Media outlets consider influencers law pointless

The media outlets also consider the influencer law announced by the federal government to be pointless. I had also criticized the push in this post on Tuesday.

Cornelia Holsten, Chairwoman of the Conference of Directors of the State Media Institutes, was also surprised: “Legal certainty for influencers will not be improved by a new law, as a labelling requirement already applies today if a advertising intention. This principle is regulated by law three times: in the Broadcasting State Treaty, in the Telemedia Act and in the Law against Unfair Competition. The advertising labeling requirement applies regardless of where I advertise – on TV, radio or even online via Instagram or YouTube. The state media institutions (with the exception of Lower Saxony and Saxony) are solely responsible for supervising this, i.e. legislation concerning media regulation is likely to be the task of the Länder. What we want is fairness in the market and equal rules for everyone, whether they advertise on TV, Instagram or YouTube. A special law for influencers is unlikely to help much.”

It would finally be important to educate influencers, esports teams, streamers and many other players. Take, for example, these posts on Twitter from the esports team “Team Prismatic

HOLY LORD what a great start for our #CS:#GO Team! They just DOMINATED @epikk_esports on Dust2 16:05 and Inferno16:03 !@PointDuck was ONPOINT maybe cause of his new @OMENbyHP_de gear? ?

Thx @gamresport @expert_TechnoM @NaconGER
for the support? pic.twitter.com/OmMyU0pHOy

– Team Prismatic (@teamprismatic) June 12, 2019

HOLY LORD what a great start for our #CS:#GO Team! They just DOMINATED @epikk_esports on Dust2 16:05 and Inferno16:03 !@PointDuck was ONPOINT maybe cause of his new @OMENbyHP_de gear? ?

Thx @gamresport @expert_TechnoM @NaconGER
for the support? pic.twitter.com/OmMyU0pHOy

– Team Prismatic (@teamprismatic) June 12, 2019

In fact, these are classic examples. The sponsors of Team Prismatic are Omen, the Energidrink Gamer and The TechnoMarkt. They pay the team money, monthly, by post or whatever. This is the only way to understand this post. First, therefore, according to current case law AND according to the guide of the media institutions, it would have to be labelled. In the current way, another esport team could send a warning via a lawyer AND even demand information and damages. Before 90 of the participating circles on social networks, YouTube, Twitch or other sites do not understand this concept, there is no need for an influencer law.

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.