SPIEGEL fails with legal action against Schertz Bergmann

2023-08-15 14:00:16

Berlin (ots) – DER SPIEGEL failed in its attempt to have the law firm Schertz Bergmann Rechtsanwälte ban parts of a press release published for its client Till Lindemann.

DER SPIEGEL recently explained in a long article to justify its reporting:

“The most recent press release from the law firm Schertz Bergmann, commissioned by Lindemann, was also worded sloppily. Because it says, among other things, that we had two false factual allegations in the text that the Hamburg Regional Court prohibited us from – which is not true. After the law firm refused has to correct this of its own accord, we are now taking legal action against the press release.” (spiegel.de v. 25.07.2023)

These legal steps were unsuccessful. The district court of Hamburg, which was appealed to by SPIEGEL itself this time, rejected the application for an injunction with a decision dated August 14, 2023 and found that SPIEGEL’s right to corporate personality was not violated by the press release. The reason given by the regional court was that the statement, which was unsuccessfully challenged by SPIEGEL, could be understood as an evaluation of the court’s decision. According to a clarification by the law firm, there is no risk of repetition of the understanding put forward by SPIEGEL that it is an untrue statement of fact.

Attorney Professor Dr. Christian Schertz:

“After SPIEGEL had already been banned from large parts of its reporting on our client Till Lindemann – in particular the core allegations – because they blatantly violated his personal rights, SPIEGEL made an unprecedented attempt to take action against us as lawyers, apparently in order to silence us . Here, too, SPIEGEL has rightly failed.”

The regional court left it open whether lawyers who, as here, make a statement for their client as part of the representation of interests in a press release, can be asked to cease and desist in this regard or whether there is also a lack of passive legitimacy.