Legal notices for an e-commerce website!

Mandatory in France, a website's legal notices are pieces of information that allow internet users to know who they are dealing with and how they can get in touch with the website's owners. This information must be accessible easily and quickly from any page of the website (often included at the bottom of each page). Here is everything you need to know in order to draft the legal notices for your website.

What legal notices must a website publisher make available to internet users?

Articles 6-III and 19 of Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004 on confidence in the digital economy require website publishers to provide internet users with certain information, such as: For a natural person or a sole trader, the following must be stated:

• Surname and first name,
• Home address,
• Telephone number and email address

For a legal entity or a company, the following must be displayed:

• the corporate name of the legal entity or company: name and SIRET number,
• its legal form,
• the amount of its share capital,
• the address of its registered office.

In addition to this information identifying your organisation, you must add the details relating to your website's hosting provider:

• name of the hosting provider
• corporate name;
• address;
• SIRET number;
• telephone number.

In addition to this information, the publisher must designate the person responsible for publications.

Who drafts the legal notices for an e-commerce website?

The legal notices are drafted by the owner or publisher of the website. Although templates exist online, it is advisable to call upon a legal professional in order to avoid any error or omission, since sector-specific texts may impose additional obligations to be set out alongside these legal notices.

When must legal notices be displayed?

The legal notices must be published as soon as the website goes live. In short, legal notices are a legal obligation for any website and their absence may lead to significant penalties. It is therefore recommended to carefully draft your legal notices with the help of a legal professional in order to avoid any error or omission.

What are the penalties for failing to comply with the mandatory notices?

The absence of legal notices on a website may lead to penalties, in particular a fine of €75,000 and one year's imprisonment for natural persons, and a fine of €375,000 for legal entities. In addition, this may result in a ban from carrying out certain professional activities, whether direct or indirect. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the legal notices are present on a website.

Additional notices if you distribute products to consumers (Extended Producer Responsibility)?

Since 1 January 2022, mentioning Extended Producer Responsibility (REP) and the Unique Identifier (IDU) may be required in a website's legal notices for businesses that sell physical products (Article R. 541-173 of the Environmental Code). EPR requires producers to assume responsibility for the products they place on the market, including after their use or consumption. This obligation also applies to distributors, importers, exporters and resellers, who are regarded as producers if they place products on the market under their own name or brand. The IDU, for its part, is a unique identifier that must be assigned to each producer by the competent authorities. This identifier makes it possible to track products throughout their life cycle, from their manufacture to their end-of-life treatment. Businesses subject to EPR must therefore include their IDU in their legal notices in order to comply with the legal requirements. Failure to comply with this obligation may lead to penalties, in particular fines and bans from carrying out professional activities. If the unique identifiers do not appear in the GTC or in the contractual documents where the producer does not have GTC, the latter exposes itself to the payment of a fine that may not exceed €30,000 under Article L. 541-9-5, para. 4 of the Environmental Code. Marketplaces that sell products on behalf of third parties must contribute to the prevention and management of waste from products subject to the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) under Article L. 541-10-9 of the Environmental Code introduced by the AGEC Law. They are subject to the EPR obligations for products sold in their own name and for those sold on behalf of third parties. However, they are not required to comply with these obligations if the supplier provides the Unique Identifier (IDU) for each EPR sector concerned. In summary, mentioning Extended Producer Responsibility and the Unique Identifier is a legal obligation for businesses that sell physical products.

Must my legal notices be in French?

Yes, as long as your website is aimed at a clientele of French consumers. Indeed, the Toubon Law of 4 August 1994 on the use of the French language provides that « in the designation, offer, presentation, instructions for use or operation, description of the scope and conditions of the warranty of a good, product or service, the use of the French language is mandatory » (Art. 2). It is important to take into account, in addition to the usual legal notices, other essential information. This includes the details relating to the personal data collected and processed by the website, the specific features related to e-commerce if the website sells products or services, and the information on ranking and referencing for certain types of websites, such as matchmaking platforms and websites presenting goods and services offered by third parties, such as marketplaces. That's a lot to take in, isn't it? Don't worry, I'm here to help! For advice tailored to your situation and to ensure that your website complies with all the regulations, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be delighted to support you in this process. Click below to send me a message right now!