Obligation to provide imprint for provisional website?

Must the operator of a commercial website that was accidentally posted on the internet provide an imprint as provided for in principle by the Teleservices Act (TMG), or is this merely a minor infringement with no competition law consequences? The Regional Court (LG) Essen recently had to decide this in the course of a cease-and-desist action.

The landlord of a holiday property on Borkum offered his holiday home for rent on its own website. The website was created in 2007, but was never completed. The texts were partially unfinished and some images were displayed rotated. The website was put online only by mistake.

A competitor warned the property agent about the missing provider identification on its website. However, the landlord did not make any cease-and-desist declaration as he considered the matter a minor infringement.

Court decision

The Regional Court (LG) Essen ruled by judgment of 13.11.2014 (Az. 4 O 97/14) that even a website that was posted online only accidentally or only temporarily must have a complete imprint.

A minor infringement could not be assumed, as a violation of the obligations to provide provider identification is always material and thus also an unlawful act under competition law. Furthermore, fault is not required for the asserted claim for cease-and-desist relief under competition law. Therefore, the question of whether the operator unintentionally posted its website online is not relevant.

Conclusion

As soon as goods and/or services are offered on the internet, the mandatory information prescribed in the TMG must be observed. Even mere advertising for goods without direct ordering capability is to be regarded as a teleservices offering. As a result, even in the case of a provisional website, an imprint must already be provided.