General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Delivery of Service for PolAds.eu

1. Definitions

1.1 Unless otherwise explicitly stated in these general terms and conditions of sale and delivery of service (hereinafter "Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service") the capitalized terms used in these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service shall have the meaning given in the definitions below.

"Advertiser"

means a natural or legal person at whose request or on whose behalf a Political Advertisement is prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated, or who engages in the provision of Political Advertising services, as defined in the Regulation, with the exception of purely ancillary services. For the purposes of these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, "Advertiser" corresponds to the term "Sponsor" as defined in Article 3(10) of the Regulation, and the two terms shall be treated as equivalent;

"Core Platform Principles"

means the principles which govern the Platform's ethical approach and will underpin any code of conduct set up. These are set out in detail in clause 2.6 below.

"Customer"

means Advertisers, Representatives and Publishers, who have created an account on the Platform;

"Customer Materials"

means any designs, logos, trademarks or other branding materials uploaded by a Customer to the Platform, the intellectual property rights in which belong to the Customer or its licensors, as applicable;

"Data Collector"

means any natural or legal person, including vetted researchers (as defined in Article 40(8) of the Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, as amended), members of civil society organisations whose statutory objectives are to protect and promote the public interest, political actors, national or international electoral observers recognised in a Member State, journalists, as well as representatives of national regulatory authorities and civil servants exercising oversight functions under the Regulation, who access the Platform to request or obtain data or information pursuant to the Regulation. Data Collectors must create an account on the Platform, and STEP may require the Data Collector to provide evidence demonstrating that the Data Collector falls within one of the categories set out in this definition, before granting access to requested data or information;

"Generated Materials"

means the artifacts the Platform produces from Customer content, including Transparency Notices (HTML and PDF), Labels (SVG / PNG / JPG), QR codes, polads.eu communication materials and audio (text-to-speech) renderings;

"Guest"

means any natural or legal person who accesses the Platform without creating a full Customer account, including members of the general public, citizens, non-registered Advertisers, Publishers, intermediaries and other commercial entities, who visit the Platform to view published Labels and Transparency Notices, consult publicly available Political Advertising information, or submit notifications of possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements. When submitting notifications of possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements, the Guest must create an account on the Platform by providing a valid e-mail address (email → login code) in order for the Platform to issue confirmation of receipt and communicate the outcome of the notification; otherwise, a Guest may access the Platform without registering;

"Implementing Regulation"

means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410 as amended;

"Label"

means the label, cf. Article 11 (3) of the Regulation, containing the information, and Transparency Notice or link thereto, stipulated in Article 11 of the Regulation;

"Paddle"

means Paddle.com Market Limited (or the applicable Paddle entity), acting as the merchant of record for all paid transactions on the Platform. The Customer's purchase and payment contract for the applicable fees is concluded with Paddle and is additionally subject to Paddle's buyer terms;

"Platform"

means the platform polads.eu;

"Political Advertising"/"Political Advertisement"

means the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination, by any means, of a message, normally provided for remuneration or through in-house activities or as part of a Political Advertising campaign: (a) by, for or on behalf of a political actor, unless it is of a purely private or a purely commercial nature; or (b) which is liable and designed to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behaviour or a legislative or regulatory process, at Union, national, regional or local level;

"Publisher"

means a provider of Political Advertising service that publishes, delivers or disseminates Political Advertising through any medium;

"Regulation"

means Regulation (EU) 2024/900 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 on the transparency and targeting of Political Advertising as amended;

"Representative"

means any natural or legal person, including an agency, political consultancy or other provider of Political Advertising services, acting with delegated authority on behalf of an Advertiser to register a Political Advertisement and create a Transparency Notice via the Platform. A Representative who submits a Transparency Notice on behalf of an Advertiser confirms, by such submission, that the information provided is complete and accurate for the Advertiser on whose behalf the Representative acts;

"Service"

means the Transparency Notice Service, whether purchased as a one-time purchase (cf. clause 3.2(a)) or accessed through a Subscription Service (cf. clause 3.2(b));

"STEP"

means the owner of the Platform, the company STEP A/S registered in Denmark with Danish business registration no. 25506227;

"Subscription Service"

means for Customers a subscription to the Transparency Notice Service, including, where the Customer has subscribed to a subscription plan, the additional features and benefits included in the applicable subscription plan as described on the Platform;

"Transparency Notice"

means the structured registration of information about a Political Advertisement, cf. Article 12 of the Regulation, created via the Platform;

"Transparency Notice Service"

means a set of services for Customers related to the collection of transparency information, the creation of a Label and Transparency Notice and follow up with Customers regarding notifications of non-compliant Political Advertisements. Reference is made to Clause 4 for details.

