Search results : 1375

In a decision of 4 May 2000, the German Patent and Trademark Office's arbitration service for the exercise of copyright and related rights proposed a settlement in the dispute between the Zentralstelle für private Überspielungsrechte (Central Office for private copying rights - ZPÜ) and Hewlett-Packard GmbH. The case concerned the controversial question as to whether, in accordance with Article 54.1 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG), the tax on recording appliances should apply to CD-Writers. The Act protects authors by imposing a special tax on manufacturers or importers of appliances...

The Federal Minister of the Interior and the Press Council have compromised over the control of data collected by the media. The current draft Data Protection Act is designed to transpose the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. The original draft stipulated that the media should be subject to data control measures, a decision that had aroused criticism from the German Press Council and numerous media organisations. The provisions stated that all citizens had a right to know about any data collected and stored concerning them. Editors were also required to appoint independent data protection officers...

The Deutsche Fussballbund (German Football Association - DFB) has agreed a four-year contract with the Kirch group on the exploitation of television and Internet rights relating to the Bundesliga (national football league). The Kirch group will pay DEM 3 billion, ie DEM 750 million per season, for the right to broadcast Bundesliga matches between 2000 and 2004. The deal covers pay-TV broadcasts, including the possibility of watching all matches on a pay-per-view basis, as well as free TV channels, which can be received at no extra charge. Once again, therefore, the DFB has sold these rights centrally...

On 25 November 1999, the Landgericht München I (First Munich Regional Court) overturned the ruling of the court of first instance against the former managing director of Compuserve (see IRIS 1998-6: 4). The AG München (Munich District Court) had imposed a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended on payment of a fine of DEM 100,000. The case concerned child and animal pornography, prohibited in Germany, which was available on the server of Compuserve USA, and to which its subsidiary Compuserve Germany had given access. Whereas the court of first instance had found the managing director of...

In mid-April, the Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (Conference of Regional Media Authority Directors - DLM) adopted a draft set of rules for the protection of minors on private-sector digital television. The rules make use of the authorisation granted in Article 3.5 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Agreement between Federal States on Broadcasting - RfStV), amended for the fourth time between 16 July and 31 August 1999, which came into force on 1 April this year (see IRIS 2000-2: 5). Under this provision, it is possible, in certain circumstances, to deviate from the general time restrictions...