Legal notice requirements for entrepreneurs
Anyone providing digital services on a business basis, generally for remuneration, must keep certain provider information easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available. The essential requirements follow from § 5 DDG.
What information belongs in the legal notice?
The information required depends in particular on the legal form and activity pursued.
Mandatory information may include in particular:
name or full company name,
legal form for legal persons,
address at which the provider is established,
authorised representative for legal persons,
information enabling rapid electronic contact and direct communication,
email address,
competent register and registration number, if registered,
competent supervisory authority if the activity requires official authorisation,
VAT identification number or business identification number, if such a number exists and must be stated under § 5 DDG,
additional professional information for certain regulated professions.
§ 5 DDG expressly requires, among other things, the name and establishment address, electronic contact options including an email address, and, where relevant, register, supervisory authority and tax identification details.
Do not confuse the tax number with the VAT identification number
The general tax number assigned by the tax office must not be confused with the VAT identification number (USt-IdNr.).
A general tax number is not among the mandatory information under § 5 DDG and therefore generally does not have to be made public solely because of the legal notice requirement.
However, if the provider has a VAT identification number under § 27a UStG or a business identification number under § 139c AO, § 5(1) no. 6 DDG requires it to be stated.
Additional information for special activities
Further information may be required for certain activities.
This concerns, for example, providers whose activity requires official authorisation and members of certain regulated professions. For regulated professions, information may be required about the competent professional chamber, the statutory professional title, the country where that title was awarded and the applicable professional rules, among other things.
Further information obligations under other legal provisions remain unaffected.
Keeping information up to date
The information in the legal notice should always be kept complete and up to date.
If, for example, the following change:
company name or legal form,
business address,
authorised representatives,
contact details,
register details, or
other mandatory information,
the legal notice should be updated accordingly.
The information should also not contradict other publicly used business information.
Consumer dispute resolution
Entrepreneurs maintaining their own website or using general terms and conditions must additionally check whether information obligations exist under the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG).
Under § 36 VSBG, an entrepreneur must generally inform consumers of the extent to which they are willing or obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer conciliation body. If participation is obligatory or the entrepreneur has committed to participating, details of the competent consumer conciliation body are also required.
Businesses that employed ten or fewer people on 31 December of the previous year are exempt only from the information obligation under § 36(1) no. 1 VSBG. The exception therefore does not mean that all obligations under the VSBG cease to apply to small businesses.
If a specific dispute arising from a consumer contract cannot be resolved between the entrepreneur and the consumer, a separate information obligation arises under § 37 VSBG. The entrepreneur must inform the consumer in text form of a competent consumer conciliation body and state whether they are willing or obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings. § 37 VSBG does not provide a corresponding ten-person exception for this obligation.
No more links to the former EU ODR platform
The former European online dispute resolution platform (ODR platform) has been discontinued.
No new complaints could be submitted through the platform from 20 March 2025. The underlying Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 was repealed with effect from 20 July 2025, and the platform was permanently discontinued.
Entrepreneurs should therefore remove previous references and links to the EU ODR platform from their websites, legal notices and general terms and conditions.
Legal notice on Suchen.Expert
Entrepreneurs themselves are responsible for ensuring that the provider and business information they enter on Suchen.Expert complies with the legal requirements applicable to their activity and is kept up to date.
Suchen.Expert provides technical facilities for entering and displaying business information. This does not include a legal assessment of the legal notice or the individual statutory obligations of the user concerned.
If there is uncertainty about the information required, the legal notice should be reviewed from a legal perspective.
