Germany

[DE] Copyright Act Amended

IRIS 1998-5:1/13

Stefan Sporn

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

The Bundestag passed the fourth Act amending the Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetzes) in February 1998. The changes bring the Act into line with the new possibilities offered by information and communication technologies. They also implement Council Directive 93/83 EEC of 27 September 1993 on the co-ordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission (OJEC No. L 248: 15). The amending Act is designed to ensure that the financial rights of authors and artists are also protected in the case of satellite programmes, cable television and transfrontier broadcasting. This is why, for the first time, the term "broadcasting right" is now defined in the Act. This is the right to make work accessible to the public by broadcasting it on radio or television, via satellite, cable or any similar technical means (Section 20 of the Act). Copyright responsibility for satellite broadcasts now lies exclusively with the state in which the programme-carrying signals originate (Section 20a of the Act). The Act also includes a number of minor amendments to the exercice of Copyright Act.