Search results : 1348

In a ruling of 12 March 2013, the Oberlandesgericht Dresden (Dresden Appeal Court - OLG) declared the use of the so-called “VFF clause” in contracts between public service broadcasters and commissioned television film producers illegal and therefore upheld the first-instance judgment of the Landgericht Leipzig (Leipzig District Court - LG) of 8 August 2012 (see IRIS 2012-9/17). The disputed clause was regularly used in relation to commissioned productions. It allows commissioning broadcasters to claim for themselves all remuneration owed to the film producer by third parties. The OLG also considered...

On 11 March 2013, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) announced that it harboured concerns about the compatibility with competition law of the video-on-demand platform operated by the two public service television broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The broadcasters, together with other production and distribution rights companies, had founded an online platform called “Germany’s Gold” in April 2012. After an initial examination, the Bundeskartellamt had approved the merger on which the plan was based, on the grounds that it would not create or strengthen a dominant market position. However, the...

In a dispute over the remuneration of camera operators, the Berufsverband Kinematografie (professional film-makers’ association - BVK) - following the example of Constantin Film Produktion GmbH (CFP) - accepted the agreement proposed by the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Appeal Court - OLG) on 12 March 2013. The BVK had instigated proceedings with the OLG under Articles 36 and 36a of the Gesetz über Urheberrechte und verwandte Schutzrechte (Act on Copyright and Related Rights - UrhG). As authors of a work, cameramen are entitled to “reasonable remuneration” under Article 32(1)(2) and (3) UrhG....

In a ruling of 14 March 2013 (case no. 31 O 466/12), the Landgericht Köln (Cologne District Court) rejected the action filed by the cable network operator Kabel Deutschland AG for confirmation that the content supply agreement concerning the television programmes of the public service broadcasters ARD and ZDF remained valid. The cable operator claimed that the cancellation of the agreement was invalid. The plaintiff is a national broadband cable network operator. For two decades, it has transmitted television programmes, including those of the public service broadcasters, via its cable networks...

In a judgment of 11 April 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled on the case between RTL and Sat.1 on one side and the online video recording services Shift.tv and Save.tv on the other. The BGH decided that the two online video recorders had infringed the television broadcasters’ right to retransmit their programmes, as enshrined in Article 87(1)(1) of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG). This question had not been conclusively answered in the ruling of the Oberlandesgericht Dresden (Dresden Appeal Court - OLG) of 12 July 2011 (case no. 14 U 801/07, see IRIS...