German print books carry an Impressum: the publisher or author name and address, plus the contact details EU product safety rules now expect. This tool builds that page in German, with each line explained.
German books carry an imprint block called the Impressum, on the verso of the title page in a print book and usually at the end of an ebook. It names who stands behind the book and how to reach them, and sits together with the copyright lines. For a translated title it also names the original work and the rights in the German-language edition.
Two separate duties sit behind this page: printing the imprint in the book, and legal deposit, a delivery of copies to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek that only concerns publishers based in Germany. One is ink on the page, the other is a shipment.
For a printed book, each German state has a press law with a nearly identical imprint rule (a representative text is § 8 of the Baden-Württemberg press law). It asks for:
Since December 2024 the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) adds its own mentions for print books sold in the EU:
The printer line mostly takes care of itself. If you print through KDP or IngramSpark, as most self-publishers do, the service adds its own page stating where each copy was printed, so you can leave the printer field empty. Only if you hire a printer directly do you name them yourself, in the conventional "Druck und Bindung" line.
Whether a state press law reaches a self-publisher who lives abroad and prints through Amazon is genuinely unsettled, with no case law either way. In practice you should include the imprint anyway: it costs nothing, the product safety rules independently require most of it, and German readers and trade expect it.
Everything else on the page is publishing convention rather than law. Copyright protection is automatic in Germany, so these lines document ownership without creating it:
The "Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek" paragraph you may know from trade books is optional too, and only fits when the title actually receives an entry in the national bibliography, which a foreign self-published book normally does not. Leave it off.
For most self-publishers, and unless based in Germany, no. Legal deposit is a duty to deliver copies to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, not something printed in the book. Under § 15 of the DNBG it falls on publishers with a seat, an establishment or their main residence in Germany, so if you self-publish from abroad you have nothing to send. The library still welcomes voluntary copies if you want your German edition in the national collection.
If you live in Germany and publish your own book, the duty does apply to you: two copies, delivered unprompted within a week of publication, with an electronic deposit allowed for print runs under 25 copies, which covers most print-on-demand titles. Ebooks are deposited once through the DNB portal.
Two cautions for the print-on-demand route. Amazon must not be named as the publisher: you or your imprint are the publisher, and Amazon is only the printing service. And neither KDP nor IngramSpark deposits your book at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, so a voluntary deposit is yours to make if you want one.
Also check your print-on-demand service's current GPSR arrangements before relying on them for the EU responsible-person requirement, as platform practice in this area has been changing. Naming your own responsible person on the page, which the generator below supports, does not depend on what the platform does.
Last reviewed: July 21, 2026
Publishing in Germany? You will need the book translated too. See what it costs to translate your book into German.
One page you can use in both editions. It includes the print-only mentions.
If you want the minimum, you only need to fill this.
If you are outside the EU, product safety rules require naming an EU-based responsible person on print books.
Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
"All rights reserved."
Requirements can change, so verify with the official sources linked in the guide or a professional for your situation. This is general information, not legal advice.
German state press laws require print books to name the publisher (or, when self-published, the author) with a postal address, alongside the printer. Whether this reaches a self-publisher who lives abroad and prints through Amazon is legally unsettled, so the practical advice is to include the imprint anyway: it is expected and mostly duplicated by the EU product safety rules.
The EU General Product Safety Regulation asks that print products carry a name, postal address and contact email. If you are based outside the EU, it also requires naming an EU-established responsible person on the book. These details usually sit on the Impressum page.
Neither is legally required in Germany. Copyright protection is automatic, and the ISBN is a trade requirement rather than a legal one. Both are still conventional and worth including.
The deposit duty falls on publishers with a seat, establishment or main residence in Germany. A self-publisher based abroad is not obligated to deposit, though the library still welcomes voluntary copies.
The press-law imprint applies to printed works, not ebooks. Commercial ebook sellers commonly add a provider imprint by convention, but the strict press-law obligation does not apply, so this tool omits it for the ebook format.
Publishing in Germany? You will need the book translated too. See what it costs to translate your book into German.
