Dorothee Thum

„Where there is no law there is no freedom.”

John Locke (1632-1704)

Dorothee Thum advises and represents clients in the area of copyright and art law, trademark and design law – from contract drafting and negotiations, ourt-of-court dispute resolution to litigation. Her expertise encompasses the art and industry of photography and film, music and literature, fine arts and architecture, as well as design and advertising. She is commissioned with legal expert opinions and has already been active in several proceedings before the Federal Court of Justice. Clients appreciate her skill in contract negotiations and out-of-court dispute resolution as well as the necessary persistence in court proceedings. Her advice is personal and always up-to-date with the latest legal developments in the digital environment.

Dorothee Thum studied law at the Universities of Bonn and Munich (scholarship by the German National Academic Foundation). After having worked as a researcher at the Max-Planck-Institut for innovation and competition law, Munich, she was co-founder of DTS. Since 2002 she is co-author of one of the main commentaries to the German Copyright Act (Beck’scher „Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht“). Since 2009 she also provides the annually updated overview of copyright law in Germany in „Copyright Throughout the World“ (Thomson/Reuters). And since 2023 she writes for PHOTONEWS on current topics of copyright law for photograhpers.

Dorothee Thum is a member of

• GRUR (“Deutsche Vereinigung für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht”), and

• ALAI (“Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale”).

Dorothee advises and represents clients in German and English.

Books:

• Chapter Germany, in: von Lewinski (Ed.), Copyright Throughout the World, Thomson/Reuters, 2023.

• Wandtke/Bullinger (ed.), Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht, 6. Aufl., C.H. Beck, München, 2022 (par. 7-10, 68, 70-71 UrhG)

PHOTONEWS sel.:

• Faire Regeln für die Nutzung urheberrechtlicher Werke durch generative KI in Sicht?, PHOTONEWS 5/2026

• Die neue KI-Verordnung – Wissenswertes für Fotografinnen und Fotografen, PHOTONEWS 7-8/2024

• Architekturfotografie im Spannungsfeld der Interessen — PHOTONEWS 3/2024

• (Un)wesentliches Beiwerk? Zur Urheberrechtsschranke des § 57 UrhG — PHOTONEWS 11/2023

• C’est quoi, le pastiche? Kunst vs. Kunstfreiheit – In Frankreich sieht man manches anders — PHOTONEWS 6/2023

• Die neue Pastiche-Schranke – von Memes bis Appropriation Art — PHOTONEWS 5/2023

• KI und Fotografie. Wie können sich Bildurheber gegen die Verwendung ihrer Werke als Trainingsmaterial wehren? — PHOTONEWS 4/2023

Other, sel.:

• Copyright-Vermerk muss exklusives Nutzungsrecht eindeutig bezeichnen, Anm. zu OLG Hamburg „DIN Normen“, GRUR-Prax 2017, 493.

• Materieller (Rest)schadensersatz bei fehlender Urheberbenennung, Anm. zu BGH „Motorradteile“, GRUR-Prax 2015, 301.

• Keine Nachvergütung für Geburtstagszug und Geburtstagskarawane, Anm. zu OLG Schleswig, GRUR-Prax 2014, 483

• Auskunftsanspruch bei umfangreicher Auslandsverwertung, Anm. zu OLG Köln, GRUR-Prax 2014, 260.