GERMANY
THE DESCRIBED WAY OF RECONFIRMATION BY EMAIL IS GENERALLY NOT SUFFICIENT TO IMPLY THE CONSUMER’S AGREEMENT WITH TELEPHONE CALLS, EVEN IF THE CONSUMER’S TELEPHONE NUMBER WAS INDICATED IN THE ORIGINAL ORDER FORM.
sending promotional emails to consumers, does not constitute a particular consumer’s agreement to unsolicited telephone calls. Under the double opt-in procedure, consumers check a box in an online tool (for example, an online order form) indicating that they can be sent email advertisements, input their email addresses and then receive emails to the inputted addresses. By returning the email, a consumer has to confi rm again that he or she agrees to email advertising.
While the BGH generally acknowledged that this procedure is suitable for proving the consumer’s agreement to receiving email advertising, it said that the described way of reconfi rmation by email is generally not suffi cient to imply the consumer’s agreement with telephone calls, even if the consumer’s telephone number was indicated in the original order form. T e advertising company must prove that the indicated telephone number has a relation to the person who sends the email confi rmation.
T e BGH expressly stated that this is in line with the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (Art 36 [2] TFEU) and the practice of the CJEU. From an objective point of view, it is not necessary to repackage the product into new packaging. It is still unclear whether the same applies in a case where the imported packaging is bigger than the standard size in Germany. In an older decision (Stilnox), the BGH did decide that the parallel importer could repackage its product into new packaging.
Hung up on permission
In a case concerning unsolicited telephone calls to consumers, the BGH decided that the so-called ‘double opt-in procedure’, which involves
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In any case, the advertising company has to diligently document (ie, store) all confi rmations it receives. Currently, an update of the German legislation regarding unsolicited telephone advertising is under way. It will be introduced into the German Civil Code. Legal telephone advertising will then require the consumer to provide written confi rmation before a telephone call can be made.
Princess personal
In two decisions regarding the personal rights of Charlotte Casiraghi, the daughter of Princess Caroline von Hannover (formerly Caroline of Monaco), the BGH drew a line between the violation of personal rights and permissible reporting of public events in press organs (October 26, 2010). T e BGH pointed out that the admissibility criteria are diff erent for visual reporting and written reporting. T e publication of photographs has a potentially more serious eff ect on personal and privacy rights than a written report. T e general rule in Germany is that pictures of people may not be published without their consent, with the exception of certain
World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012 133
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