Philipp Schröder-Ringe, LL.M.

Digitalisation and, in particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) pose new challenges for copyright law. On 11 November 2025, the 42nd Civil Chamber of the Regional Court of Munich I, which specialises in copyright law, issued a landmark ruling in the case "GEMA v. OpenAI". It thus strengthens the position of authors vis-à-vis AI providers and obliges OpenAI to cease and desist and potentially pay damages for the use of copyrighted song lyrics in the training and operation of its language models. The judgement is not legally binding, but has a signal effect for the entire industry

In its decision of 8 July 2025, the Berlin Administrative Court granted the main points of the urgent appeal filed by a restaurateur from Kastanienallee in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. The court restored the suspensive effect of the action against the shortening of the closing time and the ban on the provision of outdoor seating. The restaurateur thus preliminarily prevailed against an order by the Pankow district authority that would have severely restricted his business activities in the outdoor area.

In a judgement dated 14 March 2025 - 7 HK O 50/23, which was obtained by HÄRTING Rechtsanwälte, the Regional Court of Trier ruled that a cease-and-desist declaration obtained by the IDO Interessenverband für das Rechts- und Finanzconsulting deutscher Online-Unternehmen e.V. (IDO) could be effectively terminated due to abuse of rights. Exceptionally, this cancellation also had retroactive effect on a contractual penalty that had already been claimed but not yet paid. The court found that the IDO may not demand contractual penalties because it lacks the authority to issue warnings as long as it is not entered in the list of trade associations of the Federal Office of Justice.

Philipp Schröder-Ringe, partner at Härting Rechtsanwälte, deals with disputes relating to sport, clubs, festivals and events. In episode 68 of HÄRTING|fm, he presents three event law cases in the context of the litigation series. - How do you make a claim against "Flitzer"? - Which court is responsible for international merchandising contracts? - What must a proof of use contain in the context of project funding and what disputes can arise in the event of a missing submission?

GEMA sues Suno Inc's AI music tool for unauthorised processing of protected musical works.

On 25 September 2024, the Bundestag Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Construction and Local Authorities hosted a public expert discussion on the amendment to TA-Lärm. The question of what coexistence in the cities of the future can and should look like was also discussed.

A trade association is only authorised to initiate regulatory proceedings if it is registered in the lists of the UWG reform by the Federal Office of Justice (BfJ).

In its judgement of 30 March 2023, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm ruled that there is a violation of the general (corporate) right of personality if a company uses images for advertising purposes on which an aircraft is depicted whose owner is clearly identifiable due to the recognisable aircraft registration number (possibly in conjunction with the colouring). In the event that the photographs are used without the corresponding consent of the company concerned, the company's right to decide for itself whether and under which conditions the name of the company is made available to others for advertising purposes is violated (OLG Hamm, judgement of 30.3.2023, ref.: 4 U 130/21)