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On 27 June 2007, the Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (Conference of Regional Media Authority Directors - DLM) adopted a revised version of the third structural paper on the distinction between broadcasting and media services (see IRIS 2004-1: 11). The DLM had asked the Gemeinsame Stelle Programm, Werbung und Medienkompetenz (Joint Body on Programming, Advertising and Media Competence - GSPWM) and the Gemeinsame Stelle Digitaler Zugang (Joint Body on Digital Access - GSDZ) to revise the paper on 20 March 2007, particularly in the light of the recently adopted 9. Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag...

The Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) has approved the acquisition of the pay-TV rights for the football Bundesliga from Arena by its competitor Premiere and will tolerate co-operation between the former competitors up until 30 June 2009. Arena had bought the rights to broadcast the Bundesliga for three seasons, starting from 2006/07, for EUR 220 million per season. However, the company did not reach its target of 2.5 million subscribers, generating losses of EUR 200 million in the first season alone. Therefore, for the next two seasons, the broadcasting rights have been sold to Premiere....

On 30 May 2007, the Hessian Parliament adopted a decision amending the Hessisches Privatrundfunkgesetz (Hessian Private Broadcasting Act - HPRG), which is the legal basis for the rights of the private electronic media in the Land of Hesse. The amendment extended the Act’s scope of application to telemedia comparable to broadcasting (i.e., telemedia directed at the public). This is reflected in the new name of the supervisory authority: Hessische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien (Hesse State Authority for Commercial Broadcasting and New Media). The amendment, in particular the...

According to press reports, in response to an application by the television broadcasting group BSkyB, the Landgericht Berlin (Berlin District Court) issued an interim injunction on 6 June 2007 prohibiting the broadcaster Premiere from either using the word “Sky” as part of the “Premiere Sky” satellite TV package that it has announced or as part of the name of the subsidiary company that operates the package (Premiere Sky GmbH), due to the risk of confusion, and pending a decision on the merits of the case. The same applies to the distribution of programmes in Germany and Austria. BSkyB has had...

In the legal dispute concerning a television film produced on the Contergan scandal by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting Corporation - WDR), the Oberlandesgericht Hamburg (Hamburg Court of Appeal) largely set aside four judgments on 10 April 2007 against the broadcasting of the film. In July 2006, Grünenthal GmbH, the former manufacturer of the drug Contergan (thalidomide) and the lawyer who represented the victims at that time obtained an interim injunction against the broadcasting of the film (see IRIS 2006-8: 12). The Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) had regarded...