Search results : 1348

In a ruling of 26 June 2003, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) established that TV show formats are not protected by copyright. In the corresponding dispute, a French TV company had filed for an injunction against the broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR) concerning the transmission of the SWR series " Kinderquatsch mit Michael ". The plaintiff owns the rights to the series "L'école des fans", which has been broadcast in France since 1977, and claimed that the SWR series was based without permission on the format of its own series. In both series, children aged between 4 and 6 are...

In a ruling of 2 July 2003, the Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Employment Court - BAG) decided that an actor's employment may be terminated if the character they play is written out of a TV series, even if their contract of employment covers a longer period. The plaintiff had been a cast member in the RTL series " Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten ", produced by the defendant, Grundy-UFA TV, until early 2001. Her contract of employment had been due to expire on 20 July 2001, when production work on episode 2310 was due to be completed. According to the contract's provisions, the contract could be terminated...

According to Art. 3.1 of the Zugangskontrolldienstegesetz (Conditional Access Services Act - ZKDSG), which transposes Directive 1998/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access of 20 November 1998, the manufacture, import and distribution for commercial purposes of illicit devices, ie technical procedures and devices designed or specially adapted to facilitate unauthorised access to protected services, are prohibited. The Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt a.M. (Frankfurt Regional Appeals Court) recently decided...

At its meeting on 11 July 2003, the Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) adopted its position on the Gesetzesentwurf für ein neues Filmförderungsgesetz (Draft Revised Film Support Act - FFG-E), which was tabled in April by the Federal Government Minister for Culture and Media (see IRIS 2003­5: 14). The Bundesrat welcomes, in principle, the attempt to adapt the current Act to the changing economic climate in the film sector and to give new impetus to film aid in Germany. However, it also criticises certain provisions. For example, with regard to the proposed establishment of a new German Film...

After it was announced early in the year that the provisions of the Medienerlass (Media Decree) of 23 February 2001 were to be examined and revised (see IRIS 2003-6: 11), the Bundesministerium der Finanzen (Ministry of Finance) issued a communication on 5 August 2003, finally stating its position on the taxation of the profits of film and TV support funds and in particular the question of whether investors in these funds should be treated as producers. According to Section 5.2 of the Einkommenssteuergesetz (Income Tax Act), investors, as long as they are treated as "film producers", can designate...