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On 26 April 2005, a large German pay-TV broadcaster was granted a temporary injunction by the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court - LG) against a consumer electronics company, banning it from marketing software which allows the exchange of TV programmes via the Internet. The program works in a similar way to well-known music and video file-swapping systems. TV programmes can be exchanged all over the world with no time delay and viewed either on the computer monitor itself or on a connected TV set. In the court's view, the company may not, for copyright reasons, offer technology that makes...

In a ruling of 28 April 2005 (case no. 5 U 156/04), the Hanseatische Oberlandesgericht (Hanseatic Appeal Court - OLG) discussed the obligation of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide information to copyright holders. The case concerned a request submitted by a large phonogram manufacturer ("applicant") to an ISP ("respondent") for information concerning a customer's personal details. The respondent's customer runs a so-called FTP server using an IP address allocated by the respondent. The applicant claimed that the server was being used to store digital musical recordings, in which it owned...

In a ruling of 19 May 2005, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided that old feature film marketing contracts cover marketing of DVDs as well as video cassettes. According to Art. 31.4 of the Urhebergesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG), exploitation rights may not be granted for as yet unknown types of use. In old contracts, film manufacturers often granted video reproduction rights. In Germany, storage of films on DVD has only become common since the 1990s. Reproduction on DVD might therefore have been classified as a new type of use, distinct from video. That would have meant that...

The publication of technically manipulated pictures which appear to be authentic images of a person is not covered by the freedom of speech protected by Art. 5.1 of the German Grundgesetz (Basic Law). This was made clear in a decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) amending a ruling of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court), the highest German civil court, and referring back to it the case in question. The case began with a complaint lodged by the former Chair of the board of directors of a telecommunications company against a business magazine. In 2000, the...

Various German search engine providers have launched a self-regulation initiative under the umbrella of the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimediadienste-Anbieter (voluntary self-monitoring body for multimedia service providers - FSM). The founder members include FSM members Google, Lycos, MSN Deutschland, Yahoo, T-Online and T-Info. In addition to the FSM's general code of conduct, special rules have been developed for search engine providers. The aim of this self-regulatory system is to improve consumer protection and the protection of children and young people using search engines in Germany....