Coaching
but no
Distance learning?
Coaching
but no
Distance learning?
from
LG Munich: Online coaching does not fall within the scope of the Distance Learning Protection Act.
Is online coaching distance learning?
After a long period of controversy, the Federal Court of Justice ruled on this issue and clarified the conditions under which the German Distance Learning Protection Act (FernUSG) applies to coaching contracts. Following the Federal Court of Justice ruling, Munich Regional Court I has now also revisited the applicability of the FernUSG to coaching contracts.
A customer of Baulig Consulting GmbH had filed a lawsuit. He had concluded a contract for a comprehensive coaching program that included a video learning course, live webinars and individual 1:1 support. The customer claimed to be dissatisfied with the course and argued that the contract was void under the German Distance Selling Act (FernUSG), which is why he demanded repayment of the coaching fee.
No spatial separation
The Regional Court of Munich I dismissed the action in a ruling dated August 8, 2025 (case no. 47 O 12802/24). It found that the action was inadmissible and that the court did not have jurisdiction due to the lack of applicability of the FernUSG.
The decisive factor is whether supervision is provided in the same way as for face-to-face courses.
The court ruled that this was not a distance learning contract, as the required physical separation was not present. In the court’s view, the decisive factor was whether the digital support was comparable to the support provided during face-to-face events. If this is the case, there is no reason to extend the scope of application of the FernUSG to these cases, as the distance learning student in these cases is not worthy of protection to a greater extent than the non-distance learning student.
In the opinion of the court, the digital support in this case corresponded to support via a face-to-face event, as it was possible to ask individual questions at any time, as in face-to-face events, and therefore also receive individual answers. For this reason, the court denied the existence of physical separation.
Conclusion
Even after the Federal Court of Justice’s groundbreaking decision, the ruling by Munich Regional Court I makes it clear that not all digital coaching falls under the Distance Learning Act. The case law differentiates between whether the digital coaching enables an interaction comparable to face-to-face teaching. If this is the case, the court is of the opinion that the scope of application of the FernUSG does not apply.
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