{"id":4768,"date":"2015-09-21T08:04:16","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T08:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/?p=4768"},"modified":"2025-10-28T05:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:51:11","slug":"internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/internet-law-it-is-important-to-ensure-that-the-legal-notice-impressum-of-a-xing-profile-is-easily-recognizable-in-accordance-with-5-of-the-german-telemedia-act-tmg\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet Law: It is important to ensure that the legal notice (\u201eImpressum\u201c) of a Xing profile is \u201eeasily recognizable\u201c in accordance with \u00a7 5 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG)."},"content":{"rendered":"

District Court of Stuttgart, June 27, 2014, Case No.: 11 O 51\/14<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please note: The TMG (Telemedia Act) has been replaced by the DDG (Digital Services Act). However, the decision is likely still relevant in content. You can find an overview here.\u00a0Please note: The TMG has been replaced by the DDG, but the decision likely remains relevant. An overview can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n

If a website operator receives a warning due to an incorrect imprint on the Internet, they can take the offensive against the party issuing the warning and file a so-called negative declaratory action in order to obtain a court ruling that the Warning letter<\/a> was unjustified.<\/p>\n

A negative declaratory counterclaim is admissible whenever there is a legal interest in promptly determining the non-existence of a legal relationship, especially if a party\u2019s legal position is suffering from current uncertainty, which can be resolved by a declaratory judgment.<\/p>\n

In the ruling presented here by the District Court of Stuttgart, the court had to decide on a negative declaratory action filed by an attorney who had been warned by another attorney for having a missing or incorrect legal notice on the platform XING.<\/p>\n

You can create a personalized and free imprint using our imprint generator.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Facts of the Court Case<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>Background of the Dispute<\/span><\/h3>\n

Both parties, the plaintiff and the defendant, work as lawyers. The plaintiff listed on the platform XING<\/strong> Both the plaintiff and the defendant are practicing attorneys. The plaintiff maintained a profile on XING that included a link labeled \u201eLegal Notice of \u2026\u201c. By clicking this link, users were directed to the website of the plaintiff\u2019s law firm, where the required information under \u00a7 5 of the Telemedia Act (TMG) could be found.<\/p>\n

On February 12, 2014, the defendant issued a warning to the plaintiff for allegedly violating \u00a7 5 TMG, claiming that the plaintiff did not provide a legal notice on his XING profile. The warning included a cease-and-desist declaration that would require the plaintiff to ensure that a legal notice was provided in the future.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Plaintiff\u2019s Response: Negative Declaratory Action<\/span><\/h3>\n

The plaintiff filed a negative declaratory action<\/strong> The plaintiff filed a negative declaratory action, seeking a court ruling that the defendant had no claim to enforce the cease-and-desist request concerning the missing legal notice on the XING profile. The defendant, in turn, obtained a preliminary injunction from the District Court of Stuttgart (Case No.: 11 O 101\/14), obligating the plaintiff to provide the required legal notice under \u00a7 5 TMG on his XING profile.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Decision of the District Court of Stuttgart<\/span><\/h2>\n

The District Court of Stuttgart ruled that the plaintiff\u2019s declaratory action was only partially justified.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Claim for Cease and Desist of the Specific Violation<\/span><\/h3>\n

The court found that the plaintiff had violated \u00a7 5(1) Nos. 5 and 6 TMG. Both parties were attorneys and therefore competitors under \u00a7 8(3) No. 1 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG). The plaintiff had violated market conduct rules by having an incomplete legal notice on XING, which created a risk of repetition, justifying a cease-and-desist claim.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Obligation for Provider Identification<\/span><\/h3>\n

The plaintiff had not provided all the required information under \u00a7 5 TMG on his XING profile. Specifically, details about the bar association, the professional title, the applicable professional regulations, and the VAT identification number were missing. The court determined that the legal notice on the plaintiff\u2019s law firm website was not sufficiently visible and, therefore, did not meet the \u201eeasily recognizable\u201c requirement under \u00a7 5 TMG.<\/p>\n

<\/span>No Obligation to Provide a Complete Legal Notice<\/span><\/h3>\n

However, the court ruled that the plaintiff was not obligated to provide a full legal notice directly on his XING profile. Since the plaintiff\u2019s profile contained at least partial provider identification, there was no risk of repetition regarding the operation of telemedia without any legal notice at all.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Summary of the Decision<\/span><\/h2>\n

The District Court of Stuttgart concluded that the plaintiff had failed to provide complete and easily recognizable information under \u00a7 5 TMG on his XING profile. A cease-and-desist claim concerning this specific violation was justified. However, the defendant had no claim to enforce a cease-and-desist declaration for the complete absence of a legal notice.<\/p>\n

Source: District Court of Stuttgart<\/p>\n

Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/b> Important Note: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, the complexity and ever-changing nature of the subject matter make it necessary to exclude liability and warranty. This article cannot replace legal advice.<\/p>\n

