Protecting our creative output

As a company that sells content and services, the protection and defense of intellectual property is a fundamental basis for our business model. We are a home for artists and creatives who trust us to commercialize their creative output in the best possible way.

Intellectual property protection is essential to our ability to do business. The term “intellectual property” describes the products of creative and intellectual work. This includes works of literature, journalistic articles, music, movies, TV programs, graphic artwork and software. Intellectual property is protected by laws, e.g., copyright, trademark and patent laws, trade secrets and other laws. Laws governing intellectual property protection vary around the world.

Our businesses involve developing, producing, transmitting, licensing and selling products and services that are protected as intellectual property. We strive to commercialize the achievements of the authors, creative talents and artists associated with our company in a comprehensive manner. Against this background, we feel a special commitment to intellectual property protection and favor a high level of protection worldwide. We also advocate improved “self-defense” options for rights owners in fighting against copyright infringements on the Internet.

We regard digitization and the online commercialization of our content as a great opportunity. For a sector that is changing as rapidly as ours, it is essential to try out and advance new approaches and new business models. In this process, the question of how copyrights can be transferred from the analog to the digital realm in a comprehensive and fair manner plays a key role. This is the only way for us to remain competitive and able to invest in new content over the long term, and thereby to do our part for cultural and creative diversity.