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Based on a decision issued by the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court) on 20 September 2007, cinema operators are obliged to pay the so-called "film tax" in pursuance of Art. 66 of the Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Förderung des deutschen Films (Act on measures to support the German film industry - Filmförderungsgesetz - FFG). A cinema operator had appealed against a similar decision taken by the national film support institute (FFA). According to Art. 66(1) FFG, the film tax must be paid by anyone who charges customers to watch films with a duration of more than 58 minutes. The...

In parallel with the increased use of co-regulation systems in the context of the protection of minors, a legal requirement has been introduced to evaluate the effectiveness of these systems. In preparation for the evaluation by the legislature, the Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) examined, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and the Länder, whether and to what extent youth media protection works effectively. According to the results of the study, the new approach to youth media protection established in 2003 (see IRIS 2002-9: 15) has improved...

The leading German mobile telephone companies intend to work with the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter e.V. (Association for Voluntary Self-Regulation of Multimedia Service Providers - FSM), which was set up by media associations and online marketing companies in 1997, to take action against violent and pornographic videos sent to the mobile telephones of children and young people. On the initiative of the Rhineland-Palatinate Youth Ministry, the companies have signed a voluntary undertaking according to which the network operators Debitel, E-Plus, Mobilcom, Talkline, T-Mobile,...

On 18 October 2007, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice - BGH ) ruled that making pornographic offerings accessible on the Internet by simply entering an identification card or passport number did not meet the demands of legislation on the protection of minors (Case no. I ZR 102/05). Nor was it sufficient to impose an additional requirement to effect an account transaction or state a postcode. The parties to the dispute were both suppliers of age verification systems (AVSs) for operators of websites with pornographic content. The purpose of these systems is to prevent minors from accessing...

The European Commission has prohibited state aid provided by the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia Media Authority - LfM) to private broadcasters for converting to digital terrestrial television, as this is in breach of EC state aid rules. The authority had planned to bear part of the costs incurred by private broadcasters for the digital transmission of signals and had made available a total of EUR 6.8 million, to be disbursed over a period of five years. As early as November 2005, the Commission stated that a similar DVB-T subsidy planned by the Medienanstalt...