Das Kunsturhebergesetz und die Datenschutzgrundverordnung

Five years after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, there is still no legal clarity in Germany as to how the right to one's own image, in particular set forth in Secs. 22, 23 Kunsturhebergesetz (German Artistic Copyright Act, in brief KUG) applies alongside the GDPR. This article shows that Art. 85 (1) GDPR in itself allows the Member States to provide exemptions, derogations and exceptions and that Secs. 22, 23 KUG reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, including processing for journalistic purposes and purposes of academic, artistic or literary expression pursuant to Art. 85 (1) GDPR. After proving that the KUG remains fully applicable alongside the GDPR, the article concludes with an overview of the need to reform the KUG in the digital age.