Olswang Germany Media Newsletter March 2015

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• Dutch-German film co-production treaty signed during Berlin Film Festival
• Senator completes merger with Wild Bunch, German activities to be bundled in newly formed Wild Bunch Germany
• German cinema figures 2014: an excellent year for German films, despite the decrease in moviegoers and revenues overall
• Higher Regional Court Frankfurt: showing of TV soccer match in a restaurant does not communicate the broadcast "to the public" if it can only be accessed by a certain, fixed group of people

Dutch-German film co-production treaty signed during Berlin Film Festival

On February 7, a new co-production treaty was signed by the governments of the Netherlands and Germany. The treaty was initiated by the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and the Netherlands Film Fund and aims at boosting bilateral co-productions as well as the development of the film industry in both countries. The signing of the treaty coincided with the selection of two films jointly produced by Germany and the Netherlands at the Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale: "Zurich" by Sacha Polak and "Nena" by Saskia Diesing.

Under the treaty, films that are realised within the established framework are considered as national films by both Germany and the Netherlands, giving producers in both countries access to each other's financing possibilities. The level of each co-producer's technical and artistic contribution must be equivalent to their funding, with the minority producer having to contribute at least 10 per cent. The treaty also increases the opportunities for the distribution of films in both countries.

Germany has signed similar bilateral co-production treaties with numerous (available in German only) other states, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, Canada, Austria, Sweden, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa.

Senator completes merger with Wild Bunch, German activities to be bundled in newly formed Wild Bunch Germany

In early February, Germany-based Senator Entertainment AG and France-based Wild Bunch SA completed their merger to form an independent film distribution and production group. Senator also recorded (available in German only) a capital increase whereby all 55.8 million shares of Wild Bunch were incorporated into Senator.

Following the merger, the newly formed group is reorganising its operations on the German market. On February 26, it was announced that from May 1, Wild Bunch Germany GmbH will take over all operational activities of Senator's subsidiaries, including the acquisition and exploitation of film rights, especially theatrical distribution and home entertainment as well as TV-sales. Wild Bunch Germany will be headed by Managing Director Marc Gabizon, with Vincent Grimond as CEO, Vincent Maraval as CCO and Brahim Chioua as COO within the newly formed board, while Max Sturm, Senator's CEO, will act as CFO.

Wild Bunch Germany will be active in five European markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and U.K.), handle international sales and manage a library of around 2,200 films. Senator estimates the new entity to have consolidated revenues of more than EUR 185 million, based on 2013 figures.

German cinema figures 2014: an excellent year for German films, despite the decrease in moviegoers and revenues overall

On February 9, the German Federal Film Board released the 2014 figures for German cinemas, which show a box office total of EUR 979.9 million, a decrease of 4.2 per cent compared to 2013 (EUR 1.023 billion). The number of moviegoers decreased by 6.1 per cent, amounting to 121.7 million (compared to 129.7 million in 2013).

While overall numbers decreased, German films have been very successful, reaching a market share of 26.7 per cent - the second best result after the record year in 2009 (27.4 per cent). In total, German films drew 32.1 million moviegoers, with eight German films selling over a million tickets each.

Higher Regional Court Frankfurt: showing of TV soccer match in a restaurant does not communicate the broadcast "to the public" if it can only be accessed by a certain, fixed group of people

The Higher Regional Court Frankfurt (OLG Frankfurt) held (available in German only) on January 20 that a restaurant is not infringing the right of communication of broadcasts if it shows a soccer match exclusively to members of a dart club and a group of card players, even if the restaurant is generally open to the public.

The Court confirmed the previous first instance ruling since the plaintiff broadcaster had not proven that the restaurant had made the broadcasts perceivable to the public. Pursuant to Sec. 15 (3) of the German Copyright Act - an implementation of Art. 3 (1) of Directive 2001/29/EG - a communication is public if it is made to members of the public, such members of the public meaning anyone that does not have a personal relationship with the person communicating the work. In line with the judgments of the European Court of Justice, the Higher Regional Court held that the members of a dart club and a group of card players watching the broadcast do not constitute the "public", since they belong to a small, private group with relatively fixed members. In the view of the Court, the restaurant had taken sufficient measures to ensure that no other people had access to the broadcasts by putting up a sign and asking other guests to leave.

The decision is final, since further review of the matter was not allowed by the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt.

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