FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 34582/97 by NEWS VERLAGS GmbH & Co. KG (no.2) against Austria

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 5 June 2003 as a Chamber composed of

Mr C.L. Rozakis , President , Mr P. Lorenzen , Mr G. Bonello , Mr L. Caflisch , Mrs N. Vajić , Mrs S. Botoucharova , Mr V. Zagrebelsky, judges , and Mr S. Nielsen , Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 7 January 1997 ,

Having regard to Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, by which the competence to examine the application was transferred to the Court,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, News Verlags GmbH and CoKG, is a company with its seat in Tulln ( Austria ). It is represented before the Court by Lansky, Ganzger and partner, lawyers practising in Vienna .

The applicant is the owner and publisher of the magazine News . In December 1993 News published an article about a certain Mr R., in which he was described as the “mastermind” of right-wing extremism in Austria . The article was accompanied by a picture showing Mr R. on a podium delivering a speech during a “secret meeting of Nazis”, as the accompanying text stated.

On 6 March 1996 the Vienna Court of Appeal, confirming a decision of the Vienna Commercial Court of 11 July 1995 , ordered the applicant company to refrain from publishing pictures of Mr R. in the context of comments connecting him with right-wing extremism or accusing him of criminal offences.  The court found that the applicant company had violated section 78 of the Copyright Act, which prohibits the publication of a person’s image where the legitimate interests of the person in question would be injured. It considered that Mr R.’s legitimate interest to keep his physical appearance unknown and not to be pilloried in such a manner, outweighed the public’s right to such information.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complained that the courts’ decisions violated its right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention. Further it relied on Article 14 in conjunction with Article 10.

THE LAW

The Court notes that the parties to the present case have reached a friendly settlement. On 17 March 2003 the Court received the following declaration signed by both parties:

“The parties in the proceedings concerning application no. 34582/97 lodged by News Verlags GmbH & CoKG against the Republic of Austria declare with a view to a friendly settlement, as follows:

1. The Government of the Republic of Austria will pay the applicant a sum of altogether 16,517.86 euros (EUR) as compensation in respect of any possible claims relating to the present application. This sum includes EUR 14,522.99 in respect of costs and expenses incurred in the domestic proceedings.

This sum will be payable to the applicant’s representative Lansky, Ganzger & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Rotenturmstraße 29/9, 1010 Wien, within three months from the date of delivery of the decision given by the Court pursuant to Article 37 of the Convention.

2. The applicant declares the application settled.

3. The applicant waives any further claims against the Republic of Austria relating to the facts underlying the present application.”

In these circumstances, the Court finds that the matter has been resolved within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (b) of the Convention. Further, the Court considers that respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols does not require to continue the examination of the case (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention).

Accordingly, the case is to be struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Søren Nielsen Christos L. R ozakis              Deputy Registrar President