German media company ProSiebenSat.1 has encountered a further legal defeat in its ongoing conflict with public broadcasters ARD and ZDF over the unauthorised embedding of their media libraries into its streaming platform Joyn.
The Munich Regional Court ruled that Joyn’s integration of ARD and ZDF content without prior consent violates the German media law, which safeguards broadcasters’ autonomy over their content distribution, reports German industry magazine DWDL.
This decision follows a similar ruling by the Cologne District Court in April 2025, which also sided with ARD. The courts affirmed that while embedding might be permissible under copyright law, it can still contravene media regulations if it undermines broadcasters’ editorial control and distribution rights.
The dispute began in February when Joyn incorporated full versions of ARD and ZDF’s media libraries into its platform without formal agreements. ProSiebenSat.1 described this as a “beta test” and claimed it was legally justified under European Court of Justice rulings on embedding. However, ARD and ZDF objected, stating that the integration lacked essential features such as accessibility options, personalisation, and proper attribution, thereby misrepresenting their services.
In response to the backlash and legal actions, Joyn removed the embedded content in early March, expressing a desire to engage in constructive discussions with the public broadcasters. Despite this, the legal proceedings continued, leading to the recent court decisions.
The Munich court’s ruling emphasised that public broadcasters are not obligated to allow third-party platforms to distribute their content without consent, and that such actions by ProSiebenSat.1 were not protected under competition law. The judgment is not yet final, and ProSiebenSat.1 has not indicated whether it will appeal.
This legal setback occurs as Germany prepares to implement a reformed media law on 1 December. The updated treaty aims to modernise the media landscape by encouraging collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters. Notably, it explicitly mentions embedding as a potential method for content sharing, provided it respects editorial independence and complies with legal standards.
