Category: Technology- & IT-Law

Allocating exploitation rights in custom software development — especially in the sensitive context of military procurement — poses intricate legal questions under German copyright and contract law. In a thoroughly reasoned judgment dated 16 January 2025 (5 U 93/23), the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (OLG Hamburg) clarified when a contractor may claim injunctive relief to stop third-party use of military software and where the limits lie if the contractor holds only simple usage rights.

This decision is legally significant beyond this individual case: it refines key aspects of the scope of Section 97(1) of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) and the purpose transfer doctrine (Zweckübertragungslehre) under Section 31(5) UrhG in the specific context of commissioned software projects for the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr).

While much of the public discourse today revolves around “AI” — a term often misapplied to describe what are essentially large-scale statistical language models — another transformative digital paradigm quietly continues its evolution: the Metaverse. Contrary to recent claims of its demise, the Metaverse is neither obsolete nor irrelevant. On the contrary, it holds the potential to fundamentally reshape how we experience, structure, and regulate digital interaction.

As a German attorney specialized in IT law, I continue to explore the legal ramifications of the Metaverse — and have recently published a detailed article in AnwZert ITR 25/2024 Anm. 2 addressing the regulatory uncertainties and legal innovations this virtual space demands. The future may well be built not on isolated “intelligent” tools, but in persistent, immersive environments where identity, ownership, and agency are redefined. Legal structures must keep pace.

Few digital concepts have seen a rise and fall as rapid as that of the Metaverse. After a short-lived, almost feverish hype, it vanished from the headlines, eclipsed by the next wave – generative AI. But make no mistake: the Metaverse is far from dead. Bitkom’s latest 2025-report makes it clear – the development has not stopped, but matured. And for legal professionals, this is precisely the moment to look again, because the truly complex legal questions are only now emerging.

In the digital economy, domain names are more than just internet addresses—they are virtual real estate, trademarks in disguise, and often a company’s first point of contact with the outside world. As such, their legal status in Germany is complex, balancing principles of property law, trademark protection, competition law, and contractual governance by private registrars like DENIC.

For international businesses, navigating Germany’s domain law means understanding a landscape where ownership is shaped by civil law reasoning, yet constrained by fairness, good faith, and public policy considerations. This post offers a detailed overview of how domain law operates in Germany—and where the legal traps lie.

Between Creativity and Codification – A Comprehensive Overview … what is art? A timeless question that continues to inspire debate among philosophers, curators, and artists alike. But as the art market becomes increasingly professionalized and digitalized, a new question emerges with growing urgency: What is art in a legal sense—and how is it protected?

Welcome to the world of art law: an interdisciplinary, evolving, and increasingly complex legal field that extends far beyond traditional copyright law. It touches the lives of artists, collectors, museums, gallery owners, NFT marketplaces, auction houses—and increasingly, defense attorneys.

Understanding Trademark Law in Germany: Foundations, Modernization, and Practical Insights – in today’s global and highly digitized economy, trademarks are more than just badges of origin. They are strategic communication tools, carriers of reputation, and essential legal instruments to distinguish goods and services in a competitive marketplace. For businesses and legal practitioners outside Germany seeking to understand the country’s approach to trademark law, a closer look reveals a harmonized but uniquely detailed system shaped by European integration, national doctrine, and recent digital challenges.