Decker claimed, given the outsized success of the films, she was not adequately compensated for her work. She sued under the so-called “fairness clause” of the German copyright act, which was first added in 2002 and gives creatives the right to claim an “appropriate share” in the commercial success of a film if their contractual remuneration is “noticeably disproportionate” to the revenue a movie earns.
“She should have filed her lawsuit much earlier once she saw how successful the films were in the cinema,” noted presiding judge Rolf Danckwerts. “We find it both absurd and shameful that Anika Decker was only able to obtain an appropriate share in the success for which she herself is largely responsible by taking legal action,” the association said in a statement following Wednesday’s ruling. “Absurd because the legal situation massively disadvantages the author of two highly profitable films and reduces her to a supplicant. Shameful because companies like Warner Bros. or Barefoot Films clearly seem to lack fairness and decency.