Search results : 1375

In a decision of 14 June 2019, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) issued a decision explaining the conditions under whichthe expression of an opinion should be categorised as defamatory criticism, meaning it was not protected under the freedom of expression enshrined in Article 5(1)(1) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Thedecidingfactor was whether the remarks had a factual basis. Whether they represented an insult under criminal law depended on the balance between freedom of expression and the personality rights of the individual concerned. In the case at hand, the plaintiff...

In a judgment of 29 July 2019 (Case no. C-516/17 – Spiegel Online v Volker Beck), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that, in principle, the use of a protected work in the reporting of current events does not require the author’s prior consent under the Copyright Directive (2001/29/EC). The quotation of a work by means of a hyperlink is also permitted as long as the quoted work, in its specific form, has previously been made available to the public with the rightsholder’s authorisation or in accordance with a non-contractual licence or statutory authorisation.  The dispute concerned politician...

In a judgment of 29 July 2019 (Case no. C-469/17, Funke Medien NRW GmbH v Bundesrepublik Deutschland), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) explained that freedom of information and the freedom of the press cannot justify derogations from the rights of authors beyond the exceptions or limitations provided for in the Copyright Directive (Directive 2001/29/EC). The court’s decision was surprisingly clear, given that, both at national level and in the Opinion of the Advocate General, the right to protection of the disputed ‘Afghanistan papers’ had been seriously questioned.  The decision follows a...

In a ruling of 29 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union strengthened the rights of artists with regard to so-called sampling and decided that the use of sound samples taken from a phonogram may, under certain circumstances, be used in a new piece of music without the consent of the phonogram producer. At the same time, however, a special rule on ‘free use’ in German copyright law was classified as incompatible with EU law. The procedure concerned a legal dispute in Germany that has gone unresolved for more than 20 years. In 1997, the composers Moses Pelham and Martin Haas had copied...

According to the German Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on the protection of minors in the media - JMStV), some telemedia content that may be harmful to minors may only be transmitted if the provider ensures, through closed user groups, that it can only be accessed by adults. Content that may impair the development of children may be distributed if, for example, the provider ensures through a technical system that it cannot normally be accessed by children and young people in the relevant age groups. On 15 May 2019, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for the...