Use of Protected Works by University Without Licence

BGH 1 ZR 76/12

The German Federal Court had to decide on the limits of the use of protected works by an University in its lectures. In support of research and education the German copyright law regulates the free use of a small part of the work protected by copyright. The University made some parts of a scientific book available to its students via a digital platform without retaining a licence from the copyright holder. The Court found that a small part of a work should be interpreted as maximum of 12% or 100 pages of the book.