Search results : 1394

On 1 March 2007, the joint Media Law Agreement between the Länder of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (Medienstaatsvertrag HSH) entered into force. The Agreement concerns, in particular, the merger between the Landesmedienanstalten (media authorities) of two Bundesländer , the Hamburgische Anstalt für neue Medien (Hamburg New Media Office - HAM) and Schleswig-Holstein's Unabhängige Landesanstalt für Rundfunk und neue Medien (Independent State Broadcasting and New Media Office - ULR) (see IRIS 2006-7: 10 and IRIS 2006-4: 11). The new joint supervisory authority is called the Medienanstalt Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein...

The Neunte Staatsvertrag zur Änderung rundfunkrechtlicher Staatsverträge (9th Inter-State Agreement Amending Inter-State Broadcasting Agreements - 9. Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag - RÄStV) entered into force on 1 March 2007. The Minister-Presidents of the Länder and the Mayors of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen had already approved the new amendment on 22 June 2006, which subsequently required the agreement of the parliaments of the Bundesländer . The 9. Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag represents another important step in the reorganisation of the legal framework governing the media in Germany (see...

In an urgent procedure, the Bayerische Verwaltungsgericht (Bavarian Administrative Court - BayVG) in Munich was asked to rule on the suitability of the " bereits18.de " age verification system under the terms of Art. 4.2.2 of the Staatsvertrag über den Schutz der Menschenwürde und den Jugendschutz in Rundfunk und Telemedien (Inter-State Agreement on the protection of human dignity and minors in broadcasting and telemedia - JMStV). According to Art. 4.2.1 of the JMStV, broadcast and telemedia content is unlawful in principle if it is pornographic (No. 1), if it is included in certain lists of media...

In a judgement of 15 February 2007 (case no. 7 O 21384/03), the Landgericht München I (Munich District Court I) ruled on a case in which one of the German public service broadcasters had been accused by a film distributor of broadcasting its films without permission. It was alleged that, between 1995 and 2001, the broadcaster had shown 10 classic films from the 1950s and 1960s on its own channel and had broadcast them a total of 38 times in co-operation with other broadcasters on two other channels without obtaining the necessary permission. The Court upheld the complaint and ruled in the plaintiff's...

In a ruling of 27 February 2007, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) strengthened the freedom of the press and the protection of sources, as enshrined in Art. 5.1.2 of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law - GG). In their decision, the judges declared that both a search of the editorial offices of political magazine Cicero, and the confiscation of computer data in September 2005 were actions that were unconstitutional. These actions were taken following the publication of an article by a freelance journalist concerning the terrorist Abu Mussab al Sarkawi in April 2005. In...