The album “Liebe ist für alle da” that was released in 2009 is the subject of the dispute that Rammstein is currently conducting at the Bonn Regional Court (Landgericht Bonn) against the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors. In 2009, immediately after the album’s release, the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors banned the album “Liebe ist für alle da.” It was banned, or indexed, because of the text in the title “Ich Tu Dir Weh” (“I hurt you”) and because of the photograph. As a result of the indexing, the album could only be sold under the counter for a long time immediately after its release. The band was also banned from performing the song “Ich Tu Dir Weh” at concerts. Herein lies a serious infringement on the freedom of artistic expression that is guaranteed by Article 5, paragraph 3, sentence 1, of the German Basic Law.
The dispute was conducted before two bodies up to 2015, the Cologne Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgericht Köln) and the Münster Higher Administrative Court (Oberverwaltungsgericht Münster); both courts have already confirmed that an impermissible infringement on the artistic freedom protected by Article 5, paragraph 3, sentence 1 of the German Basic Law has taken place. According to the aforementioned, the following is certain: the infringement of artistic freedom was wrongly carried out.
There is great confidence that this will also be brought to bear in the third legal dispute, now before the Bonn Regional Court (Landgericht Bonn). Because in this way, further impermissible infringements on the freedom of artistic expression can, if necessary, be prevented in the future.