Media law

Broad scope of media law: personality rights, press law and online reputation.

We have all watched television, listened to the radio or read a newspaper or magazine at some point, whether in print or digitally. Others work as photographers, filmmakers, editors, publishing staff or platform operators, in other words as media professionals. Or they are regarded as public figures, have become the subject of a publication as private individuals, or have published something themselves, for example on the Internet, on social networks or elsewhere. So-called media law therefore plays a role in all our lives.

It is as diverse as it is demanding, and just as important.

A distinction is made between public media law (broadcasting law, film law, press law, the law of telemedia and telecommunications) and private media law (personality rights, protection of intellectual property, etc.). The right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of information, although governed by the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), must also be taken into account here.

In short: whenever content is conveyed in words, images or sound, we are talking about media law.

And this is where laypeople and professionals alike can face a multitude of questions: When is a work subject to artistic freedom and when does it infringe another's copyright? How much of me may a photo in a newspaper show, as a private individual and as a so-called public figure? Where are the boundaries? When is my right to my own image infringed? When do I, as a photographer, infringe someone else's right? What is allowed, what is not? Am I allowed to write what I want on the Internet? When is it freedom of speech and when is it a defamatory statement? And how far may reporting go, and when is it an untrue statement of fact or even deliberate defamation?

What we do for you

Our specialist lawyers for copyright and media law will be happy to advise you and support you with, among other things,

• defending your (corporate) personality rights (untrue statements of fact, false reporting or defamatory and/or unlawful statements in the press, on review portals, social networks, etc., cyberbullying, infringement of the right to one's own image, etc.)
• enforcing claims for injunctive relief and damages (out of court by issuing a warning letter, and in court by applying for a preliminary injunction or bringing an action for an injunction)
• enforcing counter statements, a retraction or a correction
• legally reviewing and defending claims asserted against you for an injunction, a counter statement, a retraction or a correction
• reviewing warning letters
• defending claims for injunctive relief and damages (e.g. by filing protective letters or lodging an objection to a preliminary injunction)
• taking measures against search engine operators on the Internet
• enforcing claims in the event of so-called identity theft on the Internet
• reviewing media content for its admissibility (texts, images, musical works)

Important in this context:

Claims under media law are often urgent and must be treated as such, for example in order to be able to obtain or defend against a preliminary injunction. So do not hesitate. And rest assured: we fight for our clients, quickly when possible, but also with persistence over years and all the way to the European Court of Justice when necessary.