2. Applicability

2.1 These Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service apply to all Services purchased by a Customer on the Platform.

2.2 The Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service are supplemented by the Terms of Use for the Platform, which govern the general access to and use of the Platform. In the event of inconsistency between the Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service and the Terms of Use, the Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service shall prevail.

2.3 The Services made available on the Platform are directed exclusively at Customers acting in a professional or political capacity. By creating an account, accepting these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, the Terms of Use and making a purchase, the Customer confirms that it is acting in a professional or political capacity. The relationship with Guests and Data Collectors is set out in the Terms of Use.

2.4 The Customer's own purchasing or standard terms and conditions shall not apply unless STEP has accepted them in writing. Any such agreement shall not undermine the basic function or role of the Platform in relation to supporting the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation on the transparency of Political Advertising.

2.5 Paid products on the Platform are sold through Paddle as merchant of record. This means the Customer's contractual relationship has two distinct legal components: (a) the purchase and payment, which is concluded with Paddle (as merchant of record) and governed by Paddle's buyer terms together with these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, covering price, payment, collection and remittance of VAT, invoicing, chargebacks and refund processing; and (b) the right to use the Platform and the Services, which is provided by STEP and governed by these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service and the Terms of Use. Accordingly, Paddle is the merchant of record that processes payment and handles VAT and refunds, while STEP provides the Services and operates the Platform.

2.6 The Core Platform Principles are as follows:

• Accuracy & Substantiation: All information submitted by Customers should be complete, accurate and capable of being substantiated by documented evidence if requested to do so. All notifications on possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements submitted by Guests should be adequately evidenced in order for them to be handled;

• Advertiser Responsibility & Accuracy in Declaration: All Advertisers and Representatives undertake to provide accurate, verifiable and complete transparency information requirements in order to satisfy the requirements of the Regulation and Implementing Regulation. Advertisers and Representatives undertake to respond to Publishers' requests concerning notifications on possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements received in accordance with the timeframes set out in clause 11.2, including communicating the correct information and proof thereof where it is found to be incomplete and/or inaccurate, and to respect the decision made by the Publisher at the outcome within the time allotted to do so;

• Integrity: All Customers must use the Platform for legitimate purposes in relation to Political Advertising transparency, namely to promote the correct and consistent application of the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation, and not misuse the Platform in a dishonest or untruthful way;

• Honesty and Truthfulness: All Customers must declare their information honestly and truthfully;

• Publisher due Diligence and Process: Publishers registered on the Platform will exercise due diligence in reviewing the completeness of Advertiser information and best efforts in reviewing and handling notifications on possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements from Guests. Publishers will in compliance with the Regulation and Implementing Regulation ensure that Political Advertisements are only published together with suitable Labels and access to corresponding Transparency Notices. Notifications of non-compliance with the Regulation will be handled fairly, expediently and with due process by the Publisher and the Advertisers and Representatives concerned in accordance with clause 11; Where the Publisher becomes aware Advertiser information is incomplete and inaccurate it will take the appropriate action set out in the Regulation. The Publisher must make a decision concerning the outcome of a notification of a possibly non-compliant Political Advertisement within the applicable timeframe set out in clause 11.1, whether or not the Advertiser or its Representative has responded to the Publisher's request for comment;

• Privacy: The Platform and its processes will respect privacy regulation in place with both Customers and Guests.

3. Conclusion of Contracts for Service

3.1 An order for purchase of a Service on the Platform is made when the Customer completes all required information to create a Label and Transparency Notice. STEP reserves the right to reject an order if the Customer's information is manifestly incorrect or incomplete, if there is justified suspicion of and verifiable misuse of this Platform and/or another similar Platform or the Customer's behaviour is in breach of the Core Platform Principles.

