Copyright: Smartphone recordings of the day's events are protected

If users take photos or videos with their cell phone without any artistic claim, this does not mean that this content may be used freely in principle. Rather, the copyright lies with the creator and they can transfer exclusive rights of use to a media company, for example. This was decided by the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main in a recently published judgment of May 16 (case no.: 2-06 O 299/24). It found that smartphone recordings of daily events such as natural phenomena in particular are protected by copyright.

Background to the legal dispute: In June 2024, there was a flood in a municipality in Baden-Württemberg. A private individual filmed the flooding with her smartphone. At that precise moment, a noise barrier broke due to the masses of water. On the morning of the next day, a media company – offered the later defendant – still images of this video via a newsletter and on its own website for a fee.

The plaintiff in the proceedings also operates a news agency. Before the Frankfurt Regional Court, he argued that the creator of the clip had already transferred the rights to him for exclusive use beforehand, namely on the same day as the recording of the natural event.

Artistic claim not decisive

The 6th Civil Chamber of the Regional Court, which is responsible for copyright law, upheld the claim. According to a statement, the judges came to the conclusion that the person filming had "exclusively" transferred the rights of use to the plaintiff. The defrauded agency could therefore demand that the defendant media sub-company refrain from further distribution of the still images from the video. Furthermore, the plaintiff was entitled to claim damages for the unlawful publication of the images.

The disputed video was a so-called moving image – a sequence of images and sound without the artistic character of a TV or cinema film. "The video reproduces a natural event in real time and was neither edited nor did any other creative work take place," explained the chamber. "Rather, it is a simple, everyday recording without the level of creativity required for a cinematographic work." This also applies, for example, to live reports in news programs and reports on current events. In such genres, no creative design is possible due to the time pressure. In the case of a film work, on the other hand, the work of a director, cameraman or other persons who are creatively involved in the implementation of an intellectual content with cinematic means is added.

Social media distribution irrelevant

However, even if the smartphone recording of the flood event taken at the crucial time does not constitute a cinematographic work, according to the judges, such moving images also generally benefit from copyright protection. They refer to Section 95 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG). This covers serial images as well as image and sound sequences.

The chamber also clarified that the plaintiff's claim for injunctive relief and damages also applies even though the video had already been distributed on social networks shortly after the flooding. Despite such publication on a social media platform, the author could grant a third party an exclusive right to use the content. The ruling, which will soon be available on the Hesse judicial platform, is not yet legally binding. However, Section 72 UrhG already stipulates that "photographs" such as snapshots or simple cell phone photos are protected. The term of protection here is 50 years after publication or production, as opposed to 70 years for artistic works.

(nie)