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The Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (Directors' Conference of the regional regulatory authorities, DLM), meeting on 17-18 September 2003, has emphasized the necessity of a coordinated introduction of DVB-T and digital radio. The Landesmedienanstalten view DVB-T as providing an opportunity to ensure pluralism on the terrestrial platform as well, if a range of regional programmes is offered in addition to nation-wide ones. They welcome the intention to follow up the introduction of DVB-T in the Berlin-Brandenburg region (see IRIS 2002-4: 6) with its introduction in the state of North...

The Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Media Concentration Commission, KEK) is an institution established on the basis of Art. 35 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (German Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement, RfStV). It assists the Landesmedienanstalten (regional regulatory authorities) in fulfilling their responsibilities in relation to ensuring pluralism in private broadcasting. It has the task of making a final judgment on issues associated with ensuring pluralism in connection with the nation-wide broadcasting of television programmes (Art. 36 [(1.)] RfStV). On 9 September...

The Bertelsmann media giant has been granted temporary legal protection in Germany from a claim for compensation filed in the USA in connection with its support of the Napster Internet file-sharing service. On 25 July 2003, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) granted the company's claim for such protection in emergency proceedings. Bertelsmann's competitors EMI and Universal had lodged a joint claim in the USA for USD 17 billion in compensation for copyright infringements related to Bertelsmann's stake in Napster. However, the Second Chamber of the BVerfG prohibited...

On 17 July 2003, the 1st Civil Chamber of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) issued a verdict following a claim by the publishing group Handelsblatt GmbH for an injunction concerning " Paperboy ", an Internet search engine for press articles. It decided that the plaintiff's copyright had not been infringed and that the use of so-called "deep links" was not anticompetitive. The plaintiff publishes the " Handelsblatt " and " DM " newspapers. It also publishes individual articles from these newspapers on its Internet site. The defendant operates a so-called meta-search engine for...

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...