The Modern Entrepreneur as a Public Figure vs. the Right to Privacy – a recent Judgment by the European Court of Human Rights
By Dr Robert Lewandowski, attorney at law (radca prawny) at Derra, Meyer & Partners in Warsaw
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recently examined the question as to whether a published article on the webpage of a newspaper concerning an entrepreneur should be removed to protect his sphere of privacy. The case in question concerns the publication of an article on the webpage of the New York Times in which the German entrepreneur Mr. Boris Fuchsmann was mentioned by name along with indications based in particular on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he allegedly had ties with Russian organized crime and therefore he, according to the author of this article, should be prohibited from entering the United States. Mr. Fuchsmann went to the German court to apply for removal of the aforementioned article from the internet. After declaring themselves internationally competent, the German courts finally dismissed the request of Mr. Fuchsmann pointing out that freedom of speech and the public interests justified the publication of this article as the applicant was an important figure within the international media market and the public thus should be aware of his ties. Mr. Fuchsmann filed a complaint against this dismissal to ECHR stating that his right to privacy according to Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights had been violated. On 19th October 2017, judges from Strasbourg had to weight up Mr. Fuchsmann’s right to privacy against the freedom of speech and they finally stated that that it was in public interests to inform the readers of the “New York Times” about links of the German entrepreneur to organized criminal groups. In addition, according to the judges the article concerned the business life of Mr. Fuchsmann rather than his private life and its content was based on FBI reports along with witnesses testimonies made in this matter and this information would be enough to justify its writing and publishing, so any infringement of Article 8 was denied by ECHR. This verdict shows also that entrepreneurs will be treated like persons in the public sphere and if they appear within this sphere they have to face the consequences of their behavior and actions and must accept criticism in the name of freedom of speech.