For providers / Contracts and privacy
Understand and create your own course terms
What your own course terms are for, which rules to review, and how to add terms that fit your courses, cards and subscriptions.
Development preview: prepared locally, not yet released. General guidance, not individual legal advice.
For providers in Germany. Have your operating procedures and current contractual documents ready.
What are course terms?
Course terms are your own general contractual terms for the services you provide to customers, for example attendance, cancellations, multi-visit cards and subscriptions. They do not explain how you process personal data; that is the purpose of your privacy notice.
Your own course terms are optional in courseplanner. Leaving them out does not remove your duty to describe your offer and prices correctly or provide applicable withdrawal and other consumer information. Statutory rules and validly agreed terms of the specific offer apply even without an additional general terms document.
This guide is for providers in Germany, particularly those selling to consumers. It helps you prepare and does not replace individual legal advice or a reviewed contractual template. Business customers, international offers or particular forms of teaching may need a different assessment.
Why have your own terms alongside courseplanner’s?
courseplanner provides the platform. Your business provides the agreed course service and is generally the contracting party for the course. Platform terms cannot fully describe your specific services, materials, attendance requirements or individual offers.
The provider terms govern your relationship with courseplanner. Your course terms govern general conditions between you and your customers. They supplement the specific offer and applicable platform terms; they cannot remove mandatory rights or platform requirements.
Explain which services and additional costs belong to each offer, such as materials. For subscriptions, also explain billing and termination. These details should match the individual offer and complement your general course terms.
| Information | Where it belongs |
|---|---|
| Date, venue, service and specific price | In the particular course or booking offer. |
| General rules for your services | In suitable course terms, if you choose to use them. |
| Cancellation and refunds | In the dedicated settings and matching contractual information, without contradictions. |
| Withdrawal and subscription termination | In the required information and processes, not only in a general clause. |
| Personal data processing | In your privacy notice. |
| Your relationship with the platform | In your provider agreements with courseplanner. |
Which topics should you address or review?
There is no universal mandatory contents list for every course terms document. Use the topics below to prepare for your business. Not every point necessarily belongs in the general terms; specific service details and mandatory information often also need to appear directly with the offer.
| Topic | Questions for your draft |
|---|---|
| Contracting party and scope | Who provides the service? Which courses, cards and subscriptions do the terms cover? Do different sections apply to different offers? |
| Contract formation | When does a booking or order become binding? Describe the real process; do not invent an extra acceptance step that the system does not provide. |
| Service scope | What is included, what requirements must be met and which materials must participants bring? |
| Prices and payment | Which total prices and payment conditions apply? What costs extra? Do not hide charges only in the terms. |
| Attendance and organization | Registration, punctuality, accompanying people, minors and necessary conduct rules. Distinguish legal requirements from product settings that are checked automatically. |
| Cancellation by participants | Which contractual cancellation options exist and how do they match refund settings in courseplanner? |
| Cancellation or changes by you | What happens if you cancel, offer a replacement date or materially change the service? Avoid blanket rights to alter services and payment at will. |
| Cards and subscriptions | Scope, eligibility, duration, billing, renewal and termination matching the actual offer. |
| Liability and statutory rights | Which rules are permissible for your offer? Obtain professional review particularly for liability clauses. |
| Contact and complaints | How can customers contact you and how are concerns handled? Also check applicable statutory information duties. |
Cancellation, withdrawal and termination: what is the difference?
Cancellation here means the contractually offered option to cancel an individual booking. Statutory withdrawal is a separate consumer right where its conditions are met. Termination ends an ongoing contractual relationship, such as a subscription. Do not use these terms interchangeably.
Distance contracts may generally carry a right of withdrawal. Section 312g(2), number 9 BGB provides an exception for certain leisure services with a specific date or period. This does not automatically exclude every course, card or subscription. Check the nature and structure of your offer; a general statement that courses have no withdrawal right is insufficient.
Assess subscriptions separately: duration, renewal and notice periods must align legally and technically. Section 312k BGB on a cancellation button also matters for relevant paid ongoing consumer contracts that can be concluded online. A paragraph in the terms does not replace a required termination process.
Your configured cancellation refunds in courseplanner and written rules must agree. A terms file does not change refund percentages, payment logic or termination settings.
Which wording is especially problematic?
Terms are not valid simply because someone ticks a box. Unclear or unfairly disadvantageous clauses may be invalid. Surprising clauses and individually agreed terms have their own statutory rules. Obtain advice particularly on liability, flat cancellation charges, duration and rights to make changes.
Do not use a blanket exclusion of all liability or a blanket waiver of statutory claims. Section 309 BGB restricts, among other things, exclusions for injury to life, body or health and for gross fault. Confirming attendance does not validate an impermissible exclusion.
