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On 17 November 2022, the Hessische Landtag (Hessian state parliament) adopted a law modernising Hesse’s media laws, which was published in the Hesse Law and Ordinance Gazette on 29 November 2022 and entered into force on 30 November 2022. The Gesetz über den privaten Rundfunk in Hessen (Act on Private Broadcasting in Hesse – HPRG), which had remained largely unchanged for 34 years, was therefore replaced with the Hessische Gesetz über privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien (Hessian Private Broadcasting and New Media Act – HPMG). First and foremost, the amendment brings...

The Landesmediengesetz Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg Media Act), like the media laws of all the German Länder, supplements the Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty), which covers national media-related matters. It regulates in detail the organisation and distribution of broadcasting (radio and television), as well as the designation and allocation of capacity suitable and intended for the transmission of broadcasting and similar telemedia (i.e. telemedia aimed at the general public) in Baden-Württemberg, unless otherwise stipulated in state treaties or legislative...

In a decision of 28 December 2022, the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court – VG Berlin) upheld a complaint filed by a national broadcaster against the imposition of an administration fee for the renewal of its broadcasting licence by the relevant state media authority. The court did not believe the fee was justified insofar as it covered not only the administrative costs incurred but also an additional sum charged because the broadcaster had gained an advantage as a result of the administrative work carried out. The plaintiff has held a broadcasting licence, which is...

On 20 January 2023, the Rundfunkkommission (Broadcasting Commission) adopted a decision on public broadcasting reforms in Germany, in which it laid down some key elements of the necessary overhaul of rules governing German public broadcasters. The Broadcasting Commission comprises representatives of the State and Senate Chancelleries of the Länder, which are responsible for media policy and legislation, acts as a permanent forum for the discussion of issues relating to media policy and lays the ground for future regulation in the form of state treaties. It decided to focus on three main aspects...

In a ruling of 30 November 2022, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court –BVerwG) decided that public broadcasters were entitled to delete comments posted by users in their online forums if the comments were unrelated to their programmes. This applied whether the content was unlawful or not. The court based its decision on the definition of public broadcasters’ telemedia-related remit set out in German media law. The case concerned users’ comments on programme-related content posted on the Facebook page of Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR), which the broadcaster...