Medienrecht

The development of European media law is highly significant for the understanding of national media law. The harmonization of national media law continues to be an ongoing task for the legislator. The Treaty of Lisbon, which came into effect in 2009, will also have positive effects on the formation of national media law. The authors of the first volume in this series dedicate themselves to the European legal framework of media law. In addition to a presentation of the European Union's basic rights and directive policy regarding the field of media law, the problems associated with transforming Community Law into national law are taken into account. This volume also systematically explains the enforcement of rights and license contract law with regard to intellectual property, which are highly relevant topics for practitioners in this field.

Marketing media products as goods is of significant importance to companies. The cultural industry has a vested financial interest in media products being made available to users. This is facilitated by the Internet. However, the legal framework involved in this process must be observed. The authors of the second volume in this series comprehensively inform readers of the content and extent of protection of media products. In addition to explaining the categories of work under copyright law, such as works of film and music as well as software and photograph protection, information is provided regarding the creation of computer games and contracts.

Media law as a regulatory framework also includes provisions regarding a company's marketing strategies in order to ensure that media products are profitably sold in an arena of fair competition. The third volume contains contributions which consider companies' relationships with one another in regard to media products. In addition to questions regarding media concentration in the areas of music, press and broadcasting, the fields of copyright law, competition law, trademark law as well as domain law are taken into consideration. This includes the protection of the title of a work as well as emblems and logos.

A significant issue regulated under media law is the protection of personality rights and its forms of manifestation. Politicians and celebrities are increasing exposed to a level of publicity in the media that crosses the line of what is permissible. The cases involving Jörg Kachelmann and Caroline von Hannover are representative of the conflict that exists between the rights of the press / freedom of speech and the protection of personality rights. The fourth volume contains contributions not only on the protection of images and young persons but also essays which tackle issues related to press law, broadcasting law, sports law and theatre law. In addition, claims under press law are systematically presented.

Technical advances are currently playing a prominent role in media law. The terms of use for media products have radically changed since the introduction of the Internet and the process of digitalization. The technical requirements for distributing media products as well as users' behavior have consequences for the legal framework of media law. The retention of stored data is just one example.

The fifth volume addresses fundamental questions regarding the provider's liability, the protection of personal data, and the responsibility of users and companies under criminal law. With regard to these matters, special emphasis is placed on the laws governing telemedia, telecommunications, data banks, as well as IT security and media criminal law.