Terms for tree sponsorships

Version: 18 October 2026. The English version and the German version (AGB) are equally binding. If they differ, the version in the language in which you ordered applies.

1. Scope and contract partner

(1) These terms apply to all contracts for tree sponsorships ("Baumpatenschaften") in the online forest "Shared Forest" on this website.

(2) Your contract partner is Arne Kellmann, sole proprietor, Odenwaldstraße 134L, 64372 Ober-Ramstadt, Germany, email: contact@sharedforest.com, VAT ID DE292592171 ("we"). More details are in the imprint.

(3) These terms apply to consumers and to businesses. We mark the rules that apply only to consumers or only to businesses. Other terms of the customer do not apply, also when we do not object to them.

(4) We conclude contracts only with adults. By ordering, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old.

2. Service

(1) A tree sponsorship is a right, for a fixed term, to have a designed tree with a display name and an optional promotional link with link text and a short description shown in the shared online forest ("display right"). You get no ownership and no other rights in a real tree, in an area of the online forest, in the website or in the software. A sponsorship does not plant a real tree.

(2) Before you order, you choose a one-time sponsorship or an annual subscription. For both, the display right starts when we publish the tree after payment. A one-time sponsorship lasts 12 months and then ends automatically. The subscription has a minimum term of 12 months. It extends the display right after each paid annual invoice while the subscription continues.

(3) Each tree is a picture that an AI paints from your wish (up to 200 characters). The AI paints up to four variants. You choose one variant; it becomes your tree. For deciduous trees, the AI also paints the autumn and the winter picture from this variant. The pictures show no text, no logos and no brands. If the AI paints no suitable picture, our software draws the tree by fixed rules from your design. We do not owe a specific look. The preview before the order shows the look that we display. You can change the look up to three more times within 24 hours after payment. The tree stands in the forest at its full size from the first day and follows the time of day and the season.

(4) You select the position of each tree on the map. We hold a selected position for you for 30 minutes. We can move a tree a small distance when this is technically necessary (for example when the map changes). The tree then stays near the selected position.

(5) The display name (up to 32 characters) appears after an automatic check. You can provide link text (up to 50 characters) and a short description (up to 160 characters). A link and any text you provide appear only after our manual approval. Visitors see the link text and the destination domain; a click opens the full URL you supplied, including its query parameters. We visibly label the promotion as "Sponsored" ("Anzeige"). Links get the attributes rel="sponsored nofollow". Thus we do not owe an effect on search engines, visitor numbers or clicks.

(6) After the term, the tree stays in the forest without display name, link text, short description or link for as long as we operate the online forest. You have no claim to this.

(7) One-time purchase: after the term, you can order another sponsorship. Orders under this version of the terms do not include a right to renew at a reduced price. Older orders keep the terms that applied when the buyer placed them. In particular, they keep the promise to renew for 12 more months before the term ends at 50 % of the then-current unit price of the quantity tier.

(8) Subscription: during the first 12 months, you can cancel at any time with effect at the end of this minimum term. Without cancellation, the contract then continues for an indefinite time. After the minimum term, you can cancel at any time with immediate effect. We refund the unused part of an annual payment by day to the original payment method. You can cancel in your account or without signing in through "Cancel contracts". We confirm receipt and the end date by email. Your statutory right to terminate for cause remains unaffected.

3. Prices and payment

(1) The prices that the order page shows at the time of the order apply. All prices are final prices in euro. VAT is included. There are no shipping costs.

(2) Volume prices: every tree of an order costs the unit price of the tier that the order quantity reaches. One order has a maximum of 100 trees.

(3) The annual subscription price is about 20 % below the one-time price shown at the time of the contract for the same quantity. The exact unit and annual prices appear before you order; we round cents to full cents. You pay the annual price when the contract starts and in advance for each later contract year. The annual price agreed at the start stays in place for your subscription; a price change needs your express consent. Any monthly figure on the order page is only the annual price divided by twelve. We do not charge monthly.

(4) You pay in advance through the payment service provider Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd., Dublin, Ireland). You can use the payment methods that Stripe shows during the order. The terms of Stripe also apply to the payment.

(5) You get an invoice for each payment by email. Stripe issues the invoice in our name. Businesses can enter their VAT ID during the order. Whether VAT is due depends on the applicable tax rules.

4. Conclusion of the contract

(1) The presentation of tree sponsorships on the website is not a binding offer.

(2) Order on the website: to order, you need a free user account with a confirmed email address. You select quantity, design, positions and one-time purchase or subscription, and enter a display name and, if you wish, a link, link text and a short description. The order confirmation goes to the email address of your account. Before you send the order, you see the quantity, term and price due now. For a subscription, you also see the annual future price, the next payment date and how to cancel. You accept these terms and, as a consumer, the declaration on the early start of the service (section 5). When you click "Order and pay" ("Zahlungspflichtig bestellen"), you make a binding offer. Then we send you to Stripe.

(3) Order through an AI agent: an AI agent can prepare an order for you, for example through our MCP interface or API. The agent cannot make a contract for you or start a subscription without your confirmation. You get a link to a confirmation page. There you sign in with your user account, check the payment choice and future charges, accept these terms and the declaration in section 5, and click "Order and pay". Only this click is your binding offer. A prepared order that you do not confirm expires after 30 minutes.

