Legal texts for online stores: tips for a legally compliant website

What belongs in the legal notice? Are GTC mandatory? And what should a privacy policy look like? Legal texts are extremely important for online stores. Because even small mistakes in the design can lead to an expensive warning if the worst comes to the worst.nullIt is therefore advisable to rely on professional support for online store legal texts. A specialist lawyer will use their expertise to help you avoid the most common mistakes and make the legal texts on your website legally compliant.

B2B or B2C: commercial customers or end consumers?

The question of whether your online store is aimed at end consumers (B2C = business to consumer) or entrepreneurs (B2B = business to business) is of great importance for the legal texts of your online presence. Consumers are particularly protected by law, as the legislator assumes that they have a greater need for information and protection than entrepreneurs.nullIf you also sell to private customers, your online store is subject to numerous strict provisions of distance selling law. If you do not implement the legal texts in your online store in a legally compliant manner, you can be warned by consumer protection associations, competitors and competition authorities, for example.nullAs every business model and company has its own special features, the formulation of legal texts on a website is complex. For this reason, it is advisable to commission a specialized lawyer to draft the relevant texts. This will ensure the legal security of your online presence and protect you from expensive warnings.

Online store legal texts: research before domain registration saves time & money

The domain is the first advertisement for your online store. Although the quick registration may seem tempting at first, it harbors great legal risks. Background: The central registry in Germany (DENIC) only checks whether a domain with the same name already exists, but does not check for any third-party rights.nullThis means: If your desired domain has already been registered as a trademark or is protected as a company trademark or work title, you may face legal consequences in the form of injunctive relief and claims for damages.nullProfessional research in advance prevents you from investing in a domain that has to be deleted or whose registration leads to a costly legal dispute. For identity and similarity searches, experienced lawyers use special software that checks your desired domain for possible infringements of third-party name, trademark or brand rights.

Similarity and identity research

Tip: Recht 24/7 carries out a comprehensive similarity and identity search as part of the trademark application. Use the search results to obtain your trademark.

Legal texts in online stores: Incorrect legal notice is a frequent reason for warnings

Online stores in Germany are required to provide a legal notice. This is intended to ensure that you as the operator can be clearly identified and contacted by visitors to your website.nullThe legal notice is one of the most important legal texts in your online store due to the potential risk of warnings. It must according to the law:

• easily recognizable
• directly accessible and
• be available at all times.

You can achieve this by including the legal notice in the header or footer as a recurring link.

The mandatory information in the imprint includes

• Name of the company or website operator, legal form if applicable, if the company is a legal entity (e.g. GmbH, AG) or a partnership (e.g. GbR, OHG)
• Representation of the company: partners authorized to represent the company (GbR, OHG sole proprietors), managing directors (GmbHs) or board members (AGs)
• complete, summonable address: PO boxes are not sufficient
• Contact details (at least: e-mail address and telephone number)
• Register and register number, if there is an entry in the commercial, association or cooperative register
• Sales tax identification number, if available

There may also be additional information requirements for professions with special qualifications that require a license. If you are self-employed as a doctor or lawyer, for example, your professional title, the responsible chamber and the applicable professional regulations must be mentioned in the legal notice.

Liability and disclaimer: No blanket exclusion of liability possible

As the operator of an online store, you are generally responsible for all content on your website. This applies to both your own content and third-party content, for example content that is hidden behind an external link. Prerequisite: You have not removed the external link despite being aware of an existing infringement or have linked to a website with clearly criminal content from the outset.nullDisclaimers can often be found on the Internet.

However, disclaimers are neither an official part of the legal notice, nor are they mandatory. Liability as an online store operator cannot be excluded across the board and claims as an author arise with the creation of the work (e.g. text, photo, video) - and not through a corresponding disclaimer.nullDisclaimers are therefore not absolutely necessary to legally protect your online store. In fact, incorrect disclaimers are grounds for a warning. For example, if you exclude liability for the accuracy of your content, although as a website operator you are responsible for the accuracy of product descriptions and prices, for example.nullHowever, if you do not want to do without disclaimers, you should definitely have them checked in advance by an experienced lawyer in order to avoid warnings.

Privacy policy: This content is mandatory

Every online store collects, stores and processes personal data. This includes, for example, IP and email addresses or - as part of the ordering process - name and address. Website visitors must be informed about this data collection at the beginning of the usage process in the form of an easily understandable privacy policy. A privacy policy must contain information about:

• Name and contact details of the website operator
• Type, purpose, scope and legal basis of data processing
• Recipient of the data
• Data protection officer (if any) and their contact details
• the right to storage, deletion and objection to the data

included.nullAlthough there are corresponding sample forms on the internet, these are not suitable for an online store. The reason: A privacy policy must always be individually tailored to which data is collected and used for which purpose and should therefore always be drawn up by a specialist lawyer.

Third-party content, third-party rights: Obtain consent!

Caution is advised with third-party content from the Internet. Texts, photos, music and videos are usually protected by copyright. Copyright-protected content - such as brand logos - may only be used in an online store with the consent of the respective rights holder.

If the unauthorized use of third-party content violates Trademarks, copyrights or personal rights, there is a risk of a costly warning letter and a high claim for damages.

Price details

Online store operators are obliged, Consumers on the gross final price of the goods and/or services offered. The gross final price is the price that your customers pay to you. It includes VAT and all additional costs such as customs duties and import sales tax.nullThe following information must be stated directly next to or below the gross final price:

• Reference to VAT included, e.g. by adding the text "incl. VAT"
• Indication of possible shipping costs, e.g. by an asterisk "*plus shipping costs"

For products that are billed by weight, volume, length or area, the basic price per unit of quantity must also be stated. For example, if you sell a 50-liter bag of potting soil at a price of EUR 10.00, the base price must be stated in EUR per liter - i.e. EUR 0.20/l.nullIf your online store is aimed exclusively at entrepreneurs, you are not bound by the above regulations. In this case, you show the net final price.

