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Statutes of the Supporters’ Association

§ 1 Name and Seat

  1. The association founded on 04. 12. 2022 bears the following name: Verein zur Unterstützung hochwertiger und vertrauenswürdiger Nachrichten, deren Erstellung und Verbreitung (iKANTOS-Supporters’ Association).
  2. The association shall be entered in the register of associations. From the time of registration, the association shall bear the suffix “e.V.”.
  3. The Association shall have its registered office in Dresden.
  4. The financial year of the Association shall be the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose of the Association

  1. The purpose of the Association is the promotion of high-quality and trustworthy news, its production and distribution.
  2. The purpose of the statutes is realised in particular through the following activities:
  • Non-profit-oriented support of start-ups in the IT sector,
    • whose economic activities are geared towards providing products that contribute to improving the diversity, quality and trustworthiness of news contributions and actively promote the formation of political opinion through a broader social political discourse, as an indispensable prerequisite for the financial allocation of association funds,
    • whose research activities, in cooperation with public research institutions, focus on the further development of technologies in the areas of swarm intelligence, deep learning and semantic language and text analysis, and
    • which publish the algorithms on which their products are based in the public domain at periodic intervals, provided that these are proprietary developments or have not already been made public in advance by third parties.
  • The beneficiary of the association’s start-up funding is iKANTOS Media GmbH. In the event that iKANTOS Media GmbH does not exist by the end of the year in which the association is entered in the register of associations, another company may also be appointed as beneficiary by the general meeting, provided it meets the requirements of a).
  • Participation in companies financially supported by the association as a shareholder with a corresponding blocking minority of voting rights in order to enforce the interest inherent in the association of a compulsory publication of the algorithms relevant to the product.
  • The association intends to provide information and training in the form of events, digital and printed brochures that give participants and interested parties insights into the flow of news from observation to publication, the work of journalists and the application of new IT technologies to implement journalistic quality criteria in practice.
  • Discounted/free use by association members of products of the beneficiary IT start-up that contribute to improving the diversity, quality and trustworthiness of news contributions and actively promote the formation of political opinion via a broader social political discourse.

§ 3 Selfless activity

The Association does not pursue any economic purposes of its own.

§ 4 Use of funds

All funds of the Association may only be used for the purposes set out in these Statutes. Donations or shares in the profits of the Association to members of the Association are excluded.

§ 5 Prohibition and favours

Favourable treatment of persons in the form of expenditure or disproportionately high remuneration, which is alien to the purpose of the Association, is excluded.

§ 6 Acquisition and termination of membership

  1. Members of the Association may be natural persons (of full age) and partnerships as well as legal entities. Accordingly, natural persons or representatives of legal persons or partnerships are eligible to apply. After verification of the applicant, the Board shall vote on the admission. Membership begins with the decision on admission. There is no right to be admitted as a member.
  2. Membership must be applied for in writing. The application for admission can be made via an online form or the booking of an online subscription on the Association’s website, or by sending it to the Association’s address.
  3. Resignation from the association is permissible for members subject to a period of notice. The period of notice shall be 1 month to the end of the following month.
  4. Members whose behaviour grossly violates the interests, the statutes or the resolutions and orders of the association can be excluded from the association. The General Assembly shall decide on the exclusion of the members concerned.
  5. Membership ends with the written declaration of resignation, exclusion, cessation of regular membership fee payments of a member, in the case of natural persons also with death, in the case of legal persons also with their dissolution or in the case of partnerships also with their termination.
  6. The resigned or expelled member has no claim on the assets of the association.

§ 7 Rights & Duties of Members

  1. Each member is obliged to observe and comply with the provisions of these Statutes and the Rules of the Association.
  2. Each member is obliged to observe the purpose of the Association, to promote the interests of the Association and to support the life of the Association through his/her cooperation as far as he/she is able.
  3. Each member may participate in the general meeting.
  4. Each member shall have equal voting and election rights in the General Assembly.
  5. Absent members may also exercise their voting and election rights by postal vote or by comparable secure electronic forms of voting.
  6. Every member has the right to use facilities of the Association and to participate in Association events.

§ 8 Contributions

  1. Members of the Association are obliged to pay dues for their membership. The amount of the membership fees shall be determined by the General Assembly.
  2. Membership fees shall be due at the beginning of each month or year, depending on the payment period. Excess fees paid in advance beyond the date of a member’s resignation are not repayable.

