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CMS Hasche Sigle successfully represented German broadcasting company Westdeutscher Rundfunk in the dispute surrounding the filming of the thalidomide (Contergan) scandal. In its decisions published today the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed applications from pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH and a former lawyer acting of behalf of an injured party seeking interim injunctions preventing the film "Just One Pill" from being shown on television.
The Federal Constitutional Court stated that an interim injunction preventing the film from being broadcast would constitute serious interference in the broadcasting freedom of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk and jeopardise the process of free public communication. The Court argued that broadcasting of the film, scheduled to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the launching of the drug thalidomide (Contergan), could provide substantial food for thought, which would be lost if broadcasting were delayed until after this anniversary. On the other hand, there was no evidence that to broadcast the film would lead to the disadvantages feared by the claimants. The Federal Constitutional Court based its decision on the legal appraisal made by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court, which in the preceding injunctive relief proceedings had found that the scenes in the film to which the claimants had objected created an adverse impression.
The decisions cannot be appealed against. There are now no obstacles to the broadcasting of the film, which is scheduled for the beginning of November.
Representative Westdeutscher Rundfunk: CMS Hasche Sigle, Michael Fricke
Contact CMS Hasche Sigle:
Michael Fricke
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 / 3 76 30 - 353
E- Mail:
Michael.Fricke@cms-hs.com
About CMS Hasche Sigle:
CMS Hasche Sigle is one of the leading German law firms with more than 500 lawyers. It covers the entire area of commercial law and provides legal advice to major German and international companies from a wide spectrum of industry. It has offices in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Dresden, Brussels, Belgrade, Moscow and Shanghai.
CMS Hasche Sigle is a partnership of lawyers and tax consultants; for register details / list of partners see www.cms-hs.com.
CMS Hasche Sigle is a member of CMS, an alliance of leading independent European law firms. With over 595 partners, a total of 2,000 lawyers and tax consultants and around 4,200 support staff we advise our clients at commercial locations in 48 business centres in Europe and further afield on legal and tax issues.
In addition to CMS Hasche Sigle, the following firms are also members of the CMS alliance: CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni (Italy), CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo (Spain), CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre (France), CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (Great Britain), CMS DeBacker (Belgium), CMS Derks Star Busmann (the Netherlands), CMS von Erlach Henrici (Switzerland) and CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz (Austria). CMS has 58 offices in 25 countries around the world.
For further information on CMS Hasche Sigle see www.cms-hs.com and on the CMS alliance see http://www.cmslegal.com.
