Terms of Service

1. Parties and Scope

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern all services provided by Zaher Alkaei, operating under the trading name Discursa, a freelance professional based in Berlin, Germany ("Discursa", "we", "us") to business clients ("Client", "you").

By requesting a demo, commissioning a report, or entering into a written engagement agreement with Discursa, you agree to these Terms. If you are acting on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

These Terms apply to business-to-business (B2B) relationships only. Discursa does not contract directly with consumers within the meaning of § 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB).

2. Services

Discursa provides Arabic discourse intelligence services, including but not limited to:

• Image Tracking — monitoring how a brand, subject, or narrative is perceived across Arabic-language media;
• Topic Tracking — real-time mapping of conversations across Arabic-speaking platforms and communities;
• Benchmarking — comparative positioning analysis across Arabic-speaking markets;
• Consumer Behaviour Analysis — sentiment signals, purchase intent, and cultural preference patterns among Arabic audiences.

Each engagement is scoped individually. The specific deliverables, timelines, and fees for each commission are set out in a separate written brief or order confirmation ("Engagement Brief").

3. Commissioning and Order Process

3.1 Scoping

Each engagement begins with a scoping call or written exchange in which Discursa and the Client agree on the subject, geographic scope, platforms to be monitored, output format, and delivery timeline.

3.2 Order Confirmation

An engagement is confirmed when the Client accepts the Engagement Brief in writing (including by email). Discursa will not commence work without written confirmation.

3.3 Changes to Scope

Material changes to the scope of an engagement requested after confirmation may be subject to a revised timeline and additional fees, to be agreed in writing before implementation.

4. Fees and Payment

4.1 Pricing

Fees are quoted in euros (EUR) and set out in the Engagement Brief. All prices are exclusive of value added tax (VAT), which will be added at the applicable rate where required by law.

4.2 Invoicing

Discursa will issue invoices in accordance with the payment schedule agreed in the Engagement Brief. Unless otherwise agreed, 50% of the fee is due upon confirmation of the engagement and the remaining 50% upon delivery of the final report.

4.3 Payment terms

Invoices are payable within 14 days of the invoice date. In the event of late payment, Discursa reserves the right to charge statutory default interest pursuant to § 288(2) BGB (currently 9 percentage points above the base rate) and to suspend work until outstanding amounts are settled.

4.4 Expenses

Any reasonable, pre-agreed out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. translation costs, licensed data sources) will be reimbursed at cost against receipts.

5. Delivery and Acceptance

Discursa will deliver reports in the format and by the deadline specified in the Engagement Brief. Upon delivery, the Client has 5 business days to raise any substantive objections in writing. If no objection is raised within this period, the deliverable is deemed accepted.

Where a Client raises legitimate objections within the review period, Discursa will address them within a timeframe to be agreed. Minor corrections do not affect the payment obligation.

6. Intellectual Property

6.1 Discursa's methodology and tools

All proprietary methodology, analytical frameworks, software, processes, and know-how developed by Discursa remain the exclusive intellectual property of Discursa. These Terms do not transfer any rights in Discursa's underlying systems or methodology to the Client.

6.2 Delivered reports

Upon full payment of the applicable fees, Discursa grants the Client a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the delivered report for the Client's internal business purposes. The Client may share the report internally within its organisation.

6.3 Restrictions

The Client may not:

• publish, sell, sublicense, or externally distribute a delivered report without Discursa's prior written consent;
• remove or obscure any proprietary notices, authorship credits, or branding from delivered materials;
• use delivered reports to train machine learning models or to build competing products.

Any use of Discursa's name, brand, or report content in external publications (e.g. press releases, social media) requires prior written approval.

7. Confidentiality

Each party agrees to keep the other party's confidential information — including Engagement Briefs, pricing, methodologies, and unpublished findings — strictly confidential and to use it solely for the purposes of the engagement. Confidential information shall not be disclosed to third parties without prior written consent, except as required by law or court order.

This obligation survives termination or expiry of an engagement for a period of three (3) years.

8. Data Protection

Each party is responsible for its own compliance with applicable data protection law, including the GDPR. Where Discursa processes personal data on behalf of the Client in the course of an engagement, the parties will enter into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as required by Article 28 GDPR prior to commencement of such processing.

Discursa's processing of personal data provided by Clients (e.g. contact information, demo request data) is governed by our Privacy Policy.

9. Warranties

Discursa warrants that:

• it will perform services with reasonable care and skill;
• it has the right to provide the services and grant the licences described in these Terms;
• the services will not, to the best of Discursa's knowledge, infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Discursa does not warrant that its analysis will be error-free, complete, or suitable for any particular purpose beyond that described in the Engagement Brief. Discourse analysis involves interpretive judgement; findings should not be treated as the sole basis for significant business or policy decisions without independent verification.

10. Limitation of Liability

10.1 Exclusions

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes either party's liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

10.2 Indirect losses

Subject to clause 10.1, Discursa shall not be liable for any indirect, consequential, incidental, or special loss or damage, including loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of data, or loss of business opportunity, even if advised of the possibility of such loss.

10.3 Cap on liability

Subject to clause 10.1, Discursa's total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with any single engagement shall not exceed the total fees paid by the Client for that engagement.

11. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms to the extent caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, war, acts of government, or widespread internet or infrastructure outages. The affected party shall notify the other promptly and resume performance as soon as reasonably practicable.

12. Term and Termination

12.1 Project-based engagements

These Terms apply to each discrete engagement and expire upon delivery and full payment unless an ongoing arrangement is agreed in writing.

12.2 Termination for cause

Either party may terminate an engagement immediately upon written notice if the other party: (a) commits a material breach that is not remedied within 10 business days of written notice; or (b) becomes insolvent, enters administration, or ceases to carry on business.

12.3 Effect of termination

Upon termination, the Client shall pay for all work completed up to the date of termination on a pro-rata basis. Clauses 6 (Intellectual Property), 7 (Confidentiality), 8 (Data Protection), 10 (Limitation of Liability), and 13 (Governing Law) survive termination.

13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms is Berlin, Germany. This does not affect either party's right to seek injunctive relief in any competent court.

14. Miscellaneous

14.1 Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the applicable Engagement Brief, constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding the subject matter and supersede all prior representations, discussions, and agreements.

14.2 Amendments

Discursa reserves the right to update these Terms. Clients will be notified of material changes before they take effect. Continued use of Discursa's services after notification constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

14.3 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a valid provision that achieves the closest possible legal and economic effect to the original.

14.4 No waiver

Failure by either party to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that party's right to enforce the same provision at a later time.

14.5 Language

These Terms are provided in English. In the event of any inconsistency between an English and a German version, the German version shall prevail for the purpose of interpretation under German law.

15. Contact

For contractual enquiries, please contact:

Zaher Alkaei
trading as Discursa
[Street address]
[Postcode] Berlin, Germany

Email: info@discursa.io