News-Archive

Digital Business08.04.2022 Newsletter

Gaming & e-sports: the virtual world remains sales tax-free (for now)

As the new metaverse shows: the boundaries between digital and virtual worlds are becoming increasingly blurred. Manufacturers of virtual reality technology have long since recognised that the need for complex, virtual worlds is immense and needs to be differentiated further. This includes the fact that, especially in online role-playing games, there is a market for virtual goods that only exist within the respective game. The German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) has now addressed the question of whether the trading of virtual goods triggers sales tax. The BFH deems there to be no sales tax liability in the virtual world, but only once virtual money is exchanged for real money.

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05.04.2022 Newsletter

Electronic signatures: legal situation in France and Germany

Paper is increasingly being dispensed with for reasons of sustainability. Home office obligations and travel bans in connection with the Corona pandemic are making handwritten signatures impractical. Electronic signatures are a simple alternative to traditional signatures and are increasingly important in business and legal transactions.

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01.04.2022 Newsletter

Focus on Labor Law – 1st Quarter 2022

With this first Labour Law Focus of 2022, we would also like to inform you about other relevant developments in labour law jurisprudence and legislation. 

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Digital Business01.04.2022 Newsletter

E-sports events: commercial exploitation

Just as in "conventional" sports, the marketing and commercial exploitation of events also plays a central role in generating revenues in e-sports. In addition to ticket sales, sponsorship and advertising, media exploitation of the event in particular is a source of revenue with great growth potential. Here, however, the interests of the various players are frequently at odds - especially those of the organiser and the game manufacturer. Below, we explain the opportunities and risks for organisers concerning the commercial exploitation of e-sports events.

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Digital Business22.03.2022 Newsletter

Cheating in multiplayer games: the TTDSG as a hurdle for reading out the hardware ID?

The loss of players due to cheaters is a serious problem for game makers and publishers. The common anti-cheat measures that have been used to date, such as account bans, are not particularly effective. Publishers and manufacturers have therefore increasingly started using so-called hardware ID bans, where the unique identifiers of the components installed in the end device, such as the graphics card or CPU, are read out. Is this legally permissible?

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Donations for Ukraine from NPOs, companies and individuals: new BMF letter simplifies matters

Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, there is a huge sense of solidarity with the people there. Many NPOs are actively engaged. Private individuals and especially companies also want to actively help. With a BMF letter published yesterday, the German Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium der Finanzen - BMF) is now trying to remove some of the existing hurdles.

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Employment Law18.03.2022 Newsletter

New corona rules at work from the first day of spring

Right in time for the calendar beginning of spring, companies are to be brought out of their corona hibernation and the majority of corona measures in the workplace dropped. This was finally decided by the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat today.

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Tax Law17.03.2022Frankfurt am Main News

New partner for Frankfurt: Oppenhoff strengthens its tax practice with Jan Mohrmann

Oppenhoff is recruiting Jan Mohrmann as a new partner for the Frankfurt office. He is transferring from ADVANT Beiten on 1 April 2022.

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Foreign Trade16.03.2022 Newsletter

Ukraine war: new EU sanctions of luxury goods and energy

It has now been almost three weeks since Russian troops began the invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February 2022 – three weeks that have doubtlessly been the most eventful weeks in the history of international economic sanctions and embargoes. On 15 and 16 March 2022, the fourth package of EU sanctions since the beginning of the Ukraine war took effect. They especially focus on the energy and luxury goods sectors, as well as steel and iron, in addition to sanctioning further individuals and companies.

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Digital Business15.03.2022 Newsletter

E-sports and corporate law: structures and investment opportunities

E-sports competitions are booming: they reach millions of viewers worldwide and, as the prize money increases, so does the professionalism of the teams. This makes the rapidly growing market interesting for investors - there is already a lively battle for market shares and players. Below, we provide an overview of legal forms of organisation and the opportunities and limitations for investors.

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