The law firm Raue successfully defended Suhrkamp Verlag before the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court against unjustified accusations of plagiarism in connection with Uwe Tellkamp’s bestseller “The Tower”.
The case was brought by Uwe Wachtel, author of the book “Delict 220”, published in 1991. He considered the 60th chapter of Tellkamp’s novel, which has been published by Suhrkamp since 2008, to be an adaptation of his work, described as a prison diary, in violation of copyright law.
In a judgment of 26 April 2002, which has now been published (file no. 2-06 O 245/22), the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court dismissed the action in its entirety. “The Tower” does not contain any protected sentences or passages of text from “Delict 220”, nor does the novel adopt any other copyrighted content such as plot, structure, scenes, locations, characters and style, the court said in its reasoned opinion. “The Tower” is therefore completely acquitted of the charge of plagiarism.
Prof. Dr. Peter Raue and Dr. Felix Stang are partners at Raue, where they are responsible, among other things, for the practice area of media and copyright law. Both are lecturers at the Free University of Berlin and teach copyright law. Dr. Felix Stang is recommended by Legal 500 Germany 2023 in the field of Media: press and publishing law. Prof. Dr. Peter Raue is listed in the JUVE Handbook 2022/2023 as a frequently recommended lawyer for media/contract and copyright law.
(23 August 2023)