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Just over a year after the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled in a decision of general principle that the so-called "press review privilege" described in Section 49.1 of the Gesetz über Urheberrechte und verwandte Schutzrechte (Act on Copyright and Related Rights - UrhG) also applied to electronic press reviews under certain conditions and that, if those conditions were met, the copyright collecting company VG Wort could demand the statutory fees from publishers of electronic press reviews (see IRIS 2002-8:12), VG Wort has agreed to co-operate with Presse-Monitor Deutschland...

The Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for Youth Protection in the Media - KJM) has laid down standards for age verification systems designed to protect minors in the telemedia sector in accordance with the rules contained in the Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on Youth Protection in the Media - JMStV). Under Article 4 JMStV, the broadcasting of pornography is totally forbidden. However, pornography is admissible in telemedia if the provider ensures that it can only be accessed by adults (restricted user group). Under the youth protection reforms carried out...

On 15 October 2003 the federal government agreed on a bill designed to bring the Telekommunikationsgesetz (Telecommunications Act - TKG) into line with EC Directives. The most interesting provisions from a broadcasting point of view, and therefore the most important for the audiovisual sector, are those that deal with providers' access to transmission channels. A key feature of the new regulations is that broadcasters' wishes concerning fees and supervision will be taken into account. The format of the corresponding rules is also under discussion. According to the bill, the Regulierungsbehörde...

In a decision announced at the end of September, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court BVerfG) decided not to rule on complaints filed by a news agency against injunctions imposed by the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) and the Hanseatische Oberlandesgericht (Hanseatic Appeal Court). The Constitutional Court can decide not to rule if the complaint does not raise any issues of fundamental constitutional relevance or if it is not indispensable to the plaintiff's ability to assert a fundamental right because it has no chance of being upheld. The Constitutional Court...

At the end of September, the Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) decided to table a bill that will make it a punishable offence to take photographs secretly and without permission. The Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code StGB) will be amended to strengthen the protection of privacy, with a new rule added alongside the existing ban on sound recordings. People's private lives will be protected against the unauthorised taking or broadcasting of pictures in their homes or similar places that are not directly visible to the public. According to the new para. 201a of the StGB, it will also be an offence...