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Babylon Berlin stars Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries: »Compact« printed photos of them without owning the rights to them
Photo:
Frederic Batier/dpa
The right-wing "Compact" magazine is no longer allowed to sell a special edition of the ARD television series "Babylon Berlin".
This was decided by the Berlin Regional Court by way of a temporary injunction.
The magazine, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies as "definitely extremist," had published a special issue on the successful series that allegedly contained "Historical background information on the great cult series."
First, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on the verdict and the case.
The magazine used press photos, which, however, only had a limited usage permit.
The Compact also printed, among other things, a nude photo of actress Liv Lisa Fries, which was apparently copied from a trailer for the fourth season of the series.
It was probably not the only image that was printed without the appropriate rights.
The production company of the series, X-Filme, sent the magazine a warning, which the magazine did not sign.
So the company went to court.
The district court has now ruled: since the magazine did not own the rights to the images, the magazine may no longer be sold.
What the court sees as a case of copyright infringement is what "Compact" boss Jürgen Elsässer calls a "serious blow to press freedom."
The print edition of the special issue was completely sold, but because the cover was also advertised in other issues, these issues were no longer allowed to be sold.
The production company X-Filme also contradicts the claim that this is censorship: "But this is not, as the »Compact« magazine has repeatedly claimed, about censorship, but about a ban on the basis of a violation of the law," shared X- Films on SPIEGEL request.
However, we continue to expressly distance ourselves from the contents of the magazine in general.
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