German TV show allowed to call right wing politician 'Nazi sl*t', Hamburg court rules
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| Alice Weidel |
From Katfriend Mirko Brüß (Waldorf Frommer Rechtsanwälte) comes the news that a German court has just ruled on the matter whether someone can be addressed on national television as a 'Nazi sl*t'.
While the case is not directly IP-related, it is nonetheless interesting because to reach its decision the court focused on the notion of satire, ie something that - instead - has a direct IP relevance.
Here's what Mirko writes:
"German politician Alice Weidel, who is the leading candidate of the right wing party AfD, tried to obtain an injunction against the TV station NDR after being called a 'Nazi sl*t' (original 'Nazi-Schl**e') on a satirical TV show ('Extra 3') on 27 April last (see here, at 3'40''). The district court of Hamburg denied her application, ruling that the statement was justifiable because of its satirical context (case No. 324 O 217/17).
'Extra 3' had reacted to a statement made by Weidel at a political convention of the AfD. There, she said: 'political correctness belongs on the junkyard of history'. Christian Ehring of the 'Extra 3' show had picked up this statement and said: 'Yes! Let’s end this political correctness, let us all be incorrect. The Nazi-Sl*t is right about this! Was this incorrect enough? I hope so!'
The court justified its judgment by analyzing the words used and their context. While it is clear that addressing someone personally as a 'Nazi sl*t' would be an insult that could result in civil and criminal liability, the result can be different when the statement is made in a certain context, as it happened here.
The court found that Christian Ehring made the statement in a clearly satirical way. He used the words 'Nazi' and 'Sl*t' as an exaggeration which is a typical feature of satire.
The court also found a direct relation of his statement to Ms Weidel’s request to throw political correctness on the 'junkyard of history', as a clip of her statement was shown directly before. The radical wording used by Mr Ehring was intended to show the audience of 'Extra 3' where Ms Weidel’s demands could ultimately lead to.
The court found that it would be clear to the viewers that the term 'nazi' was used as hyperbole that establishes a connection to her position as the leading candidate of the (right wing) AfD party, without implying that she is a supporter of nazi ideology. With regard to the word 'sl*t', the court found that this part of the statement clearly did not claim validity (possibly about her sexual behaviour) but was only chosen to tie in with her demand for 'incorrectness'.
The judgment can be appealed and Ms Seidel’s attorney and the AfD have announced their intention to do so.'
