Photo: Jenny Sieboldt

In two preliminary injunction proceedings before the Berlin Regional Court, Dr. Yael Adler, a doctor and bestselling author well known in the media, prevailed against the online sales portal Amazon with preliminary injunctions for unfair competition in each case. Amazon sold three books with almost identical titles to Dr. Yael Adler’s current No. 1 SPIEGEL bestseller “Genial ernährt!” (Brilliant Nutrition!) by completely unknown authors via its portal amazon.de. The books sold by Amazon are cookbooks that advertise that they were “inspired” by Dr. Yael Adler. In both cases, the regional court prohibited Amazon from continuing to sell the books in question. Contrary to Amazon’s legal opinion, the Regional Court agreed with Dr. Yael Adler’s argument that advertising the books using Dr. Yael Adler’s well-known name constituted impermissible comparative advertising and thus unfair competition under the UWG. Amazon was exploiting Dr. Yael Adler’s name and reputation in an impermissible manner to promote the sale of its own books.

Dr. Yael Adler: “I am appalled that AI-assisted free riders are apparently seeking to profit at the expense of my reputation by falsely claiming my involvement and implementing this through a globally renowned company such as Amazon.”

Attorney Norman Nathan Gelbart, Managing Partner at Gelbart Legal: “Both chambers of the Regional Court agreed with our argument. The assumption of a competitive situation and of comparative advertising, which is generally permitted but should be prohibited in these cases, is entirely accurate. It is regrettable that a portal with the standing of Amazon lends itself to such practices, especially since these are apparently not isolated cases. It is difficult to dispel the impression that Amazon is acting systematically when, in several cases, AI-generated books are apparently being offered for sale using the names of renowned personalities such as Dr. Yael Adler. The fact that Amazon also sells Dr. Yael Adler’s bestseller “Genial ernährt!” makes it particularly difficult for us to understand.”

The preliminary injunctions have not yet been recognized as final by Amazon. It remains to be seen whether Amazon will pursue the appeal process.