Polish IP & IT law – copyright trademark computer internet telecomm

Archive for: Art. 14 APL

Personal interest, case I CSK 111/11

March 25th, 2012, Tomasz Rychlicki

Cezary Pazura sued Grupa o2, the owner and publisher of pudelek.pl website. Mr Pazura claimed that the company infringed his dignity, the inviolability of the home, privacy and publicity, by publishing 17 articles that concerned his relationship with Edyta Zajac, then fiancee, and now his wife. He argued that comments like “his mistress was no longer pretending, what she meant?”, “oldish playboy” were clear examples of the infringement. The District Court agreed with Mr Pazura, but Grupa o2 appealled, and the Appellate Court reversed the contested judgment and dismissed the suit. Mr Pazura filed a cassation complaint.

The Supreme Court in its judgment of 14 December 2011 case file I CSK 111/11 repealed the contested decision and returned it to the Appellate Court for further reconsideration. The Court held that the public status of a person does not automatically mean that his or her private life becomes also a “public life”. The Court clarified the understanding of the provision of Article 14(6) of the Polish Act of 26 January 1984 on Press law – APL – (in Polish: ustawa Prawo prasowe), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 5, item 24, with subsequent amendmets.

It is not allowed to publish information and data concerning the private sphere of life without the consent of the person concerned, unless it is connected directly with the public activity of such a person.

The Court ruled that in this case it was necessary to demonstrate the relationship between the public activity carried out by Mr Pazura, and published image, or private information that was published on pudelek.pl website. Therefore, it had to be a relationship between a person’s behavior in the public sphere. In addition, the disclosure of such information should serve to protect specific, socially legitimate interest. Therefore, the primary task of the courts was to determine whether in this case, Mr. Pazura’s consent was granted, or whether it was not needed at all.

Press law, case I CSK 664/09

November 25th, 2010, Tomasz Rychlicki

In 2001, the Polish magazine “Polityka” published the article entitled “Po pierwsze Sandauer”. The author quoted a surgeon, who operated Adam Sandauer, the president of Primum Non Nocere association, in which he had said that instead of more surgery Mr Sandaur needed a psychiatrist. The author quoted other doctors, who spoke about Sandauer being in conflict with the medical community and suggested that he is in bad mental condition. He quoted passages of Sandauer’s private mail to confirm this statement. Mr Sandauer sued and the case went through all instances. The Supreme Court in its judgment of 17 listopada 2010 case file I CSK 664/09 held that publication of private correspondence without the permission of the author, and especially when it concerns the sphere of his or her private life, such as health, is unlawful.