Contract for the automated creation of transcripts
,hereinafter referred to as “speech recognition”.
The contract is concluded between the user and:
audiotranskription – dr. dresing & pehl GmbH
Deutschhausstraße 22a
35037 Marburg
Germany
Managing directors: Dr. Thorsten Dresing and Thorsten Pehl
Marburg Local Court HRB 5171 Phone: +49 6421 590979-0
E-mail: info@audiotranskription.de
Hereinafter referred to as „audiotranskription”
1. Subject of the contract
1.1. The subject matter of this Agreement is the automatic transcription of audio data in German into a text file by means of speech recognition, which audiotranskription performs automatically for the user by means of software.
1.2. The functionality of speech recognition is described in section 2.
1.3. For the use of speech recognition, in addition to the acceptance of these contractual terms and conditions, the conclusion of a contract on commissioned processing is usually required as part of the registration of the person using the service. Basic requirements for the processing of personal data are described in the contract on order processing and in the privacy policy on the website (https://www.audiotranskription.de/Datenschutz). However, the using person may make individual additions, e.g. to the types of personal data. If a contract on commissioned processing is not required for the transcription, the user must inform audiotranskription of this.
1.4. It is the responsibility of the user to point out the necessity of an additional confidentiality agreement. If required for the activities of the user, audiotranskription shall provide an additional confidentiality agreement in accordance with Section 203 of the German Criminal Code (StGB) as part of the registration process.
1.5. The user must create a personal account in the software to use speech recognition.
1.6. The account set up can be credited with quotas of time units by the person using the service. The time units must be purchased separately in advance by the user via the web store (https://www.audiotranskription.de/shop/). The purchase of the time units required for transcription is subject solely to the contractual terms and conditions of the web store.
1.7. On the basis of the contingent deposited in the account, the user may avail himself/herself of the services of audiotranskription by way of individual projects in accordance with Item 3. Each service under this agreement shall be measured in units of time and invoiced via the respective account.
1.8. Access to the Internet is not the subject of this contract. The user bears sole responsibility for the functionality of the Internet access, including the transmission paths of the computer used.
1.9. The conditions for transcription are specified in section 8.
1.10. The rights and obligations of the parties arise solely from the provisions of this contract and any additional contract concluded on commissioned processing as well as the obligation to maintain confidentiality pursuant to Section 203 of the German Penal Code (StGB). The general terms and conditions of the user shall not become part of the contract, even if audiotranskription does not expressly object to them. In the event of contradictions between the provisions of the contract and the provisions of the contract on commissioned processing and/or the obligation to maintain secrecy pursuant to Section 203 of the German Penal Code, the provisions of the latter two documents shall take precedence in their scope of application.
2. Changes to the terms of the contract
2.1. audiotranskription reserves the right to amend these contractual provisions, in particular due to further developments in speech recognition, even within an existing contractual relationship.
2.2. The contractual partner of audiotranskription, i.e. the user, shall be informed of planned changes to the contractual provisions via e-mail at least 6 weeks before the changes come into effect. In this e-mail, the changes to the previous contractual provisions will be identified and, if necessary, explained in addition.
2.3. Within 6 weeks after receipt of the aforementioned e-mail, the contractual partner may object to the amendments to the contractual provisions. If the contract partner does not object to the changes or does not object to them in due time, its consent to the changed contractual provisions shall be deemed to have been granted and the changes shall be deemed to have been effectively agreed. This legal consequence shall be pointed out to the Contractual Partner again separately in connection with the planned amendments.
3. Voice recognition functionality
3.1. The speech recognition converts audio files into writing by means of an algorithm. The speech recognition is trained for High German and specialized for conversations with a maximum of two persons involved.
3.2. According to the tests conducted by audiotranskription and the resulting own evaluation, automated transcription can be recommended for individual interviews with a good recording quality. In some settings, manual transcription may nevertheless be faster. Details of the aforementioned speech recognition test results can be found on audiotranskription’s website at. https://www.audiotranskription.de/spracherkennung.
3.3. To use speech recognition, an installed trial version, demo version, browser client or licensed version of f4transcript, version 8 or higher, is required. A license for the f4transkript software is not part of this contract and must be purchased separately. Mac OSX 10.12 (or later) or Windows 7 (or later) is required to use f4transcript. To use speech recognition, an internet connection is required to upload media files and download the text files.
4. Assignment for a single project
4.1. For a transcription, the user first uploads audio data to an audiotranskription server using the software. Speech recognition supports the following file formats for audio data: mp3, m4a, wav, aiff. Other formats may be added according to the state of the art.
4.2. The output of the transcription result, the text file, is in rtf format. Other formats may be added according to the state of the art.
4.3. When an audio file is loaded onto the server, audiotranskription automatically checks whether sufficient time quotas are stored in the account based on the size of the file. If no or insufficient time quotas are stored, transcription is not possible and the software displays a corresponding error message. If sufficient time quotas are stored, the transcription will be performed and the service provided will be billed using the stored quotas in accordance with Section 8. The user can download the transcribed text file via the speech recognition user interface and save it locally on the end device.
