Copyright protection of software under German law: According to § 69a para. 3 UrhG a software (“computer programs'”) is protected by copyright in Germany if it represents an individual work to the extent that it is the result of the author’s own intellectual creation. But when exactly does copyright protection of software exist in Germany?
Category: Technology- & IT-Law
In copyright law, many questions usually revolve around “Stoererhaftung” (Breach of Duty of Care) and less often around perpetration. It is therefore all the more interesting that the Federal Court of Justice (I ZR 88/13) has commented on the question of when one is a perpetrator of a copyright infringement. On this occasion, the BGH also clarifies that pure auxiliaries are excluded as perpetrators on the one hand, but online stores that automatically manage inventories through suppliers are perpetrators on the other hand. The latter in particular is likely to be of interest; discussions on responsibility are not uncommon in this area.
Protection of secrets within the meaning of the German Business Secrets Protection Act: Protection of secrets within the meaning of the German Business Secrets Protection Act is an important aspect of intellectual property that helps companies in Germany to protect their confidential information and business secrets.
In the following, we will explain the meaning of the protection of secrets under the Trade Secrets Act, how it arises and what type of information can be protected.
Posts at our German-language blog on the betrayal of secrets by employees.
Computer gaming has changed considerably in recent years: Where floppy disks and CDs were common in the past, sometimes in combination with obscure-looking copy protection measures (I like to remember the Mix’n’Mojo hub at Monkey Island,which, by the way, is also available online today), not only downloads prevail today, but also completely new gaming cultures that have partly shifted completely to the online realm.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have heralded a real cultural change in this respect – and also completely new legal issues: Whereas people used to be most concerned about how best to copy games, other desires prevail today. At a time when accounts cost money and virtual goods have a real market value, cheating in games is valued very differently. This is also reflected in current court decisions. Attorney Jens Ferner, active in the field of software law including the legal issues of online games, gives an overview of the legal situation in Germany.
Note: In our law firm by specialist lawyer for IT law Jens Ferner the creative industry is represented in the field of software law – especially game developers and software houses. No activity for consumers / private individuals!
The Federal Labor Court (9 AZR 187/22 and 9 AZR 260/21) once again dealt with an agreement between employee and employer on training costs. The problem regularly lies in the fact that an employer finances further training for an employee, but the employee then quits and uses the qualification acquired at the employer’s expense for another job.
Against this background, repayment clauses have developed in the event of termination, but these are regularly subject to legal review. And here, too, it is possible for courts to review the content – so that the written word alone is not decisive. In the present case, the employer had no claim against the employee for repayment of the training costs under the relevant clause of the training contract. This was because the provision did not stand up to a review of its content and was therefore invalid.