Ghostwriter must not advertise market leadership

The 20th civil senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (OLG Düsseldorf) has ruled in injunction proceedings that a defendant ghostwriter may not advertise on his website that he is "one of the market leaders" in the field of scientific ghostwriting.

The defendant had presented himself on his website as one of the market leaders in scientific ghostwriting. Depending on the scope, he charges between 10,000 € and 20,000 € for a dissertation. On his website, the defendant had also pointed out that the offer only referred to scientific texts for practice purposes and that the work produced could not be submitted to a university as an examination.

The plaintiff, also a ghostwriter who also offers the creation of other scientific texts for companies and institutions, has taken action against the claim that the defendant is the market leader. The defendant did not belong to the top group, neither in terms of turnover nor in terms of its offer. The Wuppertal Regional Court dismissed the application for an injunction on 6 July 2010 (case number 11 O 49/10).

On appeal by the plaintiff, the 20th Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court prohibited the defendant on 8 February 2011 from advertising with the claim that he was the market leader. The defendant could not be among the market leaders in academic ghostwriting for the very reason that he exclusively offered prohibited services of preparing theses for the acquisition of academic degrees for third parties. The notice on the website that the theses may only be used for practice purposes was obviously not meant seriously. It was unrealistic that someone would pay more than 10,000 € for a mere practice text.

The decision is final.

Judgment of the 20th Civil Senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court of 08.02.2011, File No. I-20 U 116/10

 

Source: Press release of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court

 

Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)

Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)

E-mail: info@goldberg.de

Seal