Reichspreßgesetz
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Act on the Press |
| Short title: | Reich Press Law (not official) , Reich Press Law (not official) |
| Abbreviation: | RPG (not official) |
| Type: | Reich Law , Federal Law |
| Scope: |
German Empire , Federal Republic of Germany |
| Issued on the basis of: | Art. 123 para. 1, Art. 125 No. 1 GG |
| Legal matter: | Special administrative law |
| References : | 2250-1 a. F. |
| Original version from: | May 7, 1874 ( RGBl. P. 65) |
| Entry into force on: | July 1, 1874 |
| New announcement from: | January 1, 1964 ( Federal Law Gazette III p. 23) |
| Last change by: |
Art. 13 G of June 28, 1935 (RGBl. I pp. 839, 843) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
September 1, 1935 (Art. 14 G of June 28, 1935) |
| Expiry: | November 30, 2007 (Art. 11 G of November 23, 2007, Federal Law Gazette I p. 2614, 2615 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The law on the press of May 7, 1874 (coll. Also Reichspreßgesetz or Reichspressgesetz or Reichspressegesetz, abbreviated RPG ) was a German law regulating press law . In some of the countries of the Federal Republic of Germany it continued to apply until 1966. Succession regulations can be found in the state press laws .
history
The Reichspreßgesetz came into force on July 1, 1874. The Socialist Law , which was in force in the German Empire from 1878 to 1890, largely overruled the Reichspreßgesetz. An attempt to modernize the Reichspreßgesetz in the Weimar Republic in the early 1930s failed. Under the Nazi dictatorship took place from 1933, the DC circuit of the press. By the editor of the law profession and tasks set by Scripture conductors (editors). The freedom rights of the press guaranteed in the Reichspreßgesetz were thus suspended.
After the end of the Nazi dictatorship in 1945 and the subsequent licensing system of the western occupying powers for press products until 1949 (example: licensed newspapers ), the Reichspreßgesetz continued to apply as state law in the Federal Republic of Germany . Nonetheless, the title of the law was formally incorporated into federal law on January 1, 1964 . It was not applied in federal states that had enacted full press regulations ( Württemberg-Baden , Bavaria and Hesse ). In federal states that had enacted partial press regulations, it was used in addition ( Bremen , Hamburg , North Rhine-Westphalia , Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein ). As far as no new press law regulations were issued, the Reichspreßgesetz continued to apply as a full regulation ( Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , Berlin , Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate ). Lower Saxony was the last federal state to pass its own state press law on July 1, 1966. Since then, the Reichspreßgesetz has not been used in the old federal states . The formal repeal under federal law did not take place until November 30, 2007.
In the GDR , the Reichspreßgesetz was not formally repealed, but it was not applied due to other prevailing regulations. After reunification , a judgment of the District Court of Schwerin of September 3, 1991 (S 35/91) declared the Reichspreßgesetz “in the absence of other state legal regulations” to be fundamentally applicable in the new federal states .
Regulatory areas
The Reichspreßgesetz applied to printed matter . Under these legal concept fell
- all products of the printing press as well as
- all other reproductions of writings and images, with or without writing, intended for distribution by mechanical or chemical means
- Music with text or explanations (see § 2 Reichspreßgesetz)
The posting, exhibiting or laying out of printed matter in places where they were accessible to the public was also deemed to be dissemination (Section 3).
The main contents of the Reichspreßgesetz were:
- No license requirement for the operation of a press trade (§ 4). However, there were licensing requirements under commercial law (e.g. legitimation certificate, traveling trade license). The non-commercial public distribution of printed matter could, under certain conditions, be prohibited by the local police authority (Section 5).
- Imprint obligation : The name and place of residence of the printer had to be stated on every print. If the pamphlets were intended for the book trade or otherwise for distribution, the name and place of residence of the publisher or - in the case of self-distribution of the pamphlet - the author or editor had to be stated. Instead of the name of the printer or publisher, it was sufficient to indicate the company entered in the commercial register. There was no imprint requirement for so-called harmless printing works . This included pamphlets that were only used for the purposes of trade and transport as well as domestic and social life, such as forms, price labels and business cards (Section 6).
- Obligation to name the responsible editor : Newspapers and magazines that appeared monthly or shorter, albeit irregularly (so-called periodical publications), had to contain the name and place of residence of the responsible editor on every number, item or booklet (§§ 7, 8th).
- Duty to deliver : As soon as the distribution or dispatch began, the publisher had to deliver a copy of every number (booklet, piece) of a periodical publication free of charge in return for a certificate to the police at the place of issue. Exceptions were pamphlets that were used exclusively for purposes of science, art, trade or industry (Section 10).
- Obligation to reply : The editor in charge of a periodical publication was obliged to include a correction of the facts communicated in this periodical publication at the request of a public authority or private person involved, without any interferences or omissions, provided the correction was signed by the sender, had no criminal content and limited to factual information. The print had to be in the number following the receipt of the mailing, which had not already been completed for printing, in the same part of the print and with the same font as the print of the article to be corrected. Admission was generally free of charge (Section 11).
- Criminal liability : Responsibility for criminal acts committed through the press was assessed according to general criminal law. The responsible editor, the publisher, the printer and, as a so-called disseminator, the one who sold the publication commercially or otherwise publicly could be held responsible. There was a six-month limitation period (§§ 20 ff.).
- Confiscation : Under certain conditions, printed matter could be confiscated without a judicial order (Section 23).
literature
- Kurt Häntzschel : Reich Press Law and the other press law regulations of the Reich and the states . Berlin 1927.
- Martin Löffler : Press law . 1st edition. Munich 1955 (with commentary on the Reichspreßgesetz) to 5th edition, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-53431-7 .
- Martin Löffler, Reinhart Ricker: Manual of press law . 5th edition. Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52613-6 .
- Heinrich Marquardsen : The Reich Press Law of May 7, 1874. With introduction and commentary . Berlin 1875.
- Friedrich Oskar von Schwarze : Commentary on the Reichspreßgesetz . 1st edition. Erlangen 1877 to 5th edition, Erlangen 1914.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See § 31 Reichspreßgesetz of May 7, 1874 ( RGBl. 1874, No. 16, p. 65).
- ↑ See Martin Löffler, Reinhart Ricker: Handbuch des Presserechts . 5th edition. Munich 2005, p. 29 ff. With additional information.
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↑ See BVerfGE 7, 29; Martin Bullinger , In: Martin Löffler: Press Law. 5th edition. Munich 2006, introduction No. 84.
Martin Löffler, Reinhart Ricker: Handbook of press law . 5th edition. Munich 2005, p. 32. - ↑ See Martin Bullinger, In: Martin Löffler: Presserecht. 5th edition. Munich 2006, introduction, para. 83 ff.
- ↑ Second law on the adjustment of federal law in the area of responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Justice of 23 November 2007 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2614 ).
- ↑ See Martin Bullinger, In: Martin Löffler: Presserecht. 5th edition. Munich 2006, introduction No. 90.
- ↑ Manfred fear not: Applicability of the Reich Press Law as state law of the new federal states . In: German-German legal journal (DtZ) . Vol. 1991, no. 12, p. 442.
- ↑ See Martin Bullinger, In: Martin Löffler: Presserecht . 5th edition. Munich 2006, § 2 LPG No. 22 fmw Nachw.
