Preamble
Section 1 Scope
Section 2 Affiliate Program
Section 3 Vendor Product sales
Section 4 Joint Venture
Section 5 Sending emails
Section 6 Termination/Blocking
Section 7 Contract Formation Sale/Invoicing/Payout Rules
Section 8 Intellectual property rights
Section 9 Data Protection and Non-disclosure Obligation
Section 10 Digicall
Section 11 Duty to Indemnify and Hold Harmless
Section 12 Availability and Limitation of Liability
Section 13 Referencing by Digistore24
Section 14 Final provisions
Digistore24 MSLW Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Digistore24”) offers products and services via the Sales Platform https://www.digistore24.com/ (hereinafter referred to as the “Sales Platform”). The ordering process available there enables the end customer to purchase software, services or other goods (hereinafter referred to as “Products”) from Digistore24. In addition, the Sales Platform also permits the providers of a product or third-party advertisers (hereinafter referred to as “Affiliates”) to advertise the provider’s product online (hereinafter referred to as a “Vendor”; Affiliates and Vendors are also referred to below as “Contractual Partners”), to review or in any other manner generate awareness for the respective product (hereinafter referred to as the “Affiliate Program”). If an end customer decides to purchase a product, Digistore24 shall purchase the product offered by the Vendor in its own name and for its own account from the Vendor and sells it to the end customer in its own name and for its own account. The contract for the purchase of the product is always concluded between the end customer and Digistore24 on the one hand and Digistore24 and the Vendor on the other. There is no direct sale by the Vendor to the end customer.
The following General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter referred to as the “GTC”) govern the legal relationship between Digistore24 MSLW Limited, The Black Church, St. Mary’s Place, D07 P4AX Dublin 7, Irlanda and the Vendor of goods and services, and the resale of these products to end customers as well as the legal relationship between Digistore24 and the Affiliates who participate within the framework of the Affiliate Program. The agreement is solely intended to apply to “Entrepreneurs”, whereby an Entrepreneur refers to a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal personality who, when entering into a legal transaction, acts in exercise of their commercial or independent professional practice.
These GTC apply likewise to all future business relationships even if they are not expressly agreed on again. Contrary confirmations by a Contractual Partner with reference to their own General Terms and Conditions are hereby expressly rejected.
Use of the Digistore24 services is subject to the terms of this agreement provided the Contractual Partner confirms that they have read the provisions of this agreement and consented to its terms by ticking a checkbox during the Digistore24 registration process. Pursuant to these terms and conditions, Digistore24 shall grant the Contractual Partner a non-exclusive, revocable license – which may not be sub-licensed – entitling the Contractual Partner to use the Sales Platform, including the web server, computers, and networks available at https://www.digistore24.com/, used to make this website available for purposes set out in the GTC.
Affiliates (acting as a Contractual Partner) may advertise a product and thus promote sales of such products (“Promotion”) within the framework of the Affiliate Program. For such activities, the Affiliate shall receive a commission from Digistore24 that is determined in each individual case for the respective product. Executing a promotion with the objective of receiving a portion of the sales price generated via the promotion (“Commission”) and using Digistore24 services or another online or offline channel or other medium for such purposes, is subject to the following terms and conditions:
For the advertised products, no services beyond the return or cancellation terms and conditions of Digistore24 shall be offered by the Affiliate, whether explicitly or implicitly, without the prior written consent of Digistore24.
When promoting a product, the Affiliate shall use any associated trademarks, logos and brand or service names that are either provided by Digistore24 or directly by the Vendor.
The Affiliate shall refrain from any prohibited or unauthorized use or any other breach, infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property rights of third parties such as patents, copyrights, trademarks or personality rights, name rights, trade secrets or other rights to intellectual or protected property.
No marketing content published or otherwise distributed by Affiliate shall:
Additional Prohibited Actions.
In addition to Contractual Partner’s obligations under this Agreement, Affiliate (Contractual Partner) shall not:
Even in cases where the Contractual Partner promotes a product as an Affiliate, the contract for the purchase of the product by the end customer is nonetheless concluded between Digistore24 and the end customer.