3.2 A binding agreement ("a Contract") between STEP and the Customer is concluded:

• (a) for a one-time purchase of the Transparency Notice Service, when the Customer has completed the registration on the Platform, accepted these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service and the Terms of Use, payment has been completed and the Customer has received an order confirmation by email; or

• (b) for the Subscription Service (being a subscription to the Transparency Notice Service and, where applicable, the additional features and benefits included in the applicable subscription plan), when the Customer has completed the subscription registration on the Platform, accepted these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service and the Terms of Use, the first payment has been processed, and the Customer has received an order confirmation by email.

3.3 The Subscription Service is available in two plans: Basic and Pro. The scope, features, pricing and included allowances of each plan, as well as available add-ons and top-ups, are described in the pricing list published on the Platform. STEP reserves the right to update prices in accordance with clause 7.6.

3.4 The scope and features of each Subscription Service plan are as described on the Platform at the time of the Customer's subscription. STEP reserves the right to modify the features included in a Subscription Service plan upon thirty (30) calendar days' written notice to the Customer. Such modifications shall not entitle the Customer to a refund of subscription fees already paid, provided the modifications do not materially reduce the core functionality of the applicable plan. Reference is made to clause 9.4.

3.5 Every Contract is subject to these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, regardless of whether the Contract refers to these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service.

3.6 Consumer Right of Withdrawal – Waiver

By completing the checkout process and concluding a Contract, the Customer who is a consumer within the meaning of applicable law and EU consumer protection legislation (i.e., a natural person acting outside their trade, business, craft or profession), expressly requests that STEP commences delivery of the Transparency Notice Service immediately upon payment and before the expiry of the 14-day withdrawal period, and expressly acknowledges that the right of withdrawal is thereby forfeited pursuant to Directive 2011/83/EU, as amended, and applicable national implementing law. The Transparency Notice Service is a digital service that is delivered when the Label and Transparency Notice is published on the Platform upon the Publisher's confirmation of the Transparency Notice. Retention for the statutory period of 7 years makes cancellation impossible. The Customer's express request and acknowledgement is recorded in the checkout flow and stored in Paddle's custom data field. The consequences for refunds are set out in clause 9.1A. Mandatory statutory rights that cannot be excluded by agreement are unaffected.

4. Nature of the Service and time of delivery

4.1 The Transparency Notice Service comprises:

• creation and confirmation by the Publisher of the Label and Transparency Notice,

• publication of the information required by the Regulation and Implementing Regulation,

• retention for the statutory period of 7 years,

• access to the amendment request system before, during and after the Political Advertisement has been published,

• transmission of notifications made by Guests of potential non-compliant Political Advertisements and issuance of confirmation of receipt of such notification;

• follow up towards Customers of potential non-compliant Political Advertisements with the aim to ensure subsequent decision and action thereon from the Customers, cf. clause 11;

• enable data collection for reporting purposes; and

• transmission of data in a machine-readable format to Data Collectors.

The Transparency Notice Service may be purchased as a one-time purchase (cf. clause 3.2(a)) or accessed through a Subscription Service (cf. clause 3.2(b)).

4.2 The Transparency Notice Service is a digital service that is delivered when the Label and Transparency Notice is published on the Platform upon the Publisher's confirmation of the Transparency Notice. The Customer acknowledges that the Transparency Notice Service is not a physical product and that no physical delivery takes place.

4.3 The Platform's uptime depends on the availability of external service providers and maintenance work. Temporary unavailability does not constitute a delay in delivery.

4.4 STEP may continuously improve and update the Platform and its functionality. Such changes do not constitute a modification of the agreed Service, provided they do not materially reduce existing functionality.

5. Customer's obligations

5.1 The Customer, including any Representative, is responsible for the verifiable accuracy of all information provided as set out in the Regulation and the Core Platform Principles. When requested by the Platform, a Publisher or a competent authority, the Customer, including any Representative, must be able to provide the necessary evidence to substantiate the registration and transparency information submitted. Furthermore, the Customer, including any Representative, is responsible for ensuring that all information provided during registration and when creating Labels and Transparency Notices via the Platform is complete, and up to date, cf. Article 7(3) and Article 12(2) of the Regulation. Errors in the Customer's own information do not entitle the Customer to termination of the Contract, redelivery or refund, subject to clause 9.4.