If you need legal advice, please feel free to call us at 0221 - 80187670<\/strong> or send us an email at or send an email to info@mth-partner.de info@mth-partner.de<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can create a personalized and free imprint using our imprint generator.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Attorneys in Cologne provide advice and representation in internet law.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If companies or freelancers have a profile on social media sites that they can control themselves, this profile must also contain an imprint, or at least an easily accessible and recognisable reference to an imprint. Failure to do so may result in expensive warnings from competitors.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[2983,2593],"class_list":["post-4768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wettbewerbsrecht-anwalt","tag-muss-mein-xing-profil-ein-impressum-haben","tag-urteile-impressum"],"yoast_head":"\nInternetrecht: Beim Impressum eines Xing-Profils ist darauf zu achten, dass dieses \u201eLeicht erkennbar" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG ist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Auch das Impressum eines Xing-Profils muss \u201eLeicht erkennbar" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG, also einfach und effektiv optisch wahrnehmbar sein.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/internet-law-it-is-important-to-ensure-that-the-legal-notice-impressum-of-a-xing-profile-is-easily-recognizable-in-accordance-with-5-of-the-german-telemedia-act-tmg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Internetrecht: Beim Impressum eines Xing-Profils ist darauf zu achten, dass dieses \u201eLeicht erkennbar" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG ist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Auch das Impressum eines Xing-Profils muss \u201eLeicht erkennbar" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG, also einfach und effektiv optisch wahrnehmbar sein.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/internet-law-it-is-important-to-ensure-that-the-legal-notice-impressum-of-a-xing-profile-is-easily-recognizable-in-accordance-with-5-of-the-german-telemedia-act-tmg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rechtsanwaltskanzlei\u00a0Tieben\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100054481000178\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-21T08:04:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-28T05:51:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"helmer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mth_Tieben\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mth_Tieben\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"helmer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Internet law: The imprint of a Xing profile must ensure that it is \"easily recognisable\" within the meaning of Section 5 TMG","description":"The legal notice of a Xing profile must also be \"easily recognisable\" within the meaning of Section 5 TMG, i.e. easily and effectively visually perceptible.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/internet-law-it-is-important-to-ensure-that-the-legal-notice-impressum-of-a-xing-profile-is-easily-recognizable-in-accordance-with-5-of-the-german-telemedia-act-tmg\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Internetrecht: Beim Impressum eines Xing-Profils ist darauf zu achten, dass dieses \u201eLeicht erkennbar\" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG ist","og_description":"Auch das Impressum eines Xing-Profils muss \u201eLeicht erkennbar\" i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG, also einfach und effektiv optisch wahrnehmbar sein.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/internet-law-it-is-important-to-ensure-that-the-legal-notice-impressum-of-a-xing-profile-is-easily-recognizable-in-accordance-with-5-of-the-german-telemedia-act-tmg\/","og_site_name":"Rechtsanwaltskanzlei\u00a0Tieben","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100054481000178","article_published_time":"2015-09-21T08:04:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-28T05:51:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"helmer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mth_Tieben","twitter_site":"@mth_Tieben","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"helmer","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/"},"author":{"name":"helmer","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#\/schema\/person\/fbcf627706a8a6151cec2217af8c74b3"},"headline":"Internetrecht: Beim Impressum eines Xing-Profils ist darauf zu achten, dass dieses \u201eLeicht erkennbar“ i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG ist","datePublished":"2015-09-21T08:04:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-28T05:51:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/"},"wordCount":677,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg","keywords":["Muss mein Xing-Profil ein Impressum haben?","Urteile Impressum"],"articleSection":["Wettbewerbsrecht"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/","name":"Internet law: The imprint of a Xing profile must ensure that it is \"easily recognisable\" within the meaning of Section 5 TMG","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-21T08:04:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-28T05:51:11+00:00","description":"The legal notice of a Xing profile must also be \"easily recognisable\" within the meaning of Section 5 TMG, i.e. easily and effectively visually perceptible.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wettbewerbsrecht.jpg","width":1200,"height":600,"caption":"Wettbewerbsrecht"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/internetrecht-beim-impressum-eines-xing-profils-ist-darauf-zu-achten-dass-dieses-leicht-erkennbar-i-s-v-5-tmg-ist\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wettbewerbsrecht","item":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/category\/wettbewerbsrecht-anwalt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Internetrecht: Beim Impressum eines Xing-Profils ist darauf zu achten, dass dieses \u201eLeicht erkennbar” i. S. v. \u00a7 5 TMG ist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/","name":"Law firm Tieben","description":"Lawyer Tieben \/ Law firm Cologne","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#organization","name":"Law firm Tieben","url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo.png","width":254,"height":52,"caption":"Rechtsanwaltskanzlei\u00a0Tieben"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100054481000178","https:\/\/x.com\/mth_Tieben","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/helmer-tieben-09570226"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/#\/schema\/person\/fbcf627706a8a6151cec2217af8c74b3","name":"helmer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3308295754604f18007cf9e14e5984d1b864d3edea19e3681ff8c9354cd73e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3308295754604f18007cf9e14e5984d1b864d3edea19e3681ff8c9354cd73e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3308295754604f18007cf9e14e5984d1b864d3edea19e3681ff8c9354cd73e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"helmer"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4768"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9550,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions\/9550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}