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On 13 November 2003, the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) passed the amended Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support Act ­ FFG ) in time for it to enter into force, as planned, on 1 January 2004 (for more details on the Bill, see IRIS 2003-5:14). However, first it was necessary to eliminate certain differences that had emerged immediately prior to the second and third readings in the Bundestag between private and public-service broadcasters concerning the future composition of the Awards Committee of the Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support Institute - FFA ). According to the final...

By its decision of 17 September 2003 not to rule on a case, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Constitutional Court - BVerfG) ended a legal dispute dating back to 1998 concerning the right of reply to editorial comments published in the press. The dispute concerned a report in the Badische Zeitung, which dealt with the problems faced by a football club set up by Turkish citizens in obtaining access to suitable sports facilities in a particular municipality. A section headed " Tagesspiegel ", which was indisputably classified as an editorial column, contained comments on this situation, to which the...

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...