Frankfurt 
The German Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz) traditionally grants the owner of the exclusive rights of use and exploitation of the respective copyright strong claims against infringing parties. In this respect, the copyright chambers of German courts have no inhibitions in awarding the injured party high amounts of compensation.
Our client in this case was an artist management agency established in Berlin representing the artistic interests of a world-famous musician and singer. The management agency had high-quality photos of the artist produced for autograph cards and posters advertising for concerts. A concert promoter in Berlin used one of these high-quality photos to advertise a major event at which the artist was also to perform. Our client had not approved this advertising measure beforehand. Additionally, the organizer had not paid our client a license fee for the use of the photo.
Atty. Dr. Seyfert enforced injunctive relief, claims for expenses, and damages on behalf of the artist management agency due to copyright infringement by the concert organizer. The Berlin court upheld our claims in its entirety and decided entirely in our client’s favor. Among other things, our client was awarded a substantial license fee for the unauthorized use of photos as well as reimbursement of expenses.