5.2 The Customer's, including any Representative's use of the Platform, is conditional upon compliance at all times with the Regulation, the Implementing Regulation, all applicable national legislation on Political Advertising and the Core Platform Principles. Violations of the Regulation, the Implementing Regulation, applicable national legislation on Political Advertising or the Core Platform Principles may result in one or more of the following actions by STEP: (a) restricted access to the Platform and its tools; (b) suspension of Political Advertisements; (c) in case of repeated or serious violations, a record of non-compliance being made available on the Platform; and (d) referral to competent public authorities. STEP shall notify the Customer of any such measure without undue delay and provide the Customer with a reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation before taking action under points (a) to (c), except where immediate action is required to comply with the Regulation or the Implementing Regulation.

5.3 The Customer is obliged to indemnify and hold STEP harmless against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) the Customer's breach of its obligations under clauses 5.1 and 5.2, including but not limited to the provision of inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information in its customer registration, Labels or Transparency Notices; (b) the Customer's failure to comply with the Regulation, the Implementing Regulation or applicable national legislation on Political Advertising; (c) any third-party claims, including claims from Data Collectors, competent national authorities or other parties, resulting from the Customer's use of the Platform in a manner inconsistent with these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service or the Core Platform Principles. The Customer's indemnification obligation shall apply regardless of whether STEP has contributed to the loss, provided that STEP's contribution does not amount to gross negligence or willful misconduct.

5.4 STEP recommends that Publishers include in their contracts for the dissemination of Political Advertisements a standard contractual clause obliging Advertisers and Representatives to identify Political Advertisements and to provide the necessary transparency information as set out in Article 7 of the Regulation and Commission guidance 3.2.4 / 3.2.4.1.

6. Publication and release of data and the Regulation's and Implementing Regulation's requirements

6.1 The Customer acknowledges and accepts that Labels and Transparency Notices created via the Platform will be made publicly available in accordance with Articles 11 and 12 of the Regulation. Upon confirmation of a Transparency Notice by the Publisher, particularly the following information is published: the Advertiser's identity, funding amounts and origin, the Publisher used, campaign period, targeting/ad delivery criteria as well as other information required under Article 12(1) of the Regulation.

6.2 Personal contact information is handled and retained by STEP in accordance with the Regulation and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) as amended. Only information necessary for transparency purposes is displayed publicly.

6.3 Transparency Notices may be amended via the Platform's amendment request system before and during the Political Advertisement (from start date to end date) and after the Political Advertisement following an upheld notification of non-compliance with the Regulation. All amendments are logged in an immutable amendment history (changelog), cf. the Regulation and Implementing Regulation.

6.4 Pursuant to the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation, STEP is obliged, upon request from Data Collectors, to transmit free of charge and in a machine-readable format the information that STEP is required to retain pursuant to Articles 9, 11 and 12 of the Regulation.

6.5 The Customer accepts that registered data must be transmitted by STEP upon request to Data Collectors as described in Articles 16 and 17 of the Regulation, and that STEP cannot restrict or deny access to the information that the Regulation requires to be made available.

7. Prices and VAT

7.1 All prices are stated in euro (EUR) and are exclusive of VAT, subject to clause 7.4 below. Current prices are set out in the price list on the Platform. As Paddle is the merchant of record, Paddle calculates, collects and remits VAT and any other applicable charges at checkout. STEP does not operate any VAT logic.

7.2 The price per Label and Transparency Notice under the Transparency Notice Service is a one-off payment covering the Service including a full 7-year retention period. No recurring fees are charged for Labels and Transparency Notices already created and confirmed.

7.3 The price for the Subscription Service is a recurring fee charged in accordance with the billing cycle (monthly or annual) selected by the Customer at the time of subscription, as set out in the applicable price list on the Platform.

7.3.1 Subscriptions are automatically renewed at the end of each billing cycle unless the Customer terminates the Subscription Service for convenience by the end of the current billing cycle.

7.3.2 Termination for convenience shall be made through Paddle. Upon termination for convenience, the Customer retains access to the Subscription Service until the end of the current billing cycle. No refund shall be made for the remaining period of a billing cycle in which termination for convenience takes effect, subject to clause 9.4. STEP may adjust subscription fees with thirty (30) calendar days' written notice prior to the commencement of a new billing cycle. If the Customer does not accept the adjusted fees, the Customer may terminate the Subscription Service in accordance with this clause.

