CultAWARD · Legal
General Terms and Conditions and Withdrawal Policy
Status: 4 October 2026 · This English version is provided for your convenience. Only the German version is legally binding.
These terms govern everything that may connect you with the CultAWARD: use of the website, participation in the public vote, The Cult Letter, membership of the CA:Club, and sponsorship and partnerships. We have worded them as clearly as the law allows.
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Part A · General
§ 1 Provider and scope
(1) The provider of the CultAWARD and your contractual partner is Oliver Hillebrecht, Universal Brands, Küchelstraße 2, 96047 Bamberg, Germany, email: oliver.hillebrecht@universal-brands.de (hereinafter “we” or “CultAWARD”).
(2) These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to all services we offer via cultaward.com and in connection with the CultAWARD. Parts A and D apply to all users, Part B to members of the CA:Club, and Part C exclusively to sponsors and partners who are entrepreneurs.
(3) A consumer is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession (Section 13 German Civil Code, BGB). An entrepreneur is any natural or legal person or partnership with legal capacity that, when entering into a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of its trade, business or profession (Section 14 BGB).
(4) Deviating terms of our contractual partners apply only if we expressly agree to them in text form. Individual agreements always take precedence over these GTC.
§ 2 Nominations and independence of the jury
(1) The CultAWARD honours cults: brands, vehicles, films, programmes, music, buildings, places, personalities and further genres. The jury nominates according to its own published Cult Canon. The publisher is responsible for every nomination.
(2) A nomination is free of charge. It can neither be bought nor influenced by membership, sponsorship or any other benefit. There is no entitlement to a nomination or an award.
(3) Nominees and award winners receive a certificate and a tribute and may use the CultAWARD seal for the class in question. We agree the form, scope and duration of use of the seal with them separately. The CultAWARD trademarks, logos and trophy are protected and may otherwise only be used with our prior consent in text form.
§ 3 Public vote
(1) Participation in the public vote is free of charge and not tied to any purchase or membership. We announce the period and procedure in good time on cultaward.com.
(2) Each person has one vote per round of voting. Multiple voting, automated voting and any other form of manipulation are prohibited. We may disregard votes cast in this way.
(3) The result of the public vote is determined and published by the publisher. There is no legal entitlement to any particular result.
§ 4 Proposals and submissions
(1) Anyone who proposes a cult for a future class or sends us texts, photos, films or memories warrants that they are entitled to do so and do not infringe any third-party rights.
(2) By submitting, you grant us free of charge the simple right, unlimited in time and place, to use, edit and publish the submission in connection with the CultAWARD, in particular on the website, in tributes, in The Cult Letter, in films and in the press. We will name you as the author if you so wish.
(3) There is no entitlement to publication or to a proposal being considered.
§ 5 The Cult Letter
(1) The Cult Letter is our free email newsletter. It appears when there is something to tell and reports on tributes, presentations, the public vote and dates.
(2) Registration uses the double opt-in procedure: only when you click the link in our confirmation email do we add you to the mailing list. We use the service provider Brevo for sending.
(3) You can unsubscribe from The Cult Letter at any time via the unsubscribe link in every issue or by sending us a message.
Part B · The CA:Club
§ 6 The three circles
(1) The CA:Club has three circles:
- Circle of Friends · free of charge: The Cult Letter, a reminder of the public vote and the right to propose cults for the next class.
- Cult community · €89 per year: all benefits of the Circle of Friends, plus the films of the presentations before their release, a pre-emption right for the gala and for CA:Bamberg evenings, a personal membership certificate and invitations to Cult Community evenings.
- Founders’ Circle · €390 one-time: all benefits of the Cult Community, plus a numbered membership card, the golden star pin, your name in the founders’ chronicle and an invitation to the first gala.
(2) The current scope of services is set out in the description on cultaward.com at the time you join. We announce dates of events, films and presentations as soon as they are fixed.
(3) The pre-emption right entitles you to purchase tickets before general sale. It is not itself a ticket and does not create any entitlement to a particular number of seats. The conditions communicated in each case apply to tickets.
