A castle in Thuringia may be referred to as a "lost place. This was decided by the Munich Local Court (AZ: 142 C 14251/20). In the case in question, an American company that owns the castle sued for damages for copyright infringement. The defendant displayed photos of the castle on its website, including photos of the interior, and referred to it there as a "lost place".
The American company considered the unauthorized taking of the pictures and the unlawful intrusion to be an infringement of foreign copyright and the statement that it was a "lost place" to be untrue. It demanded 3,000 euros in damages. The company based the sum on a flat rate for a license, which a film crew of up to four people would also have had to pay for taking pictures.
The defendant argued that the castle is a ruin that is freely accessible. In addition, the company had not suffered any damage as a result of the photos being taken. The court took a similar view and dismissed the claim. On the one hand, the company was not the author of the castle, and it was very likely that it had not built it. On the other hand, it is an "obviously true factual claim" if the castle is described as a "lost place".
Source: justiz.bayern.de/AZ: 142 C 14251/20
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