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The deadline for transposing the EU Whistleblower Directive 2019/1937 into national law expired in vain on 17 December 2021. Germany is therefore facing infringement proceedings. Now, draft bill of the German Federal Ministry of Justice [Bundesministerium der Justiz, BMJ] on a new Whistleblower Protection Act [Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz, HinSchG] dated 13 April 2022 aims to set the long overdue implementation of the law in motion.

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The EU has once again significantly tightened its sanctions against Russia. On 8 April 2022, it adopted another, fifth sanctions package. With these sanctions, the EU is responding to continued Russian aggression against Ukraine's territorial integrity and ongoing attacks on Ukrainian civilians and cities.

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Oppenhoff has advised the Swedish listed life science company AddLife AB on the acquisition of the BioCat Group.

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As a result of the war in Ukraine, prices for raw materials and energy have risen immensely and are currently causing problems not just for internationally oriented German industry. More and more companies are therefore confronted with the question of whether they can respond to the production disruptions by introducing short-time work or by business closures or relocations in the short term.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Oppenhoff is strengthening its position in Hamburg: energy lawyer Dr. Carmen Schneider is transferring to HafenCity from Chatham Partners.

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Content creators like to record themselves playing video games or give viewers the opportunity to watch their game live. The target audience of most content creators are adults. However, games like Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V, PUBG or Counter Strike are also very popular among children and adolescents. But who is responsible for the protection of minors in such cases and what are the consequences in case of violations?

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Several European countries have already passed national legislation to improve human and environmental rights along the supply chain - including Germany. Now the European Commission has also published an initial proposal for a European Supply Chain Act. What regulations now apply to companies in Germany?

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It's more than just a game: in e-sports, highly paid individual athletes and clans (teams) compete for international titles and sponsorship money - it’s an industry worth billions. A young Oppenhoff team with a (private) gaming licence advises various players in this industry on all relevant legal issues.

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At the end of the last legislative period, a reform of the status determination procedure under social security law (Sec. 7a German Social Code Book IV [Sozialgesetzbuch IV - SGB IV]) was passed - almost unnoticed. This reform lies behind the so-called German Act Strengthening Barrier-Free Accessibility [Barrierefreiheitstärkungsgesetz - BFSG]. The new regulations come into force on 1 April 2022. The purpose of the amendments is to provide the parties involved with quicker and simpler certainty in future as to whether dependent employment or self-employment exists. For evaluation purposes, the reform will initially apply for a limited period until 30 June 2027.

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War is still raging in Ukraine. The EU and the US imposed additional sanctions over the weekend. The press reported. Many companies feel very uncertain. What’s the situation? What’s still allowed and what isn’t?

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Over the past few days the situation in Ukraine has come to a head. The USA and the EU have imposed new sanctions. We explain which sanctions have been imposed and what companies that do business in Russia or Ukraine should now bear in mind.

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The Lobby Register has been live for more than seven weeks. About 800 registrations have been made since then. Have you registered? The registration deadline is 28 February 2022.

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The 3G regulation still applies nationwide at workplaces in Germany. The regulations adopted yesterday by the Conference of Minister Presidents [Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz – MPK] now envisage a three-step process of relaxing restrictions in many areas. From 20 March onwards, the home office obligation will also be lifted as a last step. Our employment law experts explain what this means for employers.

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When an insurance customer is asked health questions, the text form is deemed to be fulfilled if the insurance broker reads the questions out loud to the applicant and the latter is then given the completed form for his review. This was confirmed by the Higher Regional Court [Oberlandesgericht - OLG] of Hamm.

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The function of health apps is based on the processing of personal data. This data is often sensitive health data. Appropriate data protection standards and mature data security concepts are therefore of great importance to supervisory authorities and users.

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Oppenhoff advised Storskogen Deutschland GmbH on the acquisition of a majority stake in the building technology installations specialist Christ & Wirth Haustechnik GmbH as part of a succession solution.

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