Thursday, October 28, 2021
Breuckmann is unique
Reporter legend wins identity dispute
Manni Breuckmann is one of the most famous football voices in the country, he is a legend in sports reporting. A man wants to take advantage of the great popularity of Breuckmann to generate attention for his contributions on the Internet. That is now over and is a punishable offense.
The former sports reporter Manni Breuckmann has reached in court that his name may no longer be misused on the Internet. A man from Oer-Erkenschwick in the Recklinghausen district has signed a settlement at the Bochum district court through his lawyer not to appear on the Internet as “Manni Breuckmann” and to delete his Facebook and Instagram accounts by mid-November.
According to his own information, Breuckmann had been made aware of critical comments by his wife, among others, which had apparently been published on Facebook under his name – including after a press conference by ex-Prime Minister Armin Laschet on the corona situation. That was “embarrassing”, said Breuckmann on the sidelines of the trial before the 8th civil chamber.
“I shuddered”
The Facebook account was also provided with a profile picture that showed a man with a gas mask. “I shuddered when I saw the picture for the first time,” said Breuckmann. Right at the beginning of the trial, the judges at the Bochum regional court signaled that the naming rights of the real Manni Breuckmann had been violated. “The defendant apparently only uses the name to attract attention,” said Judge Klaus Brünger.
The “wrong” Manni Breuckmann, whose name is actually quite different, did not appear in court himself. His lawyer Paul Kantak stated that it was never the intention of his client to harm Manni Breuckmann. He only used the name because he used to be a sports reporter himself and was addressed that way in his hometown of Oer-Erkenschwick. “The entries were meant to be humorous,” said Kantak. Should his client appear again on the Internet as “Manni Breuckmann”, contractual penalties of around 5000 euros will be due according to the comparison.