Subject: Marking of euro banknotes with URL's? 
Date: ----------------------------
From: "---, -----" <---.---@ecb.int> 
To: "------------" <-------> 


Dear Mr xxxxxxx, 


Thank you for your e-mail. The legal terms you attached to you query refer 
to counterfeiting of euro banknotes. They are not applicable to the question 
of whether euro banknotes may be marked (in this case with a website 
address) or not. 


Please note that the ECB is the owner of the copyright as laid down in the 
Decision ECB/2001/7 which may be accessed via our website www.ecb.int 
(section "cash changeover", beneath the banknote images). The ECB rules out 
the possibility that banknotes may serve as carriers for advertising 
messages, as otherwise, such a use of banknotes would have been included in 
the Decision. 


Furthermore, the insertion of publicity may affect acceptance of the euro 
banknotes and thus affect their legal tender status as laid down in Article 
106 of the Amsterdam Treaty and Article 16 of the ESCB/ECB-Statute. 


We may thus strongly advise to refrain from marking the euro banknotes. 


Yours sincerely, 
ECB General Information