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After lengthy negotiations (see IRIS 2008-10: 9), the Minister-Presidents of the Länder officially signed the 12th Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag (Agreement amending the Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - RÄStV) on 18 December 2008. The deadline for implementation of the three-stage test for existing telemedia services was brought forward by five months to 31 August 2010. This step was criticised by the public service broadcasters, along with the fact that some parts of the agreement go further than the requirements of the European Commission, such as the stipulation that sports broadcasts can...

On 3 December 2008, the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Regional Appeal Court - OLG) confirmed the ban on the takeover of broadcasting group ProSiebenSat.1 by the Axel Springer publishing house, imposed by the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) on 19 January 2006 due to concerns about competition. Although Springer abandoned its plans following the decision, it took an appeal in order to obtain legal certainty for possible future mergers (see IRIS 2007-10: 9). In its reasoning for the decision, the OLG explained that the merger would have opened new possibilities for cross marketing...

The Oberverwaltungsgericht (Higher Administrative Court - OVG) of Rhineland-Palatinate has upheld the decision of the Verwaltungsgericht Neustadt (Neustadt Administrative Court), confirming the ruling of the Landeszentrale für Medien und Kommunikation (State Media and Communications Agency - LMK), according to which the live programme " Jetzt geht's um die Eier. Die große Promi-Oster-Show " broadcast by private broadcaster Sat.1 had violated the ban on surreptitious advertising set out in Art. 1 para. 2 of the Landesmediengesetz (Land media act) in connection with Art. 7 para. 6 sentence 1 of the...

In a ruling of 11 December 2008 (case no. VG 27 A 132.08), the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court - VG) upheld a complaint lodged by the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg media authority - mabb) against the private broadcaster ProSieben for a breach of the ban on surreptitious advertising enshrined in Art. 7 para. 6 sentence 1 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - RStV). The complaint concerned episodes of the programme "TV total Wok-WM" broadcast in 2006 and 2007, particularly various visual and verbal references to brand names...

On 13 November 2008, the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) voted in favour of the draft amendment of the Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Subsidies Act - FFG). The amendment aims to improve the structure of the German film industry, to strengthen the German film industry as an economic and cultural asset and to further develop quality and diversity. Film subsidies are an important means of achieving these objectives. The reforms particularly reflect a desire to optimise financial provision, especially by increasing sales promotion, and to bring the Act into line with technical advances, primarily...