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In a decision of 20 January 2020, the Verwaltungsgericht Köln (Cologne Administrative Court) submitted a number of questions to the European Court of Justice concerning the interpretation of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 and its provisions on net neutrality. The case concerns the ‘StreamOn’ service offered by the German mobile operator Telekom Deutschland GmbH in which the data transmission rates of some video streams are throttled. ‘StreamOn’ is a so-called zero-rating service that can be added to some of the mobile operator’s tariffs free of charge. The data...

In October 2019, the Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) announced a bill designed to combat right-wing extremism and hate speech on the Internet (IRIS 2020-1:1/9). The Entwurf für ein Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus und der Hasskriminalität (Draft Act to combat right-wing extremism and hate crime) was published on 18 December 2019. Among other things, the bill tightens the provisions of the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act – NetzDG) that require social networks to...

Following an appeal by a politician and on the basis of her new submissions in the appeal proceedings and the court’s additional findings, the Landgericht Berlin (Berlin District Court), in a new ruling of 21 January 2020, partly amended its original decision of 9 September 2019 (see IRIS 2019-10:1/11) on the politician’s claim against the Facebook social media platform for the publication of user data. In its original decision, the Landgericht Berlin had rejected the well-known German politician’s request for information about users who had insulted her on the grounds that the...

In a ruling of 21 November 2019, the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt am Main Regional Appeal Court) decided that the broadcasting of the series ‘Skylines’ was protected by artistic freedom. The series, which is produced in Germany, did not infringe the individual or corporate personality rights of the owner of a real-life music label called ‘Skyline Records’. The artistic depiction of the main characters’ lives and the company’s business activities was deemed to be sufficiently removed from reality. The Netflix streaming service launched the...

The iconic phrase ‘Früher war mehr Lametta’, coined by German comedian Loriot, is not protected under copyright according to a recently published decision of the Landgericht München (Munich Regional Court – LG) of 18 July 2019, which was upheld by the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Regional Appeal Court – OLG) on 14 August 2019. The heirs of the artist Bernhard-Viktor Christoph-Carl von Bülow, known by the pseudonym Loriot, who died in 2011, had applied for interim legal protection to prevent the sale of T-shirts and other products with the quote...