When someone is ordered to cease and desist on the Internet, many often forget that all content must be removed, not just the actual post or website. This includes backups, unlinked website or even the Google cache.

Key Facts

Court injunctions require the removal of all content, not just the original post.
The OLG Celle ruled that Facebook groups must also be searched.
Links in Facebook groups may constitute a violation of the cease and desist order.
Failure to remove from Facebook groups leads to administrative fine proceedings.
Injunction debtors must actively search for their content in groups.
The responsibility lies with the debtor, even if he has many contributions.
A lost overview of one's own content is to the detriment of the party seeking injunctive relief.

A particularly interesting ruling was recently issued by the OLG Celle. This is because the latter ruled that a court injunction would also include searching Facebook groups for possible posted links to an original post on Facebook. Otherwise, there is a threat of administrative fine proceedings.

Often in a link in Facebook groups, through the preview, namely the actual e accusation that led to the injunction is included. Both the Regional Court of Stade and the Higher Regional Court of Celle confirmed that failure to remove from Facebook groups would result in an administrative fine. The existing links themselves would constitute a violation of the court’s injunction. As an active user of Facebook, it was incumbent upon the debtor in this case to actively search the groups he frequented for his posts, even those that had been made some time ago, and to delete them. If the number of posts and links written by the injunctive debtor is so large that he has lost track of his content (according to the submission in this case), this is to the detriment of the injunctive debtor.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.

Tags: Celle Debtor Facebook Google internet