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In a legal dispute between a cable network operator and the Verwertungsgesellschaft Media (Media collecting society - VG), the Kammergericht (Supreme Court - KG) in Berlin decided on 25 January 2010 that cable network operators are obliged to pay a copyright fee to broadcasters for retransmitting their programmes. It thus upheld the lower instance ruling. The Landgericht Berlin (Berlin District Court - LG) had decided in 2008 that copyright fees were due to VG Media. In its appeal, the cable network operator had argued that the court had not interpreted the concept of cable retransmission in Art....

In a ruling of 21 January 2010, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) considered the conditions under which a film production company correctly meets its obligation to offer a so-called "final option". In the case concerned, the plaintiff, a film production company, and the defendant, which is involved in film distribution and trading in film licences, concluded a contract in 2002, under which the defendant was granted exclusive rights to exploit the film "Der W.". The contract also granted a so-called "final option" to the defendant. This obliged the plaintiff to offer the defendant...

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...