Rejection of a film critic's access to cinema screenings by the cinema owner

Facts

The plaintiff Seelig, a writer and film critic, published a somewhat disparaging review of a film showing at the "Studio 4" cinema in Zurich in the newspaper "Tagesanzeiger für Stadt und Kanton Zürich". Subsequently, the cinema owner, the defendant "Studio 4 AG", denied the plaintiff access to their film screenings, regardless of whether he presented a press pass or a ticket.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit demanding that the defendant be obliged to grant him access and to pay him damages. The lower instances dismissed the lawsuit.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the lower instances. It stated that the plaintiff has no claim to access the defendant's film screenings:

- The press passes the plaintiff can present do not establish an obligation of the cinema owner to grant the holder free access.

- The cinema ticket is not a security that would entitle the holder to access. Cinema attendance is based on a contract for work, in which the cinema owner is generally free to decide with whom he concludes a contract.

- A legal obligation to conclude a contract does not arise from the rules on the duty to contract or from the principles of good morals.

- The denial of…