“According to Art. 13 of the German Copyright Act (“CA”) the author has the right to be identified as the author of the work. He may determine whether the work shall bear a designation of authorship and which designation is to be used.” The District Court of Cologne (Landgericht Köln) apparently never sleeps. After its…

“The latest development is that GEMA has filed another lawsuit against YouTube, demanding from YouTube to take down the on-screen notice ‘Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights.’” YouTube and GEMA (the German Society for musical performing and mechanical…

“It held that in the case of a normally developed 13-year old child the condition “fulfils the requirements of his duty to supervise” is met when the parents regularly advise and instruct their children on the fact that illegal activities such as file sharing shall not be permitted.” In a very recent case (I ZR…

“The judgment casts a spotlight on a distinct feature of collective rights management in Germany and the difficulties that may ensue for creators and users of musical creations who want to license such material under an alternative licensing scheme.” The case that came before the Local Court Frankfurt/Main concerned a dispute between the German Society…

By Benjamin Schütze, Institute of Legal Informatics, Leibniz Universität Hannover “Since its introduction in 2003, the provision marks the centre of a controversy between schools and institutions of higher education and copyright holders, especially publishing houses marketing a scientific – educational portfolio.” About the right to make available small parts of a work for illustration…

“Some said this would be like an Opera House charging the taxi drivers for taking the audience to the venue.” It has been more than three years now since the infamous idea of a new neighbouring right for press publishers appeared in the coalition agreement of the second Merkel government out of thin air. On…