BERNINA Corporate Blog -1. General Terms and Conditions of Use for the BERNINA blog
The operator of the BERNINA blog and publisher of these Terms of Use is the company BERNINA International AG, Seestrasse 161, 8266 Steckborn, Switzerland (“BERNINA”, “we”, “us”, “our”).
Please read the following legal information carefully. By accessing, registering as a user and using this website, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with the Terms of Use, please refrain from using the BERNINA blog.
These Terms of Use and the Regulations on data protection are adapted, supplemented or amended from time to time. Any significant changes to these Terms of Use shall be notified in an appropriate manner, usually by email. If you do not agree with the amended Terms of Use, please object in writing by email or delete your user profile until the changes come into effect and refrain from using the BERNINA blog. If you do not log out, your user profile will continue to exist after the amended Terms of Use come into force. Each time you call up or visit the BERNINA website and the BERNINA blog, the current, retrievable versions apply.
2. Scope of application
The BERNINA blog (blog.bernina.com) provides Internet services that enable natural persons and businesses to obtain information, to use services or to publish editorial publications. Publication of advertising content is strictly prohibited. The blog offers the opportunity to exchange ideas with like-minded individuals, acts as a communication tool and provides a source of information and inspiration for creative sewing and textile projects. Certain services on the BERNINA blog, such as the writing of articles, are exclusively reserved for registered users.
3. Registration as a user
You have the opportunity to join the free BERNINA community and to register as a user of the BERNINA blog. The registration requires a valid e-mail address or an active social media profile (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Google+), via which you can be clearly identified as a user and sender of your messages. Joining under a false name and using bogus email addresses is prohibited. Please note that you are not permitted to divulge your password to any other person. Each blog user is only allowed to access and/or use the blog with his or her own password, and not with the login details of third parties.
On registering for the Internet services from BERNINA, you affirm that you will only use the BERNINA blog for private, non-commercial purposes and will, in particular, treat the information entrusted to you by other members as confidential and not use this information for commercial purposes.
A user is entitled to de-register in writing or by e-mail at any time without stating reasons.
4. Privacy
The protection of your privacy is very important to us. Information about how we handle your data regarding the type, use and disclosure of data that is collected is available in our Privacy Policy, which is subject to these Terms of Use.
5. User posts
By registering and thus joining and/or using the BERNINA blog, you have the opportunity to post and upload topics, contributions, links, comments, photos, sketches, instructions, etc. As a registered user, you can add personal details, descriptions, photos, etc. to your profile, which are helpful for communicating with other users.
Please note that you are solely responsible and liable for your activities on the blog. In the course of using the BERNINA blog, you declare and warrant that you alone have the rights to the content posted or uploaded and that no third-party rights (copyrights, personal rights, trademark rights, etc.) are infringed. In the event of any claims by third parties in connection with the use of your content, you shall indemnify BERNINA against all claims upon first request.
We would like the BERNINA blog to be characterized by a certain level of quality. Therefore, grant your conversation partners in the blog forum the respect they deserve by choosing the right words, spelling them as correctly as possible and being as polite as possible. Personal hostility, degradation or contributions containing hatred, violence, pornography and threats, which are obscene, which violate the privacy of others, which discriminate against other groups of people, minorities, etc., which are contrary to good morals or which violate any existing laws, as well as amusement at the expense of other users, are expressly prohibited. The blog administrators are instructed by BERNINA to pay particular attention to the fair treatment of all users.
In particular, the criteria listed above serve as guidelines that define the content requirements and determine the permissible content within the scope of the review of the blog content.
5.1 Content moderation
The blog moderators are automatically notified of new blog comments and regularly check the content of the community area personally and manually. We also use a tool to automatically recognize and block spam comments. We additionally follow tips from our community. Our procedure follows the rules of procedure described at www.bernina.com/digital-services-act.
Undesirable content includes in particular, but is not limited to
- Posting a community contribution or comment with commercial content
- Posting a community contribution or comment with the presumed aim of optimizing your own website for search engines
- Posting a community post or comment with pornographic content
Automated moderation measures are only carried out in the case of spam comments. All further checks are carried out personally and manually.
