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In a decision of 26 January 2022, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court – BVerfG), as the supreme guardian of fundamental rights in Germany, refused to accept a constitutional complaint by well-known German TV presenter Jan Böhmermann relating to a poem he had written, insulting the Turkish president. As a result, previous civil courts rulings, in which parts of the poem were declared unlawful, are now legally valid. The case, which attracted a high level of media attention in Germany after it triggered a general public debate on the limits of artistic freedom...

A new Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support Act – FFG) entered into force in Germany on 1 January 2022. The new act renews the provisions of the 2017 FFG, which was valid from 2017 until 2021, and contains a number of amendments in response to changing market conditions. Adopted in accordance with the German system of regularly reviewing the film support system, the 2022 FFG only contains minor changes compared with the 2017 version and will remain in force until 31 December 2023. Firstly, the act broadens the scope of responsibilities of the Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support...

On 1 February 2022, the Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (Commission on Licensing and Supervision – ZAK), a joint organ of the 14 German state media authorities, whose responsibilities include granting licences to national broadcasters in Germany and related supervisory measures, prohibited the production and distribution of the RT DE television channel in Germany because it did not have the necessary licence. In response, the Russian government took measures against the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, including the closure of its Moscow office, banned individuals...

Through the German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF), the Federal Republic of Germany plans to support the production of feature films and television series from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2023, with an estimated total budget of EUR 150 million. The support takes the form of direct grants to producers and co-producers of certain feature films and TV series. The expected scale of the GMPF meant that it required European Commission approval under EU state aid rules. On 27 October 2021, the Federal Republic therefore informed the Commission of the plan to continue with the scheme, which was first established...

In a judgment of 23 December 2021 (case no. 20 O 43/19), the 20th civil chamber of the Landgericht Stuttgart (Stuttgart regional court – LG Stuttgart) ruled that the ban on regional TV advertising by national TV broadcasters, enshrined in Article 8(11) of the Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty – MStV), breached EU law because it was incompatible with the freedom to provide services (Article. 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) and the principle of equal treatment laid down in Article 20 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The plaintiff is...