Impressum

An impressum (from Latin impressum, "the impressed, engraved, pressed in, impression", English imprint) is the term given to a legally mandated statement of the ownership and authorship of a document, which must be included in books, newspapers, magazines and websites published in Germany and certain other German-speaking countries, such as Austria and Switzerland.

Aside from its use on websites, it is identical to the printer's imprint as defined under UK law. Under the UK Printer's Imprint Act 1961, which amended the earlier Newspapers, Printers, and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869, any printer must put their name and address on the first or last leaf of every paper or book they print or face a penalty of up to £50 per copy.

The UK Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 extends the use of imprints in the case any election material to include all forms of communication, including websites and social media accounts. All election material is also required to show the name of the promoter of the material and the name and address of the person on whose behalf it is being published.

There is no equivalent legislation in the United States, and therefore some confusion when the term is used outside England or globally. Facebook, for example, asks users to add an impressum for user-created pages. Outside Facebook, and outside the UK, the closest English-language terms for impressum are:

None of these terms is an exact equivalent in all contexts. The terms "masthead" and "colophon" apply to printed publications only and are not commonly used on English-language websites, while "site notice" is website-specific and "legal notice" or "legal disclosure" are rarely found in printed works. An "imprint" in publishing may also mean a brand name under which a work is published, and so may not be understood to mean an Impressum.

The (German meaning "Telemedia Act") requires that German websites disclose information about the publisher, including their name and address, telephone number or e-mail address, trade registry number, VAT number, and other information depending on the type of company. German websites are defined as being published by individuals or organisations that are based in Germany, so an Impressum is required regardless of whether a site is in the .de domain.

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