Search results : 1375

In a ruling of 30 September 2016, the Oberlandesgericht Köln (Cologne Appeal Court - OLG Köln) decided that the Tagesschau app, in its version available on 15 June 2011, was unlawful (case no. 6 U 188/12) and banned the public service broadcasters from distributing it in this form. Several German newspaper publishers had applied for an injunction against the association of German public broadcasters, ARD. The plaintiffs had claimed that the app infringed Article 11d of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - RStV), which prohibits public service broadcasters from using telemedia...

The Bayerischer Fußballverband (Bavarian Football Association) may continue to charge licence fees and demand that footage of amateur matches be provided free of charge. This was ruled by the Landgericht München (Munich District Court) in a decision of 11 June 2016 (Case 17 HK O 7308/15). Several newspaper publishers had obtained an injunction against the Bavarian Football Association. These publishers also use film footage to report on various amateur matches and objected to the Association’s accreditation rules, which state that camera crews may only access matches if they pay a licence fee or...

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...