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In December 2009, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands (association of German public service broadcasters - ARD) 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. One of the provisions of the agreement is that, as well as the standard model whereby commissioned productions are fully financed by the broadcaster, the model of co-financing by producers should be strengthened. Under the co-financing...

On 3 December 2009, the Landtag (State parliament) of North Rhine-Westphalia adopted the new Landesmediengesetz (State Media Act - LMG) and an amendment to the WDR-Gesetz (WDR Act). As well as bringing these instruments into line with the provisions of the amended Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement), the main changes are designed to amend media concentration rules, tighten youth protection in the media and facilitate radio digitisation. Firstly, the amendment of Art. 33 para. 3 LMG allows newspaper publishers to own up to a 100% share in a broadcasting company. In order to...

In December 2009, two court rulings were issued in relation to whether programme providers can charge a licence fee for the use of their programme information in electronic programme guides (EPGs). According to reports, the Oberlandesgericht Dresden (Dresden Appeal Court - OLG) ruled that this was the case on 15 December 2009 in an appeal procedure between the collecting society Verwertungsgesellschaft Media (VG Media) and the online programme magazine tvtv.de. It therefore upheld a first instance decision taken by the Landgericht Leipzig (Leipzig District Court - LG) in May 2009. The LG had decided...

In a ruling on 20 November 2009, the Verwaltungsgericht Köln (Cologne Administrative Court - VG) decided that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is not obliged to provide information to citizens under the North Rhine-Westphalia Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (Freedom of Information Act - IFG NRW). The proceedings followed a complaint lodged on the basis of the IFG NRW by a freelance journalist against the broadcaster's refusal to disclose information. The plaintiff had wanted to know which companies WDR cooperated with and how much money was involved. The journalist had requested this information because...

On 27 November 2009, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) upheld a decision of the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt am Main District Court - LG) of 2 October 2008 (case no. 2 StR 104/09), imposing a prison sentence against a former television presenter and editor of Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) for corruption and embezzlement. According to the BGH's ruling, editors working for the public broadcasting companies affiliated to the ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio qualify as office-holders within the meaning of criminal law and can therefore be punished for accepting bribes. In the...