Person of contemporary history

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The person of contemporary history is a term used in German jurisprudence and jurisprudence when balancing the general right of personality , in particular the right to one's own image , and the public's interest in information.

description

The right to one's own image is regulated in the German law on copyright in works of the visual arts and photography (Art Copyright Act, in short: KunstUrhG or KUG) in Sections 22 and 23 . In principle, according to § 22 KUG, the portrait of a person may only be published with their consent.

Exceptions to this reservation of consent are regulated in § 23 KUG, such as B. in a "portrait from the field of contemporary history". Up until 2004, German case law assumed that a portrait from the field of contemporary history existed if it represented an absolute or relative person from contemporary history. "Absolute persons of contemporary history" were permanently in the public eye through their entire work, such as members of royalty and famous scientists. The "relative persons of contemporary history" often included actors, athletes, show stars and those involved in the process. The reproduction and illustration of the relative characters of contemporary history should only take place in the context of events in the public interest.

However, this distinction was abolished by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2004. Since then, the question of whether there is a portrait from the field of contemporary history has been made by weighing up freedom of expression and the personal rights of the person concerned. This more recent German case law was confirmed by the ECHR in 2012.

See also

literature

  • Thomas Haug: Photo coverage of celebrities. With special consideration of the admissibility of the judicial assessment of the informational value of media reports. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2011, ISBN 978-3-8329-6528-0 .
  • Judith Riede: The person of contemporary history in German and American image protection. Legal studies, vol. 57. Hamburg, 2000, ISBN 3-8300-0170-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Haug: Photo coverage of celebrities. [...] ISBN 978-3-8329-6528-0 , pp. 17-35.
  2. ↑ Examples from Thomas Haug: Photo reporting on celebrities. [...] ISBN 978-3-8329-6528-0 , p. 20.
  3. ↑ a b Examples from Thomas Haug: Photo reporting on celebrities. [...] ISBN 978-3-8329-6528-0 , p. 21 f.
  4. ^ A b Thomas Haug: Photo coverage of celebrities. [...] ISBN 978-3-8329-6528-0 , p. 44 ff.
  5. ↑ ECHR, Grand Chamber, judgment of February 7, 2012, Az. 40660/08 and 60641/08 ( Von Hannover II ), Kommunikation und Recht 2012, 179.