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On 23 March 2012, the German government introduced a draft amendment to the Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (Restraints on Competition Act - GWB), concerning, inter alia, the regulations on controlling press mergers. In Germany, the regulations on stakeholdings and ownership are to be found at various levels. The GWB, which falls within the competence of the Federal Government, contains general, cross-sectoral rules of antitrust legislation, and the purpose of the draft submitted is to adapt these rules to the developments of EU merger control law. In order to maintain media diversity, the...

On 9 February 2012, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz der Landesmedienanstalten (Land Media Authorities’ Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media - KJM) recognised two World Wide Web youth protection programs, subject to certain conditions. These are the first youth protection programs for internet services that the KJM has recognised in accordance with the criteria that it published in May 2011 (see IRIS 2011-7/17). Both programs therefore meet the requirement of user independence; they provide users with age-appropriate access to online services and can be switched on and off,...

At the beginning of February 2012, two new programmes for the support of digitisation in the German film sector were launched (see IRIS 2011-7/18). On 9 February 2012, the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (NRW Film and Media Foundation) announced a cooperative programme to provide financial support for the conversion of small cinemas to digital technology. The aim of the programme, which will last until 31 December 2013, is to equip around 150 screens with digital projection technology. To this end, the Land is making available EUR 3 million of funds granted...

The criminal procedure against a famous TV weather presenter accused of rape, which has attracted huge media interest, has also repeatedly occupied Cologne’s civil courts in recent months. The journalist, who has since been acquitted, launched numerous lawsuits - some of which were successful - following media reporting of the case which he believed had infringed his personality rights (see IRIS 2012-3/16 and IRIS 2012-1/19). In three judgments issued on 14 February 2012, the Oberlandesgericht Köln (Cologne Appeal Court - OLG) considered the extent to which questioning of the accused about his...

In a ruling of 9 February 2012, the Oberverwaltungsgericht Münster (Münster Administrative Appeal Court - OVG) overturned the decision of the lower-instance court (see IRIS 2010-2/11) and ruled that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is, in principle, obliged to provide information to a journalist under the North Rhine-Westphalia Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (Freedom of Information Act - IFG NRW). The procedure followed a journalist’s request to WDR for information about which companies it cooperated with and how much money was involved. The journalist had requested this information because he suspected...