Federal Court of Justice - BGH hears case on copyright for image recordings by drone
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) must determine if making and distributing recordings of copyright-protected works using a drone is permissible. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm had ruled in the preliminary proceedings that only images from angles that can be seen by the human eye from publicly accessible roads, streets or squares are permissible under the so-called Panorama Freedom.
The perspective using a drone is not covered by this, as a human cannot reach the airspace using only their natural means of movement without technical assistance, it was held. Whether the First Civil Senate in Karlsruhe will issue a judgment on this matter on Thursday (hearing starting at 9:00 am) is open (Az. I ZR 67/23).
Background is a legal dispute between the Copyright Collecting Society (VG) Bild-Kunst, which represents the rights and claims of authors, and a publishing house. The latter had published two books on haulage trucks in the Ruhr Area - with aerial photographs of various art installations. The creators of these installations had entered into agreements with VG Bild-Kunst. The latter argues that the images taken by drone are not covered by the Panorama Freedom, and therefore the publications infringed copyrights.
VG Bild-Kunst, according to a spokesperson, has demanded €2,676 in licence fees - including a 100% surcharge for unlicensed use - and damages in the amount of around €2,000 for the engagement of a lawyer from the publishing house. The publisher intends, according to the BGH, to appeal against the OLG judgment with the revision, to have the lawsuit dismissed. The publisher declined to comment on the matter when asked.
- The case involving the publisher and VG Bild-Kunst over the use of drone photography in their books is now before the Federal Court of Justice in Germany (BGH).
- The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe will examine if the use of drones for copyright-protected work recordings is permissible, following the ruling of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Hamm.
- The Higher Regional Court in Hamm had decided that only images from ground-level angles accessible by humans are permissible under the Panorama Freedom, excluding perspectives from drones.
- The dispute originates from the publishing house's publication of books featuring aerial photographs of art installations in North Rhine-Westphalia, for which authors had contracted with VG Bild-Kunst.
- VG Bild-Kunst argues that drone-taken images do not fall under the Panorama Freedom, meaning that the publications violated copyrights and resulted in demands for licensing fees and damages.
- The publishing house intends to appeal the OLG Hamm judgment in the Federal Court of Justice and contest the lawsuit, without providing any comment on the matter.
- The Federal Court of Justice's decision on digital art, copyright, and drone photography technology could significantly impact the future of unique perspectives and artistic expression in Germany and beyond.