The Commission paid to Affiliate shall be specified on the Sales Platform for the corresponding Products and Promotions. Affiliate’s Commission is based on the Product to be marketed and will be agreed upon individually and may be calculated on the basis of the Sales Price. With the exception of Promotions designated as “Cost Per Action,” if an end-consumer returns, requests a refund, or initiates a chargeback for a Product, Digistore24 shall deduct the corresponding amount from Affiliate’s Commission. With the exception of Promotions designated as “Cost Per Action,” if a chargeback, refund, or return is initiated after the corresponding Commission has been paid to Affiliate, Digistore24 reserves to deduct such amount from future Commissions to Affiliate. Affiliate shall not receive a Commission if an Affiliate is also a Vendor and buys its own Product.
Vendor must create an account and submit an application to access the Sales Platform. By creating an account you warrant that the information provided is truthful and accurate and that Vendor is not misrepresenting their identity. Digistore24 will review Vendor’s information and may, in its sole discretion, determine whether to allow Vendor to access the Sales Platform. Vendor is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any credentials used to access Vendor’s account, and Vendor agrees not to transfer Vendor’s password or user name, or lend or otherwise transfer Vendor’s use of or access to Vendor’s account to any third party. Vendor is fully responsible for all transactions with, and information conveyed to, Digistore24 under Vendor’s account. Vendor agrees to immediately notify Digistore24 of any unauthorized use of Vendor’s credentials or any other breach of security related to Vendor’s account. Vendor agrees that Digistore24 is not liable, and Vendor will hold Digistore24 harmless, for any loss or damage arising from Vendor’s failure to comply with any of the foregoing obligations. Please see Section VIII below for additional information regarding Vendor’s indemnification obligations.
Upon creating an account, Vendor will be able to set up and register individual Products for sale using the Sales Platform. Instructions for product setup can be found on Digistore24’s website. Vendor authorizes Digistore24 to list all products registered by the Vendor for sale via the Sales Platform in a searchable online product marketplace operated by Digistore24 and to offer them for sale to buyers. At any time, Digistore24 may, at its own discretion, for any or no reason, with or without notice to the Vendor and without warranty for contractual penalties or liability claims, delete and remove products from the Sales Platform marketplace.
Digistore24 will provide Vendor a link that Vendor may integrate into its sales page (“Link”). End consumers who view Vendor’s sales page and choose to purchase the Product will be directed to the Sales Platform to complete the order. If a consumer completes an order on the Sales Platform, Digistore24 will purchase the corresponding Product from Vendor. Digistore24 will then sell the Product directly to the consumer. Upon completion of the order, Digistore24 will notify Vendor of the consumer’s order via email, API, or some other mutually-agreeable method. Digistore24 will pay Vendor directly for the product, as discussed in Section 3 (4). Digistore24’s fee for any product sales will be reflected in the Sales Platform, and expressly incorporated into this Agreement. Vendor shall fulfill the order submitted by the consumer and send the Product directly to the consumer. Vendor shall deliver the Product in accordance with the shipping method selected by the consumer. Vendor is not permitted to substitute the ordered product unless Vendor received Digistore24’s prior written consent. All order forms, receipts, and order confirmation forms shall reflect that the consumer purchased the product directly from Digistore24. For the avoidance of any doubt, the consumer’s contract to Purchase the product shall be between Digistore24 and the consumer. In this respect, the Vendor acts as a vicarious agent of Digistore24 vis-à-vis the customer.
Upon the sale of a product or a service, Digistore24 shall withhold the tax due in accordance with applicable law (e.g. VAT and use taxes) and remit them to the appropriate authorities. However, if taxes due on a purchase or sale are not withheld or remitted by Digistore24, the Vendor shall bear this responsibility in accordance with relevant laws and regulations which may vary by country. If necessary, an accountant may determine whether any such obligation applies. The Vendor states that in the event any such obligation applies, they assume the full responsibility for the timely payment of any taxes due. If the Vendor specifies a reduced VAT rate (e.g. eBooks) when selling a product, the Vendor warrants that such a product qualifies for the reduced VAT rate. The Vendor indemnifies Digistore24 against all claims of third parties, in particular the tax office or the tax investigation authorities, including any penalties or fines, arising from a culpable misstatement of the tax rate.