7.3.3 If STEP has materially failed to provide the Subscription Service in accordance with these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, the Customer shall be entitled to a pro rata refund of the subscription fee for the period during which the Subscription Service was unavailable, provided the Customer has notified STEP in accordance with clause 10.

7.4 VAT is calculated and collected by Paddle at checkout based on the Customer's registered status and jurisdiction. For private individuals, the VAT-inclusive price applies; for businesses, organisations and public bodies, the VAT-exclusive price applies. The applicable price is determined from the Customer's registered status and is not set by the Customer at checkout.

7.5 For business-to-business transactions within the EU where the Customer holds a valid VAT identification number (validated via the EU VIES service), Paddle applies the reverse-charge mechanism. An invalid or absent VAT number results in standard-rated VAT being charged by Paddle.

7.6 STEP reserves the right to change prices with thirty (30) calendar days' written notice. Price changes do not affect Labels and Transparency Notices already paid for under the Transparency Notice Service. Price changes to the Subscription Service are governed by clause 7.3.2.

8. Payment terms

8.1 Payment for the Transparency Notice Service and the Subscription Service is processed by Paddle via the Platform's integrated payment solution. Payment for the Transparency Notice Service is made in advance, and payment for the Subscription Service is made in advance for each billing cycle. The Customer must provide and maintain a valid payment method. Paddle is the entity shown on the Customer's card or bank statement.

8.2 A Label and Transparency Notice is only created and published once payment for the Transparency Notice Service has been completed. If payment is declined, the registration is not completed.

8.3 The Customer receives an electronic invoice or receipt from Paddle for each completed payment. Paddle, as merchant of record, is responsible for ensuring that invoices comply with applicable invoicing requirements.

8.4 In the event of a failed recurring payment for the Subscription Service, Paddle will automatically retry payment collection up to seven (7) times over a thirty (30) calendar day window from the original due date and will send payment reminder notifications to the Customer's registered email address during that period. If the outstanding payment is not successfully recovered within that thirty (30) calendar day window, Paddle will automatically terminate the Subscription Service for cause upon expiry of the window. Termination of the Subscription Service shall not affect the validity or continued hosting of Transparency Notices already created and paid for under the Transparency Notice Service.

9. Refunds

9.1 A Contract where the Transparency Notice has been confirmed and published is irrevocable and may not be terminated. The Customer acknowledges that the Service is fully delivered upon publication and that the statutory 7-year retention obligation makes termination of the Contract impossible. The Customer furthermore may not demand deletion of confirmed Transparency Notices before the expiry of this period. This applies regardless of whether the Political Advertisement is ongoing, completed or terminated. The Customer may, however, amend a Transparency Notice, cf. clause 6.3.

9.1A Consumer Waiver of Right of Withdrawal - Consequences

A Contract where the Transparency Notice has been confirmed and published is irrevocable. As a consequence of the waiver given by the Customer at checkout pursuant to clause 3.6, no refund is available for a published Transparency Notice Service. STEP shall provide written confirmation of the waiver on a durable medium in accordance with applicable mandatory consumer protection legislation. Mandatory statutory rights that cannot be excluded by agreement are unaffected.

9.2 Labels and Transparency Notices with status "Started" or "Draft" that have not yet been confirmed by the Publisher may be deleted by the Customer free of charge. Any prepayment shall be refunded in such cases. Labels and Transparency Notices having reached the status "Pending" will not be refunded, subject to clause 9.4.

9.3 Refunds are processed by Paddle. As Paddle is the merchant of record, refunds and chargebacks are handled under Paddle's buyer terms and refund policy, together with any mandatory statutory rights. STEP will support legitimate refund requests but is not the payment counterparty.

9.4 Paddle may, at its discretion, offer a full or partial refund in the event of documented errors in the Platform that have prevented the Customer from creating a correct Label or Transparency Notice. Reference is further made to Paddle's refund policy: Refund Policy

10. Defects in the Platform's functionality

10.1 The Customer must report defects in the Platform's functionality in writing to STEP without undue delay and no later than fourteen (14) calendar days after the defect was discovered or should have been discovered.

10.2 STEP shall determine whether the remedy consists of correcting the defect or providing a temporary solution (workaround). STEP endeavours to commence remedial action within seven (7) calendar days of receiving a justified notification of defect.

10.3 Errors in data or content registered or provided by the Customer itself do not constitute a defect of the Platform and are not covered by STEP's remedial obligation.

