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In a judgement given on 15 October 1998, the Berlin Administrative Court (VG Berling) authorised the ProSieben Media AG by means of provisional legal protection to broadcast the Willy Bogner film "Fire, Ice, and Dynamite" ( Feuer, Eis und Dynamit) without having to indicate that it is an extended advertising programme. The film had already been the issue of two competition legislation decisions of the Federal Court (BGH: Judgement dated 6 July 1995 I ZR 58/93 and judgement dated 6 July 1995 I ZR 2/94). The BGH instructed the Willy Bogner Film GmbH to point out the particular advertising nature...

The Federal Constitutional Court ( Bundesverfassungsgericht - BVerfG) has decided on 28 October 1998 not to accept a constitutional complaint entered by the ZDF ( Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen). Title merchandising of all kinds of products therefore does not fall under the protection of the freedom of broadcasting guaranteed by Article 5, para. 1, clause 2 of the Basic Law. In 1987, the ZDF had broadcast a serial entitled "The Guldenburg Heritage" ( Das Erbe der Guldenburgs) which was partly filmed in a castle. Even before the shooting had been completed, the owner of the building had registered...

On 7 July 1998, the Federal Minister of Justice issued the preliminary draft of a fifth amending act on the Copyright Act, the aim being to bring the latter into line with developments in the field of information and communication technology. The primary purpose of the draft is to implement two treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) - the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty - as rapidly as possible ( see IRIS 1997-1:5). One important innovation in the draft is a new transmission right - the "right to make available". This covers...

On 30 June 1998, the television companies in the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telecommunication Operators (VPRT) and the Voluntary Self-Monitoring Agency for Television (FSF) together adopted guidelines on talkshows, with a view to ensuring their social acceptability, particularly where young people and children were concerned. Talkshows are an important part of several TV stations' daytime programmes. They have recently come under fire, partly because of the themes selected, and partly because of the way in which those themes are presented. Another complaint is that they go out at...

The German Parliament, after years of heated debate, gave its approval in April to an amendment to the Regulation Governing the Constitutional Court ( Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz), which will in future make it possible to view the proceedings of the German Supreme Court on television. The change in the law will make it possible to make sound and film recordings as well as broadcast them on radio and television. Whereas in the past the Constitutional Court already permitted recordings of the announcement of the operative part of a judgement to be made, now the hearings, the pronouncement of...