Search results : 1394

At the end of October 2011, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartels Office - BKartA) expressed serious concern about the takeover of cable network operator Kabel Baden-Württemberg by the American media group Liberty. In its provisional legal assessment, the BKartA states that Liberty is already active in Germany - particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen - through its subsidiary Unitymedia. The purchase of Kabel Baden-Württemberg would strengthen an oligopoly in the German cable supply market and hinder competition in this market. The cable supply market, which primarily concerns the delivery...

According to a decision issued by the Landgericht Köln (Cologne District Court - LG) on 9 November 2011, whereas photographs taken by a press photographer showing a well-known weather presenter held in a detention centre awaiting trial may not be distributed, photographs taken by the presenter showing the photographer at work can. The TV weather presenter had been under investigation in 2010 following a serious rape allegation. He was acquitted on 31 May 2011 by the LG Mannheim (Mannheim District Court). The proceedings attracted a high level of media interest from the outset. The accused won several...

On 3 November 2011, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) decided that the Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (Freedom of Information Act - IFG) applies, in principle, to all activities of the federal ministries. In the case at hand, the plaintiffs demanded access to certain documents of the Bundesjustizministerium (Federal Ministry of Justice - BMJ): firstly, internal submissions to the Minister in connection with the investigation into the possible need to reform the law on parent-child relations and, secondly, BMJ statements to the Petitions Committee of the Bundestag...

On 19 October 2011, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) issued another ruling on the admissibility under copyright law of Google’s online image search engine. Google's image search engine enables users to search for specific images posted online by third parties by typing in a search item. In the subsequent search result list, the images are shown in thumbnail form. In the case at hand, the plaintiff was a photographer, one of whose photographs had appeared in thumbnail form in the results of a Google image search. The search engine had stated that the image had been found on two...

In a decision of 28 October 2011, the Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court- OVG) issued an injunction ordering the Land of Brandenburg to provide the applicant in the proceedings, the chief reporter of a national newspaper, with information in accordance with the Brandenburgisches Pressegesetz (Brandenburg Press Act - BbgPG). The applicant had requested detailed information on a total of thirteen judges and a public prosecutor who are currently working for the Brandenburg courts and in respect of whom there is evidence that they co-operated with...