11. Handling of notifications of possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements

11.1 Publishers must handle any notification of a possibly non-compliant Political Advertisement received via the Platform in a diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner and reach a decision on the notification: (a) within 48 hours during the last 30 calendar days before an election or referendum to which the Political Advertisement is linked; and (b) within 14 calendar days outside that period. These timeframes apply to all Customers regardless of size.

11.2 Where a Publisher receives a notification under clause 11.1, the Publisher shall without undue delay request the Advertiser or its Representative to provide comments and any supporting evidence. The Advertiser or its Representative must respond to such request: (a) within 24 hours during the last 30 calendar days before the relevant election or referendum; and (b) within 7 calendar days outside that period.

11.3 The Publisher must reach a decision on the notification within the applicable timeframe set out in clause 11.1, whether or not the Advertiser or its Representative has responded to the Publisher's request for comment under clause 11.2.

11.4 Where a Publisher fails to handle a notification within the applicable deadline set out in clause 11.1, STEP may: (a) suspend the Transparency Notice concerned until the notification has been duly handled by the Publisher; and (b) remove the Publisher from the selectable list of Publishers on the Platform, so that the Publisher can no longer be selected for new registrations until the notification has been resolved. STEP shall notify the Publisher of any such measure without undue delay.

11.5 The decision of a Publisher on a notification of a possibly non-compliant Political Advertisement is final. However, the Advertiser, the Representative or the natural or legal person who submitted the notification may request a review if: (a) new substantiated facts come to light that were not available at the time of the original decision; or (b) a substantial procedural error occurred in the Publisher's handling of the notification. A request for review must be submitted in writing to STEP, together with the new substantiated evidence or a description of the procedural error, within 10 calendar days of the date on which the requesting party received the Publisher's decision. New substantiated facts include, but are not limited to, substantiated new evidence not previously submitted by a complainant that the Political Advertisement was political or sponsored by a particular party or person, or, for an Advertiser, substantiated new evidence not previously submitted that supports that the sponsor is the one indicated in the registration, that the Advertiser is EU-based, or that no ad targeting was used. A substantial procedural error includes, but is not limited to, a situation where the Publisher did not attempt to contact the Advertiser before making a decision, or where substantiated evidence provided by the Advertiser was not considered by the Publisher when the decision was made.

12. Limitation of liability including limitation of product liability

12.1 The Customer is solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness and lawfulness of all information and content registered or provided by the Customer in connection with the creation of Labels and Transparency Notices. The Publisher is solely responsible for the timely confirmation of the Label and Transparency Notice and the timely handling of notifications of possibly non-compliant Political Advertisements, cf. clause 11. STEP's responsibility is limited to the technical operation of the Platform and does not extend to the content of any Label or Transparency Notice, nor to the confirmation, or the timeliness of the confirmation, of any Label or Transparency Notice by the Publisher, nor to the Publisher's handling of notifications.

12.2 STEP shall not be liable for indirect losses, including but not limited to operational losses, loss of profit, loss of goodwill, losses resulting from regulatory sanctions imposed on the Customer, losses resulting from the Customer's agreements with third parties lapsing or being breached, or consequential damages of any kind, save to the extent such losses or damages are caused by STEP's gross negligence or willful misconduct. This exclusion also applies with respect to product liability damages to the extent not contrary to mandatory applicable law.

12.3 STEP's liability per Contract, including STEP's product liability, is capped at the greater of: (a) the net amount paid by the Customer to STEP under the Contract in question, or (b) EUR 500 — but not exceeding fifteen thousand EUR (EUR 15,000) in any event.

12.4 STEP is not liable for losses attributable to: (i) inaccurate or incomplete information provided by the Customer, (ii) the Customer's failure to comply with the Regulation or Implementing Regulation, (iii) acts or omissions of third parties, or (iv) circumstances covered by clause 13 (Force Majeure). Notwithstanding the foregoing, STEP shall remain liable, subject to STEP's right to remedy and the limitations of liability set out in these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, for direct losses arising from documented defects in the Platform's functionality that are within STEP's reasonable control and that directly prevent the Customer from creating or publishing a Label and Transparency Notice in compliance with the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation.