Illegal content and content that is incompatible with these Terms of Use will be dealt with by warning the user, deleting the respective content (posts or comments), temporarily or completely withdrawing writing authorization, suspending/blocking the account – permanently if necessary – of the respective user and/or refusing the user access to the blog.
The duration of a suspension is determined as follows, taking into account the frequency of inappropriate posts:
| Type of content | Duration of suspension | From number of posts |
| Illegal content | Permanently | 1x |
| Pornographic content | Permanently | 1x |
| Content glorifying violence | Permanently | 1x |
| Unauthorized advertising content (spam) | Permanently | 2x |
| Hate speech and derogatory content | 1 year | 2x |
In applying and enforcing the aforementioned restrictions, BERNINA shall act carefully, objectively and proportionately, taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of all parties involved as well as the fundamental rights of users enshrined in the Charter, such as the right to freedom of expression, freedom and pluralism of the media and other fundamental rights and freedoms. BERNINA makes use of the above-mentioned moderation measures in accordance with the principles of European and Swiss legislation and the above-mentioned criteria.
An internal complaints management system in accordance with Art. 20 DSA has been set up and made available (www.bernina.com/digital-services-act).
If, during your visit to the BERNINA blog, you come across content that violates the above guidelines or that you consider inappropriate for any other reason, you have the option of informing us of this using the form linked on this page: www.bernina.com/digital-services-act. In the case of comments and community posts, you can also use the “Report” link integrated on these pages to report inappropriate content to BERNINA.
If readers submit unfounded reports of inappropriate content three times a year, further reports shall not be reviewed for a period of one year. Reports that are not based on the above list of criteria are considered unfounded.
5.2 Special conditions for the use of the event calendar
The BERNINA event calendar provides a platform for publishing events. Registered users can use it to post events, such as exhibitions, sewing classes, sewing evenings, book launches related to sewing, etc. The events posted by users are usually published immediately. However, BERNINA reserves the right to remove or subsequently edit posted events if they contain spelling mistakes, obviously incorrect information, or are off-topic, as well as any entries that do not refer to a specific event, but are of a general advertising nature. In particular, we do not permit the publication of serial dates that do not refer to a specific scheduled event. However, BERNINA does not check the events for accuracy. BERNINA is not responsible for any incorrect information provided by the users of the blog.
BERNINA expects users to provide a full and appealing description that accurately and comprehensibly conveys the essential content of the event. As other blog users have to rely on the information provided, users who post events in the event calendar must schedule the events correctly and keep them up-to-date. This applies in particular to cancellations or changes to the time or location of an event. Any changes should be entered immediately or the relevant information should be corrected immediately if necessary.
The requirements and conditions for uploaded content specified in Section 5 of these terms and conditions of use also apply to the use of the event calendar.
5.3 Deletion of user profiles
The user may terminate the service provided under these Terms of Use by requesting BERNINA to delete his/her profile. Termination will result in the irrevocable deletion of all data of the user concerned from the platform. Alternatively, it is possible to anonymize the profile in question and thus receive any contributions such as comments.
6. BERNINA content
This website may contain general information, promotional material and descriptions of BERNINA products. The information and images it contains represent examples of the extensive BERNINA product range, but do not constitute offers of products or services, binding offers or an invitation to make an offer by BERNINA, its Group companies or distributors. If a webshop is provided, all e-commerce offers are non-binding.
BERNINA does not guarantee that all the products mentioned on the website are available in your country. Some of the accessories mentioned are optional, depending on the country. Your BERNINA dealer can provide you with details of the BERNINA products available in your country.
7. Sewing instructions, patterns and embroidery designs
The patterns and instructions are only licensed for personal and private use, not for commercial or business purposes. The transfer of the acquired data is prohibited.
8. Recommender systems
In blog articles and community posts, readers are suggested thematically relevant content under the title “You might also like”.
Blog articles are contributions by BERNINA authors, community posts are images and texts uploaded by readers. All authors have the opportunity to add keywords, or “tags”, to their contributions in order to describe them in more detail or to place them in a context.
Recommended content is selected automatically based on the number of matching tags. Readers have no opportunity to influence the selection of recommended content.