Products offered for sale via Digistore24 are subject to the following terms and conditions:
Vendor shall specify a non-binding price recommendation for the net sales price of each Product. Once an end consumer completes a purchase of the corresponding Product, Digistore24 shall pay Vendor an amount based on the non-binding price recommendation, plus tax due for the specific sale to the end customer (“Sales Price”), less a margin for Digistore24 pursuant to the then-current Digistore24 price list or separate agreement with the Vendor in relation to a specific Product (“Vendor Payments”). Vendor Payments shall be issued to Vendor via the payment method specified at the time of creating an account. Vendor Payments shall be issued within 60 days of the end-consumer’s purchase date, or in the time period specified on the Sales Platform or otherwise agreed to by the Parties. Without limiting the foregoing, Digistore24 reserves the right to extend the period in which it issues refunds to and accepts returns from end-consumers, up to 365 days after the date of purchase, in which case Vendor shall not receive Vendor Payments until such refunds and returns are processed by Digistore24. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement or on the Sales Platform to the contrary, Digistore24 expressly reserves the right withhold a percentage of Vendor Payments for an additional time period to account for potential or anticipated end-consumer chargebacks, refunds, and returns. Digistore24 reserves the right to extend the time for disbursement of Vendor Payments if Digistore24 considers the quantities of a Product sold are low in relation to the Product price. Digistore24 shall issue Vendor Payments only after a minimum Vendor Payment amount of € 50.00 is met. In the event that this minimum amount is not reached, Digistore24 shall withhold Vendor Payments until the minimum amount is reached. Except as otherwise set forth herein, in the event that this Agreement is terminated prior to reaching the minimum amount, a payment shall be made even if the Vendor Payments accrued are less than € 50.00, subject to the withholding period specified herein. In the event that an end-consumer requests a return or refund or initiates a chargeback for the Product, Digistore24 shall deduct the corresponding amount, including a transaction and chargeback fee, from Vendor Payments for such returns, refunds, or chargebacks. Digistore24 reserves the right to withhold Vendor Payments in whole or in part if it suspects that Contractual Partner has violated this Agreement, or any applicable law, rule, or regulation, or if Vendor’s Products are suspected or deemed to be defective, or if Vendor offers insufficient Product access or support, as determined by Digistore24 in its sole discretion.
Various Vendors and/or Affiliates have the opportunity to form a joint venture with Digistore24. The joint venture partners decide themselves in which relationship the individual services are provided (internal relationship). The entirety of the services of the joint venture partners are provided exclusively to Digistore24 (external relationship).
The creation of a joint venture requires registration in the designated mask at https://www.digistore24.com/. The joint venture partners must provide correct and complete information. They also undertake to regularly check that the information is correct and up to date. The information provided in the mask in the back office is significant for Digistore24, especially with regards to the payment of the purchase price and any commissions. Digistore24 does not carry out any checks on the individual details.
Digistore24 reserves the right to refuse joint venture partnerships.
The payment modalities regulated in 6 of these GTC shall apply in accordance with the ratios stipulated in the joint venture. As long as the claims have been assigned to individual joint venture partners in the internal relationship, Digistore24 shall pay the respective joint venture partner exclusively in the name of the assignee.
Digistore24 assumes no warranty or liability for the accuracy, completeness, relevance or timeliness of the contents of emails received by the Contractual Partner in connection with the direct or indirect advertisement, sale of a product or the use of a Digistore24 service.
Digistore24 assumes no responsibility for the contents, in particular for cash prizes, rewards, or other incentives offered by other Contractual Partners.
Information provided by Contractual Partners by email is voluntary and is not controlled by Digistore24.
The following actions are prohibited:
Digistore24 may, in its sole and absolute discretion, terminate its relationship with Contractual Partner and revoke access to the Sales Platform and/or Affiliate Program for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. Contractual Partner may terminate this Agreement upon 30 days’ written notice to Digistore24.
Some of activities include, but are not limited to:
In the event this Agreement is terminated by either party, Contractual Partner shall immediately cease using Digistore24’s Sales Platform and any related services, cease using any Digistore24 links or order forms, cease any Promotions as defined in Section 3, and return or destroy all of Digistore24’s Confidential Information, as defined by Section 9I. Within 30 days of termination, Contractual Partner shall provide written certification that Contractual Partner has returned or destroyed Digistore24’s Confidential Information.
