Allgemein

A court in Germany has held that if a person does not know what file sharing is they cannot be held liable for related alleged copyright infringements.

German public broadcaster ARD is continuing its efforts to boost transparency. It has joined forces with the German Producers Alliance to publish a new transparency and anti-corruption code of practice.

Der u. a. für das Bankrecht zuständige XI. Zivilsenat des Bundesgerichtshofs hat sich in einem weiteren Verfahren erneut mit der Schadensersatzklage eines Anlegers im Zusammenhang mit dem Erwerb von Zertifikaten der niederländischen Tochtergesellschaft der US-amerikanischen Investmentbank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. befasst. Der Kläger erwarb im Dezember 2007 von der beklagten […]

Since its introduction in January 2013, Germany’s new TV licence fee has been sharply criticised. Now a court in Germany has ruled that the method used to collect citizens’ personal data is partially illegal.

A draft law on second publishing rights for scientific articles is currently being debated in Germany. The Coalition for Action “Copyright for Education and Research” recently called on Germany’s Upper House the Bundesrat to reject the proposals.

The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, Germany, recently analysed the legal position concerning negative postings on Facebook (25.04.2013, 16 W 21/13). The court had to balance the competing legal concepts of the right to freedom of expression and untrue statements of fact.

Google and Microsoft are suing the US government for more transparency concerning government data requests, it has been announced. The companies believe the government should publish information on the how often it makes data requests and what kind of data is sought.

An attempt by a German professor to force Google to remove search results from its index which are derogatory is likely to fail.

The husband of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Christopher O’Neill, has taken out an injunction against the magazine Bunte after unauthorised paparazzi photos of their honeymoon were published.

If there is one thing the German political parties of the 2013 federal elections agree on, it’s that German copyright law needs to be reformed. Current rules are sometimes difficult to apply to new internet-based behaviour. However, no party seems capable of presenting a clear concept.

In German file sharing cases claimants are currently free to choose the court in which to bring their claim. For the individuals accused of file sharing, this means travelling many miles to defend their cases. A court in Berlin has now questioned the justification for such jurisdiction rules.

Facebook has published its Global Government Requests Report. The report details the number of requests for information the social network receives from governments around the world. From the data it is clear that Facebook is reluctant to answer German government requests, as it responds to just over one third of […]

Microsoft has sought an injunction against the German online newspaper, Zeit Online, after it published misleading facts about security concerns in relation to Windows 8. The paper reported that the German government had issued a warning against using the operating system.

A pensioner who was accused of breaching copyright through the use of file sharing websites has been found not guilty. And rightly so: the lady possessed neither a computer nor a wireless router.

In January 2013 a new TV licence fee model was introduced in Germany. The topic is the subject of controversy, with businesses threatening to challenge the fee in the constitutional courts. With election fever now gripping Germany, the political parties have waded into the debate.

Bereits mit einem normalen Handy kann laut einer aktuellen Studie ein Störsender betrieben werden. Dieser kann angeblich sogar zu einem Ausfall des Mobilfunknetzes in einer größeren Region führen, sofern die Attacke mit mehreren Mobilfunktelefonen betrieben wird. Vor dem Ausprobieren muss allerdings aus rechtlichen Gründen gewarnt werden.

Facebook recently relaxed its rules on contests and promotions to make it easier for businesses to promote their products. While many businesses welcome the simplified measures, there are legal aspects to consider.

After losing a trademark dispute with the British Sky Broadcasting Group plc, Microsoft has agreed to change the name of its Skydrive cloud service.

Recent studies show that 750 new phishing websites are discovered daily. As one of the most popular online payment services, PayPal is a prime target for hackers. Now online consumers are reporting of a new PayPal phishing e-mail scam.

The German Federation of Consumer Associations has sent a warning letter to Google about its dead-end customer enquiries e-mail address.

The German government has published proposals to amend Germany’s Designs Act. The language of the current act will be adapted to international parlance and a new procedure for challenging the validity of designs will be introduced.

Seit Ende Juni 2013 ist die Änderung des TKG in Kraft getreten und stößt unter anderem bei der Piraten Partei auf Widerstand. Diese haben nun Verfassungsbeschwerde in Karlsruhe gegen die Regelung zur Speicherung und Herausgabe von Kundendaten im Telekommunikationsgesetz eingereicht.

After customers expressed anger at their Amazon accounts being suspended without warning, it has become clear that Tchibo also closes accounts if consumers return too many products.

„Achtung, Rutschgefahr!“ oder „caution, slippery when wet! . Diesen Warnhinweis findet man oftmals bei frisch gewischten Böden am Flughafen oder im Schwimmbad. Doch sind die Reinigungsfirmen tatsächlich verpflichtet, solche Warnschilder aufzustellen? Das Oberlandesgericht Bamberg hat in seinem Beschluss vom 20.03.2013 (Az. 6 U 5/13) zur Frage der Verkehrssicherungspflicht bei einer […]

Wilde Beuger Solmecke recently explained why Amazon’s aggressive tactic of closing customer accounts without warning is unlawful. One person contacted Amazon using the arguments we suggested and asked for his account to be re-activated. The reply he received is striking.

The international ministry, Victory Outreach International, has accused Twitter of contributing to the infringement of its trademark rights by refusing to delete the username @VICTORYOUTREACH. The civil action has been brought before a court in Missouri USA.

Following criticism of German rapper Bushido’s new music video, “Stress without reason”, Berlin’s prosecution service has now commenced criminal proceedings. In light of the unacceptable lyrics in the video, the rapper should do well to anticipate civil consequences as well.

Ob privat angefertigte Videoaufnahmen in ein Gerichtsverfahren eingebracht werden können hängt von einer Interessenabwägung ab. Gleiches gilt auch für Tonbandaufnahmen. Besonderes Gewicht wird dabei den Persönlichkeitsrechten der betroffenen Personen zugemessen. Nach einer Entscheidung des AG München vom 06.06.2013 (Az. 343 C 4445/13) kann die Verwertung dann zulässig sein, wenn zum […]

Germany’s controversial ancillary copyright legislation (Leistungsschutzgesetz) comes into effect on 1st August 2013. The legislation brings with it uncertainty which has led many online content aggregators to remove snippets from their websites.

Google has denounced a judgment (14.05.2013 Az. VI ZR 269/12) holding the technology company liable for its auto-complete function. It has emerged in a recently published decision, that Google challenged Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) judgment on fair trial grounds, but lost.

Details of how Yahoo was forced by a court order to participate in the US intelligence surveillance programme, PRISM, are to be made public.