No compensation for deceased celebrities

Violations of personal rights can, inter alia, result in monetary compensation for the injured party if the resulting (non-pecuniary) damage cannot be compensated in any other way. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to address the question of whether this claim for damages is heritable and answered this question in the negative by judgment of 29.04.2014 (Az. VI ZR 246/12).

The action was brought by the heirs of Peter Alexander. The entertainer, who has since passed away, felt his personality injured by various articles published in magazines of the defendant publisher. The subject matter of the reporting included, inter alia, the mourning for his deceased daughter as well as his state of health. The action was filed with the court one day before the entertainer's death, but was only served on the publisher several weeks later. The proceedings were subsequently continued by the heirs.personality violated. The subject matter of the reporting included, inter alia, the mourning for his deceased daughter as well as his state of health. The action was filed with the court one day before the entertainer's death, but was only served on the publisher several weeks later. The proceedings were subsequently continued by the heirs.

The court's decision

Like the courts of prior instance, the BGH denied the inheritability of the claim for monetary compensation and left open whether in the present case there was any violation of personal rights that would give rise to compensation. The claim is in any event not heritable owing to its strictly personal nature. This is argued in particular by the function of the claim, which is to provide the injured party with satisfaction. However, this objective can no longer be achieved if the claimant dies before payment of the compensation is made. This generally leads to the extinction of the claim, which cannot be changed by the preventive rationale, since this alone does not provide a sufficient basis for the claim for damages.