(4) Membership is personal and non-transferable. A Founders’ Circle place can only be transferred with our consent in text form.
§ 7 Joining and conclusion of contract
(1) The presentation of the circles on cultaward.com is not yet a binding offer but an invitation to make us an offer.
(2) You join the Circle of Friends by signing up for The Cult Letter and confirming your registration.
(3) You join the Cult community and the Founders’ Circle via the linked payment page of our payment service provider. There you enter your details, choose a payment method and check your entries. By clicking the button “Subscribe with obligation to pay” (Cult Community) or “Pay” (Founders’ Circle), you submit a binding offer. Until then, you can correct your entries or cancel the process at any time.
(4) The contract is concluded when we accept your offer. We declare acceptance by confirming your payment by email. This email contains the essential contract data; you can access and save these GTC at any time at cultaward.com/en/terms/.
(5) The language of the contract is German.
(6) Places in the Founders’ Circle are limited to 1,000; number 1 is held by the founder. Numbers 2 to 1,000 are assigned in the order in which contracts are concluded. Once all places are taken, joining is no longer possible.
§ 8 Prices and payment
(1) All prices are final prices. Any shipping costs for the membership card and star pin are included in the fee.
(2) Payment is processed by our payment service provider Stripe. The methods shown on the payment page are available. The terms of the respective payment method apply in addition.
(3) The Cult Community fee is payable annually in advance, for the first time upon joining. The Founders’ Circle fee is payable once upon joining.
§ 9 Term and cancellation of the Cult Community
(1) Membership of the Cult Community begins when the contract is concluded and initially runs for twelve months.
(2) You can cancel membership with effect from the end of the first twelve months; we must receive the cancellation no later than one month before that date. If you do not cancel, membership continues for an indefinite period. You can then cancel it at any time with one month’s notice.
(3) The fee for each further membership year is due at the beginning of that year. If membership ends after a cancellation under paragraph 2 sentence 3 before the end of a membership year already paid for, we refund the fee for the remaining full months pro rata.
(4) You can cancel by email, by post or via the “Cancel contracts here” button at cultaward.com/en/cancel-contracts/ . We confirm receipt of your cancellation in text form without delay.
(5) The right of both parties to terminate for good cause remains unaffected.
§ 10 Duration of the Founders’ Circle
(1) Membership of the Founders’ Circle is for life, for as long as the CA:Club exists. No further fees are payable.
(2) If we discontinue the CA:Club within five years of your joining, we will refund one fifth of the fee for each full year remaining until the end of those five years.
(3) We send the membership card and star pin within four weeks of the conclusion of the contract to the delivery address given in Europe. We will inform you of any delays without delay.
§ 11 Conduct and exclusion
(1) We expect members to treat each other, the honourees and our partners with respect.
(2) If a member seriously breaches these principles, for example through harassment, misuse of membership benefits or reselling tickets at excessive prices, we may terminate the membership for good cause. In this case we refund fees already paid pro rata for the unused period, unless the law provides otherwise.
Part C · Sponsorship and partnerships
§ 12 Scope
(1) This part applies exclusively to contracts with entrepreneurs, legal entities under public law and special funds under public law, in particular sponsors, partners, supporters and tour stops (hereinafter “partners”).
(2) We agree the scope, term, consideration and remuneration of a partnership in a separate partner contract in each case. That contract takes precedence over this part.
§ 13 Independence of the jury
(1) A partnership has no influence whatsoever on nominations, tributes or the public vote. Partners and their brands, products and services cannot be nominated in the genre and class of their partnership.
(2) Every partnership is disclosed openly and identified as such. Partners do not learn of nominations before publication unless otherwise agreed; they undertake to keep confidential information secret.
§ 14 Services
(1) Possible partnerships include in particular the founding partnership (“Presented by”), the cult vehicle, the genre sponsorship and the tour stop. Contributions may be made in cash or in kind.
(2) We design appearances, films and events with editorial independence. The partner’s visibility is governed by the partner contract. We owe a particular reach, audience figure or media response only if expressly agreed.
