Die Beendigung urheberrechtlicher Nutzungsrechte

The consequences of terminating a copyright usage right are highly controversial. The author undertakes a dogmatic analysis of the consequences and takes position on the applicability and scope of the “causality and/or abstraction principle” as well as the effects to the subsequent chain of deviated usage rights. Starting points are the judgements „Reifen Progressiv“, „Take Five“ and „M2Trade“, in which the German Federal Court of Justice for the first time had decided that derivated usage rights also continue to exists, even when the main right - from which they were deviated from - has been terminated. In this work, therefore, the positions represented in literature and jurisdiction are critically reviewed and a unique approach is undertaken in order to analyse the legal consequences based on the dogmatic principles of German copyright law. The results of the analysis may be used as a general basis in order to draft copyright licence agreements.