Search results : 1372

In a judgment of 16 October 2013, the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Court of Appeal - OLG) decided that the so-called “Stolpe ruling” does not apply to hidden allegations. The dispute in the case at hand concerned what the plaintiff claimed was a negative impression created by reading “between the lines” of a report on an insolvency procedure. As far as these “hidden statements” were concerned, an injunction could only be granted against allegations under Articles 823(1) and 1004(1)(2) of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Civil Code) in conjunction with Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Grundgesetz...

In a ruling of 30 October 2013, the Landgericht Köln (Cologne District Court) decided that Deutsche Telekom AG was not allowed to cap transmission speeds when fixed-network Internet customers who had paid a “flat rate” subscription fee exceeded data limits. An action had been brought by the Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice centre), which is authorised as an eligible institution under Articles 3 and 4 of the Unterlassungsklagengesetz (Injunctions Act - UKlaG) to bring actions concerning the use of invalid general terms and conditions. The court held...

In a currently unpublished decision of 5 November 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled that the publication of the first name, age and parentage of the children of well-known celebrities can be disclosed in certain circumstances. The court action concerned a report in the “Viel Spaß” magazine about the (adopted) children of a famous television presenter. The presenter’s adopted daughter had asked the magazine not to publish the fact that she was the presenter’s child; her request was initially upheld in both lower-instance courts. Following the defendant’s appeal, the...

In a ruling of 16 October 2013 (case no. 8 C 21.12), the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court - BVerwG) decided that the “Super-Manager” fantasy league game, which was advertised and organised online, did not constitute gambling in the sense of the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Gambling Agreement - GlüStV). The Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe regional council) had previously banned the plaintiff from organising and advertising the game. After the organiser’s appeal against this ban had been rejected by the Verwaltungsgericht Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Administrative...

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...