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JULY 2014
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69
Legal advisers to Funke Mediengruppe:
“BILD Woche” and the tiles rights insofar were further assigned to Klambt).
How did you overcome them ?
We could not give details but various compromises had to be found to consider the interest of both, Axel Springer SE and FUNKE Mediengruppe GmbH & Co. KG aA.
Is there any need for legislative change in your opinion that would help these types of deals ?
No legislative change is necessary in my view, but it would help if the jurisdiction would give clear guidelines for the assignment of title rights regarding magazines. The problem insofar is that the content of magazines and therefore the “work” changes from issue to issue. The acquirer does not only require the title rights regarding the past and present magazines – the earlier issues - but also the right to use the title for future magazines. How to
handle this is disputed in the literature and not decided by the German courts.
What other deals have you been involved in recently ?
I was involved in various license agreements regarding Jette Joop and presently I am working on a Trademark License Agreement as well as License Management Agreements for Tapetenfabrik Rasch GmbH & Co. KG with Barbara Becker, the ex-wife of Boris Becker.
Why is this a good deal for all parties involved ?
In my view, the deal satisfies the interests of both parties: Axel Springer SE would like to concentrate more on digital matter, whereas FUNKE Mediengruppe GmbH & Co. KG aA concentrates and focuses on print matters. LM
Dr. Volker Knies
Rechtsanwalt/attorney-at-law (Germany)
Alsterchaussee 40 20149 Hamburg Germany
Tel: + 49-40-411 88 123 Fax: +49-40-411 88 149 knies@nesselhauf.com
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