled to make structural changes to the rooms and spaces provided, unless the agreement with Berliner Union-Film expressly provides for this.
The operating costs of the premises shall be borne by the contractual partner. The operating costs will be invoiced according to the current price list.
The rooms and spaces shall be vacated, free of defects and cleaned after the end of the agreed period of use and returned to Berliner Union-Film with all keys issued. If the contractual partner does not clean the premises, Berliner Union-Film is entitled to clean the premises at the contractual partner’s expense after a reasonable period of time has expired. Berliner Union-Film is entitled to dispose of the remaining items of the contractual partner at the contractual partner’s expense after setting an appropriate deadline.

§ 4 Inventory

Berliner Union-Film shall provide the contractual partner with the movable objects specified in the agreement for the agreed and functional use. Any other use requires the prior written consent of Berliner Union-Film. In particular, consent may be made conditional on the conclusion of an additional insurance policy.
At the end of the contract period, the contractual partner must return to Berliner Union-Film all items provided to him in a defect-free condition.
For the loss or damage of objects or individual parts thereof, the contractual partner must pay compensation in accordance with the statutory provisions.

§ 5 Personnel

Insofar as Berliner Union-Film is obliged to provide the contractual partner with personnel, this shall be planned on the basis of a production plan to be submitted by the contractual partner. The production plan must be submitted to Berliner Union-Film before the production begins. Subsequent changes to the production plan require regular notification by the contractual partner with an appropriate lead time. In this case, Berliner Union-Film will try to provide additional personnel according to their capacities.
The contractual partner must comply with the labour law obligations of Berliner Union-Film vis-à-vis the staff.
The costs for the provision of personnel are based on the price list valid at the conclusion of the contract.
If Berliner Union-Film or third parties are required to provide additional personnel for certain functions for legal, official or insurance reasons, the contractual partner shall bear all costs arising therefrom.

§ 6 Technical equipment

Berliner Union-Film shall provide the contractual partner with services and technical equipment in accordance with the agreement. The costs are determined according to the agreement and the price list valid at the conclusion of the contract.
The employees of Berliner Union-Film are exclusively entitled to operate the technical equipment mentioned under para. 1, unless the agreement contains any other regulations. Berliner Union-Film will provide the contractual partner with competent personnel without exception. Individual persons can only be replaced within the scope of the capacities of Berliner Union-Film. The additional costs of replacement shall be borne by the contractual partner, unless the person demonstrably lacks the necessary skills.
The contractual partner is bound by the instructions of the operating personnel of Berliner Union-Film.

§ 7 Obligations of the contractual partner

The contractual partner must immediately inspect the rooms, inventory and technology provided to him for defects and notify Berliner Union-Film of these in writing within two weeks of their being made available. In the event of breaches of the duty of timely notification, the services provided by Berliner Union-Film shall be deemed to be free of defects.
The duty of notification under para. 1 shall also apply to defects, deteriorations or damage to rooms, inventory and technology that occur or become apparent during their use. The obligation to notify shall commence when the defect or the deterioration or damage can be identified.
The contractual partner must treat the objects provided to him with care. He is liable for the conduct of the persons he employs.
The contractual partner shall assume the duty to implement safety precautions towards third parties vis-à-vis Berliner Union-Film for the rooms, inventory and technology provided to him as well as the personnel provided. The contractual partner is obliged to immediately indemnify Berliner Union-Film in relation to third parties from corresponding claims for compensation.
The contractual partner shall bear all associated risks and costs insofar as he gives third parties access to the rooms and spaces provided to him by Berliner Union-Film or brings them into contact with objects or technology provided by Berliner Union-Film. The contractual partner shall immediately indemnify Berliner Union-Film against any resulting claims for compensation by third parties.
The contractual partner must obtain all necessary legal or official permits for the use of the rooms, spaces, inventory and technology provided to him by Berliner Union-Film. Berliner Union-Film assumes no liability for any impairment of use of the rented rooms, spaces, inventory and technology due to lack of permits. The obligation to pay the agreed remuneration remains unaffected in this respect.

§ 8 Items brought in  

Berliner Union-Film is not liable for damages to the objects of the contractual partner brought into the provided rooms and spaces or brought to the company premises by the contractual partner as a result of slight negligence. Liability for intent and gross negligence remains unaffected.

§ 9 Duty to collaborate

Insofar as Berliner Union-Film requires the contracting partner’s previous input or preparatory work in order to provide a service, Berliner Union-Film shall not be liable for delays or failures caused by insufficient or lacking cooperation on the part of the contracting partner.

