Search results : 1375

In a ruling of 29 April 2010, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided that Google's image search engine does not infringe copyright law. Google's image search engine enables users to search for 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, an artist who runs her own website containing images of her works of art, had asked the court to prevent Google from showing such images of her work in thumbnail form. The BGH rejected her request. It recognised...

In a decision of 12 November 2009, which has only recently been published, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled on the scope and conditions of the cable retransmission right enshrined in Art. 87(1)(1), case 1, and Art. 20 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG). In 2003, the plaintiff, Gesellschaft zur Verwertung der Urheber- und Leistungsschutzrechte von Medienunternehmen (copyright and performance rights collecting society for media companies - VG Media), signed a contract with cable network operator ish NRW for compensation for cable network operators' use, via...

On 12 March 2010, the Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA), the German collecting society for authors and music publishers, decided to adopt a new version of its membership agreement relating to the use of musical works for advertising purposes. When music is used for advertising purposes, rights management is to be exercised separately by the member and GEMA. According to the amended version of section 1(k)(1) of the membership agreement the “right to allow third parties to use a musical work [...] for advertising purposes in an individual case...

The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Kurt Beck is planning to file an application with the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) to check the constitutionality of the ZDF-Staatsvertrag (ZDF State Treaty). Beck announced his intention to file his application after the Land Prime Ministers’ failure to agree on a reform of the ZDF State Treaty at their Berlin conference on 25 March 2010. The background to this is the refusal in November 2009 by the ZDF Board, which is dominated by the German conservatives (CDU/CSU) to renew the contract of the former ZDF editor-in-chief...

In a position paper of 19 March 2010, the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (Federal Ministry for the Economy and Technology - BMWi) set out its proposals for transposing the new EU package of directives on electronic communication (see IRIS 2010-1/7) into national law. The structure of the document is based on the two directives “Better Regulation” (2009/140/EC) and “Citizens’ Rights” (2009/136/EC) amending the EU’s legal framework for electronic communication. It contains, inter alia, new rules for expanding the broadband networks in accordance with the rules on competition and...