Search results : 1372

In a ruling of 13 December 2013 (case no. 6 U 114/13), the Oberlandesgericht Köln (Cologne Appeal Court - OLG) decided that the quotation right enshrined in Article 51 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG) did not cover all forms of critical debate concerning films. Distributing excerpts of a protected film for the purpose of blanket criticism was therefore contrary to copyright law. The maker of a documentary film had launched an action against the operator of a YouTube channel, who had published a video on the YouTube platform, in which excerpts of the said film had been shown and...

According to media reports, the Landgericht Hamburg (Hamburg District Court) issued a decision on 24 January 2014 (case no. 324 O 264/11), ordering the search engine provider Google Inc. to remove from its search results six secretly taken photographs showing the plaintiff engaging in sexual acts with prostitutes. Third parties had taken the photographs illegally and first published them on the Internet in 2008. The person depicted had successfully taken court action to stop distribution of the images in 23 countries. Although he had also demanded several times that Google should prevent the...

In a ruling of 11 December 2013 (1 BvR 194/13), the 3rd chamber of the First Senate of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) decided that the description of somebody as a "durchgeknallte Frau" (“crazy woman”) on an Internet portal was not covered by the fundamental right to freedom of expression. The complainant, a former district administrator and member of the Bavarian parliament, posed for Playboy magazine at the end of 2006. The photos were published in 2007. The defendant in the original procedure had published the images on its website, along with a text containing...

In a judgment of 29 January 2014 (case no. 6 C 2.13), the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) ruled that the plaintiff Axel Springer AG’s intended 2006 takeover of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG was acceptable under media law and therefore decided in the last instance that the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (Bavarian New Media Office - BLM) had been wrong to stop the takeover. In 2005, the plaintiff had wanted to take over ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (the sole shareholder in broadcasters Sat.1, ProSieben, Kabel 1, 9Live and N24) and indicated this intention to the relevant...

In a ruling of 8 January 2014 (case no. I ZR 1169/12), the first civil chamber of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) decided that parents were not liable for copyright infringements committed by their grown-up children if they had no actual knowledge of the offences. The plaintiffs, four major German record producers, had taken court action against the defendant. According to the charge, the defendant’s 20-year old stepson had made around 3,750 music files available via online filesharing sites in 2006. The rightsholders had written to the stepfather, demanding lawyers’ and caution...