Guide Last checked: October 2026 8 min read

Legal notice (Impressum): rules in Germany and Poland

Visitors and authorities should be able to see who runs a website and how to reach that person or company. Germany and Poland ask for similar details, but in different laws. This guide lists them, shows two example layouts and names the old entries you can delete.

This text is not legal advice

It explains the rules for the provider details of commercial websites in Germany and Poland in plain words. It describes EU law and German and Polish law; other countries may have different national rules. As of: 30 October 2026. Other duties, for example for journalistic content or for consumer contracts, are not covered. If you are not sure, ask a lawyer or your chamber.

Germany: § 5 DDG

The Digital Services Act (Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz, DDG) of 6 May 2024 entered into force on 14 May 2024. Under § 5(1), providers of commercial digital services that are usually offered for remuneration keep the following information easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available:

Name and address of the establishment. Legal entities also give their legal form and authorised representatives and, if they state their capital, the share capital and any outstanding contributions (No. 1).
Details for fast electronic contact and direct communication, including an e-mail address (No. 2).
The supervisory authority, if the activity needs official approval (No. 3).
The commercial, association, partnership or cooperative register and the registration number (No. 4).
For regulated professions: the chamber, the statutory professional title and the state that awarded it, and the professional rules and how to access them (No. 5).
The VAT identification number or economic identification number, if you have one (No. 6).
Companies in liquidation say so (No. 7). No. 8 covers audiovisual media services.

Anyone who does not keep this information available, or not correctly or completely, commits an administrative offence (§ 33(2) No. 1), with a fine of up to 50,000 euros (§ 33(6) No. 3). Further information duties under other laws remain (§ 5(2)). If your page still refers to the Telemediengesetz (TMG), update it: the rule is now in § 5 DDG, and gesetze-im-internet.de no longer lists the TMG.

What the rules ask for

Germany (§ 5 DDG)

Name and address of the establishment
E-mail and another way of fast electronic contact
Legal entities: legal form and authorised representatives
Register and registration number
VAT ID or economic ID number, if you have one
Supervisory authority, chamber and professional rules, if they apply
Fine of up to 50,000 euros (§ 33 DDG)

Poland

Name or business name with address, for companies seat and address (UŚUDE art. 5)
Electronic addresses (UŚUDE art. 5)
Offers at a distance: at least business name, NIP and seat or address (PP art. 20)
sp. z o.o. and S.A.: registry court and KRS number (KSH)
sp. z o.o. and S.A.: NIP and share capital (KSH)
Permit and authority; for regulated professions the professional body and rules (UŚUDE art. 5)
Fine under UŚUDE art. 23

Short summary. The exact wording is in the laws linked below. Poland: UŚUDE = act on providing services by electronic means, PP = Entrepreneurs Law, KSH = Commercial Companies Code.

Poland: three laws

The act on providing services by electronic means (consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 1513) applies to anyone who provides services by electronic means as part of a business or profession, even on the side. Under art. 5 the service provider gives clearly, unambiguously and directly accessible: its electronic addresses, and its name, place of residence and address, or business name, seat and address. If the activity needs a permit, it also names the permit and the authority, and regulated professions add their professional details. Art. 23 sets a fine for missing, false or incomplete details. The amending act Dz.U. 2026 item 1296, in force from 6 November 2026, does not change art. 5.

Entrepreneurs Law (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 1480), art. 20(3): an entrepreneur who offers goods or services in direct or distance selling through mass media, ICT networks or unaddressed prints puts at least its business name, NIP and seat or address in the offer. Art. 21 deals with information on goods and their packaging, not with websites.

Commercial Companies Code (consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 18), art. 206 § 1 for a sp. z o.o. and art. 374 § 1 for an S.A.: information on the company website contains the business name, seat and address, the registry court and KRS number, the NIP and the share capital, for an S.A. also the paid-in capital. A sp. z o.o. whose articles were made with the statutory contract template adds, until the capital is paid, that the contributions have not been made. Groups of companies say so.

Poland: which details on the website?

Is your business a sp. z o.o. or an S.A.?

Yes

In addition to art. 5 of the act on electronic services, the website shows business name, seat and address, registry court and KRS number, NIP and share capital (KSH art. 206 § 1 or art. 374 § 1).

Art. 5 of the act on electronic services applies: electronic addresses, name and address. If you sell at a distance, the offer shows at least business name, NIP and seat or address (PP art. 20(3)).

A working question for your own website, not a legal test.

Where the details belong

On a page of their own, called for example ‘Legal notice’, ‘Impressum’ or ‘Nota prawna’, linked in the footer of every page.
As text, not as an image, so that people can copy it and screen readers can read it.
Also in the mobile view and in an app, not only on the desktop website.
In a shop, check the offer itself as well: the Polish rule in art. 20(3) refers to the offer.

Old entries to remove

Regulation (EU) 2024/3228 repealed the regulation on online dispute resolution with effect from 20 July 2025 and discontinued the EU platform. Remove the link to the platform and the sentence about it from your legal notice. Information duties about consumer dispute resolution bodies under other laws are a separate topic and are not covered here.

Example layouts

Two layouts with placeholders. Use only the lines that apply to you and check every line against your register entry. For a German GmbH:

Legal notice
[Company name] GmbH
[Street and number], [postcode] [town], Germany
Managing director: [name]
E-mail: [address]
Phone: [number]
Commercial register: Amtsgericht [town], HRB [number]
VAT ID: [number]

For a Polish sp. z o.o.:

Nota prawna
[Company name] sp. z o.o.
ul. [street and number], [postcode] [town], Poland
Registry court: [court and division]
KRS: [number]
NIP: [number]
Share capital: [amount] PLN
E-mail: [address]

A website with a highlighted link in its footer. An arrow leads from the link to a card with the provider details: a building for the company, a location pin for the address, an envelope for e-mail and a row of boxes for a register number. — One link in the footer of every page leads to all provider details.

Check after every change

You move, or the address of the registered office changes.
A new managing director or board member starts.
The register number, legal form or company name changes.
You receive a VAT ID or change the e-mail address.
A relaunch, a new domain or a new shop theme replaces the footer.

Work with Do4U

The Legal notice check reads the legal notice of your website. You enter the address of the legal notice or of your start page, or paste HTML or text; from a start page Do4U follows the link to the legal notice of the same website. The code finds name, legal form, representatives, address, e-mail, phone, register and number, VAT ID or NIP, share capital and more. For every point you see whether it was found, is missing or should be checked, with a quote from your page and the rule. It cannot know whether the details are true.

Do4U finds hints. It never says that a legal notice is complete or correct. You check each point and decide.