Find Lawyers in Berlin, Germany for Media Law
Practice Area Overview
'Media Law' refers to private, administrative and even criminal law on information and communication through all kinds of media.
Typical media law cases relate to the tension between the freedom of press and expression on the one hand and the personality rights of those who are affected by publications in press, radio, television or Internet on the other. The freedom of information and right to report - the press law - is the core area of the media law. Many cases are dealing with the balancing of conflicting rights of the media and the rights of prominent personalities from the entertainment industry, Royal houses, politics or business. In practice, even more cases deal with the violation of rights of ordinary citizens or businesses by publications of others on social media platforms, blogs or the like. It is a typical media law question, if and when those affected by publications in the internet, in the press or other media may seek injunctive relief, are entitled to compensation, to public counterstatement, to correction, or to rectification, or to what extent citizens or companies must tolerate the expression of public opinion or statements of facts.
However, media law concerns far more than just typical cases of the press law and the right to privacy. It also covers administrative and regulatory issues in the field of media services, telecommunication services and telecommunications services, their admission and supervision by public authorities, as well as constitutional privileges of media against search and seizure measures by law enforcement agencies or other authorities.
Media law is also closely linked to copyright and competition law. It overlaps with copyright law particularly in cases of production and licensing of audiovisual content or the infringement of copyright by media, where the activities of publishing companies are concerned or those of collecting societies (in Germany particularly those of the GEMA, the "German society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights").
References to competition law exist in cases concerning the admissibility of advertising by or in media, particularly in cases of disputes concerning the so-called principle of the separation, which is considered one of the primary principles of media law particularly in European countries such as Germany. It provides that advertising must be separated from editorial content. Hence, the admissibility of product placement as well as other issues of financing of media content are part of the area of media law too.
Close links of media law further exist to trademark law, in particular where it comes to the protection or infringement of rights at work titles, i.e., names or special designations of printed publications, cinematic works, music works, stage works or other comparable works.
Finally, media law is also connected to IT law, particularly in internet related cases concerning linking or framing, but also in cases dealing with data protection issues and the right to privacy.
Overall, media law is a broad field of law which continues to be challenging, particularly in the light of new technological developments and a fast-changing media industry.
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Henrik Armah is a shareholder in the M&A/Corporate group of Greenberg Traurig's German office. He advises international and domestic clients on M&A transactions, joint ventures, corporate transformations and on all general matters of corporate law. He specializes in cross border transactions (buy side and sell side). His clients include industry players as well as private equity, venture capital and strategic investors. Henrik is an expert with particular experience in the technology,...
Viola Bensinger co-chairs the firm's Global Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice and also chairs the Technology Practice as well as the Litigation Practice in Germany. She advises clients from the technology, media, health care and other industries. Within the technology sector, Viola advises international internet, technology and healthcare companies in the areas digitisation projects, IT outsourcing, cloud computing, e-commerce, electronic payment, data protection, software licensing ...
Niklas Conrad is a partner in the litigation group. His practice ranges from strategic litigation advice and extrajudicial dispute resolution to rights enforcement and the representation of clients in court. Niklas assists national and international clients from all sectors and industries in the resolution of commercial disputes, including post M&A conflicts. He regularly advises clients in cross-border disputes and assists in the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. Nikl...
Christoph Enaux is a partner with Greenberg Traurig Germany. LLP. He chairs the German Telecommunications Sector Group as well as the German Regulatory and Competition Practice Group of Greenberg Traurig. Christoph focuses on advising domestic and international clients in the areas of German and EU telecommunications and media regulation and competition law. He advises on commercial and regulatory aspects of new business models as well as on regulatory, merger control and antitrust proceeding...
Dr Thomas Höppner is a Partner at Hausfeld, specializing in EU and German competition law and intellectual property law. His practice covers the full range of contentious and non-contentious competition law matters, including related regulatory areas such as media, telecommunications, broadcasting and energy. He has spearheaded complaints before the European Commission and taken competition claims before German courts, particularly in the context of an abuse of dominance and damage claim...
Stefan Lütje is partner and chairs the Media Sector Group in Germany. The team was voted "Best Media Law Firm" by the well-known legal publishing house JUVE in 2010, has since been nominated many times, and is regularly recognized in all the important legal directories such as The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and JUVE for their expertise and high-quality work. As an expert in the media and technology industry, Stefan has advised national and international industry players for more ...
Since 1990, Dr. Martin Schaefer had been working for the German industry associations of the recording industry (today: BVMI). As legal advisor and later as managing director he was involved in the development of innovative industry projects for the emerging online-sector. In 2001, he joined BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) as Vice President, Legal Counsel Europe, before leaving the company at the beginning of 2004 to become a partner at the law firm of BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT. His client base i...
Georg von Wallis chairs the firm’s German Tax Group. For more than 25 years, Georg has been advising clients on all tax aspects of finance and corporate transactions, in particular in cross-border situations in the media as well as the real estate sectors. Georg has wide-ranging experience handling tax litigation, VAT and other indirect taxes. He represents national and international financial institutions, major media and entertainment companies, private equity and venture capital funds.
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