General Terms and Conditions

§ 1 Scope and contracting party

These terms apply to all contracts for the use of the Universe learning platform concluded via uds-system.de. The contracting party is German UDS Universe GmbH (“we”).

The service is aimed primarily at companies, universities, academies and other organisations (entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code, BGB). Where consumers within the meaning of Section 13 BGB place an order, the mandatory consumer protection rules apply in addition; provisions that expressly apply only to entrepreneurs do not apply to them.

Deviating terms of the customer apply only if we expressly agree to them in text form.

§ 2 Services

Universe is a learning platform that we provide as software-as-a-service over the internet. For the term of the contract, the customer receives its own area (tenant) at its own address, in its own brand, with the number of seats booked.

The scope of services follows from the building blocks and features chosen when ordering:

• Build & learn courses (always included): learning workshop and course player — material becomes a course with narrator, questions, quiz and certificate.
• Present with Stage, Exams & credentials, Study administration, Skills & training, and Avatar & voice — depending on the selection.
• Individually bookable features, quotas (for example live avatar minutes and AI questions per seat and month) and the avatar subscription, where chosen.

§ 3 Conclusion of contract

The presentation of services and prices on the website is not yet a binding offer. The customer chooses seats, building blocks and billing interval, enters its details and reviews the summary. Until submission, all entries can be corrected via “Change”.

By clicking the button “Order with obligation to pay” the customer submits a binding offer. The contract is concluded when we confirm the order by email or activate access, at the latest with the first charge.

The language of the contract is German. We store the contract text; these terms are available at any time at uds-system.de/agb.

§ 4 Trial period

New customers can test Universe free of charge for 14 days. The trial ends automatically and does not turn into a paid contract. Afterwards, sign-in is blocked; the data of the trial tenant is deleted no later than 30 days after the end of the trial unless a contract is concluded.

§ 5 Prices and payment

The prices shown on the pricing page and in the configurator at the time of the order apply. The seat price follows a tiered scale by number of seats; building blocks are charged as a surcharge per seat, and the “Everything” package is discounted. One seat is one person, even if they take several courses.

For entrepreneurs, all prices are exclusive of statutory VAT. Consumers are shown the total price including VAT before ordering.

Billing is in advance, monthly or yearly as chosen. The yearly price equals ten monthly prices. Payment is processed by our payment service provider Stripe; we neither receive nor store card details. Invoices are issued electronically.

If seats or building blocks are added during the term, the difference is charged pro rata for the rest of the current period; downgrades take effect from the next period.

§ 6 Term and cancellation

Monthly billing: the contract runs for one month and renews for one further month at a time. It can be cancelled at any time with effect from the end of the current month.

Yearly billing: the contract runs for twelve months and renews for twelve months at a time unless cancelled by the end of the term. Consumers can cancel a renewed contract at any time with one month's notice.

Cancellation is possible in the administration area under “Subscription & activation” with the button “Cancel subscription”, or in text form to info@uds-system.de. We confirm every cancellation in text form. The right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected.

After the end of the contract, the tenant remains available read-only for a period so that the customer can export its data. On request we delete the data earlier, unless statutory retention obligations apply.

§ 7 Customer obligations

• Keep access credentials secret and assign seats only to authorised persons.
• Upload only content for which it holds the necessary rights, and not distribute unlawful content.
• For own avatars and voices, use only images and recordings of persons who have given documented consent.
• Not misuse the platform, in particular no automated mass requests and no attempts to circumvent protective measures.

§ 8 Content and rights of use

All content the customer contributes or creates with Universe belongs to the customer. It grants us only the rights we need to provide the service (storing, processing, displaying, translating).

For the term of the contract we grant the customer the simple, non-transferable right to use Universe to the extent booked.

§ 9 AI features

Universe uses language models, speech synthesis and speech recognition. AI-generated content (texts, voices, avatar videos) is labelled as such. It may contain errors; the customer reviews content before publishing it. AI features make no decisions about people.

§ 10 Availability

We operate the platform with the care of a prudent businessperson and with high availability. Where possible, we announce maintenance in advance and schedule it at times of low usage. A specific availability level applies only if separately agreed.

§ 11 Data protection and processing on behalf

For personal data in the tenant (for example learner accounts, progress, exam results) the customer is the controller; we process it as a processor. The data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR forms part of this contract. Details are set out in the Privacy Policy.

§ 12 Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act and where we have given a guarantee.

In the event of a slightly negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation (one whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on which the customer may regularly rely), liability towards entrepreneurs is limited to the typical, foreseeable damage. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence towards entrepreneurs is excluded.

§ 13 Changes

Towards entrepreneurs we may amend these terms with effect for the future if there is an objective reason. We announce changes in text form at least six weeks before they take effect; if the customer does not object by then, they are deemed accepted. We point out the right to object and its consequence in the announcement.

§ 14 Final provisions

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive them of the protection of mandatory provisions of the country of their habitual residence.

If the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction is our registered office.

Should any provision be invalid, the remainder of the contract remains valid.