The legal battle between German media giant ProSiebenSat.1 and public broadcasters ARD and ZDF continues, with ProSiebenSat.1 suffering another setback. The Munich Regional Court has ruled against ProSiebenSat.1’s streaming platform, Joyn, for embedding ARD and ZDF content without permission. This follows a similar decision by the Cologne District Court in April 2025.
The court found that Joyn's actions violated German media law, specifically the protection of broadcasters' autonomy over their content distribution. While acknowledging that embedding might be permissible under copyright law, the court emphasized that it can still breach media regulations if it undermines editorial control and distribution rights. The issue stems from Joyn's integration of the full ARD and ZDF media libraries earlier this year, described by ProSiebenSat.1 as a “beta test”. ARD and ZDF argued that the integration lacked key features such as accessibility options and proper attribution, thereby misrepresenting their services. “This integration lacked essential features such as accessibility options, personalisation, and proper attribution, thereby misrepresenting their services,” stated representatives from ARD and ZDF.
Following the initial backlash and legal challenges, Joyn removed the embedded content. However, the legal proceedings continued, culminating in the Munich court's decision. The court explicitly stated that public broadcasters are not obligated to allow third parties to distribute their content without consent. The ruling further clarified that ProSiebenSat.1's actions were not protected under competition law. The judgment is not yet final, and ProSiebenSat.1 hasn't commented on a potential appeal. This legal challenge comes as Germany prepares to implement a reformed media law on December 1st, aiming to modernise the media landscape and encourage collaboration while explicitly addressing embedding as a potential content-sharing method.