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On 25 August 2010, the Federal Government adopted the bill strengthening the freedom of the press in criminal law and criminal procedure law (PrStG). The bill is based on a draft tabled by the Bundesministerium der Justiz (Federal Ministry of Justice - BMJ) on 4 April 2010 (see IRIS 2010-6: 1/20). The bill will strengthen the freedom of the press by offering better protection to journalists and their sources, in order to ensure that the media can fulfil their oversight function vis-à-vis State activities. In the sense of the provisions, journalists are "people who, in a professional capacity, participate...

At the end of August 2010, the Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein film support office - FFHSH) launched a special programme for the promotion of cinema digitisation. Help is available for commercial art cinemas in Hamburg with a maximum of six screens and a high-quality film programme, which can apply for support for the refitting of up to three screens per calendar year. The funds can be used to purchase and install the necessary equipment and projection technology and take the form of an investment subsidy of up to 25% of the costs, with an upper limit of EUR...

According to media reports, the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Appeals Court - OLG) has upheld the claim of a cameraman who worked on the film "Das Boot" to a reasonable additional share in the revenue generated through exploitation of the film, thereby confirming the ruling of the Landgericht München I (Munich District Court I). Agreeing with the lower instance court (see IRIS 2009-6: 8/12), the OLG found a "noticeable disproportion" in the sense of Article 32a of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act) between the remuneration paid to the cameraman when the film was produced in 1981 and the...

In a decision of 27 August 2010 (case no. 310 O 197/10), the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court - LG) rejected an application by the Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights - GEMA) and other collecting societies for a temporary injunction against YouTube. The legal dispute concerned videos uploaded by users onto the YouTube portal, containing pieces of music to which the applicants held the rights but for the use of which YouTube paid no compensation. A licensing agreement between...

In a decision of 3 August 2010, the Amtsgericht Wuppertal (Wuppertal District Court - AG) refused to open the main proceedings in a case concerning the unauthorised use of an unencrypted wireless network on the grounds of insufficient suspicion. On two days in August 2008, the defendant had logged onto a third-party (unencrypted) wireless network without permission and without paying a fee. In the AG's opinion, this did not constitute either the offence of unauthorised tapping under Article 89(1)(1) of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG) or unauthorised retrieval or acquisition...