TMT Newsletter | October 2025

Outlook

On 06.11.2025, the Federal Court of Justice will hear a case on whether credit agencies can store information about payment defaults after the debt has been settled, and if so, for how long (I ZR 97/25). On 11.11.2025, the Federal Court of Justice will hear a case on whether foreign states can assert claims for defense under German law against domestic media companies for violation of their right to social respect and state dignity (VI ZR 415/23, VI ZR 416/23). On the same day, the Regional Court of Munich I will rule on whether copyright law permits the use of song lyrics for training a large language model (42 O 14139/24). On 13.11.2025, the CJEU will rule on the admissibility of a daily email newsletter under data protection law (AG Szpunar: permissible under Art. 13(2) Directive 2002/58/EC) (C-654/23). On the same day, AG Szpunar will publish the opinion on the extent to which freedom of expression justifies the parodistic use of a trademark (C-298/23). On 19.11.2025, the EGC will rule on the action brought by Amazon against the designation as very large online platforms (VLOP), Art. 33(4) DSA (T-367/23). On 20.11.2025, the CJEU will rule on the requirements for access to civil engineering under Art. 72 Directive (EU) 2018/1972 (European Electronic Communications Code) (C-327/24). On 26.11.2025, the Federal Administrative Court will hear a case concerning the legality of processing insured persons' data for health management purposes (6 C 7.24).

CJEU-AG – GDPR rules on health data applies to the publication of doping violations

According to AG Spielmann, the naming of specific doping substances in connection with individual athletes constitutes health data (Art. 9(1) GDPR) because it allows for (indirect) conclusions about the (future) state of health of the persons concerned. Obligations under national law to publish doping violations are thus only permissible only if they are proportionate, considering the specific circumstances, particularly regarding the scope and duration of the publication. AG Spielmann considers the unrestricted publication of athlete names to be disproportionate (opinion C-474/24).

CJEU-AG – No private copy levy for offline streaming copies

According to AG Szpunar, for a copy to qualify as private under Art. 5(2)(b) Copyright Directive, lawful access to the source of the reproduction is required. Users of the streaming service receive an offline copy only after it has been created. AG Szpunar further states that classifying the offline copy as a private copy would violate the three-step test (Art. 5(5) Copyright Directive). Instead, in such cases the service provider is making these copies available to the public within the meaning of Art. 3 Copyright Directive (opinion C-496/24).

CJEU-AG – GDPR violation does not automatically prohibit use of evidence

According to AG Spielmann, Art. 5(1)(e) and Art. 6 GDPR do not exclude the judicial processing of personal data based on data obtained in violation of the principle of storage limitation. In the absence of applicable Union law, Member States determine if and how national courts may use evidence obtained through indirect unlawful means, Art. 6(3)(b) in conjunction with Art. 23(1) GDPR. This may be regulated through proportionate formal laws as well as national case law (opinion C-484/24).

EUCOM – Investigative measures to protect minors

The EUCOM is calling on various tech companies to disclose information on, i.a., age verification systems. The basis is the Guidelines for the Protection of Minors under the DSA, published in July 2025 (press release of 10.10.25).

Federal Court of Justice – CJEU-referral regarding "facebook remains free"

The proceedings brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) for allegedly unfair misleading practices have been suspended. The CJEU is asked to decide whether "cost" as defined in No. 20 of Annex I in conjunction with Art. 5(5) Directive 2005/29/EC (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) also covers the disclosure of personal data and consent to its commercial use (I ZR 11/20).

Federal Administrative Court – Unconstitutionality of the broadcasting fee in case of evident lack of diversity

The obligation to pay public broadcasting fees (Section 2 RBStV) is constitutionally doubtful if the public broadcasters' programs as a whole grossly fail to meet plurality requirements for at least two years. This Administrative Courts can fully review this, without the public broadcaster having any margin of discretion in that regard (press release of 15.10.25; 6 C 5.24).

Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg – No tort jurisdiction for social media account suspension cases

Disputes between users and operators of social networks regarding the suspension of user accounts are contractual in nature. Therefore, the place of jurisdiction agreed on in the contract applies, rather than the place of jurisdiction for tort (Art. 7(2) Brussels I bis Regulation). The same applies if the plaintiff additionally asserts antitrust law claims (3 W 1224/25 Kart).

Higher Regional Court of Hamm – Creation of a credit store is an internal process

There is no legal or similarly detrimental effect; however, this would be required for decision to be considered automated within the meaning of Art. 22(1) GDPR. The forwarding of a score thus only qualifies as an automated decision if it influences the establishment, performance or termination of a contractual relationship (see also CJEU C-634/21, para. 73). A right to manual scoring follows neither from Art. 22(1) GDPR nor from Sections 823, 1004 German Civil Code (not yet published, 17 U 50/25).

Regional Court of Koblenz – No right to Information on the holder of a fake account

A user had requested information from an operator of a social media platform about the operator of a fake profile that imitated her own. The Regional Court rejected the application for a declaratory ruling under Section 21 (3) TDDDG concerning the permissibility of providing information. The creation of the fake profile does not constitute any of the criminal offences listed in Section 21(2) TDDDG. Furthermore, images and text messages do not constitute audiovisual content within the meaning of Section 21(2) TDDDG (2 O 1/25).

Regional Court of Hamburg – AI operator is liable for falsehoods

The Regional Court orders the provider of an AI chatbot integrated into a social network, in preliminary injunction proceedings, to cease disseminating false factual statements made by its own AI bot on the social network pursuant to Sections 1004(1) sentence 2 analogously, 823(1) German Civil Code in conjunction with Art. 19(3) and Art. 2(1) German Basic Law. The average user attributes factual significance to AI-generated statements. Therefore, this does not alter the unlawfulness under expression law. In any case, the operator assumes responsibility for the AI's statements by presenting them on their account (not yet published, 324 O 461/25).

Federal Cartel Office – Proceedings initiated against Temu

The Federal Cartel Office is investigating how the online marketplace influences retailers' pricing on the German marketplace. Price fixing can restrict competition and lead to price increases across other distribution channels. The German Trade Association (HDE) had filed a complaint regarding this issue (press release of 8.10.25).