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On 1 September 2016, the European Commission issued its decision on measures Germany planned to implement for the funding of film production and distribution. The Commission found that the measures were compatible with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and did not infringe the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (2010/13/EU) (AVMS Directive) (see also IRIS 2016-6/11). The decision concerned the amendment of section 66a(2) of the Film Support Act (Filmförderungsgesetz) (FFG). Currently, cinema operators, video suppliers and video-on-demand (VoD) providers have to pay a...

On 15 September 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its judgment in Tobias Mc Fadden v. Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH, concerning the application of the intermediary liability regime under the E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC (ECD) to the operator of a shop which offers access to a Wi-Fi network free of charge to the public in relation to copyright infringements committed by users of that network. Mr. Tobias Mc Fadden runs a shop selling and leasing lighting and sound systems, in which he offers access to a Wi-Fi network to the general public free of charge...

The legality and acceptability of some controversial practices by journalists was at the heart of a recent case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The case concerns the conviction of three journalists in Italy who intercepted radio communications between police officers (carabinieri) in order to arrive quickly at crime scenes and report on them for their local online newspaper. Stressing the notion of responsible journalism and noting that the decisions of the domestic courts had been duly reasoned and had focused primarily on the need to protect national security and prevent crime...

In its decision of 16 June 2016, on a final appeal on points of law in a dispute between Haribo and the media agency Mediaplus (Case III ZR 282/14), the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice - BGH) set aside the judgment of the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Higher Regional Court - OLG München) of 23 August 2014 (Case 7 U 4376/13). OLG München had previously ruled that there was no obligation to disclose information and accordingly held that Mediaplus was entitled to the bulk advertising discounts and referred the case back to the appeals court for retrial and a new decision. In a multistage...

According to the Landgericht Frankfurt (Frankfurt Regional Court) in a judgment of 10 June 2016 (Case 2-03 O 364/15), manufacturers of smart TVs must provide consumers with better information about the gathering of personal data and must not issue any unreasonably long terms and conditions or privacy policy. The defendant was a manufacturer of internet-enabled smart TVs that operate on the HbbTV standard, which is usually activated by pressing the “red button”. The HbbTV function was installed and switched on when the smart TVs were delivered. The defendant’s smart TVs also feature a user interface...