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In a ruling of 5 March 2009, the Bayerische Verwaltungsgericht München (Bavarian Administrative Court, Munich - VG, case no. M 17 K 07.5805) decided that DSF Deutsches Sportfernsehen GmbH did not breach the ban on surreptitious advertising in its broadcast of the programme PartyPoker-Football & Poker Legends Cup on 22 November 2006. The programme featured a poker tournament. On the poker table, the words "PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup" were printed in large letters. They were visible for a total of 16 of the 44 minutes of transmission time, which the Bayerische Landeszentrale für...

In a ruling of 7 May 2009, the Landgericht München I (Munich District Court I - LG) decided that, under copyright law, a cameraman had the right to certain information from film exploiters. The case concerned revenue generated by the film " Das Boot " (made in 1981) since 2002 (case no. 7 O 17694/08). The plaintiff was a cameraman who had helped to make the film and had been paid for doing so. The film became a global success and was exploited repeatedly over a period of years. The plaintiff did not receive a share of the proceeds of this exploitation. In the proceedings, he asked the producer,...

More often than one might expect, basic issues concerning music rights are unknown territory for producers of music works, film composers and musicians. Reading this IRIS plus is a first step towards understanding the complex legal matter. The article starts by explaining the legal position of the film composer, which comprises the questions of who holds copyrights, for how long and what kind. It thereafter focuses on issues around licensing and remuneration including the role of collecting societies. The article then looks at various aspects of piracy: a major concern for the audiovisual industry....

The Vermittlungsausschuss (Mediation Committee - VA) of the Bundestag and Bundesrat (lower and upper houses of parliament respectively) has reached an agreement on the Gesetz zur Neuordnung der Entschädigung von TK-Unternehmen für Dienste im Rahmen der Strafverfolgung (Act on the reform of compensation for telecommunications companies providing assistance with criminal prosecutions - TKEntschNeuOG). The Bundesrat had convened the VA (see IRIS 2009-2: 11) because it thought some of the fixed amounts laid down in the draft Act to compensate telecommunications companies for surveillance measures...

The Bundesfamilienministerium (Federal Ministry of Family Affairs) is now using legislation as well as a voluntary agreement scheme for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to combat child pornography on the Internet. The Bundeskabinett (Federal Cabinet) has decided on the key points of a corresponding Act, which could be implemented by summer 2009. By then, ISPs are supposed to be technically capable of blocking child pornography sites. Countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland and Italy have already introduced such blocks. The aim is to create a legal basis obliging...