Tag: Landgericht Berlin

Provisional Enforcement of Arbitral Awards in Germany

SchiedsVZUnder German law, you can combine the application for the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award with an application to allow provisional enforcement measures, such as freezing bank accounts and attaching assets. Pending a decision on the recognition and enforcement of the award, these assets can thus be secured. However, the relevant section of the German Civil Code (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO) appears to have been imperfectly integrated into the overall system of provisional enforcement, which led to a string of – partly contradictory – court decisions. Read More

Loriot v. Wikipedia – Transatlantic Service and Injunctive Relief


“Loriot”
by Phillip von Ostau

For Germans, this case pitches two iconic names against each other: Loriot was one of Germany’s most loved comedians, actors, film makers and cartoonists. He passed away in August 2011. Shortly thereafter, his daughter sued Wikimedia Foundation in the Berlin courts for allegedly violating Loriot’s copyright. Wikipedia’s German entry for Loriot depicted, inter alia, postal stamps with Loriot cartoons. For the purposes of this blog, the judgment of the Berlin District Court (Landgericht) is interesting not so much for the copyright issues – on these, Loriot’s daughter prevailed on one, and lost on the other – but rather for its holding relating to service of a German injunction in the United States. Read More