On 8 June, the deputy chairperson of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Gitta Connemann, gave a lecture on cultural policy, which was appreciated by all students, in the context of the lecture on copyright law given by Professor Dr. Thomas Hoeren. The inspiring lecture took place via zoom; in addition to the 80 students, numerous documentary filmmakers from all over Germany took part. Born in East Frisia, Connemann has been committed to the interests of artists in Germany for many years, including as chair of the Bundestag’s Enquete Commission on the Situation of Artists. In her lecture, she focused on the Commission’s much-noticed final report from 2007 and its impact on art. Ms. Connemann reported on the beginnings of the commission, its references to the art scene and the important focus at the time on copyright law and copyright perception law. She gave an exciting account of the grievances at GEMA at that time and of the heated discussions on the fee policy of public broadcasting. She dealt in detail with the position of the documentary film with the major broadcasting corporations and with film funding policy. She then outlined the current discussion in the Bundestag about an efficient Corona Cultural Package and praised the establishment of a focal area of cultural law for law studies. The video of the lecture can be seen here
