Lawyer for copyright law: licences, Abmahnung, enforcement

Copyright law for exploitation, conflicts and clear decisions

Quick start: what is your matter about?

Your contact: Jean Paul P. Bohne, LL.M., MM

Partner, certified specialist lawyer for copyright and media law and for IT law (Fachanwalt für Urheber- und Medienrecht, Fachanwalt für IT-Recht).

Send copyright enquiry

What happens after your enquiry?

After your enquiry, we will get back to you within 24 hours on working days. The first contact is free of charge. Before any costs arise, we will expressly inform you.

1. A short description is enough. Briefly describe the work concerned, the use and your goal. Contracts, releases, locations found online, screenshots and, in the case of an Abmahnung, the letter with its deadline are helpful.
2. Receipt and initial sorting. We assess the enquiry on the basis of the project described, the documents and the apparent goal. Deadlines and dates should be clearly recognisable.
3. Suitable starting point and cost range. We clarify whether an initial consultation, a service package or a specific mandate is the next step. As soon as the scope of the review is clear, we tell you the cost range – before work begins.

Typical cases from our copyright practice

We regularly encounter the following constellations. They are abstracted and simplified. Which solution works always depends on the work, the chain of title, the contract and the use.

What you will have at the end

When copyright becomes commercially critical

Copyright rarely becomes expensive because someone does not know the theory. It becomes expensive when operational use, contract, platform logic and chain of title no longer match.

In a corporate context, copyright is an exploitation issue and a pressure issue at the same time. Those who organise the structure early negotiate from a stronger position and react faster. They reduce the risk that commercially valuable assets are blocked at precisely the decisive moment.

When you need us

The relevant cases rarely revolve around a single work only. They are usually shaped by the combination of use, contract, platform, timing and intensity of the conflict.

The most common misconception in companies: an existing contract is confused with a sound legal position. Many cases fail because of imprecise types of use, missing documentation, unclear releases or unregulated adaptation.

How we specifically support you in copyright law

A legally correct sentence alone is rarely the goal of a mandate. What matters is how exploitation is secured, an attack effectively built up, an allegation contained or a commercially critical asset made usable.

• Close to a dispute: send a targeted Abmahnung
• Time-critical: prepare urgent proceedings
• Ongoing support: set up permanent legal support
• Direct entry: request a mandate

Work, protection and chain of title: what mandates actually depend on

In copyright law, the specific creative expression is protected; the mere idea remains free. For companies, however, a case more often turns on the chain of title than on the abstract concept of a work.

The author (Urheber) is the natural person who created a work. Companies are therefore, as a starting point, rather commissioning parties, employers, rights holders, licensees or exploiters. After the initial classification, what matters most for clients is whether the relevant use has been effectively granted, documented and is robust for the actual exploitation.

This concerns, for example, adaptations, edited versions, subtitles, short versions, translations, new campaigns, platform uploads, archive use, internal multiple use, sharing within a group or integration into new product and distribution models. It is precisely at these transitions that costly gaps arise.

Checklist for the chain of title

The 5 most common breaks in the chain of title

1. The work does not originate from the party that granted the rights. An agency, freelancer, photographer, developer or production partner delivers the work. However, the contracting party was not entitled to release the relevant use at all, or not in full.
2. The types of use are narrower than the actual exploitation. Website, social media, paid media, platforms, press, archive or international distribution continue, although the contract covers only part of this use.
3. Adaptations and further developments have not been taken into account. Shortened versions, translations, subtitles, new edits, remixes, campaign adaptations or AI-assisted edits are used. However, the chain of title has not been robustly prepared for this.
4. Sublicensing, transfers within a group or agency chains break down. An asset moves between companies, agencies, platforms or distribution partners without transfer, sublicensing and responsibility having been regulated precisely.
5. The documentation does not hold up in a dispute. In everyday business, the use appears plausible. In platform proceedings, in the case of an Abmahnung or in court, robust releases, versions, dates, sources or proof of the specific chain of title are then missing.

Setting up licences and international use robustly

The more assets are scaled, adapted, distributed across platforms or exploited in several countries, the less a blanket grant of rights is sufficient.

