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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...

On 3 April 2008, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office - BKartA) gave the green light for the takeover of seven subsidiary companies owned by cable network operator Orion Cable by competitor Kabel Deutschland (KDG). The companies acquired mainly operate broadband cable networks in the Bundesländer of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Bavaria and in the city-states of Hamburg and Bremen. They mainly provide level 4 network coverage, i.e. linking the level 3 distribution network to household connection points. Thanks to this decision,...

On 8 May 2008, the German Bundestag (Parliament) adopted the Government's draft first amendment of the Jugendschutzgesetz (Act on the Protection of Minors), thanks to the votes of the Government parties. The amendment contains three main aspects: firstly, the list of media products harmful to minors, which are indexed under law, is extended where the portrayal of violence is concerned. Whereas previously minors were only banned by law from buying computer games that "glorify" violence or war, in future the same will apply to those in which "realistic, gruesome and sensationalised portrayals of...