Gerhard Schricker Explained

Gerhard Schricker (25June 19356April 2021[1]) was a German legal scholar with a focus on intellectual property and competition law.[2] He was a full professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 1973 to 2000 and served as Director of the Munich-based Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law (now the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition) between 1971 and 2003.

Life

Schricker was born in Nuremberg and studied law at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) with stays at the University of Padua and the University of Salamanca.[3] Having passed his first Staatsexamen with the (rarely awarded) highest possible grade (sehr gut – very good),[4] he became a research assistant in 1960 at the LMU's Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law.[5] Under the supervision of Eugen Ulmer, Schricker commenced a doctorate and in 1961 became Doctor of Law summa cum laude with a thesis on misleading advertisement under Italian competition law in comparison to German competition law.[6] He completed his second Staatsexamen in 1964.[7]

From 1966, he worked as a senior researcher at the newly founded Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law.[8] While at the institute, Schricker pursued a habilitation, again under Eugen Ulmer's supervision, and in 1969 received his venia legendi in the areas of "Civil Law, Trade Law, Intellectual Property, and Comparative Private Law" from LMU.[9] His habilitation thesis, a comparative study of the relationship between breaches of statutory duties and the concept of unfair competition, quickly became a standard work in the field and helped shape German competition law jurisprudence.[10] In 1970, Schricker became a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society.[11] In 1971, after declining two offers of a full professorship by the universities of Hamburg and Würzburg, Gerhard Schricker became co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law (alongside Eugen Ulmer and Friedrich-Karl Beier).[12] Two years later, he was also appointed to the Chair of Trade and Economic Law, Industrial Property, and Copyright at LMU. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Law for a term beginning in 1979.[13] Following the retirement of Friedrich-Karl Beier in 1991, Schricker became the sole Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute, a position that he held until 2001.[14] He retired as professor in 2000, having supervised six habilitation and more than 180 dissertation theses.[15]

Schricker was president of the German ALAI group from 1982 through 1998. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) for 27 years and headed GRUR's Standing Committee on Copyright and Publishing Law for more than 20.[16] From 1990 through 2004, he was a volunteer member of the Board of Directors of VG Wort, the second-largest German collective management organization.

Gerhard Schricker died in April 2021. According to a death announcement by his family, his death followed a "prolonged and severe illness".[17]

Awards and honours

Gerhard Schricker was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001.[18] In the same year, he was conferred membership in the Academia Europaea.[19] He was made an honorary member of VG Wort in 2004. In 2006, Schricker was awarded the Rudolf Callmann Medal by GRUR.[20] He held honorary doctorates from the Université libre de Bruxelles, Stockholm University, and Yonsei University (Seoul).[21]

A festschrift edited by Friedrich-Karl Beier was published in 1995 in honour of Gerhard Schricker on the occasion of his 60th birthday.[22] Rather unusually for the genre, the contributions were interdependent and effectively formed a self-contained 900-page study of copyright contract law.[23] In 2003, a low-circulation booklet (dubbed a "mini 'festschrift'" in the preface) was published by Munich's Max Planck Institute; it contained the addresses given at a celebratory event on the occasion of Gerhard Schricker's retirement and Eugen Ulmer's 100th birthday.[24] In the same year, the institute also dedicated to Schricker a comprehensive directory of publications by Max Planck Institute researchers.[25] Two separate festschriften, one of which on the topic of Japanese copyright law, were punlished in 2005 to celebrate Schricker's 70th birthday.[26]

Positions

Schricker was opposed to attempts by German courts to impose a "threshold of creativity" (Gestaltungshöhe) requirement for the copyright protection of some categories of works, which he believed to raise the bar for protection in contravention of international and European law.[27] In his view, not protecting works with a low degree of originality would constitute a "significant loss of substance" for copyright law, give rise to demarcation problems, and erode the foundation of substantial parts of the copyright industries.[28]

Gerhard Schricker took a particular interest in the Europeanisation of copyright law, arguing that "the European Single Market necessarily requires a harmonised copyright law".[29] He repeatedly criticised a "neglect" of authors' moral rights in the European discourse.[30]

Publications

In a 2003 article, Schricker's list of publications was described as comprising more than 300 individual items. A comprehensive list of works is contained in Ansgar Ohly's and others' festschrift in celebration of Schricker's 70th birthday.[31]

Treatise on copyright

Schricker was the founding editor of a treatise on German copyright law (1st edn 1987). Editorial responsibility for the Schricker commentary was later (4th edn 2010) passed on to Ulrich Loewenheim,[32] and the work continues to be updated on a regular basis (6th edn 2020). It is widely regarded as the leading academic treatise on German copyright law and has been praised as "the flagship of copyright law from its first edition".[33] In reviews of the first edition, Haimo Schack called the work "brilliant" and Stig Strömholm described the treatise as among the books that as soon as one has become familiar with them, "one can no longer imagine how it had been possible to live and work without them".[34]