A strong licensing architecture describes more than whether something may be used. It determines in what form, in which channels, for what duration and in which territories the use takes place. It also governs through which companies, with which adaptations and under which indemnity mechanisms the use remains commercially viable.

Licensing questions that are often underestimated

• Does the agreement really cover website, social media, paid media, press, platforms and archive use?
• May content be shortened, remixed, localised, dubbed, re-edited or combined with third-party material?
• Are group use, agency chains and sublicensing properly regulated?
• Who bears the risk if third-party rights, credits or sources have been recorded incompletely?

When the deep dive via licensing gets you there faster

If the commercial scope of a use is the focus rather than protectability or infringement, the deep dive via licensing and rights clearance leads more quickly into contract-related detail. There, productions, advertising materials, audio, film, music and complex chains of title are much more in focus.

Those who are mainly struggling with software distribution, libraries or source code obligations will find the more specialised answer via open source law or IT law.

Practical rule for exploitation teams: the more valuable an asset, the more dangerous an imprecise licence. International distribution, platform exploitation, adaptation, multiple exploitation and a later change of strategy should already be considered in the original contract.

Abmahnung, einstweilige Verfügung and court pressure

When rights are infringed or an allegation is received, the sequence of steps is decisive. Volume helps little. In copyright law, evidence, deadlines, chain of title and negotiating tactics are particularly closely intertwined.

Platform cases, takedowns and digital escalation

Platform cases rarely follow only the logic of classic civil proceedings. In addition to substantive copyright law, platform terms, reporting systems, verification requirements and international escalation paths affect the same facts.

YouTube, social media platforms, marketplaces, app environments, hosting services or international content infrastructure may be affected. For effective steps, the work, rights holder, grant of rights, location, time and availability must be properly documented. Only then can it be assessed whether notice-and-takedown, contractual leverage, an Abmahnung or court pressure is the better first measure.

With international platforms, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (opens in a new tab) may also play a role as a platform-specific process. However, it does not replace the substantive examination. That is why a robust basis of evidence and rights always comes before the escalation step.

Artificial intelligence as an interface

If training data, closeness of output, tool terms or the question of human creative contribution shape the case, the mandate overlaps with AI law. For the copyright focus, what remains decisive here is whether a protectable work, a sound chain of title or a specific use can be proven in a legally robust manner.

Finding the more specialised deep dive

Not every content, platform or IP topic is primarily general copyright law. Those who find the actual focus page early save time and reduce friction.

Further insights (articles in German)

• Metall auf Metall: BGH allows sampling as pastiche
• Copyright and freelancers
• Copyright in AI images and AI-generated logos
• International e-book platform and copyright infringement

Key terms in copyright law

Werk (work)

A specific personal intellectual creation. The creative expression is protected; the mere idea remains free.

Urheber (author)

The natural person who created a work. Companies are, as a starting point, commissioning parties, employers, rights holders, licensees or exploiters.

Nutzungsrecht (right of use)

The authorisation granted by the author or rights holder to use a work in specific ways, either non-exclusively or exclusively.

Chain of rights

The provable sequence of grants of rights from the author to the exploiter, which must cover the actual use.

Aktivlegitimation (standing to sue)

The entitlement to assert claims arising from a work oneself.

Buy-out

A blanket grant of rights in return for a one-off fee. It does not replace a precise description of the actual use.

Unterlassungserklärung (cease-and-desist declaration)

A declaration to refrain from a challenged use in future, usually combined with the risk of a contractual penalty.

Notice-and-takedown

Reporting an infringement to a platform with the aim of having the content removed.

The terms explain the language used on this page. The specific contract and the individual case always remain decisive.

Provisions and reliable external sources

The following sources help with classification, examination of claims and further reading.

• Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt (German Patent and Trade Mark Office): overview of copyright (in German) (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Ministry of Justice: questions and answers on artificial intelligence and copyright (in German) (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions about copyright law

The following answers give companies and other professional market participants a reliable initial orientation. For a sound assessment, the work, chain of title, contract, use and commercial goal of the individual case remain decisive.

Secure your use now or pursue the conflict decisively