Are influencers allowed to include links to companies and products in their posts?
This is a question that preoccupies the courts.
Now the BGH is making a decision on the basis of three prominent influencers, including Cathy Hummels.
Karlsruhe - The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) wants to comment on Thursday (September 9th) on the question * whether influencers on Instagram are allowed to provide recommendations for products with links to the provider.
The Association of Social Competition accuses them of inadmissible surreptitious advertising and demands an omission as well as the warning costs (I ZR 126/20, I ZR 90/20, I ZR 125/20).
In Karlsruhe there are lawsuits against Cathy Hummels, the Hamburg fashion influencer Leonie Hanne and the Göttingen fitness influencer Luisa-Maxime Huss.
Specifically, it is about so-called tap tags, those inconspicuous notices that can be used to redirect you to a company account with one click.
The highest civil judges in Germany must decide whether these must be marked as advertising.
BGH: The court is skeptical in the trial
The presiding judge Thomas Koch had said in the BGH hearing that "maybe something could speak" for the fact that the linking of the tap tags crossed a limit to advertising.
The procedure is of fundamental importance for the industry.
Influencers are active in social media.
They present their lifestyle, opinions or tips on everyday issues on channels such as Instagram or YouTube and usually reach a large number of people.
Companies also make use of the large reach for targeted marketing.
(dpa) * Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.