(3) For sponsorship in kind, in particular a cult vehicle, we regulate handover, use, insurance, maintenance, liability for damage and return in the partner contract.
§ 15 Remuneration and payment
(1) Agreed remuneration is subject to statutory VAT where applicable.
(2) Invoices are payable without deduction within 14 days of receipt unless otherwise agreed.
(3) For contributions in kind, the value specified in the partner contract applies.
§ 16 Trademarks and rights of use
(1) For the duration of the partnership, partners grant us the simple right to use their names, logos and trademarks in the agreed manner. They provide the necessary artwork and warrant that they hold the necessary rights.
(2) Partners may use the names, logos, seals and images of the CultAWARD only in the agreed manner and after our approval. This right ends when the partnership ends; content already published need not be removed unless otherwise agreed.
§ 17 Reputation and termination for good cause
Either party may terminate a partnership for good cause without notice. Good cause exists in particular if the other party’s conduct significantly damages the reputation of the CultAWARD or of the partner, or if it violates the independence of the jury under § 13.
§ 18 Liability towards partners
§ 19 applies to partners. In addition, in the event of a slightly negligent breach of essential contractual obligations, we are liable only up to the amount of the remuneration agreed for the contract year concerned.
Part D · Final provisions
§ 19 Liability
(1) We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the Product Liability Act and where we have given a guarantee.
(2) In the event of a slightly negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation, our liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. Essential obligations are those whose fulfilment makes proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance you may regularly rely.
(3) Otherwise, our liability for slight negligence is excluded.
§ 20 Changes to events
The place, time and procedure of presentations, galas and events may change for reasons beyond our control, for example illness of honourees, weather or official requirements. We will inform you as early as possible. Your statutory rights remain unaffected.
§ 21 Changes to these GTC
If we change these GTC, the new version applies to existing memberships only if you agree to it. We will inform you of planned changes in text form in good time.
§ 22 Dispute resolution
We are neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board. If you have questions or complaints, please write to us; we answer personally.
§ 23 Applicable law and place of jurisdiction
(1) 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 in which they have their habitual residence.
(2) If the contractual partner is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes is Bamberg.
Withdrawal policy
Consumers have a right of withdrawal for membership of the Cult Community and the Founders’ Circle.
Right of withdrawal
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day the contract is concluded.
To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Oliver Hillebrecht, Universal Brands, Küchelstraße 2, 96047 Bamberg, Germany, email: oliver.hillebrecht@universal-brands.de) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or an email). You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but this is not mandatory. You can also fill in and submit the model withdrawal form or another clear statement electronically via the “Withdraw from contract” button on our website at cultaward.com/en/withdraw-contract/ . If you use this option, we will send you confirmation of receipt of such a withdrawal without delay (e.g. by email).
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your notice of exercising the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period expires.
Consequences of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we shall refund all payments received from you, including delivery costs (with the exception of additional costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the cheapest standard delivery offered by us), without delay and at the latest within fourteen days from the day on which we receive notice of your withdrawal from this contract. For this refund we use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; in no case will you be charged any fees for this refund.
If you have already received the membership card and star pin, you must return or hand them over to us without delay and in any event no later than fourteen days from the day on which you inform us of the withdrawal. The deadline is met if you send the goods before the period expires. We bear the cost of return.
If you requested that the membership services begin during the withdrawal period, you must pay us a reasonable amount corresponding to the proportion of the services already provided up to the time you inform us of the exercise of the right of withdrawal, compared with the total scope of the services provided for in the contract.
Model withdrawal form
(If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please fill in this form and send it back.)
To Oliver Hillebrecht, Universal Brands, Küchelstraße 2, 96047 Bamberg, Germany, email: oliver.hillebrecht@universal-brands.de:
I/We (*) hereby withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service (*): membership of the CA:Club, circle: ……
Ordered on (*)/received on (*): ……
Name of consumer(s): ……
Address of consumer(s): ……
Signature of consumer(s) (only if notified on paper): ……
Date: ……
(*) Delete as applicable.