Impressum
The Latin word Impressum (printed, from the verb imprimĕre, i.e. to print), used in German, has no exact translation in modern English. It is a legally required statement of the ownership and authorship of a document, which must be included in books, newspapers, magazines[1] and websites[2] published in Germany and other German-speaking countries.
There is no equivalent legislation in the UK or US, and therefore no consistent legal term is used in English-speaking media. The closest English terms for Impressum are:
- Masthead: for newspapers and magazines, a list, usually found on the editorial page, of the members of its board.[3]
- Colophon: for books, a note indicating metadata about the book such as the date of publication, printer and publisher.
- "Site notice", "Legal notice"or "Legal disclosure": for websites in English, a page title commonly used to link to legal metadata and terms of use.
Webpages
The Telemediengesetz requires that German websites must have an Impressum disclosing 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.[4][5] 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.
This law has created privacy concerns for individuals who maintain blogs or personal homepages.[6][7][8] The law has also caused lawyers to scrutinise websites for this page.[9][10]
Mistranslation
The terms masthead and colophon apply to printed publications only and are not commonly used on English-language websites. 'Impressum' is sometimes translated as imprint, a word used in modern English for a brand name under which a work is published.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Presserecht
- ^ Telemediengesetz
- ^ Duden: "(Buchw.): Vermerk über Verleger, Drucker, auch Redaktionen u.a. in Büchern, Zeitungen u. Zeitschriften"
- ^ "[1] Diese Angaben müssen in das Impressum"
- ^ [2] TMG § 5 Allgemeine Informationspflichten
- ^ http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum10/3178.htm
- ^ http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=145280
- ^ http://osdir.com/ml/gnu.savannah.user/2007-03/msg00007.html
- ^ http://www.recht.us/amlaw/2006/11/04#1104impressum
- ^ http://transblawg.eu/index.php?/archives/594-U.S.-comment-on-ImpressumGerman-lawyers-cease-and-desist-hunt.html
- ^ [3] "In the publishing world, the term imprint usually means the name under which a publisher issues books. For example, you may come across a statement such as "Copernicus Books is an imprint of Springer-Verlag."