4.4. audiotranskription shall commence transcription, insofar as the person using the service is a consumer within the meaning of Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB), as soon as the person using the service has expressly consented to the commencement of the provision of the service before the end of the cancellation period. At the same time as giving consent, the user must expressly confirm that he/she is aware that he/she loses his/her right of revocation with regard to the specific individual project, the transcription agreement and all further or subsequent individual projects based on the transcription agreement when audiotranskription begins to provide the service.
5. Duties of the person using
5.1. The using person shall independently and on his or her own responsibility take care of this in the course of registration and inform audiotranskription if the conclusion of a contract on commissioned processing is not required (see section 1.3) and/or an additional agreement on confidentiality pursuant to Section 203 of the German Penal Code (see section 1.4) is to be concluded.
5.2. The user undertakes not to upload any illegal content, content that violates the law, official requirements or the rights of third parties.
5.3. The user shall protect the account access data and all confidential information from access by unauthorized third parties. However, if third parties have gained unauthorized access or at least the possibility of such access exists, the user shall inform audiotranskription immediately.
5.4. The selection of suitable audio data for transcription is the sole responsibility of the person using it. Dialects, background noises, changing speakers, poor recording quality and other disturbing noises regularly have a negative effect on the recognition accuracy and thus the transcription result. The more of the aforementioned aspects appear in the audio file, the worse the transcription result. As a rule, unsuitable audio files lead to words, sentences and/or passages that are not transcribed or are transcribed incorrectly. In individual cases, even the entire transcription result can be unusable. If the recording is not in German, an error-free transcription as a whole is impossible. If the transcription result is based on an inadequate selection of suitable audio data, this shall have no effect on audiotranskription’s full claim to remuneration, irrespective of the result of the transcription.
5.5. The user shall use a state-of-the-art virus protection program and, in particular, check the audio data for viruses before sending it.
6. Scope of services
6.1. audiotranskription makes every effort to provide the transcription service 24 hours a day. Nevertheless, outages are possible, especially due to maintenance work.
6.2. Provided the user provides the audio file in a suitable file format in accordance with Section 4.1, audiotranskription will transcribe the audio file into a text file fully automatically using speech recognition.
6.3. Within the scope of fully automated transcription, audiotranskription shall not obtain any knowledge of the content of the audio file provided. In this respect, audiotranskription will in particular: not check the suitability (see Section 5.4) of the audio file provided by the user, not carry out any quality assurance in connection with the transcription and not take into account any individual specifications of the user.
6.4. Since speech recognition, as described in Section 3, is not error-free and the transcription result also depends on the suitability of the audio file (see Section 5.4), the quality of the transcription result may vary depending on the individual case. Accordingly, it must be assumed that the transcription result is generally not free of errors. audiotranskription therefore does not guarantee that the transcription result is free of errors, but only that the speech recognition system has the functionalities described in Section 3. Any correction of errors or transcription results is therefore the sole responsibility of the user.
6.5. Individual post-editing or error correction of transcription results by audiotranskription is not owed.
7. Rights to transcription results
audiotranskription grants the user an exclusive right of use, unlimited in terms of time, space and content, to the transcription results obtained in accordance with this agreement and in connection with the respective individual projects.
8. Remuneration and payment
For each transcription, audiotranskription receives remuneration in the form of time quotas according to the following: Time quotas can be purchased by the hour. For one hour of interview, 15 euros will be charged for commercial use, 10 euros for educational institutions, non-profit non-governmental organizations and individuals, and 5 euros for students/doctoral candidates (in each case including VAT). Billing is per minute or part thereof. Volume discounts are possible. Test versions, which are marked as such, may also be used free of charge, if necessary, within the scope of their technical possibilities and limitations.
9. Data protection/costs for contributory services in connection with the contract for commissioned processing
9.1. The parties undertake to comply with the relevant statutory provisions on the handling of personal data, in particular the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO).
9.2. In order to enable the processing of personal data, the conclusion of a contract for commissioned processing is usually required. This is concluded during registration and can be viewed at audiotranskription.de/ADV. If a contract on commissioned processing is not required for the transcription, the user shall inform audiotranskription accordingly.
9.3. audiotranskription shall receive compensation from the user for its own cooperation in the context of an audit or inspection pursuant to Section 1 of the agreement on commissioned processing in accordance with audiotranskription’s price list valid at the time. If the inspection proves that audiotranskription is in breach of the provisions of the agreement on commissioned processing, the claim to compensation for expenses shall lapse.
9.4. audiotranskription shall receive separate remuneration for the destruction of data carriers and other materials in accordance with data protection requirements, which must be ordered separately by the user in accordance with Item 17 of the contract on commissioned processing, in accordance with the currently valid price list (audiotranskription.de/spracherkennung).
9.5. Insofar as individual instructions go beyond the provisions of this Agreement and/or the Agreement on Commissioned Processing and require additional effort on the part of audiotranskription, these shall require the prior consent of audiotranskription and shall be remunerated separately in accordance with the currently valid price list (audiotranskription.de/spracherkennung).
10. Liability
10.1. Unless otherwise agreed in this contract, the parties shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions.
10.2. In the event of any claim by third parties, the using person shall be obliged to provide audiotranskription free of charge and without delay with all information available to him/her regarding the matter in question.
