Search results : 1375

On 14 May 2014, the Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Appeal Court - OLG) ruled, in a decision yet to be published in full, that the Bild newspaper, by publishing a photograph of a famous footballer in which a woman appeared by chance in the background, infringed the woman’s own image rights under Article 22 of the Kunsturhebergesetz (Art Copyright Act - KUG) and, at the same time, breached her general right to privacy under Article 823(1) of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Civil Code - BGB). The disputed photograph was published in 2012 in an article about a robbery committed against the footballer...

In a ruling of 13 May 2014, which has not yet been published in full, the Verfassungsgerichtshof Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate Constitutional Court) decided that the new regulations on the financing of public service broadcasting through the levying of broadcasting charges did not infringe the provisions of the Constitution (case no. VGH B 35/12; regarding the introduction of the new broadcasting charge in Germany, see IRIS 2012-2/14). A complaint lodged by the Montabaur-based road construction firm Volkmann und Rossbach, which has numerous branches both in Rhineland-Palatinate and elsewhere,...

In a ruling of 29 April 2014 (case no. VI ZR 246/12), the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) rejected an appeal by a plaintiff who, as the heir of a famous entertainer, had wanted to pursue a claim for financial compensation for an infringement of the late entertainer’s right to privacy. The entertainer had argued that articles published in the defendant’s magazines had infringed his right to privacy and claimed financial compensation from the defendant. His complaint had been faxed to the court the day before he died, but had not been sent to the defendant until a few weeks later. In...

In a ruling of 29 April 2014 (case no. VI ZR 137/13), the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) granted an appeal filed by a magazine and dismissed a complaint lodged by the adopted child of a famous television presenter, who had sought an injunction against the publication of information about the parent/child relationship between them. The plaintiff had been adopted by a famous TV presenter and his wife in 2000. Until 2009, details of the parent/child relationship between the adopted minor and the TV presenter, including the plaintiff’s name and age and her parents’ names, had been...

On 15 April 2014, the German media authorities’ Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (Commission on Licensing and Supervision - ZAK) issued its first decision on the lawfulness of virtual product placement. The investigation concerned the virtual placement of a poster advertising the film “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” in the RTL2 programme “Berlin Tag & Nacht” in February 2013, coinciding with the cinema release of the film. The ZAK concluded that the 15-second sequence did not breach the Land media authorities’ advertising regulations. The film poster had been embedded in the programme in...