9. Copyright and trademark protection
9.1 Rights to use content from users for marketing purposes
As part of the use of the BERNINA blog, you grant BERNINA the non-exclusive right, without limitation in terms of location or time, to use your uploaded content (photos, pictures, instructions, etc.) free of charge for marketing purposes. This in particular includes rights with respect to editing, copying, distribution and reproduction, as well as any other form of disclosure to the public (print, electronic, etc.), at BERNINA’s discretion.
9.2 BERNINA trademarks and copyrights
The content elements contained on the BERNINA website or in the BERNINA blog, such as information, text, images, photographs, designs and all other data files on our website are protected by law. Unless otherwise stated, they are subject to copyright, trademark protection or other rights of BERNINA International AG or its subsidiaries and affiliates or licensors. No rights of any kind are transferred to you by downloading, copying, translating or inclusion in other media – e.g. on your own website or in a database. BERNINA, bernette, bernina.com and berninausa.com are registered trademarks of BERNINA International AG.
The content is freely usable for browsing purposes only. If content is reproduced in full or in part in any form – electronically or in writing – for personal and non-commercial use, the source must be cited by name and all existing copyright and other proprietary notices must be observed.
Any use, reproduction, copying etc. of our website for commercial or non-personal use, in whole or in part, is only permissible with the prior written consent of BERNINA International AG.
10. No liability for third-party websites
BERNINA’s website also contains links (‘hyperlinks’) to Internet websites created and maintained by third parties. BERNINA has no influence on the content of these third-party websites and therefore cannot know the content of them in detail.
The hyperlinks on the website serve exclusively to facilitate navigation for the user of the BERNINA website. By including hyperlinks, BERNINA is simply facilitating access to these other websites and assumes no responsibility whatsoever for their content. In particular, BERNINA does not endorse the content of the websites accessible by hyperlink. The owners of the linked sites are solely responsible for their content and for any products offered there and the ordering of said products.
When using the BERNINA website, you agree that BERNINA is not liable for any legally prohibited statements or representations on the websites referenced by hyperlink. In particular, BERNINA assumes no liability for infringement of copyrights, trademark rights or personal rights by the contents of these websites or for any content which you have posted or uploaded.
11. No guarantee
BERNINA takes all reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website and in the BERNINA blog. However, BERNINA is unable to provide any assurances or guarantees as to its timeliness, completeness or correctness, or with regard to its functionality, links or contents. In particular, BERNINA can neither give an assurance nor guarantee that by using the website, no rights of third parties not owned by BERNINA or BERNINA Group companies will be infringed.
12. Limitation of liability and disclaimer
As part of their blog activities, which they carry out on a voluntary basis, the blog moderators and experts share their knowledge free of charge to other members. In the context of the use of this forum and, in particular, in the event of utilisation of the assistance/advice provided, all moderators and experts are released from any liability to the extent permitted by law.
Any of the information, pages and functions of this website may be temporarily suspended or completely discontinued by BERNINA. The company is in no way legally responsible or liable for any temporary or permanent interruption or suspension of information, pages or functions of this website.
To the extent permitted by law, BERNINA and its Group companies assume no liability or legal responsibility for damage, defects or losses, in particular compensation claims for direct, indirect, consequential or subsequent damage, loss of profit, loss of use or data corruption or loss incurred by you or a third party arising in connection with this website. BERNINA is not liable under any circumstances for the storage of illegal content or for the improper use of data by the user, or for the loss of data or the presence of viruses or other harmful components. This limitation of liability applies irrespective of the legal basis of the liability. Further compulsory legal liability, for example in the case of gross negligence or unlawful intent, remains reserved.
13. Other provisions
If the individual provisions or parts of these Terms of Use should prove to be invalid or ineffective, the validity of the rest of the Terms of Use will not be affected.
These Terms of Use are subject to Swiss law to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (also known as the Vienna Sales Convention).
To the extent permitted by law, the ordinary courts in Frauenfeld, Switzerland are competent for all legal disputes arising from these Terms of Use or the use of the website, whereby BERNINA reserves the right to prosecute the user in his/her place of residence.
14. Contact
If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us in writing at BERNINA International AG, Seestrasse 161, 8266 Steckborn, Switzerland or at [email protected].
