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On 12 February 2010, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) decided not to rule on a complaint about the constitutionality of Art. 97a(2) of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG). The disputed provision limits claims by victims of simple copyright infringements to the reimbursement of the cost of hiring a lawyer to warn the offender to EUR 100. The aim of this rule is to avoid excessive legal fees in cases where the offender is accused of only an insignificant copyright infringement. The plaintiff in the case concerned sold second-hand goods via an Internet...

In a decision of 2 March 2010 on the implementation of the Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) drew a temporary line under the debate on the constitutionality of the German implementing act. The judges considered that the provisions of Art. 113a(1) and 113b(1) of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG) and Art. 100g of the Strafprozessordnung (Code of Criminal Procedure - StPO) infringed the privacy of telecommunications enshrined in Art. 10(1) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law - GG). They declared the provisions...

The Federal Government has published a press release, announcing that it has adopted a draft amendment to the Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support Act - FFG). The proposal to revise the FFG followed concerns raised by the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) concerning the conformity of the current rules on contributions with Art. 3.1 of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law - GG). It was claimed that, under the current provisions of Arts. 66 and 67 FFG, cinema operators and the video industry on the one hand, and television companies and pay-TV providers on the other, were treated...

In a ruling of 17 December 2009, the Oberverwaltungsgericht Münster (Münster Higher Administrative Court - OVG) decided that the system of fees charged by the Landesarchiv (State archive - LA) of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for the presentation of archive material in television programmes is illegal in its current form. The plaintiff in this case had asked the LA for permission to inspect certain archive material and a licence to film individual items in connection with the production of a historical documentary film. The LA granted the permission requested and, after the film had been completed,...

According to media reports, the Amtsgericht Zeven (Zeven district court - AG) has issued a penalty order against the user of another person's unencrypted WLAN. In the court's view, the unauthorised use of the WLAN constitutes the offence of unauthorised tapping under Art. 148 in connection with Art. 89 of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG). Furthermore, the woman, by making contact with her former partner and his new girlfriend via the social network "StudiVZ", was found guilty of stalking under Art. 238 of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code - StGB) and of false accusation...