Selected monographic works

Selected edited works

Notes and References

  1. VG Wort, "Professor Dr. Gerhard Schricker, ehemaliges ehrenamtliches Mitglied des Vorstands und Ehrenmitglied der VG WORT, ist verstorben" (9 April 2021) accessed 15 April 2021.
  2. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 31.
  3. Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 671.
  4. Andreas Heldrich, "Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006: Laudatio" (2006) 108 GRUR 916, 916.
  5. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 29.
  6. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762; Andreas Heldrich, "Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006: Laudatio" (2006) 108 GRUR 916, 917.
  7. Verlag C.H. Beck, "Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker" accessed 15 April 2021.
  8. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762.
  9. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 29f.
  10. Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 671; Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762.
  11. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 30.
  12. Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 107 GRUR 889, 892.
  13. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Personen- und Vorlesungsverzeichnis für das Wintersemester 1979/80 (Verlag Uni-Druck 1980) 20.
  14. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 30; Gerhard Schricker, "Friedrich-Karl Beier" (1998) 51 NJW 515, 515.
  15. Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 35.
  16. Hans Peter Kunz-Hallstein and Michael Loschelder, "Grußwort für Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. mult. Gerhard Schricker zum 75. Geburtstag" (2010) 112 GRUR 697, 697.
  17. Ulrike Gräfin Yorck von Wartenburg-Schricker and others, "Gerhard Schricker" Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich, 10 April 2021) 26. See also Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb, "In Gedenken an Gerhard Schricker (1935-2021)" (15 April 2021) accessed 9 May 2021.
  18. Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 107 GRUR 889, 891.
  19. Academia Europaea, "Gerhard Schricker" accessed 15 April 2021.
  20. "Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr.Dr.h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006" (2006) 108 GRUR 915.
  21. Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 672.
  22. Friedrich-Karl Beier (ed), Urhebervertragsrecht: Festgabe für Gerhard Schricker zum 60. Geburtstag (Beck 1995).
  23. Cf Eike Ullmann, "Urhebervertragsrecht" (1996) 49 NJW 502, 502f.
  24. Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003).
  25. Joseph Straus (ed), Das Max-Planck-Institut für Ausländisches und Internationales Patent-, Urheber- und Wettbewerbsrecht im Spiegel seiner Veröffentlichungen (Beck 2003).
  26. Ansgar Ohly and others (eds), Perspektiven des Geistigen Eigentums und des Wettbewerbsrechts: Festschrift für Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag (Beck 2005); Peter Ganea, Christopher Heath, and Hiroshi Saitô (eds), Japanese Copyright Law: Writings in Honour of Gerhard Schricker (Kluwer 2005).
  27. Gerhard Schricker, "Abschied von der Gestaltungshöhe im Urheberrecht?" in Jürgen Becker, Peter Lerche, and Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (eds), Wanderer zwischen Musik, Politik und Recht: Festschrift für Reinhold Kreile zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Nomos 1994) 716ff.
  28. Gerhard Schricker, "Abschied von der Gestaltungshöhe im Urheberrecht?" in Jürgen Becker, Peter Lerche, and Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (eds), Wanderer zwischen Musik, Politik und Recht: Festschrift für Reinhold Kreile zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Nomos 1994) 720. See also Gerhard Schricker in Gerhard Schricker (ed), Urheberrecht (1st edn, Beck 1987), Einleitung para 30.
  29. Gerhard Schricker, "Urheberrecht zwischen Industrie- und Kulturpolitik" (1992) 94 GRUR 242, 247.
  30. Gerhard Schricker, "Hundert Jahre Urheberrechtsentwicklung" in Deutsche Vereinigung für Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht (ed), Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht in Deutschland: Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Bestehen der Deutschen Vereinigung für Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht und ihrer Zeitschrift (VCH 1991) vol 2, 1115. See also Gerhard Schricker, "Harmonisation of Copyright in the European Economic Community" (1989) 20 IIC 466, 484 (stating that "[i]t seems not to be the Commission's ambition to improve copyright protection as such. There is no concern for the author's social needs.").
  31. "Veröffentlichungen von Gerhard Schricker" in Ansgar Ohly and others (eds), Perspektiven des Geistigen Eigentums und des Wettbewerbsrechts: Festschrift für Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag (Beck 2005).
  32. Thomas Hoeren, "Schricker/Loewenheim (Hrsg.), Urheberrecht" [2011] MMR-Aktuell 320186.
  33. Thomas Hoeren, "Schricker/Loewenheim (Hrsg.), Urheberrecht" [2011] MMR-Aktuell 320186; see also Thomas Hoeren, "Schricker/Loewenheim (Hrsg.), Urheberrecht" [2020] MMR-Aktuell 433993.
  34. Haimo Schack, "Gerhard Schricker (Hrsg.): Urheberrecht, Kommentar" (1988) 43 JZ 1118, 1119; Stig Strömholm, "Gerhard Schricker (Hrsg.): Urheberrecht" (1988) 37 GRUR Int 536, 536.

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