Search results : 1348

In a decision of 3 September 2013 (case no. 5 StR 187/13), the 5th Criminal Division of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) rejected the appeals lodged by the defendant against rulings in the so-called “NDR screenplay scandal” as unfounded. The ruling of the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) of 8 October 2012 is therefore legally valid. In the proceedings before the Landgericht Hamburg, which attracted huge public interest, the former chief editor of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (North German Broadcasting Corporation - NDR) had received a suspended sentence of one year and...

On 9 October 2013, the Gesetz gegen unseriöse Geschäftspraktiken (Act Against Dubious Business Practices), also known as the Anti-Abzock-Gesetz (Anti-Rip-Off Act), entered into force. It had been adopted by the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) on 27 June 2013 and the Bundesrat (upper house) on 20 September 2013 (doc. no. 638/13). The Act is designed to prevent the current practice of issuing mass cautions for copyright infringements, as well as dubious telephone transactions and debt collection methods. In future, paid subscriptions or competition entries concluded by telephone will only be...

On 19 September 2013, the Rundfunkrat (Broadcasting Council) of Cologne-based Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) ruled that the original live streams of major sports events produced by WDR and made available via the online portal of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (association of German public service broadcasters - ARD) at “sportschau.de” were covered by the relevant telemedia concept. The Broadcasting Council did not consider the three-step test required under Article 11d-11f of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement...

In a ruling of 26 September 2013 (case no. VG 27 K 231.12), the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court - VG) decided that a broadcaster licensed to broadcast programmes nationwide was not permitted to replace the advertising on its channel with different regional advertisements. This was not covered by the national broadcasting licence under the terms of Article 20a of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement). Television broadcaster ProSieben instigated the proceedings against the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg media authority - mabb),...

In a decision of 10 September 2013 (case no. 4 ME 204/13), the Niedersächsische Oberverwaltungsgericht (Lower Saxony Administrative Court of Appeal - OVG) ruled that the comparison of registration data described in Article 14(9) of the Rundfunkbeitragsstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on the Broadcasting Licence Fee - RBStV) does not infringe the right to “informational self-determination” (the right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and in what circumstances), derived from Article 2(1) in conjunction with Article 1(1) of the Grundgesetz...