Constantin fails to unmask pirate

BERLIN -- An injunction filed by Germany's Constantin Film against YouTube demanding information as to the identity of a user who uploaded a significant portion of their hit tooner "Werner -- Eiskalt!" was dismissed Thursday by a Munich court. Though Constantin was successful in obtaining the immediate removal of the offending file this summer, they were thwarted in their subsequent attempt to directly target the user, who they claim infringed on their copyright. A decision by the regional appeals court in Munich stated that under the present law, YouTube was only required to give out the name of its users when a rights holder had suffered commercial damage as a result of the work's presence on the platform. The court ruled that in this case, it was not considered significant enough. A fast track to an appeal is not possible at present, pending a further examination by the court. Constantin declined to comment till that time. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com