Search results : 978

In a currently unpublished decision of 5 November 2013, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court - BGH) ruled that the publication of the first name, age and parentage of the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

Through its Decision No 8 of 11 October 2013 in constitutional case No 6 of 2013 the Constitutional court of the Republic of Bulgaria has declared that Article 26, point 3 and Article 59 (2), point 3 of the Radio and Television Act are unconstitutional and incompatible with the international treaties to which Bulgaria is a party. The proceedings were instituted on 16 January 2013 on an initiative from 57 Members of the 41st National Assembly (i.e. the previous composition of the National Assembly). In the petition instituting proceedings it is alleged that the contested dispositions of Article...

California has recently taken steps to extend its privacy protections. On 2 October 2013 Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that criminalises so-called revenge pornography, where individuals post intimate pictures online that had been obtained with former consent solely for private use. Under the old law, a victim could only obtain a remedy through a civil court judgment, which could be costly and time-consuming. To address this issue, the new law provides law enforcement with new tools to protect victims by making it a misdemeanour to distribute an image with the intent to cause serious emotional...

On 12 June 2013 the Irish High Court granted an injunction requiring six Internet service providers (UPC, Vodafone, Imagine, Digiweb, Hutchinson 3G and Telefonica) to block the website known as The Pirate Bay. This is the first time an injunction has been granted under the controversial copyright injunction law that was introduced in February 2012 (see IRIS 2012-4/31). The Pirate Bay is already blocked by another Internet service provider (ISP), Eircom, without a court order. Four music companies (EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal), sought the order from the court. The ISPs did not oppose the application...

In a decision of 10 September 2013 (case no. 4 ME 204/13), the Niedersächsische Oberverwaltungsgericht (Lower Saxony Administrative Court of Appeal - OVG) ruled that the comparison of registration data described in Article 14(9) of the Rundfunkbeitragsstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on the Broadcasting Licence Fee - RBStV) does not infringe the right to “informational self-determination” (the right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and in what circumstances), derived from Article 2(1) in conjunction with Article 1(1) of the Grundgesetz...