Search results : 1348

In an appeal procedure (case no. KRZ 37/03), the Kartellsenat (Cartels Chamber) of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided on 8 November 2005 that football clubs could charge a special fee to radio broadcasters reporting inside their stadiums. The judges of the BGH therefore upheld the earlier decisions of the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) of 26 April 2002 and Oberlandesgericht Hamburg (Hamburg Court of Appeal) of 12 June 2003. The radio broadcaster had lodged a complaint against the Hamburg-based football clubs HSV and FC St. Pauli and the DFL Deutsche Fußball...

The Constitutional Court (BVerfG) refused to issue a ruling concerning a constitutional complaint on the ban on producing private back-up copies of legally acquired but copy-protected DVDs and CDs (AZ: 1BVR 2182/04). The complainant asserted that as a result of the ban on circumventing copy-protected systems in articles §§ 95a and 95b of the UrhG his personal right of ownership was violated. So as to protect data, he regularly made a digital copy of newly acquired CDs and DVDs. More recently he was banned from making a back-up copy, when the original product came with a copy-protection system....

On 12 May 2005 the Frankfurt Oberlandesgericht (Court of Appeal - OLG) ruled on a publicity measure specifically aimed at children. The Court had to decide on an urgent case brought by the Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs (centre for the prevention of unfair competition) concerning a special offer proposed by a sweet manufacturer, involving “milk tokens” printed on the sweet packets, some of which could be exchanged for bonuses. The applicant claimed the special offer exploited children's lack of experience of commercial matters, and that therefore the publicity stunt constituted...

On 15 August 2005 German publisher Axel Springer AG notified the German Bundeskartellamt (the Federal Competition and Cartel Authority) of its plans to take over the media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG by means of a buy-out (document reference B6-103/05). Springer's publishing division is Europe's largest newspaper publishing concern, producing titles that include Bild, Germany's biggest selling tabloid, and Die Welt. ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG controls a group of four broadcasters responsible for general channels Sat.1, ProSieben and kabel eins as well as the news channel N24. Axel Springer AG,...

In July 2005, the Oberlandesgericht (regional appeal court - OLG) in Munich upheld a first-instance decision by the Landgericht München I (Munich district court), banning the Heise publishing house from offering a hyperlink to the homepage of a software manufacturer, which sells software that can be used to circumvent the copy protection mechanisms on DVDs. The Landgericht had granted an application filed by eight music publishers for an injunction in accordance with Articles 823.2 and 1004 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Civil Code) on account of a breach of Article 95 a para. 3 of the Urhebergesetz...