By Arno Lampmann · Published
MagazinaltAs of: 10.08.2020. The legal situation may have changed since.
At the request of Lampmann, Haberkamm & Rosenbaum Rechtsanwälte, the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (LG Frankfurt/Main, Beschluss vom 04.08.2020, Az. 2-03 O 279/20) issued an interim injunction against Google.
This prohibits the search engine operator from making six negative reviews with one star publicly accessible in the applicant’s “Google My Business” profile.
In the event of non-compliance, a fine of up to € 250,000, or alternatively up to 6 months’ imprisonment for the managing director, may be imposed. The amount in dispute is € 50,000.
The Frankfurt Regional Court agreed with our client that the reviews violated their general right to privacy.
Applicant did not know the assessors
This was because the respondent was unable to assign the reviewers to any business contact. As the user names under which the six negative reviews had been submitted consisted to a large extent of fantasy terms – in one case, for example, the name of an exotic cocktail – the applicant suspected that there might even be a concerted action by a competitor behind this.
Regional court affirms Google’s liability for interference
In the opinion of the Regional Court, the defendant is liable for injunctive relief.
In order to avoid liability as an indirect interferer, Google, as a host provider, is not generally obliged to check the posts made by users for possible infringements before publication. However, the company is responsible as soon as it becomes aware of the infringement. If an infringement of personal rights is alleged, an infringement of rights cannot be established without further ado due to the necessary consideration.
Google did not respond out of court
In this case, however, the applicant had described the facts of the case to Google in detail several times and granted generous deadlines to remove the reviews. However, as Google did not respond apart from confirmations of receipt, which referred to longer processing times that were allegedly due to the coronavirus crisis, the applicant had to seek legal assistance.
Fortunately, this was successful. Google must now delete the reviews immediately if it wants to avoid fines. Google was also ordered to pay the costs of the claim.
Lawyer Arno Lampmann from the law firm LHR:
“The case shows that even the seemingly unassailable Internet giant Google does not operate in a legal vacuum and, in particular, can be successfully sued in German courts. ”