(4) The contract starts when you complete the payment at Stripe and we send you the order confirmation by email. The order confirmation contains the contract content, these terms and the withdrawal information.

(5) You can correct input errors in the input fields before you click "Order and pay". The back function of your browser takes you to earlier steps.

(6) The contract language is the language in which you order (German or English). Your order confirmation includes the contract details and the version of the terms that applied when you ordered. The current German version is at /agb.

5. Right of withdrawal

(1) Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal. The details are in the withdrawal information. You can also withdraw online with the function "Withdraw from contract" ("Vertrag widerrufen").

(2) We start to show your trees immediately after payment when you expressly request this during the order. If you then withdraw within the withdrawal period, you pay compensation for the service provided until the withdrawal (§ 357a (2) BGB). We calculate it by day against the first paid contract year and refund the rest. For a subscription, we also stop future charges.

(3) The right of withdrawal expires when we have fully provided the service, if you expressly agreed before the start that we start before the withdrawal period ends, and confirmed that you know that the right expires (§ 356 (5) no. 2 BGB).

(4) Businesses have no right of withdrawal.

6. Content and duties of the sponsor

(1) You are responsible for the display name, link text, short description, the link, the design wish and the content behind the link. You confirm that you have the right to use them.

(2) In particular, you must not use:

(3) The link must start with https://. The linked page must be reachable and must have an imprint when the law of the provider requires one.

(4) For the term, you give us the non-exclusive, worldwide and free right to show the display name, link text, short description, the link and the design in the online forest, in its interfaces (API, MCP, data exports), and in screenshots and preview images of the forest.

(5) You indemnify us against claims of third parties that result from a culpable breach of your duties in this section 6. This includes the reasonable costs of legal defence.

7. Checks, rejection and removal

(1) We check display names and design wishes automatically before they appear. We use AI models for this (see the privacy policy). We also check the link, its link text and short description manually.

(2) If we reject a display name or the link and its texts submitted with the order before they appear, we refund the full price of the affected order to the original payment method. The contract for this order then ends. For a subscription, we also stop future charges. Trees that we already show stay in the forest without display name and link. Section 7(6) applies to later link changes.

(3) If content breaks section 6 after approval, for example because the linked page changes, we can remove the display name or the link, or hide the tree. We select the mildest suitable measure. If you are responsible for the breach, we refund nothing. Otherwise we refund the price for the remaining term, per day.

(4) We tell you each decision under (2) or (3) and each rejection under (6) by email, with a statement of reasons (Art. 17 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, "Digital Services Act"). The statement gives the measure, the facts, the legal ground or the rule of these terms, whether automated means took part, and your remedies. You can object to the decision by email to contact@sharedforest.com. A person examines the objection. You can always go to court.

(5) Any person can report illegal content to us with the notice form.

(6) During the term, you can request a new link, link text or short description for your tree in your account. This also applies when the URL stays the same. We check the request under (1). The previously approved details stay visible until we approve the request manually. If no link has been approved, the link text, short description and link stay hidden. If we reject your request, the previous details and the contract stay as they are. The rejection gives no refund. We can still take measures under (3).

8. Availability and updates

(1) We operate the online forest with reasonable care. Maintenance, failures of service providers (for example Cloudflare) and force majeure can interrupt the display for a time. An interruption does not extend the term if it is 7 days or less per term in total. We add longer interruptions that we are responsible for to the term.

(2) For consumers, the sponsorship is a contract for a digital service (§§ 327 ff. BGB). During the term, we supply the updates that are necessary to keep the service in conformity (§ 327f BGB). We can develop the display of the forest further if your tree, its display name and its link stay recognisable and the change is reasonable for you (§ 327r BGB). If a change affects your access or the use more than insignificantly, we tell you by email in advance. You can then end the contract free of charge within 30 days under § 327r (3) BGB and get a refund for the remaining term, per day.

(3) For defects, consumers have the statutory rights under §§ 327i ff. BGB (cure, termination, price reduction, damages). Businesses have the statutory rights with the limits in section 10.

9. Discontinuation of the service

We can discontinue the online forest with 3 months' notice. We tell you by email. We refund the price for the remaining term, per day. You have no other claims from the discontinuation, except under section 10.

10. Liability

(1) We are liable without limit for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act, and under a guarantee that we gave.

(2) For slight negligence, we are liable only for the breach of an essential contractual duty. An essential contractual duty is a duty that makes the contract possible and that you can usually rely on. In this case, our liability covers only the typical, foreseeable damage. For businesses, this damage is at most the price of the affected order.

(3) We have no other liability. (1) to (3) also apply to the persons we use to perform the contract.

11. Changes to these terms

A contract that you made keeps the version of these terms that applied at the time of the order. Your order confirmation contains this version.

12. Dispute resolution

(1) The European Commission shut down its online dispute resolution platform on 20 July 2025.

(2) We are not willing and not obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (§ 36 VSBG). If you have a problem, write to contact@sharedforest.com.

13. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. For consumers, this choice of law does not remove the protection of the mandatory provisions of the country where they have their habitual residence (Art. 6 (2) Rome I Regulation).

(2) If the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction is Darmstadt, Germany.

(3) If a provision of these terms is invalid, the other provisions stay valid. The statutory rules then apply (§ 306 BGB).