Terms and conditions of use

Effective from 01.05.2025

1. Scope

1.1 Smarter Food Concepts GmbH (hereinafter “SFC”) operates a multimedia food platform at https://cookbutler.com. This platform offers two separate internet services: membership as an author and membership as a customer. On the platform, SFC offers content, such as photographs, recipes, texts, and moving image content (hereinafter referred to as “Content(s)”), to customers for licensing. Furthermore, members have the opportunity to upload content, as well as rate or comment on it.

1.2 Members are, on the one hand, photographers, recipe authors, and other artists who register in the recipe community and/or recipe agency (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Authors”), and, on the other hand, recipe and image buyers or partner companies who register with the recipe agency (hereinafter referred to as “Customers”). Authors and customers are collectively referred to herein as “Members.”

1.3 The following Terms of Use govern the conditions under which the services offered by SFC may be used by members.

1.4 By registering with SFC, the member expressly agrees to these Terms of Use. Registration requires the member to confirm the following declarations by checking the box with “Yes.”
– for authors: “I have read and accept the Terms of Use and the Author License Agreement.”
– for customers: “I have read and accept the Terms of Use and the Customer License Agreement.”

1.5 The member thereby acknowledges having read, understood, and accepted the Terms of Use. These Terms of Use and agreements apply exclusively to all members who register on the SFC website, even if use or access occurs from outside the Federal Republic of Germany.

1.6 SFC is entitled to change the content of these Terms of Use with the consent of the members, provided that the change is reasonable for the members, taking into account the interests of SFC. SFC will notify members of any changes to the Terms of Use by email to the address provided by the member at least two weeks prior to the change.

1.7 Consent to the change to the Terms of Use is deemed to have been given unless the member objects to the change or terminates the contract within two weeks of receiving notification of the change.

1.8 SFC undertakes to specifically inform members of the options for objection and termination, the deadline, and the legal consequences, particularly with regard to failure to object, when informing them of the changes.

1.9 In the event that a member objects to a change to the Terms of Use, SFC has the right to terminate the membership without notice.

1.10 SFC may transfer its rights and obligations under this contract to a third party (such as a foreign company or an affiliated company) (contract transfer). In the event of a contract transfer, the member has the right to terminate the contract with effect from the date of the contract transfer.

1.11. Any provisions deviating from these Terms of Use, including, but not limited to, members’ terms and conditions, are hereby expressly rejected. Members who do not accept these terms and conditions may not use the website.

2. Services

2.1. The services provided on the platform include the ability for members to upload various content to SFC, as well as to rate or comment on the content.

2.2. The platform offers the ability to search for content, acquire usage rights to the uploaded content, and download the content. The usage rights are governed by the customer license agreement.

2.3 The prices for usage rights and memberships are set out in the price list or in individual contracts.

3. Registration

3.1. In principle, parts of SFC’s offerings can be used without registration.

3.2 However, in order to provide SFC with content for use, to download it, or to actively participate, prior registration is required.

3.3 By submitting the data in the registration form, the member submits an offer to SFC to conclude a usage agreement for the multimedia platform. SFC reserves the right to reject a member’s registration without giving reasons. Once SFC accepts the member’s registration offer, the member will receive a confirmation email containing the registration details and an activation link. Upon receipt of this confirmation email, the user agreement for the multimedia platform is concluded between SFC and the member.

3.4 Customer Registration

3.4.1 To register, the member selects the type of membership (customer membership), a username and password, and enters their personal information (first and last name, company, address, email).

3.4.2 Customers from other European countries who are members of the recipe agency and subject to VAT can enter their European VAT ID number to receive an invoice without VAT for orders.

3.5 Author Registration

3.5.1 The author selects a username and password and enters their personal information (first and last name, company, address, email) in the online form.

3.5.2 A payment partner (e.g., PayPal) or alternative verification process must then be selected to verify the identity of the originator.

3.5.3 Once a credit balance is to be paid out, the bank details must be provided and the preferred payment method (e.g., bank or PayPal) selected. If VAT is payable, the tax number or, if available, the VAT ID number must also be provided.

3.5.4 Once the contractual relationship has been established, content can be uploaded to SFC. The upload procedures and guidelines indicated on the website must be followed. However, SFC may only use the content after being accepted as a member.

