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Several German Bundesländer have launched programmes to support local and regional broadcasters during the coronavirus crisis, including subsidies for their technical infrastructure costs. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the state government, local radio representatives, infrastructure providers and the Landesanstalt für Medien NRW (North-Rhine Westphalia media authority) agreed the ‘Solidarpakt Lokalfunk’ (local radio solidarity pact) to cover the distribution costs for local radio stations for a three-month period. This is funded mainly by the state government and the Landesanstalt...

In a judgment of 19 May 2020 (1 BvR 2835/17), the German Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court – BVerfG) decided that, in its current form, the surveillance of foreigners’ telecommunications abroad by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service – BND) violated the privacy of telecommunications (Article 10(1) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law – GG)) and the freedom of the press (Article 5(1)(2) GG). It also ruled that the processing and transmission of the data obtained through this practice and cooperation with foreign intelligence services were...

At the end of the notification procedure, the EU Commission has given the green light for the reform of media regulations in Germany. Despite raising a number of concerns, it said there were no procedural barriers to the adoption of the new Medienstaatsvertrag (State Media Treaty). However, it suggested some ways in which the draft treaty could be more closely aligned with common EU legislation. The reform process is designed to adapt the state regulatory framework to the digitalised media world, especially with regard to online platforms and streaming services, and to replace Germany’s...

In a judgment of 30 April 2020, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice – BGH), Germany’s highest civil court, in a longstanding dispute between music producer Moses Pelham and members of the group Kraftwerk, decided in what circumstances a phonogram producer’s rights are infringed. The BGH explained that the use of a short sequence from a song can violate a producer’s right of reproduction in accordance with the principles laid down by the CJEU (Case no. C-476/17). However, the judges referred the matter back to the Oberlandesgericht (higher regional court) for...

Under German law, online product recommendations must be clearly labelled as advertising if news portals receive commission from the sale of the related products. The Landgericht Berlin (Berlin Regional Court) stated this in its ruling of 11 February 2020 in Case no. 52 O 194/18 after Germany’s Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (Federation of Consumer Organisations – vzbv) launched proceedings against the media company BuzzFeed. On its news portal’s home page, the company had listed several articles, including one entitled “18 geniale Dinge, die du dir 2018 mit deinem...