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I have a small website that happens to be hosted in Germany since a German company donated a server. We had to add an "Impressum" with our contact details to m

by slyall 4y ago

I have a small website that happens to be hosted in Germany since a German company donated a server. We had to add an "Impressum" with our contact details to make sure we didn't get hit with a letter demanding money from one of the law firms that specialise in shaking down sites that are missing them.

nicbou 4y ago
You can just tell them to sod off. The Impressum requirement is for German commercial websites. If you are not bound by this law, you don't have to obey it.
- iggldiggl 4y ago
  1. The legal definition of what's "commercial" under that law and what's not isn't necessarily quite as straightforward as a layman might think. (For one, that law doesn't literally say "commercial" ("gewerbsmäßig"), but rather "geschäftsmäßig" ("business-like"), which apparently can be interpreted to not require an intent to make money, but instead to include anything you plan on regularly doing). 2. Assuming you're referring to the Telemediengesetz, there's a second law (Medienstaatsvertrag) which mandates an imprint for anything that's not strictly for "personal or family purposes". Depending on who you ask, those two terms also require a rather narrow reading, so anything beyond a strictly private family diary (careful not to make references to any outside persons or businesses, though, because those entities will then have a legal interest in being able to identify you in case you malign them!) or family pictures or your private Dropbox replacement (ideally all the above should be password-protected and therefore not accessible by the general public anyway) might again already be in a grey area. 2b. Additionally, blogs can enter another grey area where depending on what and how you're blogging about, they might be classified as a journalistic service offering and therefore require an extended imprint, too.
BrandoElFollito 4y ago
So what could happen, in practical terms? If you are not located in Germany and do not have business there (I mean monetary business, one you can draw money from) then good luck for them trying to get something from you.

by slyall 4y ago

nicbou 4y ago

You can just tell them to sod off. The Impressum requirement is for German commercial websites. If you are not bound by this law, you don't have to obey it.

iggldiggl 4y ago
1. The legal definition of what's "commercial" under that law and what's not isn't necessarily quite as straightforward as a layman might think. (For one, that law doesn't literally say "commercial" ("gewerbsmäßig"), but rather "geschäftsmäßig" ("business-like"), which apparently can be interpreted to not require an intent to make money, but instead to include anything you plan on regularly doing). 2. Assuming you're referring to the Telemediengesetz, there's a second law (Medienstaatsvertrag) which mandates an imprint for anything that's not strictly for "personal or family purposes". Depending on who you ask, those two terms also require a rather narrow reading, so anything beyond a strictly private family diary (careful not to make references to any outside persons or businesses, though, because those entities will then have a legal interest in being able to identify you in case you malign them!) or family pictures or your private Dropbox replacement (ideally all the above should be password-protected and therefore not accessible by the general public anyway) might again already be in a grey area. 2b. Additionally, blogs can enter another grey area where depending on what and how you're blogging about, they might be classified as a journalistic service offering and therefore require an extended imprint, too.

BrandoElFollito 4y ago

So what could happen, in practical terms? If you are not located in Germany and do not have business there (I mean monetary business, one you can draw money from) then good luck for them trying to get something from you.