Search results : 1348

On 19 June 2009, the Board of the Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support Office - FFA) declared itself in favour of complete digitisation of cinemas in Germany. The decision follows an initiative by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media and is also designed to help settle the legal dispute between the FFA and representatives of the cinema and video industry over the fairness of tax contributions (see IRIS 2009-4:7). It provides for financial support for cinema operators worth up to EUR 40 million over a five-year period. In return, the cinema operators must withdraw their complaints and pay...

In a ruling of 25 June 2009 in favour of the video portal MyVideo, the Landgericht München I (Munich District Court I - LG) decided that MyVideo is not obliged to stop reproducing pieces of music over which the defendant, the licensing company CELAS, asserts mechanical reproduction rights. The collecting society GEMA (society for musical performance and mechanical reproduction rights) was originally entrusted with the task of managing the rights to the EMI repertoire. However, EMI Music Publishing then demanded some of these rights back from GEMA and transferred responsibility for them to CELAS,...

On 17 June 2009, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) rejected an urgent application in which the applicant, who became known as the "Cannibal of Rotenburg" after he committed murder and ate parts of his victim's body, tried to prevent the planned screening of a film about his life and actions. The applicant had already lost an appeal to the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) which, although it accepted that the screening of the film could cause considerable psychological strain to the plaintiff and that his innermost privacy would be affected, concluded...

On 26 May 2009, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) made public its latest reports on Belgium, Germany and Slovakia, adopted in the fourth round of its monitoring of the laws, policies and practices to combat racism in the Member States of the Council of Europe (for commentary on earlier reports, see IRIS 2009-5: 4, IRIS 2008-4: 6, IRIS 2006-6: 4 and IRIS 2005-7: 3). In respect of Belgium, ECRI “strongly recommends” that the State authorities “pursue and step up their efforts to combat the presence of racist expressions on the Internet” (para. 100), including through...

In a ruling of 28 May 2009 (case no. 7 O 17548/08), the Landgericht München I (Munich District Court I - LG) rejected the claim by German pay-TV provider Premiere Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG against aerial manufacturer Kathrein-Werke KG for payment of a penalty for breach of contract of more than EUR 26 million. Between 2003 and 2007, Kathrein had made decoders for the reception of Premiere's television service. Agreeing to pay a penalty of EUR 50,000 for any breach of its contract with Premiere, Kathrein had promised not to manufacture, either itself or via third parties, devices which could be used...