§ 9 Organs of the Association

The organs of the Association are as follows:

  1. the general meeting of members
  2. the Executive Committee

§ 10 General Meeting of Members

  1. The ordinary general meeting shall be held once a year. Furthermore, an extraordinary general meeting must be convened if the interest of the association requires it or if at least 1/3 of the members request the convening in writing, stating the purpose and the reasons.
  2. Membership meetings shall be convened by the Executive Committee in writing or in text form by e-mail, stating the agenda. The invitation period for each general meeting shall be 4 weeks. In urgent cases, the Executive Committee may shorten this period to 2 weeks.
  3. The chairman of the meeting shall be the first chairman. If the first chairperson is unable to attend, the second chairperson shall chair the meeting. If neither the first chairperson nor the second chairperson is present, a chairperson shall be elected by the general meeting.
  4. In the absence of the Secretary, the Secretary shall be elected by the General Assembly.
  5. Any General Assembly duly convened shall constitute a quorum irrespective of the number of members actually present.
  6. Resolutions of the General Assembly shall be passed by a simple majority of the valid votes cast.
  7. Furthermore, minutes shall be taken of the resolutions of the General Assembly. The minutes shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting and the secretary.
  8. Motions may be submitted by:
    • any member
    • by the Executive Committee
  9. Motions must be received by the Executive Committee of the Association 1 month before the General Assembly. If the motion is received later, it may only be considered if the urgency is affirmed by a 2/3 majority. The same applies to amendments to the Statutes.
  10. The general meeting may be held in person or online.

§ 11 Voting rights and eligibility

All members have the right to vote and to be elected.

§ 12 Executive Committee

  1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson and, if necessary, a second Deputy Chairperson and Assessors. Up to a membership of 500 members, one member of the Executive Committee shall also act as Treasurer. If the number of members exceeds 500, the General Assembly shall also elect a Treasurer to the Executive Committee.
  2. The Executive Board shall conduct the business in accordance with the Statutes and the resolutions of the General Assembly. It passes its resolutions by simple majority. In the event of a tie, the Chairperson or, in his or her absence, his or her deputy shall have the casting vote. The Executive Committee organises and supervises the affairs of the Association, the activities of the departments and reports to the General Assembly on its activities. Resolutions may also be passed in writing by circulation. The Executive Committee is entitled to appoint committees for specific purposes. The Executive Committee may issue binding by-laws.
  3. The Association shall be represented in and out of court by the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and the Treasurer, each acting alone. In the internal relationship, however, the Vice-Chairman may only act if the Chairman is prevented from doing so. The Treasurer may only act in the internal relationship if the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are prevented.
  4. The members of the Executive Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly for two years at a time. Re-election is permitted. The incumbent members of the Executive Committee shall remain in office until a new Executive Committee has been elected.
  5. The Executive Committee shall convene its meetings with 7 days’ notice. The meeting shall be convened by the Chairperson and shall be sent to each Board member in text form. Each member of the Executive Board is entitled to register items for the agenda. The registration must take place at least 4 days before the respective meeting and must be sent by the chairperson to all board members after the end of the last day of the period.
  6. Board meetings may be held in person or online.
  7. The members of the Executive Board are entitled to reimbursement of expenses according to § 27 section 3 in conjunction with 670 BGB. This claim relates to all actual expenses incurred in connection with their work for the Association. These include, in particular, travel costs, postage, expenses for office material, rent and telecommunication costs. The expenses must be verifiable to the association with verifiable evidence.

§ 13 Auditor

  1. The General Assembly shall elect an auditor for a period of two years who shall not be a member of the Executive Committee or a committee.
  2. The cash auditor shall audit the cash or accounts of the Association, including the books and vouchers, at least once in each financial year and report in writing to the Executive Committee.
  3. The auditor shall submit an auditor’s report to the General Assembly and, if the cash transactions are conducted properly, shall propose the discharge of the Executive Committee.

§ 14 Dissolution, accrual of the Association's assets

  1. The Association may be dissolved by a 2/3 majority of the valid votes cast.
  2. The liquidators shall be the first Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson. The General Assembly is entitled to appoint two other members of the Association as liquidators.
  3. Should the Association be dissolved, the assets of the Association, insofar as they exceed existing liabilities, shall fall to the legal entity designated below:
  4. “Dietrich and Elke Möller Foundation”, Landshuter Allee 11, 80637 Munich.
  5. This legal entity shall use the assets directly and exclusively for the purpose of the Foundation.

§ 15 Entry into Force

  1. The Statutes in their present form were adopted by the General Meeting of the Association on 04. 12. 2022 and shall enter into force upon signature.
  2. The statutes were amended by resolution of the general meeting on 23.04.2023.

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Translated by https://www.deepl.com/translator [2023-07-10]