Germany

[DE] Promoting the Act Prohibiting Unauthorised Photography

IRIS 2004-6:1/16

Peter Strothmann

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

TheBundestag (Federal Parliament) has further promoted the initiative of the Bundesrat (Federal Council) on the protection of privacy against unauthorised photography (see IRIS 2003-10:13 and IRIS 2004-3: 6). On 29 April the Federal Parliament adopted a corresponding act amending the penal code with the votes of all parliamentary factions. The modification of the previous bill stipulates that certain non-indictable cases of socially inappropriate behaviour shall be excluded from criminal liability. This includes in particular cases when the offender does not positively know that disclosure of pictures originally authorised can under certain circumstances be unauthorised. The Federal Council, the representative of the federal provinces, still has to consent to the proposed bill.