CJEU Case C-555/19 | Fussl Modestraße Mayr GmbH v SevenOne Media GmbH and Others

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Author (Corporate)
Publication Date 2019-2021
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Summary:

Information Guide concerning Case C-555/19 from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which relates to the provision of audiovisual media services.

Further information:

Fussl Modestraße Mayr GmbH is a company incorporated under Austrian law which operates a network of fashions shops in Austria and in the German State of Bavaria. In 2018, the company concluded a contract with SevenOne Media GmbH concerning the broadcasting, solely in Bavaria, of advertising in the context of programmes of the national channel ProSieben.  However, SevenOne Media refused to perform such contract due to a State Treaty from 2016 prohibiting television broadcasters from inserting, in their national broadcasts, advertisements whose broadcasting is limited to a regional level.

Stuttgart's Regional Court (Landgericht Stuttgart) questioned the conformity of that prohibition with EU law. A request for a preliminary ruling was submitted before the CJEU, concerning certain principles enshrined in its case-law on the freedom to provide services and to interpret the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the particular context of a prohibition on regional advertising on national television channels.

The Court ruled on 3 February 2021 that the prohibition on broadcasting advertising only at regional level within the framework of German television programmes broadcast at national level could be contrary to EU law. It added that total prohibition may go beyond what is necessary to preserve the pluralistic nature of the supply of television programmes by reserving revenue from regional television advertising for regional and local channels. It also stated that it may create an unacceptable inequality between national television broadcasters and providers of advertising services on the Internet.

Related Links
Official
CJEU CURIA: Case C-555/19 | Fussl Modestraße Mayr http://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-555/19
CJEU: Press Release No 13/21, 03/02/2021: Judgment in Case C-555/19 Fussl Modestraße Mayr GmbH v SevenOne Media GmbH and Others https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-02/cp210013en.pdf

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