Copyright: Federal Court of Justice supports wallpaper owners

The Federal Court of Justice has ruled in three cases that showing photo wallpapers in photos and videos on the Internet does not constitute a copyright infringement. In all cases, people or companies had bought wallpapers that were then shown in the background of photos or videos that they published online. The photographer who took the pictures for the wallpapers saw this as a violation of his copyright and demanded compensation from the people and companies. To this end, he sent warnings and took legal action.

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However, the First Civil Senate, which is responsible for copyright law, has now decided that the photographer had tacitly agreed that the wallpaper could be used in this way (I ZR 139/23; I ZR 140/23; I ZR 141/23). It is common and predictable that people will photograph rooms with wallpaper and post the images on the Internet. If the photographer does not want this, these restrictions must be made clear to buyers when the wallpaper is sold, for example by adding notices. This did not happen in these cases.

No mention necessary either

The decision applies to both private and commercial use of the wallpapers in photos and videos. The court also ruled that the photographer’s conduct meant he waived his right to be named when using the wallpapers.

In 2022, the Cologne Regional Court had sentenced the landlord of a holiday apartment to pay damages for violating the wallpaper photographer’s copyright (case number 14 O 350/21). Other courts, however, decided against the defendants.

The cases now being negotiated concerned a video post on Facebook where a photo wallpaper could be seen in the background, a screenshot of a newly designed website of a tennis center where a photo wallpaper could be seen in the guest room, and an image of a hotel that had a photo wallpaper in one of the rooms shown.

(mki)