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The Regional Court of Munich I (LG München, Urteil v. 26.10.2016, Az. 9 O 9411/16, nicht rechtskräftig) has ordered a well-known business magazine to cease and desist from disseminating a suspected case of “investment fraud” in response to the action brought by Lampmann, Haberkamm & Rosenbaum Rechtsanwälte (LHR).
This prohibits the publication from making the inaccurate claim about a fund company that the public prosecutor’s office is investigating its managers for “investment fraud”.
In the event of non-compliance, a fine of up to €250,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment may be imposed. The magazine can either allow the conviction to become final or appeal to the Munich Higher Regional Court.
The Munich I Regional Court agreed with our client that the completely unfounded allegations of fraud – apart from the fact that “investment fraud” as such does not exist anyway – interfered with the entrepreneur’s right of personality or their established and exercised business operations and were therefore to be refrained from.
In addition to the claim for injunctive relief, there are also claims for damages, which the issuing house will assert in separate proceedings.
Lawyer Arno Lampmann from the law firm LHR:
“The case shows that even major news magazines are often completely wrong. In the name of consumer protection, there is of course nothing wrong with factually justified criticism, especially in the sensitive area of investment, even if negative reporting can have serious consequences for companies. For this very reason, however, inadequate research and untrue claims must be stopped at all costs.”
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