The imprint requirement - a must-have for companies from outside Germany?

Always the right contact person at hand

According to § 5 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG), the mandatory information to be provided includes name, address, contact information, and in the case of legal entities also the legal form of the entity, the registry number and the authorised representative, e.g. the managing director. In addition, the imprint must be accessible from every sub-site of the website. But time and again, providers of such websites do not have an imprint on their website. In such cases, organisations can be fined for violating the imprint obligation, which can get quite expensive.

In the name of... consumer protection

Generally, the country-of-origin-principle according to § 3 Abs. 1 TMG applies, meaning that foreign organisations are not subject to the imprint requirement. However, many organisations do not know that a business location in Germany (a desk in a co-working space is already sufficient) leads to an imprint obligation. The same applies if the foreign organisation directly addresses the German market with its website, i.e. actively is acquiring customers in Germany. In this case, the organisation concerned must make an imprint available, because the German consumers have – according to a judgement of the regional court Frankfurt a.M. (Judgement of 28.03.2003, Az. 3-12 O 151/02) – an interest to know which law the foreign organisation is subject to, who exactly is the contact person and which agency relationships exist.

Foreign organisations with German customers

Especially small companies and start-ups can hardly oppose the penalties resulting from a breach of the imprint requirement, which result from a violation of the imprint obligation. These can quickly become a financial and legal issue. It is therefore better to display an imprint on the website, even if you are not sure if your organisation needs one.