Avoid statements such as “We may change prices and services at any time” or “Payments are never refunded under any circumstances”. Whether a particular rule is permissible depends on its wording and the offer. A template from a different sector is not a reliable answer.
Do not hide advertising, photo or privacy consent in course terms. The terms cannot override platform restrictions either: medical or disease-specific offers and requests for health data are excluded by the provider terms.
How do you create your own course terms?
Start by describing your offer and the actual booking process. A template can provide a starting point if it is current and suitable for your contract type. Do not copy someone else’s terms without review: the contents, usage rights and business model may not fit.
AI or a generator may help organize questions, but does not replace a review of consumer law, particular teaching services and technical procedures. Keep a clearly labelled draft and do not publish unresolved placeholders.
- List all offer types: single sessions, series, cards and subscriptions. Record your audience, service scope and actual contractual processes.
- Compare the draft with course descriptions, prices, cancellation settings, attendance requirements and subscription settings.
- Separate general rules from information that belongs directly in a particular offer. Clearly state which offer type each section covers.
- Have legal uncertainties and sensitive clauses reviewed by a suitably experienced lawyer.
- Then check readability. Can customers understand what they receive, what they pay and what to do if there is a problem?
- Set a dated original version and decide who will reconcile future changes with legal requirements, content and technical settings.
How do you add your course terms?
During setup and later in provider settings under “Contract and privacy”, select “Use your own course terms” in the optional course terms section. The document fields then appear. If you do not use your own terms, leave the checkbox unchecked.
Choose complete text with 100–60,000 characters or a static, unencrypted PDF no larger than 512 KiB, without active content or embedded attachments. An existing PDF only needs to be selected again if you want to replace its file.
You can use headings, bold, italics, underlining, bullet points, numbered lists and links. The character limit applies to visible text. Check formatting in “Preview text”; after saving, it is retained in the published text view.
courseplanner uses one original version for your courses, cards and subscriptions. It is not automatically translated. Where different rules apply to different offer types, their scope must be clear within the shared document. No separate language code is required; changing the interface language does not translate your terms.
Review the content and explicitly confirm publication for future contracts. The shared “Save” button submits this change with the other required steps. Enabling the option or ticking the checkbox alone publishes nothing.
Course terms appear as a separate entry among your provider’s Legal documents. The shared overview links the available documents. Imprint, privacy and applicable withdrawal information remain separate information.
What happens when you change or disable your terms?
A changed version is published for future relevant contracts. Earlier contracts generally keep the version agreed when they were concluded; a new file does not automatically change them retroactively. Uploading new terms alone cannot rewrite ongoing subscriptions either.
Unchanged content does not need to be published again. Changes to text or format reset an unsubmitted publication confirmation. Review the new version and confirm it again.
If you disable your course terms, the change only takes effect after successful saving. Future contracts then use no provider course terms version; versions already agreed remain applicable to earlier contracts.
If there is a version conflict, load the current version and compare it with your draft. Your draft is preserved. If only some saving steps succeed, check which steps are already complete and retry the outstanding step instead of immediately publishing everything again.
Where can you get help with contents and wording?
For individual course terms, consult a lawyer experienced in contract law, standard terms and online consumer contracts. For particular course types, such as professional training or online teaching, they should also be able to assess that sector.
BRAK provides the official lawyers’ register to verify admission and guidance on finding a lawyer. The register does not certify experience with your business model. Before commissioning advice, ask about scope, costs, offer types covered and handling of later changes in the law.
Bring offer descriptions, booking processes, price and refund settings, subscription rules and existing contracts to the consultation. Sanitised examples are often enough for an initial assessment; do not send participant lists unsolicited.
courseplanner support helps with operation, formats and technical issues through the support contact route at the bottom of the page. It does not replace legal review of clauses. A successfully uploaded document is not confirmation that all its terms are enforceable.
Checklist before saving
Review both your text and the information customers see in the actual offer. Resolve contradictions between them before publication.
- The contracting party and covered offer types are clearly identified.
- Services, prices, deadlines and attendance requirements agree with the settings.
- Cancellation, withdrawal and termination are distinguished and assessed for each offer type.
- Liability, duration, renewals and rights to make changes have received professional review where needed.
- There are no unclear placeholders, hidden charges or bundled blanket consents.
- The content, readability and file are correct. You deliberately confirmed publication and checked that it succeeded.
Sources and review date
Research checked on 16 October 2026. The linked laws are starting points, not a complete review of your business’s obligations. Offers outside Germany and particular contract types may bring additional requirements.