3.6 The member is obligated to fill out the fields provided in the registration form truthfully and correctly. Successful registration is only possible if all mandatory fields are completed. If the collected data changes after registration, the member must update the information in the member account immediately.

3.7 Usernames whose use violates the rights of third parties, in particular trademark rights or naming rights, are prohibited. Usernames and internet addresses (URLs) that are illegal or contrary to common decency are also prohibited.

3.8 Only members with full legal capacity or those acting with the consent of their legal representatives are authorized to use the service. Persons under 18 years of age are not permitted to participate.

3.9 Members must keep their access data, i.e., username and password, safe. Furthermore, it must be ensured that this data is never made accessible to third parties. SFC assumes no liability for damages caused by access data that falls into the hands of third parties. If there is suspicion of misuse of this data, SFC must be notified immediately. SFC will never ask members for their password.

4. Grant of Rights

4.1 The authors transfer the rights of use to the uploaded content to SFC in accordance with the Copyright License Agreement.

4.2 SFC transfers the rights of use to the uploaded content to the customers in accordance with the Customer License Agreement.

5. License Payments

5.1 Payment is possible via various payment methods (e.g., bank transfer, direct debit, credit card, PayPal). The respective prices at the time of the order apply. SFC reserves the right not to accept all payment options in individual cases.

5.2 The transaction currency for credit cards is the euro.

6. Cancellation Policy

6.1 Right of Cancellation
You have the right to cancel this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The cancellation period is fourteen days from the date of conclusion of the contract. To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Smarter Food Concepts GmbH, Pestalozzistr. 13, 80469 Munich, Tel.: +49 (0)89/2000 213-0, Email: [email protected]) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g., a letter sent by post, fax, or email). You may use the attached model withdrawal form for this purpose, but this is not mandatory. To comply with the withdrawal period, it is sufficient that you send the notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the expiry of the withdrawal period.

6.2 Consequences of Cancellation
If you cancel this contract, we will refund all payments we have received from you, including delivery costs (except for additional costs resulting from your choice of a delivery method other than the cheapest standard delivery offered by us), promptly and at the latest within fourteen days from the date on which we received notification of your cancellation of this contract. For this refund, we will use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; under no circumstances will you be charged any fees for this refund.

6.3 Special Notice
The customer expressly agrees that Smarter Food Concepts GmbH may begin executing the contract before the expiry of the cancellation period. The customer is aware that by giving their consent, they lose their right of cancellation upon commencement of the contract’s execution.

6.4 Sample Cancellation Form
If you wish to cancel the contract, please download the sample cancellation form, complete it, and return it to us:
Download Sample Cancellation Form

7. Liability and Prohibited Content

7.1. The website or the SFC Service may only be used for lawful purposes.

7.2 The service offered by SFC may not be used to distribute defamatory, pornographic, or otherwise unlawful material, to threaten, harass, or violate the rights (including personal rights) of others.

7.3 The use of the service in a manner that adversely affects the availability of the database or other SFC services to other members is also prohibited. Members are responsible for ensuring that the content they post is free of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or other programs that could endanger or impair the functionality or existence of SFC or its members’ websites.

7.4. It is prohibited to publish the following types of content or posts on SFC:

– Any mention of customer data (customer name, company, website, etc.).
– Offensive content of any kind.
– Discrimination or defamation (personal insults) of users (or their content), SFC, or its partners.
– Harmful or defamatory posts against other members, SFC, or its partners.
– Public requests for the deletion of content, comments, or members.
– Quotations from private emails/messages from other members, SFC, or its partners (=violation of postal secrecy).
– Advertising for competing websites (such as recipe agencies and/or communities)
– Advertising one’s own images, recipes, or requests for positive reviews
– Pursuing commercial interests, political, or ideological objectives (particularly using symbols or characters, as well as petitions, calls for opinions, meetings, etc.)

7.5 The following is also prohibited within the context of communication media (e.g., messages, email):

– Spam, including in particular all messages that one can assume the recipient does not want

7.6 The community rules must be observed at all times.

7.7 SFC reserves the right to refuse to post, modify, block, or remove content, entries, or other information that violates the Terms of Use. Members have no claim against SFC for the posting or exploitation of content, entries, or other information, the lifting of a block, or the reinstatement of content, entries, or other information that has already been removed.

