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The Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) ruled, in a judgment of 22 June 2016 (Case 6 C 9.15), that a broadcaster is in breach of the ban on surreptitious advertising if it fails to identify advertising content in one of its programmes when the purpose of the programme does not provide sufficient justification for this. The plaintiff, which operates the TV channel “Sport1”, aired the programme “Learn from the Pros”, originally produced for the American TV market, in which professional poker players provide tips for playing the game. The plaintiff had acquired the programme...

At its meeting in Halle on 26 April 2016, the Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (Commission on Licensing and Supervision - ZAK) of the Landesmedienanstalten (Regional Media Authorities) reached a decision on breaches of advertising rules. It criticised three cases of unlawful product placement and two involving the inadequate separation of advertising and programming content. The three cases of unlawful product placement it criticised were in the TV show “Germany’s Next Topmodel” on the ProSieben channel operated by ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland GmbH. In the media watchdogs’ opinion, the focus...

In a judgment of 1 March 2016 (Case 5 K 977/14.NW), the Verwaltungsgericht (Administrative Court) in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse declared lawful the extension granted by the Rhineland-Palatinate Landeszentrale für Media und Kommunikation (Regional Media and Communication Authority - LMK) to the licence for the regional window programme “17:30 Sat.1 live”, which is made by the TV production company TV IIIa GmbH & Co. KG (TV Illa) and forms part of the schedule of the commercial broadcaster Sat.1. Under section 25(4) of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement), in order to foster...

In a decision of 12 April 2016 (Case 324 O 96/16), the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the broadcasting of a television programme produced by a team of reporters that had set itself the task of revealing serious shortcomings in companies. In this particular case, the programme “Team Wallraff - Reporter undercover” of the broadcaster RTL wanted to show sloppy working practices in a hospital caused by pressure to keep costs down. In order to do this, a female reporter infiltrated the hospital disguised as a trainee and produced footage broadcast...

On 23 March 2016, the German cabinet adopted the draft of a new Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support Act - FFG) submitted by the Minister for Culture. Before that, comprehensive discussions had been held with the participation of the film-industry associations and institutions concerned. The purpose of the draft Act is to adapt film support legislation to future needs. The Film Support Act is the legal basis for the provision of film support by the Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support Agency - FFA). The aim is not only to provide more effective and successful support for quality German films, but...