Search results : 1375

In a currently unpublished decision of 5 November 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled that the publication of the first name, age and parentage of the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...

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...