Upon termination, Contractual Partner shall no longer be entitled to compensation of any kind. Except as provided in this section, Digistore24 will pay any unpaid Vendor Payments (as defined in Section IV(E)), Affiliate Commissions (as defined in Section V(B)), or other kinds of payments in accordance with this Agreement.
In the event that a Contractual Partner breaches this Agreement, or if Digistore24 suspects that Contractual Partner has breached this Agreement, Contractual Partner shall forfeit any unpaid Vendor Payments (as defined in Section IV(E)), Affiliate Commissions (as defined in Section V(B)), or other kinds of payments otherwise due by Digistore24. Alternatively, Digistore24, in its sole discretion, may elect to withhold unpaid Vendor Payments and Affiliate Commissions, or deduct the amount of previously paid Affiliate Commissions and Vendor Payments to Contractual Partner from future payments due to Contractual Partner (collectively, the “Withholding”) if: (1) Digistore24 suspects or determines, in its sole discretion, that Contractual Partner has breached this Agreement or violated any applicable law, rule, or regulation; (2) Digistore24 receives any complaints about Contractual Partner which Digistore24 reasonably believes to indicate Contractual Partner breached this Agreement or violated any applicable law, rule, or regulation; or (3) Digistore24 determines, in its sole discretion, that Digistore24 paid Contractual Partner Affiliate Commissions or Vendor Payments as a result of Contractual Partner’s breach of this Agreement or violation of any applicable law, rule, or regulation. The Withholding shall be used to offset Digistore24’s actual or potential losses and liabilities, including but not limited to Digistore24’s attorneys’ fees and costs, as a result of Contractual Partner’s breach of this Agreement. The Withholding is in addition to any other rights and remedies in law or equity that Digistore24 may have as a result of Contractual Partner’s breach of this Agreement.
As soon as a purchase agreement is concluded between Digistore24 and the end customer, Digistore24 purchases the product offered by the Vendor via Digistore24 as described in section 3.1.
Digistore24 pays the Vendor a purchase price for products sold to the end customer which is calculated as follows: the Vendor specifies a non-binding price recommendation for the purchase price in their account. The purchase price that Digistore24 pays to the Vendor is calculated based on the non-binding price recommendation plus the VAT incurred for the specific sale to the end customer (“sales price”) minus the Digistore24 margin pursuant to the respective Digistore24 price list or individual agreement with the Vendor in relation to a specific Product and minus any applicable commission for the Affiliate.
The payment of the purchase price to the Vendor shall constitute payment for the following services:
Digistore24 shall only state the applicable VAT in the invoice if the Contractual Partner has provided Digistore24 with a valid VAT ID number in good time prior to the creation of the invoice. There is no right to a subsequent correction of any invoice.
Digistore24 reserves the right to only make payouts to Contractual Partners who have provided a valid tax number or VAT ID and a valid telephone number.
The Contractual Partner shall be obliged to inform Digistore24 immediately of any changes in address, business name or other comparable changes in connection with the Contractual Partner’s details required for performance of the contract.
As a general rule, Digistore24 pays 90% of the purchase price to the Contractual Partner on the next possible payment date, at the earliest 14 days after a successful transaction, subject to payment by the end customer. 10% shall be paid out as a security deposit after 60 days. Digistore24 reserves the right to adjust these timeframes as seen necessary to protect the platform. Digistore24 reserves the right, at its own discretion, to withhold payment of all or part of the purchase price to the Contractual Partner in the event of suspicion of any of the actions listed under 3, as well as in the event of the sale of products with malfunctions, insufficient product access or insufficient support. The Contractual Partner shall be informed immediately by Digistore24 of the circumstances that lead to a withholding.
The demand on the payment of the purchase price pursuant to 3.5 arises under the condition precedent of full payment of the purchase price by the end customer to Digistore24. The amount payable to the Vendor shall be reduced accordingly if it is only partial payments, installments or installments are paid by the end customer.
The amount of the Affiliate’s commission is based on the marketed product and is agreed on individually. Depending on the individual agreement, Digistore24 shall pay the resulting commissions weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
Marketing by the Affiliate shall be deemed to have taken place if the contract between the Customer and Digistore24 is concluded no later than 6 months after the Customer clicked on the respective affiliate link to the purchased product. All data collected for traceability purposes between the time the affiliate link was clicked on and the contract was concluded shall be deleted by Digistore24 after 6 months.