7.8. In particular, it is expressly prohibited to:
7.8.1. use robots, spiders, scripts, services, software, or other manual or automatic tools or processes intended to extract content, data, or information from the Website through data mining or other means;
7.8.2. use or extract the Website’s content, data, or information using automated programs;
7.8.3. use the Website’s content, including but not limited to training machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) systems, for the development of software programs.
7.8.4. Use programs, software, or manual or automatic tools or processes designed to circumvent any restrictions, conditions, or technical measures that manage or control access to the Website and its content, including bypassing any security features or disabling or circumventing any access controls or usage limitations of the Website;
7.9 In the event of violations, SFC reserves the right to suspend all or part of the account with immediate effect. The suspended member is prohibited from re-registering under another account or from using the platform in any other way. SFC reserves the right to initiate criminal proceedings and/or assert claims (including, without limitation, claims for damages) against the member.

8. Duration of the Right of Use

8.1 The term of the contract between SFC and the customer is unlimited. It can be terminated at any time by the customer or SFC without notice.

8.2 The term of the contract between SFC and the author is unlimited. Either party may terminate the contract with respect to all or individual content with six months’ notice effective at the end of the respective month. The author may only terminate the membership in conjunction with the Copyright License Agreement.

8.3. Written notice in accordance with Section 8.2 is required for termination.

8.4 Special Right of Termination: SFC is also entitled to discontinue the platform, the services offered through it, or parts thereof at any time without prior notice. The member’s right of use will automatically terminate to the same extent.

9. Contact

9.1 Members can contact SFC via the email contact form. However, the internet is not a completely secure medium, and there is always the possibility that messages may be lost, intercepted, or altered. SFC assumes no liability for damages related to communications sent to or from the website.

9.2 With regard to all information communicated via the website or by email, the member agrees to the following terms:

– SFC is under no obligation whatsoever with regard to such information;
– the information is deemed to be non-confidential;

Only written communications (fax is sufficient) to SFC are legally binding.

10. Database Rights

The content and contributions available on SFC constitute a copyrighted database. It is prohibited to adopt or modify the structure of this database, in whole or in part, without SFC’s consent.

11. Liability

11.1 Subject to clauses 11.9 and 11.10, SFC assumes no liability for damages resulting from the use of the website or the direct or indirect use of its content.

11.2 No guarantee is given for the operation, constant availability, or error-free functioning of the websites or services.

11.3 The information on this website is updated by SFC at regular intervals. Nevertheless, SFC cannot assume any guarantee, responsibility, or liability for the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of the information on the website.

11.4 SFC may change, add, or delete the information, services, and/or sources mentioned on the website at any time and reserves the right to make such changes without prior notice to previous, present, or future visitors.

11.5 The website contains links to other websites; these are provided for information purposes only. The presence of such links does not imply that SFC monitors or endorses their content. SFC assumes no responsibility for such websites and is not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of, or reliance on, information, content, goods, or services available on or through third-party websites or sources provided via links.

11.6 In the event of technical difficulties with the Internet, information on the Website may be transmitted or displayed inaccurately or incompletely due to Internet software or transmission problems. Liability for this, as well as for transmitted computer viruses and other harmful programs, is excluded, subject to clauses 11.9 and 11.10.

11.7 SFC assumes no liability arising from any use of the posted content by the Customer that violates this contract.

11.8 SFC endeavors to protect all members with the care customary in the industry. Subject to clauses 11.9 and 11.10, SFC cannot under any circumstances be held liable for damages resulting from data espionage, hacker attacks, faulty hardware or software, or force majeure.

11.9 The liability of SFC and its vicarious agents for breaches of contractual obligations and tortious acts is limited to intent and gross negligence. This does not apply to injury to life, limb, or health, claims for breach of cardinal obligations, and compensation for damages caused by delay (Section 286 of the German Civil Code). In this respect, SFC is liable for any degree of negligence on its part or that of its vicarious agents.

11.10 Liability for the breach of obligations whose fulfillment is essential for the proper execution of the contract and on whose compliance the customer may regularly rely (so-called cardinal obligations) is limited to the foreseeable, typically occurring damage.

12. Final Provisions

12.1 For customers who are merchants, legal entities under public law, or special funds under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction is Munich.

12.2 This User Agreement is governed exclusively by the substantive law of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the conflict of laws provisions and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

12.3 Should individual clauses be invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining clauses.