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The media authorities of the Länder (States) have recently noted several cases of surreptitious advertising on television and have initiated proceedings against the broadcasters concerned. Surreptitious advertising is defined in section 2(2)(6) of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement) and is prohibited under the first sentence of section 7(6). After conducting a thorough investigation, in particular concerning the contractual relationships between the television station, the producer and the programme organiser, the Media Council of the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg...

In a judgment of 21 April 2008, the Landgericht Köln (Cologne Regional Court) ruled that copyright protected works can also be created in the context of the “Second Life” online platform. The case concerned a virtual model of Cologne Cathedral. The court stated that a work available on an online platform could also be protected by copyright if it could be classified as one of the types of works mentioned in section 2 of the Urhebergesetz (Copyright Act). As long as this classification was possible, there was, the court said, no need under this section to have recourse to the notion of a potentially...

In a judgment dated 8 May 2008, the Stuttgart Regional Court ( Landgericht ) ruled that a video portal must not show film footage of amateur football games that fall within the responsibility of the Württemberg Football Association. The court stated that the association held all exploitation rights as a co-organiser of the games, justifying this view by referring to the financial risk borne by the organiser and to the latter’s responsibility for all the organisational aspects of a particular event. The fact that, inter alia , the Association organised the games, drew up the fixture lists, trained...

The courts are being repeatedly called upon to deal with issues relating to the identification of Internet providers. The reason for this lies in the requirements of section 5 of the Telemediengesetz (Telemedia Act – TMG), according to which service providers must keep certain easily recognisable information directly accessible and constantly available to commercial telemedia, which customers are normally offered against payment. According to section 5(1)(2) of the Telemedia Act, which transposes Article 5(1)(c) of Directive 2000/31/EC (“Directive on Electronic Commerce”) into German law, this...

North Rhine-Westphalia’s regional film fund Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen and the Irish Film Board ( Bord Scannán na hÉireann ) signed an agreement for the co-production of cinema films on 9 June 2008. The aim of the agreement is to intensify cultural and economic co-operation between firms located in the two regions with regard to internationally co-produced feature-length cinema and documentary films. This is to be achieved within the official framework of bilateral international agreements or the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production, as well as by means of financial support...