The Higher Regional Court only partially agreed with the claimant. The judges - no doubt after a detailed review of the evidence provided - took the view that any consent to the possession of the "intimate" photos/videos was usually connected to the existence of the (personal) relationship and could therefore be revoked after its end.
"Everyday type" photographs, however, did not have to be deleted or destroyed, said the judges. In relation to photographs that showed the claimant in normal, everyday situations (i.e. not in the nude...) , the court could not see a personality right infringement arguing that the claimant's reputation would not be lowered in the view of third parties. However, things were different with regard to erotic photographs. All previously provided consent to the possession and use of such nude pictures /videos could be revoked because intimate photographs belonged to the core of the personality right ("intimate sphere") as protected by the German Constitution under Articles 1 (1) and 2 (1) . When balancing the claimant 's personality right with the defendant's property rights in the photographs , the the claimant's rights outweighed those of the defendant. Bearing in mind that the photos were of a private rather than a professional nature, i.e. not taken as part of the defendant's business, his professional freedom (also protected as a basic human right under the German constitution in Article 12) was not a adversely affected.
We had an interesting case in Israel, where an ex-girl-friend managed to get banned a memoir by a university academic about their relationship. Apparently the book goes into very intimate detail about intimate matters.
ReplyDeleteThe case is reported here: http://blog.ipfactor.co.il/2011/12/04/kiss-but-dont-tell/
The ban has just been upheld by the Supreme Court.