Matthias Prinz

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Matthias Prinz (born 1956) is a German lawyer who works in the field of reputation and privacy protection, defamation, media, entertainment and sports law. He has represented major corporations, including SAP, Audi, Volkswagen, T-Mobile as well as individuals including the Swedish Royal Family, Princess Caroline of Hanover, The Sultan of Brunei, Prince Albert of Monaco, Helmut Newton, David Beckham, Don Johnson and Karl Lagerfeld.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Biography[edit]

His father was German newspaper journalist Günter Prinz. Prinz received his LLM from Harvard Law School in 1983[9] and his JD from Hamburg University in 1985. He has been a member of the New York Bar since 1984. In 1985, he was admitted to the Bar in Hamburg, Germany, where he founded the law firm Prinz Neidhardt Engelschall.

Prinz started a series of litigations against different European media that produced a collection of precedents at the highest German and European Courts over the next 20 years. The cases are known as the Princess-Caroline-decisions in German and European jurisprudence.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Prinz also represented leading German athletes, such as Boris Becker,[19] and especially German soccer clubs of the premier league, their coaches and players, as well as the T-mobile biking team [20] and the German national showjumping team.[21] On behalf of the then world's best soccer goalie Oliver Kahn, Prinz sued EA Sports, the manufacturers of the football computer game FIFA 2002, for using the name and the personality of the goalie without his consent.[22]

Prinz also advises CEOs and Chairmen of German DAX30 companies, such as Ferdinand Piëch, the chairman of the board of Volkswagen,[23][24] Prinz represented the Sultan of Brunei in the preparation of the State Visit of the Sultan to the Federal Republic of Germany. Prinz was, as one German paper noted, the first German lawyer ever hired by a foreign Head of State as advisor for a State Visit.[25]

In 2003, Prinz began to represent the Swedish Royal Family against invasion of privacy and defamatory articles in German media. Prinz used preliminary Court orders to force 23 German magazines to print replies, retractions and apologies on their front pages. Claims for damages and injunctions followed, which led to the decision of the Hamburg Court of Appeals to award €400,000,00 (US$538.180,00) damages to Princess Madeleine of Sweden. An appeal of the media company to the Federal Appellate Court was rejected in 2010. This damage award is regarded by the German media as being the highest in German defamation and privacy law ever.[26][27][28][29][30][31]

Prinz has written several articles on German media law, privacy protection, litigation PR and media strategies. He is the co-author of Prinz/Peters "Medienrecht", a comprehensive standard text book for German media law.[32] Prinz teaches classes on media law, the protection of privacy and defamation at FU Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) since 1996.[33]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Academy®, Speakers. "Matthias Prinz - Speakers Academy vindt de beste spreker en dagvoorzitter voor uw bijeenkomst". www.speakersacademy.eu. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. ^ "The Legal 500 > Prinz, Neidhardt, Engelschall > Hamburg, GERMANY > What we say". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2012-02-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "The German Times Online - 'They're just like us'". Archived from the original on 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  5. ^ Fleck, Fiona (10 April 2002). "Swiss ambassador sacked over 'affair with model'". Retrieved 1 December 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Germans Cut Altman Movie". sfgate.com. 22 March 1995. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  7. ^ "WHAT'S NEW PUSENKOFF?". independent.co.uk. 30 July 1995. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Don Johnson to Sue German Officials". people.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Harvard Law School Association of Germany e.V. ::::: Past annual meetings". Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  10. ^ "Privacy vs. Free speech - Global Journalist". Archived from the original on 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  11. ^ Tryhorn, Chris (24 June 2004). "Princess wins landmark privacy ruling". Retrieved 1 December 2017 – via www.guardian.co.uk.
  12. ^ "Monaco's Princess Caroline asks Euro court to ban photos". Archived from the original on 2010-10-21. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  13. ^ Senat, Bundesverfassungsgericht, 1. (15 December 1999). "Bundesverfassungsgericht - Decisions -". www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de. Retrieved 1 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Chambers Magazine - Chambers Magazine - Interesting times: Europe awaits Strasbourg decision on privacy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  15. ^ "Princess wins tabloid privacy war". 25 June 2004. Retrieved 1 December 2017 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ "TerraNet". www.terra.net.lb. Retrieved 1 December 2017.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ Carvajal, Doreen (10 October 2004). "For the Famous, 'Privacy' Even in Plain Sight". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Case-law analysis-Guides, Research reports".
  19. ^ "Der Schrecken der Paparazzi". 21 June 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2017 – via Die Zeit.
  20. ^ "Im Winter des Wandels". Der Tagesspiegel Online. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Equi-News.de - Streit zwischen Ahlmann und der FN eskaliert". www.equi-news.de. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Newsfox - Powered by Pressetext". www.newsfox.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  23. ^ http://www.life.com/news-pictures/78843179/vw-embezzlement-trial-continues-against-volkert-and-gebauer; http://www.daylife.com/photo/08tq8mZ04rdoJ [dead link]
  24. ^ "404. Page Not Found - Bloomberg". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Cite uses generic title (help) [dead link]
  25. ^ BILD Zeitung of March 31st, 1998.
  26. ^ "Lather of lies drives royals to sue magazine group - World - www.smh.com.au". www.smh.com.au. 18 December 2004. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Swedish royal family goes after German tabloid press". thelocal.se. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Royal News Norwegian Roal Family To Sue Media". femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  29. ^ "Swedish princess wins suit against publisher". mobile.shanghaidaily.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  30. ^ "News Digest: Swedish princess wins suit against publisher | THE CHINA". thechina.biz. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  31. ^ "Swedish princess gets hefty libel payment from German press". thelocal.de. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  32. ^ "Medienrecht: Die zivilrechtlichen Anspruche (German Edition)". PaperBackSwap.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  33. ^ https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/einrichtungen/fachbereiche/fb/pol-soz/puk/index.html. Archived 2020-05-19 at the Wayback Machine