11. Secrecy
11.1. The parties undertake to maintain confidentiality regarding confidential information. “Confidential information” shall in particular mean business secrets within the meaning of § 2 No. 1 GeschGehG as well as all information and documents of the respective other party which are marked as confidential or are to be regarded as confidential from the circumstances, in particular interview data, operational processes and other know-how.
11.2. Exempt from this obligation is such confidential information that
- were demonstrably known to the parties at the time of the conclusion of the contract or subsequently become known to them from a third party without violating a confidentiality agreement, statutory provisions or official orders;
- are public knowledge at the time of the conclusion of the contract or are made public thereafter, unless this is due to a breach of this contract, or
- which must be disclosed due to legal obligations or by order of a court or authority. To the extent permissible or possible, the parties will inform each other in advance and give each other the opportunity to oppose the disclosure.
11.3. The parties shall only grant access to confidential information to consultants who are subject to professional secrecy or who have been previously imposed obligations equivalent to the confidentiality obligations of this Agreement.
11.4. Taking into account the state of the art and – insofar as personal data are concerned – specifically in accordance with Art. 32 GDPR, the parties shall take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect confidential information and personal data and shall implement a procedure to regularly review, assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of the processing.
12. Contract duration / termination
12.1. The contractual relationship ends with the termination of the customer account. The customer account can be terminated with a notice period of two weeks, whereby the following conditions apply in the event of termination:
12.2. If the person using the contract terminates the contract even though time quotas are still stored in the corresponding account, the time quotas shall expire at the end of the contract term; audiotranskription shall not pay any compensation for this.
12.3. Except in the case of extraordinary grounds for termination, audiotranskription may terminate the contract with two weeks’ notice if no time quotas are deposited in the relevant account at the time of termination. If time quotas are deposited in the account, audiotranskription may, however, terminate the contractual relationship at the (next possible) point in time at which the time quota deposited at the time of the notice of termination is used up, subject to the period of notice specified in Section 11.1.
12.4.Notice of termination must be given in text form to be effective. The notice of termination by the person using the service is to be sent to info@audiotranskription.de.
13. Right of withdrawal
13.1. If the person using the service is a “consumer” as defined by § 13 BGB (German Civil Code), he or she has the right to revoke this contract within fourteen days without stating reasons, taking into account the provisions of Section 4.4.
13.2. The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the date of conclusion of the contract.
13.3. In order to exercise the right of revocation, the using person must inform audiotranskription (audiotranskription, dr. dresing & pehl GmbH, Deutschhausstr. 22a, 35037 Marburg, Germany, Fax: +49 6421 590979-20, e-mail: info@audiotranskription.de) by means of a clear declaration (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail) of his/her decision to revoke this contract. For this purpose, it may use the attached model withdrawal form, which is, however, not mandatory.
13.4.In order to comply with the withdrawal period, it is sufficient that the person using the service sends the notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the expiry of the withdrawal period.
14. Consequences of the revocation
14.1. If the user cancels this agreement, audiotranskription shall reimburse the user for any payments received, including delivery costs (except for additional costs resulting from the user’s choice of a type of delivery other than the most favorable standard delivery offered by audiotranskription), without undue delay and in any event no later than fourteen days after the date on which audiotranskription receives notification of the cancellation of this agreement. For this repayment, audiotranskription shall use the same means of payment that the user used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise; in no event shall fees be charged for this repayment.
14.2. If the person using the service has agreed in accordance with Section 4.4 that the service will be started during the revocation period, the person using the service shall lose his or her right of revocation with regard to the specific individual project, the contract for transcription, and all further or subsequent individual projects based on the contract for transcription
15. Sample cancellation form
If the user wants to cancel the contract, he/she fills out this form and sends it back. The use of this form is not mandatory.
If you want to cancel the contract, please fill out and return this form
An audiotranskription – dr. dresing & pehl GmbH, Deutschhausstr. 22a, 35037 Marburg, Germany,
Phone: +49 6421 590979-0, Fax: +49 6421 590979-20, E-Mail: info@audiotranskription.de:
I/we (*) hereby revoke the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following services
- Ordered on (*) / received on (*)
- Name of the consumer
- Address of the consumer
- Signature of the consumer (only in case of notification on paper)
- Date
(*) Delete as applicable.
16. Destruction or deletion of confidential information after termination of contract
audiotranskription shall be obliged to destroy or delete all information, in particular the account access data, in accordance with data protection regulations in the event of termination of the contract. This does not apply to data for which there is a statutory retention period.
17. Online dispute resolution
The European Commission provides a platform for out-of-court online dispute resolution (ODR platform), which can be accessed via the external link www.ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We will endeavor to settle disputes arising from or in connection with this contract amicably. Furthermore, we are not obligated to participate in any arbitration proceedings and do not offer participation in such proceedings.
18. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction (only for entrepreneurs)
18.1. German law shall apply to this contract.
18.2. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this agreement shall be the registered office of audiotranskription. audiotranskription shall also be entitled to sue the user at his registered office.
version:1-2023