13. Force Majeure

13.1 Neither party shall be liable for failure to perform obligations under these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service to the extent that such failure is caused by circumstances beyond the party's reasonable control (force majeure), including but not limited to:

• (a) war, terrorism, natural disasters or pandemics;

• (b) government orders, sanctions or legislative changes;

• (c) outages or unavailability of third-party infrastructure providers, including cloud providers (e.g. Vercel, Neon), payment services (e.g. Paddle), DNS providers and CDN networks;

• (d) cyberattacks, DDoS attacks or other IT security incidents;

• (e) changes to EU regulations or national rules that materially affect the Platform's functionality or legality; and

• (f) platform restrictions or API changes imposed by third parties.

13.2 The affected party shall notify the other party without undue delay. If force majeure persists for more than ninety (90) calendar days, either party may terminate affected Contracts with immediate effect and without any liability.

14. Intellectual property

14.1 All rights to the Platform, including software, design, trademarks and Generated Materials as works of authorship, belong to STEP or its licensors. The Customer obtains only a limited right of use in accordance with the Terms of Use and these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service.

14.2 Notwithstanding the foregoing clause, any Customer Materials shall remain the intellectual property of the Customer or its licensors, as applicable. The Customer hereby grants STEP a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use, store, process, publish, reproduce, adapt and transmit such Customer Materials in accordance with the Regulation and Implementing Regulation. This license shall terminate upon the earlier of (i) the Customer's removal of the relevant Customer Materials from the Platform, or (ii) the termination or expiry of the Customer's account, provided, however, that in either case, STEP may retain and use such Customer Materials to the extent required by statutory retention obligations under the Regulation.

14.3 STEP grants the Customer a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free and non-transferable licence to reproduce, display, embed and adapt the Generated Materials (including Labels, QR codes and Transparency Notice links) in and alongside the specific Political Advertisement(s) to which they relate, to the extent necessary to comply with the labelling and transparency obligations of the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation. This licence subsists for as long as the relevant Political Advertisement is, or is required to remain, available. The Customer may make reasonable adjustments to the Generated Materials (for example to formatting, sizing, placement or styling), provided that such adjustments do not remove, falsify or materially distort the regulated transparency information and that the adjusted materials continue to comply with the Regulation and the Implementing Regulation. The Customer is solely responsible for the regulatory compliance of any Generated Materials it adapts, and STEP gives no warranty in respect of Generated Materials that are not the unaltered Platform-generated materials. For the avoidance of doubt, the Customer may not exploit Generated Materials outside the Political Advertisement(s) to which they relate.

15. Customer's material breach

15.1 In case of the Customer's material breach of these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Services, the Terms of Use or the Core Platform Principles, STEP may without prior notice, and in addition to and without prejudice to the measures available under clause 5.2:

• terminate Contracts where the Label and Transparency Notice has not yet been published, against refund of the payments made for non-published Transparency notices;

• close the Customer's account; and/or

• ban the Customer from accessing the Platform without prior notification.

Closing the Customer's account shall not affect the validity or continued hosting of Transparency Notices already created and paid for under the Transparency Notice Service.

16. Miscellaneous

16.1 STEP may amend these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service with thirty (30) calendar days' written notice. Notice of amendments shall be provided both on the Platform and by email to the Customer's registered email address. Continued use of the Platform after the amendments take effect constitutes acceptance of the amendments.

16.2 If any provision is found to be invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in force. The parties shall replace the invalid provision with a valid provision that best fulfils the original purpose.

16.3 STEP's failure to enforce a right under these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service shall not constitute a waiver of that right.

16.4 The Customer may not assign its rights or obligations under a Contract, including under these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service, without STEP's prior written consent. STEP may freely assign its rights and obligations under these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service.

17. Governing law and dispute resolution

17.1 These Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service are governed by Danish law, excluding Danish rules on conflict of laws.

17.2 Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Sale and Delivery of Service shall be resolved in accordance with the following procedure. The party wishing to invoke the dispute resolution procedure shall notify the other party in writing, setting out the nature of the dispute and the relief sought. The parties shall thereafter attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute amicably within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of such written notice. If the dispute has not been resolved amicably within the afore-mentioned period, either party may refer the dispute to the City Court in Odense, Denmark, as the court of first instance, unless otherwise required by mandatory law or EU regulations. This jurisdiction clause shall not prevent a party from seeking injunctive relief or any other interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.