While scrutch is publicly available at from.scrut.ch without the need to sign-up or login, it is not free. It is free to try without a fixed trial period. If you use scrutch regularly, you need to sign up for a subscription.

These terms of service are fundamental to the relationship between you and us. Therefore, we recommend reading this page thoroughly before you start using scrutch.

If you do not agree to the terms, please do not use scrutch. Creating and sharing texts with scrutch signifies that you have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of service on this page.

The provider of scrutch offered at the internet addresses scrut.ch and from.scrut.ch is André Simmert, a software engineer having his registered seat in Stuttgart, Germany.

Since scrutch is both paid and free to try, both paying customers (subscribers) and non-paying users are affected by these terms of service.

Any general terms and conditions of business of customers shall not apply. We object to their inclusion, unless such inclusion is agreed individually in text form.

scrutch is a cross-platform SaaS application for (collaboratively) creating, editing, and sharing texts.

scrutch is free to try and evaluate. We reserve the right to remove certain features from the free version at our own discretion. You may upgrade to a paid subscription at any time.

scrutch is used by means of telecommunications via the browser or PWA. You may only use scrutch for the contractually agreed purpose.

The contents stored with scrutch are stored for an indefinite amount of time or until you delete them. However, we do not guarantee unlimited retention. We may decide to delete content that hasn’t been used or accessed for a long time (> 1 year) or may harm our systems (e.g., very large texts) or violate any third party rights or laws.

License model

A subscription results in a usage license per seat for each individual. If you are an organization, you may purchase multiple seats within a subscription for each individual using scrutch. If that number changes, you may alter your amount of subscriptions at any time using the billing portal. Periods you already paid for will not be refunded in case of seat change.

The contractual relationship shall be renewed each time for a period equal to the originally agreed term, unless a party terminates it or the terms and conditions of the contract are adjusted by mutual agreement.

Pricing

Unless otherwise agreed individually, the fees for the use of scrutch shall result from the price list published on our website, as amended from time to time. All prices are quoted net, excluding value added tax, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Payment

Our subscription, payment and invoicing process is handled by Paddle. Your payment information doesn’t touch our servers, nor can it be linked to content stored with scrutch. After check-out, you’ll receive an invoice, including VAT, if applicable. If you have questions or problems regarding adjustments or cancellation of recurring payments, do not hesitate to reach out: hello@scrut.ch.

All license fees shall fall due at the commencement of the agreed contract term. If the contractual relationship is renewed, the license fees for the renewal period shall fall due at the commencement of that period.

Payments into our bank account shall be made free of expense to the recipient.

We offer a 14-day, money back refund policy if using scrutch didn’t work out for you. No questions asked.

To initiate a refund, please get in touch directly at hello@scrut.ch and include a copy of your payment/subscription receipt.

scrutch is provided without availability guarantee, but we do our best to keep the service up and running. Because scrutch stores copies of your texts in your devices, a loss of service or internet connection does not necessarily result in a loss of your contents written with scrutch.

We reserve the right to carry out maintenance work during which scrutch may be not, or not completely, available.

With respect to data transmission, our obligation to perform shall be limited to the communication between our server and a suitable point of connection to the internet to be chosen by us. We have no influence on the availability and reliability of the internet’s data channels located outside our own network. Therefore, successful data exchange from the connection point to third-party servers is not part of its obligation.

All users may without delay inform us of any service failure or other technical fault, to enable prompt fault clearance. Insofar, the user has an obligation to cooperate and to mitigate loss.

Legal restrictions

You may only use scrutch in a manner that complies with any and all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which You use scrutch. Please respect all applicable restrictions concerning privacy, intellectual property and other rights of third parties.

You may not extract parts of the source code for use in other programs or projects (unless the code file in question is by a third party and explicitly licensed under the terms of a more open license).

Making copies

You may not reproduce scrutch. or its source code, in whole or in part.

