Philipp Schröder-Ringe, LL.M.

On 19 September 2025, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia ruled that the City of Cologne may not make special use permits for outdoor dining at Brüsseler Platz subject to a closing time of 22:00. The court thereby overturned the previous ruling to the contrary by the Cologne Administrative Court.

Advertising, brands, AI, public viewing: what is allowed? The 2026 FIFA World Cup offers companies plenty of opportunities for creative marketing campaigns, competitions, social media campaigns and public viewing events. At the same time, the legal boundaries are narrow: FIFA’s trademark rights, players’ personal rights, ambush marketing, AI-generated advertising and licensing issues relating to public viewing should be considered at an early stage. Our handout provides a concise overview of what is permitted in advertising in the context of the 2026 World Cup and where legal risks lie.

Update on the article "Do you hear the same?": On 9 March, GEMA and the US company Suno Inc. had their first exchange of blows at Munich Regional Court I on the question of the extent to which AI-generated music infringes the rights of authors of protected musical works.

Following last year’s successful launch, our sports law conference, HÄRTING.SPORT.EVENT, is back for its second edition.

Digitalisation and, in particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) pose new challenges for copyright law. On 11 November 2025, the 42nd Civil Chamber of the Regional Court of Munich I, which specialises in copyright law, issued a landmark ruling in the case "GEMA v. OpenAI". It thus strengthens the position of authors vis-à-vis AI providers and obliges OpenAI to cease and desist and potentially pay damages for the use of copyrighted song lyrics in the training and operation of its language models. The judgement is not legally binding, but has a signal effect for the entire industry

In its decision of 8 July 2025, the Berlin Administrative Court granted the main points of the urgent appeal filed by a restaurateur from Kastanienallee in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. The court restored the suspensive effect of the action against the shortening of the closing time and the ban on the provision of outdoor seating. The restaurateur thus preliminarily prevailed against an order by the Pankow district authority that would have severely restricted his business activities in the outdoor area.

In a judgement dated 14 March 2025 - 7 HK O 50/23, which was obtained by HÄRTING Rechtsanwälte, the Regional Court of Trier ruled that a cease-and-desist declaration obtained by the IDO Interessenverband für das Rechts- und Finanzconsulting deutscher Online-Unternehmen e.V. (IDO) could be effectively terminated due to abuse of rights. Exceptionally, this cancellation also had retroactive effect on a contractual penalty that had already been claimed but not yet paid. The court found that the IDO may not demand contractual penalties because it lacks the authority to issue warnings as long as it is not entered in the list of trade associations of the Federal Office of Justice.

Philipp Schröder-Ringe, partner at Härting Rechtsanwälte, deals with disputes relating to sport, clubs, festivals and events. In episode 68 of HÄRTING|fm, he presents three event law cases in the context of the litigation series. - How do you make a claim against "Flitzer"? - Which court is responsible for international merchandising contracts? - What must a proof of use contain in the context of project funding and what disputes can arise in the event of a missing submission?

GEMA sues Suno Inc's AI music tool for unauthorised processing of protected musical works.