(1) Rightholders and users may call upon a recognised private law arbitration body for the alternative dispute resolution of disputes regarding the blocking and the communication to the public of a protected work by a service provider and regarding rights to information (section 19). Section 15 (2) sentences 1 and 2 apply accordingly to the decision on recognition.
(2) A private law arbitration body is to be recognised if
1. the body responsible for it is a legal entity
a) whose registered office is in a Member State of the European Union or in another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area to which Directive 2010/13/EU applies,
b) which is established on a permanent basis and
c) whose financing is secured,
2. the independence, impartiality and expertise of those persons who are to be involved in arbitration is guaranteed,
3. adequate resources and the expeditious conduct of arbitration procedures are ensured,
4. it has rules of arbitration in place which regulate details of the arbitration procedure and its area of competence and which enable a simple, cost-effective, non-binding and fair arbitration procedure in which the service provider, the rightholder and the user can participate,
5. it is ensured that the general public is kept permanently informed about how the arbitration body can be contacted, its area of competence and the course of the arbitration procedure, including the rules of arbitration.
Section 15 (4) and (5) applies accordingly.
(3) Rightholders and users may apply to an arbitration body within its area of competence if
1. an internal complaints procedure in accordance with section 14 has previously been conducted or a review of a decision within the meaning of section 15 (3) no. 3 has been conducted and
2. the service provider takes part in the arbitration conducted by this arbitration body.
Where the service provider takes part in the arbitration, it may inform the arbitration body about that content which is the subject of the complaint, information regarding the date on which the content was shared or made available, about the extent of dissemination and the content which is recognisably associated with that content which is the subject of the complaint, insofar as this is necessary for the arbitration procedure. Where the arbitration body is applied to by the rightholder, the user’s contact details may also be transmitted. Where the arbitration body is applied to by the user, the rightholder’s contact details may also be transmitted. The arbitration body is authorised to process the relevant personal data insofar as this is necessary for the arbitration procedure; it is, however, not permissible to disclose the rightholder’s and user’s personal data.
(4) The Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz) of 19 February 2016 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 254, 1039), as last amended by Article 16 of the Act of 8 October 2023 (Federal Law Gazette 2023 I Nr. 272), does not apply.