Kategorie: Politics Law Society

License agreements regulating rights to use software Whether at home or at the office, many people encounter IT law in their daily lives, with one common point of contact being the use of software and the licenses required to this end. Anyone who wants to use their computer needs the appropriate software for their requirements. However, they must first of all acquire the rights to use said software. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte note that those who decide to use software without first obtaining any necessary licenses…

Commercial agent“s claim for compensatory adjustment If a commercial agency agreement is terminated, the commercial agent is normally entitled to compensatory adjustment. But certain conditions must be met if the claim is to be successful. Section 89(b) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) stipulates that the commercial agent is entitled to demand a reasonable indemnity after termination of the agency agreement. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte note, however, that this is conditional on the principal continuing to derive substantial benefits from business relations with new clients that…

Court finds warning letter a prerequisite for summarily terminating a commercial lease agreement A warning letter must have been issued prior to summarily terminating a lease agreement for commercial premises on account of defects. That was the verdict of the Higher Regional Court of Brandenburg, the Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Brandenburg (case ref.: 3 U 82/19). Open-ended commercial lease agreements can be terminated by giving due notice. If the parties do not specify a notice period in the agreement, the statutory notice period of 6 months applies in accordance with Section 580(a)…

Data theft – Company to pay compensation for breaching GDPR In the aftermath of a data leak, German digital asset manager Scalable Capital has been ordered by the Munich I Regional Court – the Landgericht (LG) München I – to pay compensation for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Customers are entitled to expect that the high level of trust they place in those whom they entrust with their data is accompanied by high standards of data protection, particularly when it comes to personal data. We at the commercial…

Karlsruhe court upholds premature dismissal of supervisory board member for good cause If it becomes unreasonable for a supervisory board and one of its members to continue their association due to the latter“s conduct, premature dismissal may be considered. That was the verdict of the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe – the Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Karlsruhe – in a recent ruling (case ref.: 1 W 85/21). Members of a supervisory board can be prematurely removed from their positions for good cause. While the German legislature has not specified what constitutes good…

No tax relief on capital gains from privately held equity investment Capital gains derived from a privately held 100% corporate equity investment do not benefit from the tax allowance and reduced rate of tax under Sections 16 and 34 of Germany“s Income Tax Act (EStG). If a financial interest in a company is sold, the resulting capital gains can be taxed in accordance with either Section 16 or Section 17 EStG. We at the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte note that one of the key determining factors is whether the…

Wirecard scandal could see shareholders face claims to claw back dividends Munich“s regional court – the Landgericht (LG) München – has declared Wirecard AG“s annual financial statements from 2017 and 2018 null and void. The group“s shareholders could now be facing claims brought by the insolvency administrator to claw back dividend payments. The verdict comes following the revelation that around 1.9 billion euros has either disappeared without a trace or never existed in the first place. The formerly DAX-listed company was found to have inflated its balance sheets with bogus…

Düsseldorf court finds no copyright infringement in light of work“s sufficient distinctive character Copyright is not infringed if a work possesses sufficient creative character. That was the verdict of Düsseldorf“s Higher Regional Court – the Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Düsseldorf – in a ruling from February 24, 2022 (case ref.: I-20 254/20). A lot of cases where a simple copy of a copyrighted work has been made, or where there is a high degree of similarity, start from the assumption of a copyright infringement. But we at the commercial law firm MTR…