The DOSB (German Olympic Sports Confederation) has commissioned a legal opinion on the concept of sport in connection with Esport, which concludes that Esport should not be recognized as a sport.
The fact that the DOSB is opposed to esports is nothing new. The concept of sport, which is also shaped by the case law surrounding Section 52 of the German Fiscal Code, is highly complicated and interspersed with many facets.
The legal opinion concludes that Esport is not a sport, mainly because “longstanding case law has concretized the requirements of physicality in the traditional sense,” which is not met as a prerequisite in PC and console games.
I hope to have access to the full text of the decision soon and will try to fairly evaluate the opinion here on the blog.
Despite this setback, even though it is of course a commissioned opinion, the legislature still has the opportunity to take Article 3 of the Basic Law seriously and to initiate legislative changes to equal rights for esports, even without first formally recognizing esports as a sport. It is to be hoped that the grand coalition will remember its coalition agreement after all.
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.
The problem of influencer sneaking advertising The District Court of Hamburg agrees with the rulings on influencers and sneaky advertising....
Read moreDetails
A few days ago, I threw myself into an exciting new project: AI-generated videos for itmedialaw.com. As an avid proponent...
Read moreDetails
The Federal Court of Justice has passed a judgment that could well have the potential to cause headaches for many...
Read moreDetails
Now, it seems that case law is again turning to the effect that German courts are on the side of...
Read moreDetails
Legal security for influencer agencies Influencer agencies have to deal with a variety of legal issues in today's world. These...
Read moreDetails
In a recent ruling, the Frankenthal District Court stated that pictograms can also be protected by copyright and therefore cannot...
Read moreDetails
In the meantime, there is a few more information about the decision of the Court of Appeal (the Higher Regional...
Read moreDetailsIn response to Renate Künast's appeal, the Berlin Court of Appeal issued a ruling on 11 March 2020 that partially...
Read moreDetails
Introduction Recently, an interesting issue was brought to my attention by a tax accountant friend. Over a cup of coffee,...
Read moreDetailsPrivate accounts on ChatGPT & Co. for corporate purposes are a gateway to data protection breaches, leaks of secrets and...
Read moreDetails
This insightful 20-minute podcast episode by and with me explores the complex topic of copyright in the digital age. The...
Read moreDetails
In this video, I talk a bit about transparent billing and how I communicate what it costs to work with...
Read moreDetails
