Facts
The case concerns an entrepreneur A., who managed the Club C. in Zurich and is a member of the Board of Directors of B. AG. A. and B. AG sued various media companies, including Tamedia AG, 20 Minuten AG and Espace Media AG, for infringement of personality rights and violations of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG).
The plaintiffs accused the defendants of having conducted a "media campaign" against A. through their reporting. The Commercial Court partially dismissed the claim, but found that 20 Minuten AG had unlawfully infringed A.'s personality rights in two articles.
Subsequently, A. and B. AG appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. The Federal Supreme Court overturned the judgment of the Commercial Court and remanded the case for a new assessment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court found that the respondents (Tamedia AG, 20 Minuten AG and Espace Media AG) had unlawfully infringed the personality rights of the appellant A. by participating in an "actual media campaign" around A.'s arrest as of November 4, 2009.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that personality rights enjoy the protection of civil law and that interference through media information activities can constitute an infringement of personality rights if they reach a certain intensity and involve an "intrusion" into the private sphere of the person concerned. It must…