Did Cathy Hummels advertise on her Instagram profile as an influencer? This question was addressed by the Munich Higher Regional Court after the Munich Regional Court surprisingly bucked the prevailing case law in Germany last year. See this article.

Key Facts

The Munich Higher Regional Court dismissed the appeal of the Association for Social Competition.
No business activity was detected on Cathy Hummels, despite over half a million followers.
Earlier judgments often provided for a commercial act even without consideration.
Some influencers felt that these judgments were unfair and counterproductive.
The unclear definition of advertising could confuse users, as everything is labeled as advertising.
An appeal to the Federal Court of Justice was permitted in order to provide further clarity.
The proposed Influencer Act is unlikely to provide much legal certainty.

The Munich Higher Regional Court rejected the appeal of the Association of Social Competition on Thursday. It is interesting to note that the OLG did not recognize any business activities in the actions of Cathy Hummels, even though she has more than half a million followers and the absolute majority of courts have so far ruled that a business activity would generally be present even without concrete consideration for a concrete post. This, in turn, many influencers felt was unfair and lawyers even counterproductive, as it would primarily lead to everything simply being labeled as advertising, which in turn means that no one can know what content is actually advertising.

However, this does not mean that the legal dispute is off the table, as the Higher Regional Court fortunately allowed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. It is therefore up to Karlsruhe to finally decide on the key points, because the “Influencer Law” envisaged by the German government would bring little legal certainty according to current findings. You can find an overview of probably the most judgments on the subject directly via the search.

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: Case law Federal court Influencer Instagram Judgments Karlsruhe Legal certainty Munich Higher Regional Court Sicherheit