§ 10 Remuneration

The remuneration to be paid by the contractual partner is determined by the agreement and the price list valid on the day of the agreement.
VAT is determined according to the tax rate applicable at the time of invoicing.
The contractual partner shall make an advance payment in accordance with the agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, the advance amounts to 30% of the agreed remuneration. The remaining remuneration shall be paid to Berliner Union-Film in two installment payments.
All operating and ancillary costs of the production, such as in particular water, heating costs and electricity, are to be borne by the contractual partner and will be invoiced separately. The settlement of the additional costs takes place after the end of the production. The contractual partner is only obliged to make advance payments if this has been agreed upon.
The advance payment according to paragraph 3 becomes due upon conclusion of the contract. The installment payments are due according to the agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, the first installment payment is due at half the agreed production time and the second installment payment at the end of the production. For each reminder from Berliner Union-Film, the contractual partner will be charged additional costs of 10.00 €.
An offsetting with claims of Berliner Union-Film is only permitted with counterclaims recognised by Berliner Union-Film or established by declaratory judgement. A right of retention is excluded.

§ 11 Notice of termination

Berliner Union-Film and the contractual partner are entitled to terminate the contractual relationship for important reasons. An important reason for the Berliner Union-Film is in particular when

insolvency proceedings are opened against the assets of the contractual partner or the same is rejected for lack of assets,
the contractual partner fails to meet his/her obligation to pay advances and installments despite a request from Berliner Union-Film or
the contractual partner does not fulfill his insurance obligation according to § 15 of this agreement.

If the contractual partner terminates the contract before or after the start of the contract for an important reason, he shall pay the agreed remuneration. However, Berliner Union-Film must allow itself to be credited for what it has saved in expenses as a result of the premature termination.

§ 12 Industrial property rights

The contractual partner undertakes to indemnify Berliner Union-Film against all claims of third parties arising from an infringement of industrial or other property rights or exploitation rights and to guarantee Berliner Union-Film an appropriate legal defence at the expense of the contractual partner.
If Berliner Union-Film is charged fees or other costs as a result of copyrights or other rights, the contractual partner must immediately indemnify Berliner Union-Film and reimburse payments made.

§ 13 Liability, statute of limitations

Berliner Union-Film shall not be liable to the contractual partner for slightly negligent conduct on the part of Berliner Union-Film or its employees. The exclusion does not apply to injury to life, body and health.
Claims for compensation by the contractual partner based on negligent conduct on the part of Berliner Union-Film or its employees shall become statute-barred two years after their creation as well as knowledge or negligent ignorance of the contractual partner of the circumstances giving rise to the claim. In addition, claims for damages arising from negligent conduct on the part of Berliner Union-Film or its employees shall become statute-barred within five years of the occurrence or within nine years of the cause of the damage, whereby the earlier ending period shall be decisive. Paragraph 1 sentence 2 remains unaffected.

§ 14 Force Majeure

If Berliner Union-Film is temporarily prevented from fulfilling its contractual obligations for reasons for which Berliner Union-Film and its employees are not responsible, the contractual partner shall be obliged to pay the agreed remuneration.
If, due to an event beyond the control of Berliner Union-Film, a performance date is exceeded by more than four weeks or becomes partially or completely impossible, both parties are entitled to withdraw from the agreement. This shall not affect Berliner Union-Film’s claim to remuneration for services already provided.

§ 15 Insurances  

The contractual partner is obliged to take out production downtime insurance for the duration of the production, liability insurance with an appropriate volume and transport insurance. At the request of Berliner Union-Film, the insurances must be proven in writing.

§ 16 Publication obligation  

In the case of the contracting partner’s visual products, the contracting partner shall provide the following information within the framework of the opening or closing credits of the latter using the logo of Berliner Union-Film:

Produced in the studios of the Berliner Union-Film.

§ 17 Contract statute, place of jurisdiction, requirement of written form

German law applies to the agreement with Berliner Union-Film and these General Terms and Conditions.
For all disputes arising from the agreement and these General Terms and Conditions, the place of jurisdiction between Berliner Union-Film and merchants, legal entities under public law, special funds under public law and for persons who do not have a place of jurisdiction in Germany, have moved their domicile or their habitual residence abroad after conclusion of the contract or whose habitual residence is unknown at the time the action is filed, as contractual partner, is Berlin.
Changes or additions to the agreement must be made in writing.