Restricted usage scenarios

You are not allowed to use scrutch to spread illegal content, misinformation, hate speech or discriminating content based on age, gender, gender identity, race, sexuality, religion, nationality, serious illnesses or disabilities, no matter who authored this content. Misinformation is defined as content that is false or misleading and may lead to significant risk of physical or societal harm.

scrutch is offered on an “as-is” basis and no warranty, either expressed or implied, is given. We expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. You assume all risk associated with the quality, performance, setup, and use of scrutch including, but not limited to, the risks of broken encryption, program errors, damage to equipment, loss of data or software programs, or unavailability or interruption of operations. You are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of use of scrutch and assume all risks associated with its use. This paragraph also applies to you if you are not the primary user or subscriber (e.g., if you use scrutch with someone else who is the subscriber).

You may use scrutch under these terms until either party terminates a license as described in this paragraph. Either party may at any time give notice to ordinarily terminate the contractual relationship at the end of the respective period. Each party’s right of termination without notice for an important reason shall not be affected. Any notice of termination shall only be effective if made in writing. Should we offer a termination function on our website or billing portal, you and us may use that function instead of the text form.

Upon termination, all the specified licenses granted to you will terminate, and you will immediately stop using scrutch. If not all licenses are terminated, you may continue to use scrutch with the allowed number of individual users. The sections entitled “No Warranty” and “Liability” will survive any termination of this agreement.

At any time, before or after the end of a contract, we are not able to link contents stored on scrutch to your account and/or end users. So it is in your interest to delete all data stored on scrutch by yourself on all affected devices. You may choose to keep to contents on your own risk in case you decide to become a customer again in the future.

Any data which we are obliged to retain based on any requirement under tax law, commercial law or other law shall be kept stored until the end of the respective retention period.

We may modify scrutch and these terms with notice to you either via email or by publishing content on the website at scrut.ch, including but not limited to changing the functionality or appearance of scrutch. Any such modification will become binding on you unless you terminate your licenses. Changes to these terms that constrain your rights to a great extent will only become effective with your approval in textual or electronic form.

By accepting the terms, you indemnify and hold us harmless from all claims by third parties (in particular from claims arising out of breach of copyright, competition, trademark, or data protection law) that are asserted against us in connection with your use of scrutch insofar as such claims do not result from willful or grossly negligent behavior us or our legal representatives or agents. This indemnification obligation comprises the reimbursement for appropriate costs that we incurred in the course of asserting or defending its legal rights in this context.

You expressly understand and agree that we shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages). Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to you. In no event will our total cumulative damages exceed the fees you paid to us under these terms in the most recent twelve-month period.

This paragraph also applies to you if you are not the primary user or subscriber (e.g., if you use scrutch with someone else who is the subscriber).

Copyright

André Simmert owns all rights, title, and interest to scrutch (including all intellectual property rights) and reserves all rights to scrutch that are not expressly granted in this Agreement.

Applicable law & place of jurisdiction

For all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, the courts competent for Stuttgart, Germany, shall have exclusive jurisdiction. However, we shall have the choice to file lawsuits against you before the courts competent for your place of business.

If you reside in Germany, the first paragraph shall only apply if you are a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law.

If you don’t reside in Germany, but in a different member state of the European Union, the first paragraph shall only apply if you are not a consumer under Art. 17 of the regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012. In that case, you shall be entitled to file actions against us either at our place of business or at the courts competent at the place where you usually reside.

We, on the other hand, are only entitled to bring proceedings against you in the courts of the member state in which you are domiciled.

If you neither reside in Germany nor in a member state of the EU, the applicability of the first paragraph remains unaffected.

Severability clause

Should any provision of these terms be or become invalid, void or unenforceable, in whole or in part, at present or in the future, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these terms. The same shall apply if a gap requiring supplementation arises after conclusion of these terms. The parties shall replace the invalid, void or unenforceable provision or gap requiring filling by a valid provision which in its legal or economic content takes account of the invalid, void provision and the overall content of the agreement. § Section 139 of the German civil code (partial invalidity) is expressly waived.

Due to the flexibility of scrutch, you may have special use cases or requirements that don’t fit these terms.

If that’s the case or if you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. We are happy to think outside the box and find custom license solutions for your application of scrutch.

Last update on January 15, 2023 (Version 1.0.0)