There is no entitlement to a commission if an Affiliate is also a Vendor and purchases their own Product at the same time. There is also no right to a commission with a self-purchase, meaning, if the Affiliate purchases a product via their own Affiliate link.
The Affiliate's commission claim arises upon receipt of the purchase price by Digistore24. If only part of the purchase price is received, the commission claim corresponds to the proportion of the amount received. The commission claim expires if the underlying purchase contract is reversed and Digistore24 repays the purchase price to the buyer. If the Affiliate has already received the commission at the time of the reversal, they are obliged to reimburse it. Digistore24 shall be entitled to offset this repayment amount against current commissions (offsetting).
The contractual partner shall be obliged to check settlements, statements or overviews immediately after they become available. Objections with regard to the content must be raised in text form at the latest within 60 days. If the Contractual Partner does not object to errors in a credit note or invoice within 60 days after it has been issued, the credit note, or invoice shall be deemed to be correct. The credit note, or rather the invoice, shall be deemed to have been approved. Further complaints are then excluded. In particular, the Contractual Partner has a duty of regularly checking the credit notes and invoices in the Digistore24 back office.
The Contractual Partner agrees that the invoices shall be sent exclusively in electronic format.
The Contractual Partner is not permitted to use the name, trademarks, service marks or intellectual property rights belonging to Digistore24 in any form that implies an association with or approval by Digistore24 without the express, prior and written consent of Digistore24.
Any authorization granted by Digistore24 may be revoked at any time.
Digistore24 grants the Contractual Partner limited, revocable authorization to use the name Digistore24 and Digistore24.com exclusively as set out below:
The Vendor guarantees Digistore24 that it is the owner of all rights of the product and that it is the holder of all rights of the marketing materials that supplement the product, e.g. product descriptions, product information, customer reviews, images and other materials from the Vendor (hereafter referred to as the “Work”).
For the duration of their collaboration, the Vendor grants Digistore24 a free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, global right to use and exploit the work in a comprehensive manner, in particular for the purpose of commercial marketing. This grant expressly includes all forms of offering and promoting the products online, in particular the integration within fee-based or free online services, price search engines, blogs and websites.
If the product or work on offer is a digital product, the Vendor shall also grant Digistore24 the following additional rights of use:
In connection with the performance of this contract, the Vendor grants Digistore24 the right to use the respective title of the works as well as names, logos, images, trademarks and company symbols of both the Vendor and author of the work including expressly for promotional purposes.
The Vendor likewise grants Digistore24 the right to grant sub-licenses in connection with the rights of use granted above.
The Contractual Partner may be granted access to confidential information as part of the parties’ collaboration. In this context confidential information includes, but is not limited to, the identity of other Contractual Partners, information about buyers, information about physical security and data security, technical data, Digistore24 marketplace statistics and sales data, know-how, information about business processes, methods and marketing strategies. With the exception of fulfilling its obligations within the scope of the parties’ collaboration, the Contractual Partner may not disclose such confidential information to third parties or use such confidential information for their own benefit or the benefit or a third party without the express and prior written consent of Digistore24.
The confidential information may not be used to urge Digistore24 customers to use other services, or to cause them to be so urged, or to advertise for the sale of products that directly or indirectly compete against Digistore24 or Digistore24 services, including the function of the marketplace.
All suggestions, submissions, comments, ideas, concepts, informational materials and feedback sent to Digistore24 by the Contractual Partner shall be deemed non-confidential. The Contractual Partner grants Digistore24 and the licensees a global, permanent, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and transferable license, which may be sub-licensed, to reproduce, publicly display, distribute, perform, broadcast, edit, modify, alter and publish, sell, commercially exploit, use or disclose such non-confidential information for any purpose and in all forms and media currently known.
