Gegendarstellung: the German right of reply, used properly
German press law contains an instrument with no real US equivalent: the Gegendarstellung, a statutory right of reply. The subject of a factual claim may demand that the outlet print their version — in the same section, with comparable prominence, without editorial commentary spliced in.
The right attaches to factual assertions, not opinions; the reply must be signed, concise and itself factual. Deadlines are unforgiving — typically measured in days, not weeks — which is why the instrument rewards clients who call counsel before they call a PR agency.
Strategically, the Gegendarstellung is rarely the end. It is the opening move that fixes the record, signals capacity to litigate, and frames the subsequent claim for correction (Berichtigung) and, where damage is shown, compensation.
For international clients the lesson generalizes: many EU jurisdictions hold quiet statutory levers — counter-statement rights, press-council complaints, data-protection erasure — that move faster than any defamation trial. The craft is sequencing them.