BRIEF NEWS - Culture: Hamburg Regional Court prohibits Shelby Lynn from making several statements in the Rammstein case +++ Universal Music allows music to be used for AI training

The Hamburg Regional Court has prohibited Northern Irishwoman Shelby Lynn from continuing to disseminate three of her earlier statements about the band Rammstein and their frontman Till Lindemann: "I was spiked by Rammstein at pre-party," Lynn had stated in a post on the platform Reddit in May 2023.

The ruling also affects the wording that could be read for a few days in her profile on X, then still Twitter: «That girl that got spiked by Rammstein» (German: «Das Mädchen, das von Rammstein gespiked wurde»).

Finally, she is also no longer allowed to spread the following statement: «SOMEBODY on Rammstein crew spiked me and many other girls», which Lynn also shared in an Instagram story next to a photo of herself in May 2023.

The court reasoned that Lindemann, as the frontman and public face of the band, was affected by the statements. In the court's view, these were untrue factual claims, as Lynn had failed to prove that she was actually given drugs by band members or crew.

However, two other statements remain permissible, in which Lynn describes being "spiked at the concert" and stating that she only consumed a few drinks, including a tequila shot from Lindemann. The court ruled that these were value judgments, and therefore Lynn's freedom of expression prevailed. The court emphasized the difference between claiming to have been drugged at a concert and the specific accusation that this was done by the band or its crew.

The verdict is not yet legally binding. Two-fifths of the court costs will be borne by Lindemann and three-fifths by Lynn. Both sides declared the decision a victory: Lindemann's lawyer emphasized that the most serious allegations had been prohibited, while Lynn's representative stressed that his client would be allowed to continue speaking about her experiences.

(dpa) Music giant Universal Music is opening the door to training artificial intelligence with the works of its artists. Universal Music has entered into an agreement with the platform Udio, which allows AI to create songs from lyrics provided by users.

A new version of the service is slated to launch next year, for which Udio will acquire licenses from Universal Music. This will reportedly be a paid subscription service from Udio. Universal Music represents stars such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Elton John.

Dorothee Elmiger was awarded the Bavarian Book Prize on Tuesday evening . The Swiss author received the prize for her novel "Die Holländerinnen" (The Dutch Women), about the mysterious disappearance of two women in a tropical rainforest. Elmiger is also considered a favorite for the Swiss Book Prize, which will be awarded in November.

The award for best non-fiction book went to "Despair" by Heike Geissler, an essay on forms of misanthropy. In addition, author, actor, and comedian Hape Kerkeling received an honorary award from Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU). Söder praised the wit, clarity, honesty, and suspense in the 60-year-old's works.

(dpa) Swiss theatre director and artistic director of the Vienna Festival, Milo Rau, has been disinvited from the renowned Belgrade theatre festival Bitef. The decision was made by the festival's politically appointed board and represents a "precedent," said the artistic directors, including theatre director Milos Lolic.

In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic rules with increasingly authoritarian methods, including censorship and violence against opposition members. Rau, who frequently addresses politically relevant topics, was scheduled to present his performance "The Pelicot Trial" in Belgrade, according to the artistic directors. The piece by Rau and Servane Dècle presents, in a documentary style, the case of the Frenchwoman Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband for years and sexually abused by dozens of men.

The committee did not base its veto on reservations about the Pelicot performance, but rather on the fact that Milo Rau is a "persona non grata," an undesirable person, in Serbia. However, this is nowhere officially documented.

Indeed, Rau, as the opening speaker at last year's Bitef Festival, had criticized the planned lithium mining in a nature reserve in western Serbia. As a consequence of Rau's speech, the contract of the then artistic director of the festival, Nikita Milivojevic, was not renewed. Regarding his disinvitation this year, Rau said in a statement from the Vienna Festival, which is available to the German Press Agency: "The decision to censor the play 'The Pelicot Trial' completes the destruction of artistic freedom at one of Europe's largest festivals, a process that has been ongoing for months."

Following Rau's disinvitation, the artistic directors led by Lolic resigned, and the board responsible for the censorship decision dissolved itself. In Belgrade, it is no longer expected that the Bitef festival will take place this year.