Legal texts for online stores: What to consider for GTC and withdrawal policy?

The General Terms and ConditionsGTC)

As an online store operator, you are free to use GTC or not. However, GTC offer you an easy way to comply with your statutory instruction and information obligations. These include, for example, the provision of information about:

• the terms of payment, delivery and service
• the existence of a statutory right to liability for defects
• Return regulations

Important: GTC only apply if they have become part of the contract through effective inclusion. The following requirements must be met in relation to consumers:

• Reference to the GTC before conclusion of the contract, e.g. by adding "Our GTCapply"
• Possibility to take note before concluding the contract, e.g. through a permanent link in the header or footer
• GTC must be transparent, comprehensible and clearly formulated

If you sell exclusively to entrepreneurs, it is sufficient to make a clearly recognizable reference to them. If your contractual partner does not object to the GTC , they are deemed to be effectively incorporated.nullThe wording of GTC is an important part of an online store. This is because some clauses that are permitted vis-à-vis entrepreneurs can be warned if you also use them vis-à-vis consumers. By having the GTC legal texts for your website drawn up by an experienced specialist lawyer, you can ensure that your customers are informed about all relevant contractual modalities in a legally compliant manner.nullFind out more about creating GTC in our article "Creating aGTC : What to consider - the overview"

The withdrawal policy

In the case of distance selling contracts - i.e. purchases in an online store - consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal. By law, consumers must be informed about this right of withdrawal before placing an order. This is done with the help of a withdrawal policy, which you can provide in a clearly visible place on the order page with a clearly labeled link ("Withdrawal" or "Right of withdrawal").

But beware: depending on which goods/services you offer in your online store and how your offers are specifically designed, you will have to adapt the form in many places. Ideally, this should be done with the help of a lawyer, as there are strict formal requirements for the withdrawal policy, which can result in warnings in the event of deviations.

Keywords & metatags - caution when using third-party brand names

Keywords and meta tags are essential elements in online marketing. They ensure that search engine users are shown a suitable list of results when they enter the relevant term. For example, if you enter "buy potting soil" in Google, you will receive appropriate advertising and links to corresponding online stores.

The use of third-party brand names is problematic here. With regard to keywords, the following applies: It must be clearly recognizable to the average user that an advertisement does not originate from the trademark owner itself, but from a third party. This can be achieved by an advertisement that appears clearly separated in the search engine hit list and is set apart by graphic or color means.nullThe use of protected brand names in metatags is only permitted if there is no risk of confusion under trademark law. This is the case, for example, if an online store actually sells the original goods of the protected trademark . However, if the brand name is used to direct users to the online store without the original goods being available for purchase there, this constitutes a trademark infringement.nullFor this reason, you should seek professional advice before using them to ensure that there is no trademark protection for the desired keywords or metatags.

Brand protection

Recht 24/7 registers your trademark as part of the trademark application process. Recht 24/7 acts as your representative and handles all preparations for the application and communication with the trademark office.

Solutions for social media buttons

Social media buttons are buttons for social networks that allow users to share content without leaving the actual website. These buttons are particularly popular with online store operators as they increase the reach of their products and services.nullIt is important to note that when social media buttons are used, personal data - such as the IP address - is collected unnoticed. This happens without the user's prior consent having been obtained. However, such consent is required under the German Telemedia Act.nullIn order to legally secure an online store, social media buttons should be integrated with particular care. The following variants are data protection compliant:

1. The two-click solution: Social media buttons are inactive by default and must be consciously activated by the user. Consent to data transmission can be given upon activation.
2. The Shariff buttons: HTML links that only connect to the respective social network when clicked.

Influencer marketing

• Influencers are used by many entrepreneurs to increase their reach and presence on social networks. If you pay influencers to advertise your products and services on their social media profile, this advertising - like any form of advertising - is subject to legal regulations.
  form of advertising - is subject to legal regulations. This means that
• Advertising must be clearly recognizable as such (labeling requirement) and
• be clearly separated from the other content of the social media profile (separation requirement)

Surreptitious advertising - i.e. advertising that is deliberately disguised as such - is prohibited.

To protect your company from warnings, you should contractually oblige influencers to label their advertising. In this context, it also makes sense to agree a contractual penalty in the event of a breach of this obligation. A specialist lawyer will support you in drawing up appropriate cooperation agreements and advise you on the legally compliant labeling of advertising.

Legal texts for websites: Sending newsletters and advertising legally compliant

There are several ways to legally protect the sending of newsletters and advertising within an online store:

1. A consent field to click on next to an input field for the e-mail address, e.g. "Yes, I would like to receive advertising/the newsletter".
2. A registration form including a checkbox for the privacy policy, in which customers can register for advertising/a newsletter.
3. Double opt-in: Customers receive an email with data protection information and a confirmation link that must be clicked to register for advertising or the newsletter.

Important: Recipients of a newsletter always have the right to unsubscribe. This requirement can be easily and effectively implemented with an unsubscribe link integrated in the newsletter.

Legal texts for online stores: The bottom line

Legal texts for online stores are a complex topic. The required content depends on your target group (consumers or entrepreneurs), your products or services and your business model. In addition, there are strict legal requirements in many areas with regard to the wording and integration of legal texts on the website.nullEven small mistakes can lead to misunderstandings with your customers or, in the worst case, to a warning letter. For this reason, it is important to have legal texts for an online store created by a lawyer . They will advise you on the necessary mandatory content, check existing wording and help you to legally protect your online store.

Our offers for entrepreneurs