In 2014, the Higher Regional Court of Cologne had already dealt extensively with an author’s claim for damages if the work itself can be used free of charge under a CC license (Higher Regional Court of Cologne, judgment of 31 October 2014, Ref.: 6 U 60/14). The AG Würzburg has now also followed the main principles in a recent decision. According to this, authors do not suffer any damage if these works are used without attribution. The objective value of a work under CC license is € 0.00. Damages for lack of copyright attribution are usually calculated by doubling, which is also €0.00. The court denied that the author would miss out on an advertising effect eligible for compensation. This motive for offering under CC license has no objective value (AG Würzburg, judgment of 23 July 2020, Ref.: 34 C 2436/19).
Trademark application in bad faith as leverage in competition
Trademark applications in bad faith: How abusive registrations lead to a blocking position and circumvent competition law – an EGC case.