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On 27 May 1997, the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telecommunications Operators (VPRT) submitted a complaint to the European Commission in Brussels, alleging "serious breaches of European Community law". The VPRT sees these breaches in the fact that the sub-programmes, "Kinderkanal" and "Phoenix", organised by the public channels, ARD and ZDF , are financed from licence fees, although they cannot be regarded as forming part of basic programme provision. Among other things, the association claims that funding these programmes from licence fees violates the regulations on competition contained...

In a decision on 18 September 1997 the board of the Hamburg regional media authority (Hamburgische Landesmedienanstalt - HAM) prohibited the pay-TV broadcaster Premiere from broadcasting five allegedly pornographic films on the grounds of infringement of Section 3, paragraph 1, point 4 of the Agreement between the federal States on Broadcasting (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag - RFStV). In doing so, the HAM feels it has achieved its aim to stop Premiere broadcasting any more films which contradict the ban on pornography. The company broadcast a number of films of this type in January and February 1997....

The Bavarian regional office for new media (Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien - BLM) has decided, after a pilot test, that the new forms of advertising on German sport television (Deutsche Sportfernsehen - DSF) are not permissible. DSF, which broadcasts under a licence from the Bavarian media authority, broadcast a sports programme entitled " Auf Schalke - Das Veltins Bundesligamagazin" ; during the programme results were faded in with the phrase " Clausthaler online presents". The media authority holds that the presence of the sponsor Veltins Brewery in the Schalke football magazine does...

In its decision on 12 August 1997 the Administrative Court in Berlin has upheld the suspensive effect of a complaint by Telekom against a decision of the Berlin-Brandenburg media authority (MABB). In its decision, made enforceable Telekom forthwith, the MABB had stated that two channels kept free by for broadcasting digital programmes on broad-band cable were available for the retransmission of analogue television programmes and informed a number of providers of this (see IRIS 1997-3: 14). After its summary investigation ordered as part of the urgent proceedings, the Court has now ruled in favour...

In two appeal judgements given at the end of April, the Federal Court in Karlsruhe ruled that publication of lists of "top professionals" by news magazines constituted unfair competition, thus upholding the judgements previously given by the Munich Court of Appeal. The magazine, "Focus", had run a series of articles on doctors and lawyers in Germany and had used criteria such as "reputation among colleagues" and "membership of expert bodies" to produce lists of the "500 best doctors" and "500 best lawyers". The court saw this as harmful to other members of these professions, since claims that...