German Court: TV show may not use ‘bloopers’ from other network without permission

This cat is amusedIn a judgment dated 20.04.2018 (case No. 6 U 116/17), the Higher Regional Court of Cologne found that short video clips taken from other networks' TV shows for entertainment purposes are not permissible as a parody or a quotation and thus need to be licensed.NDR, a German public broadcaster, had created a series of TV shows titled “Top Flops”. The show featured “funny” sequences (‘bloopers’) taken from various other programs, including shows belonging to RTL’s commercial television network. NDR had not obtained a licence for any of these clips, and in court, the broadcaster argued that it didn’t need a license because the use should be considered as a parody or, alternatively, a quotation.  This did not convince the Cologne Judges. As previously reported, Germany has not implemented an exception for parody, but courts have handled such cases as ‘free use’…

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