Publishing a judgment under the UWG: when does the losing party pay?

Under section 25(3) UWG, the court grants the successful party authority to publish the judgment at the opposing party’s expense if the successful party applies and has a legitimate interest. The court also sets a period for publication. The cost consequence is tied to that judicial authority.

Losing a UWG case does not, by itself, make every party liable for publication costs. The case must be an action for an injunction, the party must succeed, publication must be requested and a legitimate interest must exist. Section 25(6) separately addresses assessment and reimbursement of the publication costs.

Under section 25(6) UWG, the court of first instance assesses the publication costs on application by the successful party and orders the opposing party to reimburse them. This assessment concerns the cost of the authorised publication, not the separate question whether publication should be permitted.

Section 25 does not set a flat euro amount. The court order and the actual expenditure for the authorised publication matter. A publisher’s estimate alone does not replace the court’s assessment.

On the successful party’s application, the court may order the losing party to deposit the anticipated publication costs within a period of four weeks. An advance is a procedural option, not an automatic consequence of authority to publish.

The court must not order an advance if the losing party credibly shows that their income and assets do not currently permit payment. This exception concerns the advance. Section 25(6) does not state that it automatically cancels the final publication costs.

An application for deposit of the anticipated costs suspends the period for publication until the advance is received or the application is refused. The four-week deposit period and the period for publishing the judgment serve different purposes.

After publication, the successful party must tell the losing party the costs actually incurred. If the advance exceeds those costs, the excess must be repaid with interest. The statute therefore provides for an accounting based on the publication costs actually incurred.

Keep the publication record and the related account. The repayment duty concerns the excess over actual costs; an advance is not the final cost reimbursement.

In cases under sections 4 and 10 UWG, section 25(1) allows the court to order publication of the conviction at the convicted person’s expense. After an acquittal, section 25(2) allows the court, on the acquitted defendant’s application, to grant authority to publish the acquittal at the private prosecutor’s expense within a period set by the court.

The two rules turn on different outcomes. A conviction may lead to publication at the convicted person’s expense. After an acquittal, the private prosecutor may bear the cost if the court grants the defendant’s application. These rules differ from the civil cost procedure in section 25(6).

Under section 25(4) UWG, publication includes the operative part of the judgment, and the judgment specifies the method of publication. In civil proceedings, section 25(5) allows the court on application to set different or additional publication content. The application is due no later than four weeks after the judgment becomes final. This deadline differs from the period for publication itself. Our guide to interest and scope explains that distinction.

Under section 25(7), a media owner must publish on the basis of a final judgment or another enforceable title without undue delay. Before commissioning publication, compare the judgment, any further orders and the authorised wording with the proposed medium.

Review the full operative part of the judgment, the application for publication and any order setting different or additional wording. Keep the specified method and period, any decision on an advance and the court’s cost assessment together.

For the accounting, retain the publisher’s estimate, invoice and proof of publication. Compare the invoiced services with the court order. Section 25 UWG does not prescribe one flat euro amount for every publication.