The Vendor has the option to use the “Digicall” tool. The Vendor may use this tool to request conclusion of a contract to Digistore24 via the order form on behalf of an Interested Party, providing the Interested Party’s personal data (name, telephone number, email address, address)
The vendor shall undertake, a) to contact the Interested Party by telephone or electronically for advertising purposes only after prior effective consent has been granted as well as to comply with the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, as amended, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and b) to disclose to the Interested Party that a contract shall only be concluded between the interested party and Digistore24 and c) to disclose to the Interested Party that the Vendor acts on behalf and as the representative of the Interested Party when placing the order using the Interested Party’s personal data.
The Vendor shall undertake to document in an appropriate form the prior express consent of the Interested Party to be contacted by telephone or other electronic means at the time it is granted and to retain it for five years.
The Contractual Partner shall be obliged to indemnify Digistore24 with respect to all compensation for damages and liability, claims, and costs (including the costs of legal investigation and defense as well as reasonable attorney’s fees, litigation, and court costs) in the event that claims are asserted against Digistore24 in connection with the use of Digistore24 services by the Contractual Partner and/or products or promotions.
The Contractual Partner shall be obliged to indemnify Digistore24 with regard to all compensation for damages and liability, claims and costs (including the costs of legal investigation and defense as well as reasonable attorney’s fees, litigation and court costs) asserted by a third party against Digistore24 on the basis of a defect in the product regardless of whether the claim relates to compensation for direct, incidental or indirect damages, penalties, statutorily prescribed damages or comparable damages.
In the event that the aforementioned claims are based on the Contractual Partner performing or being involved in the following actions, Digistore24 shall be entitled to offset payment obligations owed to the Contractual Partner, if any, against the aforementioned right to indemnification and to withhold the corresponding payments:
The Contractual Partner shall indemnify Digistore24 against all claims for damages and liability, claims and costs (including costs for legal clarification and defense, reasonable attorney's fees, costs of litigation and court costs), including fines imposed by authorities, in the event that claims are raised against Digistore24 concerning a violation of the obligations under this Agreement, obligations under competition law, obligations under data protection law or a violation of intellectual property rights of third parties of any kind by the Contractual Partner.
Digistore24 provides the Contractual Partner with various information and other services for temporary use. The content and scope of such services are specified in the relevant contractual agreement and otherwise based on the functions available at any given time on the portal.
Available services may also include third-party services for which Digistore24 merely facilitates access. Regulations that deviate from or supplement these terms and conditions of use may be applicable to the use of any such services. In all other respects, the right to use available services is limited to the scope of Digistore24’s technical and operational capabilities. Digistore24 endeavors to make the services available without interruption to the greatest extent possible. However, technical malfunctions (e.g. interruptions in power supply, hardware or software errors, technical problems in the data lines) may result in temporary limitations or interruptions.
Liability on the part of Digistore24, irrespective of legal grounds, is excluded unless it concerns the breach of an obligation, the fulfillment of which renders it possible to perform the contract in the first place and the performance of which the Contractual Partner may normally rely upon (“material contractual obligation”) as well as for damages related to an injury to life, body or health. In such cases, liability on the part of Digistore24 is unlimited.
The limitations on liability set out in section 10.3 of these GTC also apply in favor of Digistore24’s employees, representatives and agents.
In all other cases, the duty to indemnify is limited to foreseeable damages. Insofar as legally permissible, the exclusion of liability for Digistore24 applies in particular to system failures and the associated lost income or commissions. In the case of liability due to a system failure, liability is limited to recovery costs that would have been incurred had proper backups on data been made by the Contractual Partner.
Similarly, insofar as legally permissible, Digistore24 is not liable for lost income or commissions in the event of a tracking error.
The Contractual Partner grants Digistore24 the right to name them as a reference customer within the scope of commercial activity, regardless of the transmission, carrier and storage technologies, using its company logo.
The right shall be granted for a limited period of time for the contract duration, without any restrictions in terms of content and territory. It shall entail the right to describe the services of Digistore24 including, if applicable, verbatim quotations in whole or in part. Digistore24 shall also be entitled to use the name, logo, brand or trademark of the Contractual Partner for advertising purposes, particularly in electronic media.
The Contractual Partner may revoke this consent for good cause. The revocation must be issued at least in text form.
The place of performance for all claims arising under the contractual relationship is Dublin
Irish law shall apply subject to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
The contractual language is English.
Any modifications to this agreement must be made in writing. This written form requirement likewise applies to any waivers of this written form requirement.