Cologne newspaper war
The Cologne Newspaper War was the dispute between free free newspapers and the established daily newspapers in the Cologne city area from 1999. As early as July 2001, the free newspapers were stopped, which effectively ended the dispute.
History of origin
The market leader among the tabloids in Cologne was and is the Express (main edition Cologne / Bonn) with a sold circulation of 63,373 copies, followed by the picture with a circulation of 17436 copies (2012). This market leader position was in jeopardy when, on December 13, 1999, the free daily newspaper 20 Minuten, financed by advertisements , appeared in Cologne with a circulation of 150,000 copies.
This free newspaper was published by Berliner Schibsted AG, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Schibsted publishing group. It was 24 pages long, aimed primarily at a young readership; it was distributed free of charge in the urban area. The established daily newspapers saw this as unfair competition , so that on December 17, 1999, Axel Springer Verlag brought an action before the Berlin Regional Court . Springer-Verlag was able to obtain an injunction from the Berlin Regional Court, which forbade Schibsted AG to publish a press product from Monday to Friday under the title “20 Minuten” and / or another title with content like and with the presentation of a daily newspaper with national and to distribute and / or distribute regional news free of charge. This judgment was overturned by judgment of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce on February 11, 2000.
As early as February 13, 2000, Schibsted AG began to display the newspaper, which was financed exclusively through advertisements, in all Cologne tram and underground stations in its own newspaper machines and to distribute it throughout the city by employees in busy places in Cologne. The model was a successful business model from Sweden. In Stockholm , the Schibsted competitor Stenbeck started the free underground newspaper Metro in 1995 .
Response from the established daily newspapers
The established newspaper publishers reacted to this and, for their part, brought free copies onto the market as a defensive reaction.
Cologne Extra
The Berlin-based Axel Springer Verlag saw the market share of the regional edition of Bild Köln threatened and began selling Köln Extra on the same day . In official statements, the 24-page daily newspaper , which was also distributed free of charge, was described as a defensive measure. The circulation was around 100,000 and was published by the subsidiary as extra medien GmbH , the central editorial office was in Hamburg .
Cologne morning
After the Cologne-based DuMont publishing house had initially distributed a free reading sample of the Kölner Express , it started publishing the free newspaper Kölner Morgen on 14 February 2000 . This too had a length of 24 pages, the circulation was also around 100,000 copies. Editor-in-chief of this newspaper was Dieter Grospitz, publishing director Robert Danch.
The litigation continues
The Berlin Court of Appeal saw no damage to the press distribution market in the reduced circulation of Bild Köln . Thereupon the publishing house M. DuMont Schauberg, representing the Cologne tabloid newspaper Express, sued against the free distribution of a daily newspaper financed exclusively by advertisements, because it saw a violation on the basis of the case law of the Federal Court of Justice . This is unfair competition which , as a market disturbance, violates § 1 UWG .
The Cologne Regional Court already assessed a free newspaper as a potential violation of Section 1 UWG, but saw no “excessive luring”, no “destruction or disabling competition” or “market disruption” in this case. The Cologne Higher Regional Court ruled in May 2001 that the free distribution of the daily newspaper “20 Minuten Köln”, which is financed exclusively through advertising, is not immoral within the meaning of Section 1 UWG. In addition, the mere fact that a service usually only provided for remuneration is provided free of charge does not, as a rule, constitute an anti-competitive market disruption. In the appeal proceedings in November 2003, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the judgment of the Cologne Higher Regional Court and added that free commuter newspapers such as “20 Minuten”, like established daily newspapers, are protected by the basic right of freedom of the press and that this takes precedence over the law against unfair competition as long as none existence-threatening effects would be demonstrated; Newspapers financed by purchases and advertisements are given equal rights in competition.
Suspension of all three free newspapers
Even before the final BGH judgment, the last edition of “20 Minuten Köln” appeared on July 11, 2001. The Schibsted publishing group announced that the distribution of the paper would not be economical as long as one was limited to the Cologne area. An expansion to the Federal Republic, which would presumably have brought more advertising customers and made the paper more profitable, was last rejected in 2002. Köln Extra was discontinued on July 12th, plans for repositioning were discarded in October 2001. The Cologne morning followed on July 13, 2001.
In all three publishing groups the deficit free newspapers caused major losses. The Financial Times Germany spoke at the time of setting (for 2000) of 10 million DM effort in Schibsted and "high single-digit million amount" as a loss at Axel Springer . The losses at DuMont were estimated to be "similarly high".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statista The Statistics Portal, circulation of daily newspapers sold in Cologne in the 1st quarter of 2012
- ↑ KGR 2000, 197 ff.
- ^ BGH GRUR 1996, 778 = WRP 1996, 889 - Mute salespeople
- ^ LG Cologne, judgment of February 3, 2000 - Az. 84 O 94/99 and 84 O 3/00
- ↑ OLG Cologne, judgment of May 11, 2001 - Az. 6 U 151/00
- ^ BGH, judgment of November 20, 2003, Az .: I ZR 151/01