Musician suffers setback in bid to force covid compensation from German government

 

FRANKFURT – A musician confident of exacting COVID-19 compensation from the German government has lost woefully. This is because the government is not required to compensate artists for loss of income due to emergency measures put in place to combat coronavirus pandemic measures, Germany’s highest civil court ruled on Thursday.

 

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Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected a claim from 47-year-old professional musician Martin Kilger, who had demanded about €8,400 ($9,100) from the government because of five concerts that were cancelled due to lockdown restrictions between March and July 2020.

The decision upholds rulings from lower courts which had also rejected the musician’s demand for compensation. Kilger said afterwards that he intends to appeal the decision to Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, which rules on cases involving provisions in the country’s constitution.

The Federal Court of Justice ruled that the government’s coronavirus restrictions were proportionate to the crisis and necessary to save lives and protect the health of the population.

“There was no medicine or vaccine at the time,” the presiding judge said on Thursday, adding that the measures were also necessary “to prevent the health-care system from being overburdened.”

Hardships were generously cushioned by state aid, according to the court, making the sacrifices required of those affected reasonable for the well-being of the general public.

“The life and health of culture have not been protected,” the visibly disappointed Kilger said after the decision was pronounced.

The same court has previously rejected other lawsuits seeking compensation for coronavirus-related revenue losses. In May, for example, the court ruled against a hairdresser whose business closed in 2020 during a six-week lockdown. Lawsuits from a restaurateur and a hotel owner were also rejected.

Kilger, who said he was the first musician to go to court in Germany, said he had done so on behalf of the many artists who had suffered financially during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Some have committed suicide, become alcoholics or drug addicts,” he said.

A lawyer who represented the government in the case, Malte Weitner, welcomed the decision on Thursday: “The coronavirus affected everyone, the whole society – some more, some less,” he said.