Germany has implemented the Private copying (Art. 5.2(b) InfoSoc) exception in Section 53 of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights (UrhG). The national exception is much more restrictive than the EU exception.

Implementation summary:

This exception allows for natural persons to make single copies of a work for private use on any medium, insofar as they neither directly nor indirectly serve commercial purposes, as long as no manifestly unlawfully-produced source or a source which has been unlawfully made available to the public is used for copying. A person authorised to make copies may also assign to a third party to make such copies provided that no payment is received therefore, or the copying is made by way of reprography. The purposes of the private copying might be the inclusion in a personal archive, for one’s own personal information concerning current affairs or for other strictly detailed instances of personal use.

Implementation details:

Beneficiaries:

• natural persons
• natural persons through third parties (in cases of reprography or non-remunerated reproduction)

Purposes:

• strictly detailed private purposes

Usage:

• reproduction (of single copies)

Subject Matter:

• works
• performances
• phonograms
• film fixations
• broadcasts

Compensation:

• payment of equitable remuneration is required

Attribution:

• no attribution is required

Other Conditions:

• copying must not occur from a manifestly unlawfully-produced source or a source which has been unlawfully made available to the public
• reproduction of graphic recordings of musical works and of book or of periodicals are generally excluded from the scope of the exception

Introduced/last updated: 01 September 2017