GERMANY Comments on Amendment of German Copyright Law in Order to Strengthen the Contractual Position of Authors and Performers – Adolf Dietz
Type:
Scope:
On July 1, 2002, a new Amendment of the German Copyright Law of 1995,1 dated March 22, 2002, entered into force (“Amendment 2002″); the Amendment is entitled “Law on Strengthening the Contractual Position of Authors and Performers”.2 As its title clearly indicates, the intention of this Amendment, which resulted from a fierce debate between lobbyists for authors and performers, on the one hand, and for cultural and media industries, on the other hand, was to strengthen the bargaining power of – mainly freelance – authors and performers. The Amendment consists of a number of partly substantive, partly procedural provisions (mediation procedure) in that sense, the interrelationship of which represents a true innovation in German law.
