Judgment of the Federal Court of Justice of February 21, 2019 – I ZR 15/18
The plaintiffs are visual artists. Defendant 1, whose managing director was Defendant 2, operated a mini-golf course in leased premises located in the basement of a building. The plaintiffs designed these rooms using paints that glowed under black light, a fountain installation in the entrance area, and a star installation.
The mini-golf course opened in July 2010 and was subsequently redesigned in late 2011/early 2012, leading to the removal and destruction of the installations.
The Regional Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claim for damages concerning the removal and destruction of the installations. The plaintiffs' subsequent appeal against this decision was unsuccessful.
The Federal Court of Justice overturned the contested judgment upon the plaintiffs' appeal and referred the case back to the Court of Appeal for a new hearing and decision. The destruction of a copyright-protected work constitutes – contrary to the opinion of the Court of Appeal – an “other impairment” within the meaning of § 14 German Copyright Act (UrhG). When assessing whether the destruction is likely to jeopardize the legitimate personal and intellectual interests of the author in the work, a comprehensive balancing of the interests of the author and the owner of the work must be carried out. The Court of Appeal must conduct this balancing in the reopened appellate proceedings. Should the balancing of interests favor the plaintiffs, the Court of Appeal will further have to examine whether this constitutes a serious infringement of the author's moral rights that cannot be compensated in any other way than by monetary damages.
Lower Courts:
Berlin Regional Court – Judgment of november 3, 2015 – 16 O 689/13
Berlin Court of Appeal – Judgment of august 9, 2017 – 24 U 173/15
Source: Press release of the BGH (Federal Court of Justice) dated 21.02.2019
