European lawyers, and German lawyers in particular, love to make fun of U.S. litigation, and class actions in particular (and are highly sceptical of any plans to introduce them in Europe). But if there ever is one such thing, this may just be the one class action everybody loves. “Good Morning to You Productions Corp”. seeks to declare invalid the copyright claim of Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. for “Happy Birthday to You” and reclaim the world’s most popular song for the public. Continue reading
EU Commission Recommendation on Collective Redress Mechanism
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The European Commission has come out today with its communication “Towards a European Horizontal Framework for Collective Redress” and its recommendation “on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violations of rights granted under Union Law”. These horizontal instrumens are complemented by a draft directive regarding “damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union”. Continue reading
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The Bundesverfassungsgericht, Marx and Reality
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Andreas Voßkuhle, the president of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) revealed in a lecture that the court takes a Marxist approach to reality. Continue reading
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Preventing Precedent: Legislative Action Expected
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There is an increasing practice of corporate defendants, mainly from the fincancial services sector to withdraw their appeal (Revision) before the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) once it becomes clear that the court will find against them to avoid a judgment that could serve as precedent against them. As previously reported, this has led lawyers and consumer protection groups to advocate changes to the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). The Federal Supreme Court should be able to give judgment even if the underlying litigation has been terminated. Continue reading
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Porsche/Volkswagen Takeover: Former Porsche CFO Sentenced For Credit Deception
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In my view, the criminal action based on credit deception always had to be a side show in the great Porsche/Volkswagen saga. It was relatively insignificant, given the size of the securities and civil litigation, on which it has no impact, and the fact that the “victim”, BNP Parisbas, did not suffer a damage. Charges were brought nevertheless, and today, Härter was found guilty and sentenced.
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Porsche Hedge Fund Litigation: New York, Braunschweig – Now It’s Stuttgart Again
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We had reported earlier that Porsche had struck a deal with some of the New York hedgde fund claimants to discontinue their US actions. In return, Porsche had agreed not to invoke the statute of limitation if the actions were filed again in Germany. According to press reports, 25 funds, including Viking Global,Tiger Global, Royal Capital, Glenhill Capital and Greenlight Capital have now filed claims in the order of EUR 1.4 billion against Porsche SE.
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Arbitration in England vs. Arbitration in Germany – Joint Seminar organised by English Bar Council and DAV, June 21, 2013
On June 21, 2013, the Bar Council of England and Wales and the German Bar Association’s International Section are hosting a seminar in Hamburg which might be of interest to readers. One session is looking at arbitration in the two jurisdictions: Continue reading
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Banking Arbitration: “Pr1me Numb3rs”
Edward Machin at CDR Commercial Dispute Resolution has written a piece, quoting yours truly on the German view point, on PRIME’s ambition ”to turn bankers’ heads to arbitration” - an interesting survey on PRIME Finance, or the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts on Finance by its full name, that was set up last year in The Hague. Continue reading