Search results : 1375

Arena Sportrechte und Marketing GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of the largest cable network operator in North Rhine-Westphalia (Unity Media), has been granted authorisation to operate a national TV channel, "Arena Bundesliga", by the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia Media Authority - LFM). However, this decision remains subject to the approval of the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media - KEK). The KEK represents the relevant Land media authority in licensing procedures and ensures compliance with the...

In the so-called "licence fee dispute", Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) has now turned to the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) and, on 6 March 2006, joined the appeal that was submitted to the Court by the first German public TV channel, ARD, in October 2005 (case no. 1 BvR 2270/05; see IRIS 2005-10: 10). The deadline for appeals in this matter is 31 March 2006. The appeal concerns the adoption of the 8. Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag (8th Amendment to the Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement), through which the Minister-Presidents of the Länder increased the broadcasting...

In early February 2006, the Länder of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg agreed a draft inter-state agreement on media law in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. A key aspect of the agreement is the creation of a joint media authority for both Länder. This idea was criticised by the Hamburgische Anstalt für neue Medien (Hamburg new media authority - HAM) and the Unabhängige Landesanstalt für Rundfunk und neue Medien (independent regional authority for broadcasting and new media - ULR) in a statement dated 6 March 2006. The statement argued that the role of the joint media authority would essentially be...

Axel Springer AG has appealed to the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Court of Appeal - OLG) against the decision of the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Authority) to prohibit Springer's takeover ofProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (see IRIS 2006-2: 9). According to the appellant, the purpose of the appeal is to obtain the necessary legal certainty for future acquisition procedures. In its opinion, the grounds set out by the Bundeskartellamt for its decision, should they be confirmed by the OLG , would effectively prevent the company from growing in Germany through the acquisition of other companies....

In a ruling of 3 March 2006, the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt (Frankfurt Court of Appeal) banned the screening of the cinema film with the German title "Rohtenburg" following an appeal for a temporary injunction. The film had been due to be premiered on 9 March 2006. The film "Rohtenburg" (English title: "Butterfly - a Grimm Love Story"), which was described by its distributors as "a real-life horror film that could hardly be more intense and gets under your skin in the truest sense of the word", tells the story of a psychology student who writes a thesis on a homosexual cannibal and researches...