1. Scope of Application

These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to all gratuitous offers of GitCover Commons gUG (limited liability) — hereinafter the Provider or GCC — within the framework of its charitable purposes under § 52 (2) sentence 1 AO. These include:

Our offer is directed exclusively at commercial users (entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 BGB). Conclusion of contracts with consumers is excluded. A consumer within the meaning of the law is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly neither attributable to their commercial nor to their independent professional activity (Section 13 BGB).

No contradiction to consumer protection: Excluding consumers from the conclusion of contracts does not conflict with the fact that the charitable status of the GCC encompasses consumer protection as a charitable purpose (§ 52 (2) No. 16 AO). The charitable purpose describes our activity — i.e. that we provide open-source software, neutral comparative studies and information, deliberately without vendor lock-in. The exclusion under Section 13 BGB, by contrast, concerns the form of the contract. Since our offers are provided entirely free of charge, no paid contract is concluded with anyone — including consumers. These are two different levels: the goal of our work (consumer protection) and the form of the contractual relationship (no paid contract with consumers). The two do not exclude each other.

• Education (education and vocational training): free workshops, the online learning platform (Moodle), conferences and teaching materials (in individual cases also for a fee);
• Research (science and research): the organisation's own R&D programme as well as the publication of research results;
• Consumer protection (consumer advice and consumer protection): raising awareness of digital sovereignty, neutral comparative studies and open tools;
• International understanding (international mentality and international understanding): translations, international cooperation and participation in specialist conferences.

Specifically, this includes the provision and operation of this website, the publication and maintenance of the GCBoK (GitCover Body of Knowledge) and the publication and maintenance of Open-Source-Software (OSS) by the Provider.

2. Gratuitousness

Most of the offers mentioned are provided entirely free of charge. No fees, charges or subscriptions apply. Mere use of the website, reading content or downloading software does not result in a paid contract (purchase, rental, work or service contract).

Donations to the Provider are voluntary and do not constitute consideration within the meaning of a paid contract; they are documented by an official donation receipt pursuant to § 50 (1) EStDV.

3. No legal, tax or other advice requiring authorisation

The Provider's content serves exclusively for general information, education and awareness-raising. In particular, it contains no individual legal or tax advice, no economic or technical advice requiring official authorisation or approval, and no other permits- or supervisory-law-bound offers (e.g. legal services under the RDG, insurance or investment advice, medical or other healthcare advice).

The information provided — for example on GoBD, OSCAL/Policy-as-Code or compliance — does not replace examination of the individual case by qualified professionals (lawyers, tax advisors, auditors). For binding assessments, the expert advice of such a professional should always be sought.

4. Usage Rights and Licences

The content is provided under the respective free licences stated:

• Texts, graphics and documentation of the GCBoK are licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0;
• The Provider's software is published under the respective Open-Source Licences (e.g. Apache 2.0, MIT); the licence notice in the respective repository is authoritative;
• the marks "GitCover" and "Coverflex" as well as the GitCover logo remain protected marks of the respective holder.

The granting of usage rights takes place exclusively in accordance with the stated licences. No further claim to publication, support, maintenance or further development exists.

5. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

The content is created with the greatest care; nevertheless no guarantee is given for correctness, completeness, timeliness or availability. The offers are provided "as is".

Insofar as services are provided free of charge, the Provider is liable — to the extent permitted by law — only for intent and gross negligence (§§ 521, 523, 524 BGB). A further exclusion of liability is in particular not permitted for damages arising from injury to life, body or health as well as under the mandatory provisions of the Product Liability Act and § 309 No. 7a BGB.

For the Provider's own content on this website, the liability limitations of §§ 7 to 10 TMG apply. For content of external sites linked to, the respective provider is responsible; the Provider does not adopt this content and expressly distances itself from it.

6. Copyright

All content, unless expressly indicated otherwise, is subject to copyright and the free licences mentioned. Reproduction or distribution beyond the respective licence requires the prior written consent of the respective Provider.

7. Availability and Changes

The Provider reserves the right to change, supplement or temporarily or permanently discontinue content at any time. No specific availability is owed.

8. Data Protection

The processing of personal data is governed by the privacy policy. The Provider does not use tracking or analytics cookies and processes only the minimally necessary data.

9. Changes to these GTC

The Provider may adapt these GTC. The respective valid version is available under this page. By continuing to use the site after the amendment takes effect, the user declares their consent to the new version.

10. Applicable Law and Final Provisions

German law applies. If the user is a consumer, mandatory consumer protection provisions remain unaffected. The place of jurisdiction for disputes with merchants is, to the extent permitted, Bad Homburg v. d. H. (Hesse).

---

Provider within the meaning of these GTC: GitCover Commons gUG (limited liability), HRB 17508 Local Court Bad Homburg v. d. H. — further details pursuant to Impressum.