Is a claim for an injunction against hotel reviews permissible?

The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamburg had to decide, as the appellate instance, whether the operator of a hotel has a claim based on competition law for an injunction against hotel reviews on a travel portal on the Internet.

A hotel operator from Berlin is defending herself against negative reviews on the Internet on a travel portal, which among other things provides customers with hotel accommodation. Users of the travel portal have the opportunity on a review page of the portal to rate hotels with comments and to view the comments of other users before making their own booking.
In the review section of the travel portal there were negative reviews of the hotel in Berlin, which its operator is defending against. She is of the opinion that the travel portal has created a virtual "pillory" on which anyone – regardless of whether they were a guest at the hotel – may post comments of any kind. There is no adequate content control of the comments, so that the hotel operator is left defenceless against false reviews. Accordingly, the hotel operator demanded that the hotel review portal refrain from posting any reviews of her hotel on its page.

Court decision
According to a press release, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court dismissedJudgment of 18.01.2011 – Az. 5 U 51/11 the appeal of the hotel operator, since she did not have a general claim for an injunction against reviews of her hotel.

The hotel operator is not left defenceless against negative reviews, since she can demand their removal on a case-by-case basis and can also enforce this through the courts. However, a general prohibition on reviews would make the lawful operation of a hotel review platform impossible. This is not in the interests of the general public, which has a legitimate interest in information also through such review portals. This result is not altered by the fact that the travel portal operator permits reviews that are essentially anonymous. For according to the opinion of the Higher Regional Court, even anonymously expressed opinions are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of communication.

Conclusion

Legal action against inappropriate and false reviews on the Internet is not ruled out even after the judgment of the OLG Hamburg. In particular, there is a claim for an injunction and removal against negative reviews by competitors which are posted on the internet with intent to harm or which exceed the limits of malicious criticism. However, there is no claim for an injunction against reviews in general.