Allgemein

Users of the internet payment service, PayPal, have recently been receiving so-called phishing e-mails. These fake emails are sent by criminal gangs in an attempt to obtain the credit card details of PayPal users.

Germany’s controversial ancillary copyright legislation (Leistungsschutzgesetz) comes into effect on 1 August 2013. In reaction to the new rules, Google News has developed a “confirmation statement” with which online media operators can signify their agreement to their content being displayed in Google’s search index. But will this attempt to avoid the […]

A social security tribunal in Germany has ruled that falling down the steps after collecting an employer’s post can be classed as a workplace accident and is therefore an insurable risk (judgment from 17.05.13, Az. S 3 U 2912/12).

Much outrage and comment was sparked by the news that the US intelligence service, NSA, gathers data and monitors the majority of worldwide internet and telephone communications. Now, relying on information received by whistle-blower Edward Snowdenthe, the British newspaper, the Guardian, has uncovered a huge privacy scandal of its own involving […]

On 10 April 2013 the German cabinet agreed a legislative proposal on orphan and out-of-commerce works. The proposal implements the EU’s directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works (2012/28/EU) which came into force in October 2012. The draft legislation will allow certain institutions to digitise and reproduce works whose […]

A father and internet connection owner has been held liable by a court in Germany of committing copyright infringements through the use of file sharing software. He and his family denied sharing copyright-protected files over the internet. Nevertheless, the district court of Cologne ordered the father to pay compensation and […]

It is common knowledge that an employee is insured whilst travelling to and from work. An employment tribunal in Cologne has now extended this concept and ruled that employees who intentionally begin fights whilst on the way home from work faces dismissal without notice.

Der Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) in Karlsruhe hat entschieden, dass eine fehlende Baugenehmigung regelmäßig einen Sachmangel des veräußerten Wohnungseigentums darstellt (Urt. v. 12.04.2013, Az. V ZR 266/11). Der Grund wird darin gesehen, dass die Baubehörde die Nutzung der Wohnung bis zur Erteilung der erforderlichen Genehmigung untersagen kann.

New statistics published by the Association Against Cyber Bullying in Germany show that school children are increasingly falling victim to cyber bullying. The study shows that one in six school children suffer from cyber bullying.

Facebook hat bei einer Veranstaltung in Berlin einen Leitfaden für Politiker vorgestellt. Darin wirbt Facebook wie politische Inhalte vorteilhaft auf der eigenen Website dargestellt werden können.

Many residential and commercial tenancy agreements contain mechanisms for protecting a landlord from economic risks. Usually tenants are required to pay a rent deposit or arrange a third-party guarantee. German law attempts to strike a balance between protecting the interests of of both landlords and tenants.

A court in Germany has held that under German employment law, employers are entitled to dismiss employees without notice for smoking in the workplace.

Der BGH musste sich in seinem Urteil vom 19. Juli 2012 (Az.: I ZR 40/11) mit den Fragen auseinandersetzen, ob eine niederländische Versandapotheke eine kostenpflichtige Beratungshotline schalten darf und ob in den Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen (AGB) der Unternehmenssitz als Gerichtstand gewählt werden darf.

Facebook, Google und Co. sind mittlerweile so mit dem täglichen Leben von Millionen von Menschen verbunden, dass diese Dienste nicht mehr wegzudenken sind. Social Networking gehört einfach dazu. Datenschutz – ein schneller Klick und das Thema ist abgehakt Jedem, der das Internet nutzt, ist sie schon einmal begegnet. Ob man […]

Search engine marketing or search engine optimisation is becoming an important part of any business marketing strategy. Many internet users, consumers rarely go directly to a website. Instead, they let search engines such as Google or Yahoo do the work of finding a website.

The Regional Appeal Court of Cologne has ruled that displaying prices in small footnotes can breach German competition law (Az.: 6U 114/12). Prices on advertising posters must be clearly visible to the consumer when standing in front of then.

Judges in Germany have ruled that mobile phone companies are no longer permitted to require customers to immediately repay negative pay as you go balances.

A company in Germany has been ordered to pay compensation after illegally passing on consumer personal data to the German credit rating agency Schufa. A court ruled that the company breached strict legal requirements for transferring personal data by failing to give prior warning to the consumer.

Google has admitted breaching privacy legislation by collecting personal data without authorisation. While capturing images for its Street View service, Google collected passwords, e-mail addresses and other private information through unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.

Wenn ein Unternehmen bei Unstimmigkeiten voreilig Daten an Auskunfteien wie die Schufa übermittelt, bekommt es schnell Ärger. Die Firma muss damit rechnen, dass der Kunde sie auf Schadensersatz wegen des unberechtigten Schufa-Eintrags in Anspruch nimmt. Dies ergibt sich aus der neuesten Rechtsprechung.

In November 2012 the German Federal Supreme Court reached the landmark decision that parents are not obliged to constantly monitor their children’s internet usage to prevent copyright infringements.

Does your business use the slogan “Made in Germany” to advertise its products? A German court has ruled that it is misleading to use of the slogan “Made in Germany” where products are predominantly produced in another country (OLG Hamm 20.11.2012 – Az. I – 4 U 95/12).

Does your business use the word “from” to advertise its prices (for example “from €14.99”)? In a recent decision, a German court held that such pricing strategies mislead consumers and breach German competition law.

Inwieweit haftet der Inhaber eines eBay-Kontos, wenn Dritte unbefugt Zugriff auf sein Konto nimmt und es für unbefugte Bestellungen missbraucht? Eine Haftung scheidet hier normalerweise aus. Hierauf verweist das Landgericht Gießen.

For a small fee or sometimes even for free, stock photo agencies such as Fotolia offer the use of professional photographs. However, restrictions can often apply to the use of downloaded photos and reference to the copyright holder must almost always be made.

Cybercrime – A 34 year old man from Bonn has been sentenced to six years in prison for five hundred instances of fraud and falsifying documents. The man, a ringleader of a gang of four hackers, stole T-Online customer data and credit card data to shop online.

In a preliminary ruling, the European Court of Justice has found that the transfer of standard terms and conditions from consumer gas contracts into “special” consumer gas contracts is illegal (Az. C-92/11).

A US court has declared the resale of used digital music files to be illegal on the grounds that it breaches copyright law.

Do you regularly receive cold calls? In a recent decision the Regional Appeal Court of Cologne ruled that the prohibition on cold calling applies to charities too. Read more here!

Nachdem die RTL Group angekündigt hat, die DVB-T-Verbreitung ihrer Sender aus Kostengründen nach Ablauf der Verträge nicht mehr fortsetzen zu wollen, hat ProSiebenSat.1 nun bekannt gegeben, auch weiterhin an der terrestrischen Übertragung der Programme festhalten zu wollen.

Der Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) in Luxemburg hat den Übertrag von Klauseln aus Standardgasverträgen in Sonderverträge als nicht rechtmäßig erklärt (Az. C-92/11).