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In its decision of 17 July 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled that the copyright protection afforded under the Urheberrechtsgesetz (Copyright Act - UrhG) to books and stories, for example, also applied to literary characters. In the case at hand, the court decided that the children’s character “Pippi Longstocking” created by Astrid Lindgren was copyright protected as a “work of language” in the sense of Article 2(1)(1) UrhG. The combination of external features and specific personality traits justified the protection of a fictional character. The decision was based...

In a decision of 15 August 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) further clarified the extent of the duty of care of a file-hosting service provider and, in addition to the liability privileges enshrined in Articles 7(2) and 10 of the Telemediengesetz (Telemedia Act - TMG) and Articles 14(1) and 15(1) of the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC), demanded that hosting service providers be subject to a partly-proactive monitoring obligation. The ruling follows an action brought by the Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (Society for...

According to media reports, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH), in a ruling of 17 July 2013 (case no. I ZR 34/12), upheld an action brought by the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentrale (Federation of German Consumer Organisations - vzbv) and prohibited the software firm Gameforge from advertising game accessories sold in connection with its online role-playing game “Runes of Magic”. The vzbv had already cautioned Gameforge in 2010 and had brought actions in the lower courts. However, these had been dismissed by both the Landgericht Berlin (Berlin District Court) and the Kammergericht...

In a judgment of 11 June 2013 (Case VI ZR 4/12) the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice - BGH) ruled that there was no entitlement to injunctive relief in the case of photo reporting from the realm of contemporary history. On 2 November 2010, the television channel of the public service broadcaster ARD carried an episode of a socio-critical satirical programme in which the plaintiff could be seen and heard for a total of three and a half minutes. A few months before, on 24 June 2010, the plaintiff, a member of a group of three women who describe themselves as “grandmothers against war”,...

On 3 July 2013, the Prime Minister of “Rheinland-Pfalz” and the Prime Minister of “Baden-Württemberg“ signed the New State Contract for the public broadcasting system in both countries, the Südwestrundfunk (SWR). The New State Treaty for the SWR came into force on 1 January 2014 and replaced the old State Treaty of 31 May 1997. The new SWR-State-Treaty specifies the programme mandate of the public broadcasting including the online activities of the SWR and directed the programme to a younger audience. By creating more flexible structures, the new state contract wants to allow the SWR the establishment...