Court case 3 U 2469/23 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2024)

On 1 October 2020, a journalist uploaded a video to the Youtube platform (controller). The data subject complained about statements made about him and the company he was part of. The journalist did not reply to any emails about the uploaded video. On 13 November 2020, the data subject complained to the controller about the video. In response on the same day, the controller asked the data subject for providing the specific statements in corresponding time. On 7 May 2021, the data subject's lawyer requested the deletion of the video from the Youtube (controllers platform). The controller asked the data subject to provide proof of identity and information about the statements that violated personal rights. The data subject sent a power of attorney. The controller explained that more information was needed about the image, name, or other personal data. The data subject's lawyer wrote to the controller on 8 November 2021. The controller then blocked the video for the local state domain and informed the data subject by email on 16 November 2021. The controller has not provided any further steps. The data subject initiated legal proceeding, which resulted in the controller being ordered to refrain from making the contribution to the video posted by the journalist. The controller had not fulfilled its obligation to request appropriate information from the author of the video. The controller appeals against aforementioned judgement. The Higher Regional Court Nuremberg amended the judgement of the Regional Court of Nuremberg-Fürth of 14 November 2023, case no. 11 O 7452/21. The action is dismissed. The link between the data subject and the company was found to be weak, as the data subject was not in a representative position. The Higher Regional Court Nuremberg concluded that the video presented opinions rather than established facts about the data subjects professional capacity and operations in the company.