Commercial communication

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Commercial communication is a term from the German Telemedia Act (TMG). It defines what is meant by advertising in telemedia. Commercial communication in telemedia is subject to legal requirements in Germany.

definition

According to Section 2 No. 5 of the Telemedia Act, commercial communication is any form of communication in telemedia that serves to directly or indirectly promote the sale of goods, services or the image of a company, other organization or a natural person who is engaged in trading , Trade or craft or a free occupation. However, the transmission of the following information is not considered to be "commercial communication":

(a) those that enable direct access to the activity of the company or organization or person (such as a domain name or email address) and (b) information relating to goods and services or the appearance of a company , an organization or person that is made independent and especially without consideration.

Legal requirements

Commercial communication is permitted as a service provider in the telemedia in accordance with Section 6 of the Telemedia Act under special conditions:

  1. Commercial communication must be clearly recognizable as such,
  2. the client of the commercial communication must be clearly recognizable,
  3. Sales promotion offers must be clear and precise,
  4. Prize contests and competitions and their conditions must be clearly identifiable and easily accessible
  5. Commercial communications sent electronically (e.g. by email) must not obscure their commercial character.

Differentiation from the term surreptitious advertising

The term “commercial communication” is often falsely equated with the term surreptitious advertising (cf. State Treaty for Broadcasting and Telemedia (RStV), Act against Unfair Competition (UWG)).

“Commercial communication” is not, however, surreptitious advertising, but merely a legally defined term that clarifies when communication in telemedia has to be classified as commercial, ie as “promotional”. The Telemedia Act allows commercial communication under certain conditions. Surreptitious advertising, on the other hand, is prohibited by law in Germany.

To put it simply, surreptitious advertising is commercial communication in disguise.

Legal origin of the term

With regard to commercial communication, the TMG is an implementation of Directive 2000/31 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 8, 2000 ("Directive on Electronic Commerce"). Articles 2 and 6 of this guideline provide the conceptual definition and the prerequisites and obligations for commercial communication in electronic commerce.

Future legal development

With Directive 2007/65 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 11, 2007 ("Audiovisual Media Services Directive"), the term is transferred to all audio-visual media. However, the directive has not yet been implemented into German law.

The guideline audio-visual media services provides considerably more extensive requirements for the admissibility of commercial communication in audio-visual media services than the TMG for telemedia services. In particular, the guidelines for audio-visual media services create specifications for commercial communication on the protection of minors, on medicinal tobacco and alcohol products and on sponsorship.

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