Can Satellite Receiver for all Replace Parabolic Antenna

Being happy to having got back in touch with your home country with the help of parabolic antenna, you now learned that your landlord has installed a joint satellite receiver for all tenants. Next he now forbids any and all "salad bowls" on top of the house or on your balcony. AG Frankfurt am Main pointed who has the correct opinion on March 18, 2010 (re 33 C 3756/09).

The alien tenants (the court unfortunately kept their citizenship secret) rented an apartment with cable TV. As the contract provided, the tenants were permitted to install a salad bowl on the house's roof in 2006. The contract further contained the provision that this permission can be revoked when circumstances arise that such permission would not be granted anymore. In 2009, the landlord revoked the permission because the cable was enhanced to receive eight programs from abroad. This enhancement lead to an increase of € 5.95 on utility costs per month.

The landlord insisted that the antenna be removed. The tenants refused. The court held that the tenants were to remove the antenna. The permission of 2006 war correctly revoked. The surcharge was negligible. The tenant's constitutional right (art. 2 GG) to inform oneself was not infringed. The opposite is the case because having more channels from home is in fact an improvement and the costs do not outweigh this improvement. Previous to 2009, the supply of foreign language programs on cable TV was not so good, now it has significantly improved. The tenant has no right to demand the least expensive way to receive stations from home. There might have been a case if receiving foreign TV stations would be so complicated, burdensome or expensive that it would become comparable to a refusal for the reception. When the landlord installs a joint antenna receiver for all dwellers, the he is entitled to withdraw any given permission for satellite antennas. Pursuant to §541 BGB, the landlord may demand the deinstallation of the antenna.

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