Germany

[DE] Agreement Between VG Wort and Presse-Monitor

IRIS 2003-10:1/38

Caroline Hilger

Saarbrücken

Just over a year after the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled in a decision of general principle that the so-called "press review privilege" described in Section 49.1 of the Gesetz über Urheberrechte und verwandte Schutzrechte (Act on Copyright and Related Rights - UrhG) also applied to electronic press reviews under certain conditions and that, if those conditions were met, the copyright collecting company VG Wort could demand the statutory fees from publishers of electronic press reviews (see IRIS 2002-8:12), VG Wort has agreed to co-operate with Presse-Monitor Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG (PMG) with regard to the publication of press reviews. PMG is a company run by the Verband Deutscher Zeitschriftenverleger (Union of German Magazine Publishers - VDZ) and the Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger (National Union of German Newspaper Publishers - BDZV) , together with several publishing companies. PMG currently supplies a service to companies, authorities and other bodies, providing them with electronic articles and/or licences from 361 sources from 12 publishing houses for the compilation of electronic press reviews. However, according to the agreement with VG Wort, PMG will also in future market all electronic press reviews that fall under the restrictions set out in Section 49.1 of the UrhG. In return, VG Wort will receive a proportion of the proceeds derived by PMG from the press reviews. In that way, authors registered with VG Wort will in future also stand to benefit.