GERMANY
GERMANY
REGARDING SIMPLE WORD REPORTING, NO EXPRESS AGREEMENT FROM THE PERSON REFERRED TO IN THE REPORT IS GENERALLY NECESSARY. IN PARTICULAR, THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH IS TO BE CONSIDERED.
pictures of people of public interest, provided that the publication is justified and a retrospective assessment leads to the conclusion that the public interest prevails.
Tis corresponds with the practice of the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). In each case the protection of personal rights has to be weighed against the public interest aspect of obtaining information about important public events and people. Te criteria are whether the type of reporting merely satisfies the curiosity of consumers or whether it contains (at least some) objective information and questions of general social interest and provides valuable information to promote the formation of public opinion. Te wording used in the same publication is also to be considered and, in general, it is important that the reporting regarding the associated public event stands in the foreground.
Regarding simple word reporting, no express agreement from the person referred to in the report is generally necessary. In particular, the fundamental right of free speech is to be considered. Te personal and privacy rights of a person prevail only if a person’s interests are clearly affected. Tis is not the case when the report refers only to more or less insignificant issues but otherwise does not contain any untrue or disrespectful wording.
Casiraghi’s claims were dismissed, although she did not consent to the publication of pictures of her and the text related to them. Te pictures were taken in the course of a public event (the Rose Ball at Monaco) and the text contained some objective information about the event and no untrue or otherwise disrespectful statements about Casiraghi. Generally, the publication reported about her in a positive manner.
134 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012 Social networks
Facebook and other social networks have recently agreed with the German Minister of the Interior to introduce more protection for their users. A first draſt of a general code of conduct for social networks will be jointly presented by the minister and social networks during CeBIT 2012, an information technology trade fair.
Dr Michael Best is a partner at BEST Rechtsanwälte. He can be contacted at:
michael.best@
best-ip.eu
Udo Pfleghar is a partner at BEST Rechtsanwälte. He can be contacted at:
udo.pfleghar@
best-ip.eu
Michael Best worked as an in-house counsel and deputy head in the trademark department of Hoechst AG. He co-founded BEST Rechtsanwälte in 1998 and has counselled clients worldwide in all aspects of trademark, unfair competition, copyright and domain matters. He is a member of various IP organisations and a frequent speaker.
Following studies in Australia and Germany, Udo Pfleghar worked at an IP boutique in Munich, then as a senior examiner at OHIM in Spain and as head of group trademark and domain law at the pharmaceutical multinational Boehringer Ingelheim before joining BEST Rechtsanwälte. He is also an ADR panellist.
www.worldipreview.com
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