Can “Maya the Bee” provide relief in the sickbed? Or the thriller “The Da Vinci Code – Sacrilege” lead to unhealthy tension in hospital patients? Well, that wasn’t what the trial before the Munich district court was about. It’s more about the question of whether the Isar Klinikum is entitled to broadcast such films on its normal television program. Or does the hospital even have to pay license fees?
The lawsuit was filed by a collecting society that has the licensing rights for, for example, “Wickie and the Strong Men” or for the wonderful feature film “Toni Erdmann”. In 2021, these films and series were shown on normal television programs. So also in the Munich Isar Clinic on Sonnenstrasse. This applies to all 188 available hospital beds.
The collecting society was now of the opinion that the clinic was essentially a public space. The customer is not watching at home on the couch in a familiar circle, but rather it is a public display – regardless of whether and how many people are actually excited about “Maya the Bee” and her adventures. The recycling facility sued the clinic for licensing damages amounting to a good 1,200 euros. There is also a similar licensing problem with hotels or fitness studios.
The clinic, on the other hand, assumed that it was just a cable retransmission and that it had licensed the necessary rights.
The district court ruled that patients can continue to watch “Hotel Transylvania” and similar films from the collecting society without the clinic being asked to pay for them. The plaintiff did not adequately explain whether and when the works for which she claimed protection were reproduced, the judgment said.
According to copyright law, the broadcast work must be made accessible to the public. It is not enough that the clinic has created “the potential possibility of access” via television sets. It is the unanimous case law of the Federal Court of Justice that an act of reproduction only exists if the protected works are actually reproduced publicly.
However, the plaintiff was unable to prove whether patients had actually watched Wickie or Maja. As the plaintiff, she bears the burden of proof, “she has not met that.” According to Martin Swoboda, press spokesman at the district court, the verdict is legally binding.