Search results : 1359

In a press release of 1 March 2022, concerning its decisions in cases brought by Google Ireland Ltd. and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, the Verwaltungsgericht Köln (Cologne Administrative Court – VG Köln) announced that the reporting obligations added to the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act – NetzDG) under Article 7 of the Gesetz zur besseren Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus und der Hasskriminalität (Act on improving the fight against right-wing extremism and hate crime), which entered into force on 1 February 2022, were inapplicable because they...

On 2 March 2022, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media – KJM), the German state media authorities’ central supervisory body for the protection of minors in private broadcasting and telemedia, issued a blocking order against the xHamster pornography portal on account of breaches of the Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrag (Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media – JMStV). As a result, the five largest German Internet providers were the first to be required to block access to the website “de.xhamster.com”...

In a ruling of 24 February 2022 (not yet published), the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court – BGH) examined the legal boundaries of advertising for a tribute show in which cover versions of an artist’s songs are performed. The case concerned whether an event at which a Tina Turner lookalike sings Tina Turner hits can be advertised in a way that might create the impression that Turner herself is involved in or at least supportive of the show. Tina Turner had filed a lawsuit against the producer of a show in which the singer F. performed Turner’s greatest hits, asking for...

In its long-running dispute with Russian broadcaster RT DE (previously known as Russia Today) (see IRIS 2022-2/19), the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg media authority – mabb), as the state media authority responsible, decided, against the background of the Russian Federation’s unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, to threaten RT DE Productions GmbH, provider of RT DE, with a fine of EUR 25 000 if it did not cease broadcasting the channel in Germany by 4 March 2022. With the RT DE livestream still available on various websites on 5 March 2022, the...

In its 23rd report, published on 18 February 2022, the Kommission zur Ermittlung des Finanzbedarfs der Rundfunkanstalten (Commission for Determining the Financial Requirements of Broadcasters – KEF) stated that Germany’s public broadcasters would receive the funding they needed if the public broadcasting fee was raised to EUR 18.36 per month for the 2021 to 2024 funding period. This adjustment had been recommended in the KEF’s 22nd report on 1 January 2021 and implemented by the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) in a decision of 20 July 2021. The KEF comprises...