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On 8 October 2010, the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg regional court - LG), in a legal dispute over the distribution of two music tracks via an Internet file-sharing network, ordered the defendant to pay two music publishers EUR 15 per track in compensation. The court decided that the defendant had culpably and illegally infringed the music publishers’ copyright (reproduction right and right to make available to the public) by copying the music tracks without permission and uploading them to a file-sharing network. The court’s assessment of the level of compensation due is particularly significant....

In a ruling of 28 October 2010, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided that film footage of amateur football matches was not protected under competition law and therefore overturned the lower instance decisions of the Landgericht Stuttgart (Stuttgart regional court - see IRIS 2008-7/12) and Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart (Stuttgart regional court of appeal - see IRIS 2009-5/18). In the proceedings, the Fußballverband Württemberg (Württemberg Football Association - WFV) had asked the operator of the Internet portal, “www.hartplatzhelden.de”, to refrain from publishing film footage...

In a recently published decision, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled that links to third-party content can breach copyright in some cases. The plaintiff in the procedure concerned operates a website from which street maps can be downloaded. After filling in a search form on the home page, the user is taken to the requested map on a different page. The plaintiff charges a fee for commercial or long-term use of the service. When they visit the home page, private users are given a session ID that is valid for a limited period of time, enabling them to use the service free of...

A study commissioned by ARD and ZDF has concluded that the planned licence fee to fund public service broadcasting is compatible with the constitutional rules on data protection (see IRIS 2010-6/21). The report, published on 20 September 2010, primarily examines the extent to which data concerning members of the public contained on population registers can be communicated to the Gebühreneinzugszentrale (licence fee collecting agency - GEZ) for public service broadcasters. It also investigates the information obligations of individuals who owe the licence fee and broadcasters’ right to obtain information...

In September 2010, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) and the Allianz Deutscher Produzenten Film & Fernsehen e. V. (alliance of German film and television producers) agreed a set of guidelines for cooperation in relation to commissioned television productions. The aim of these guidelines is to bring the rules on cooperation between the parties into line with the digital age, taking into account the distribution of exploitation rights set out in the protocol to the 12. Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag (12th Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement). The agreement applies to fully-financed commissioned ZDF...