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Court bans Kohl-quotations published in bestseller

November 13, 2014

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has won a legal case against his former ghostwriter. A court has now banned the use of dozens of quotations used by the author in a newly published book.

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Heribert Schwan Vermächtnis
Image: Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke

The court in the western German city of Cologne, hearing the former chancellor's complaint against veteran journalist Heribert Schwan, banned the author and his publisher from using most of the quotes published last month in the book "Vermächtnis: Die Kohl Protokole" (Legacy: The Kohl Protocols).

The ruling means that the publisher, the Heyne-Verlag may not print any more books containing the quotations in question. Books already published and delivered to retailers may still be purchased.

The book is largely made up of quotations from recordings Schwan made during a series of lengthy interviews that he conducted with Kohl in 2001 and 2002 with the purpose of writing the former chancellor's memoirs. After Kohl decided to pull out of the project, Schwan and another journalist, Tilman Jens, decided to use the material to publish the book without the former chancellor's authorization.

In its decision, the Cologne court found that Schwan was guilty of an "illegal violation" of confidentiality. It said that as Kohl's ghostwriter, Schwan had a duty to treat their conversations as confidential and that only the former chancellor had the right to decide whether their content should be published.

Ongoing legal battle

The legal wrangling, though, appears to be far from over, with the publisher saying in advance of the decision that it intended to appeal, should it not go its way, and Kohl's lawyer saying his client intended to sue for damages.

The publishing of the book would turn out to be a "very, very expensive" proposition, the DPA news agency quoted lawyer Thomas Hermes as saying.

The book set off waves when excerpts of it were first published by German news magazine Der Spiegel last month. Included in the book are numerous quotations, in which Kohl spoke disparagingly of a number of his former political friends and foes alike, including the current chancellor, Angela Merkel, who was once a cabinet minister in his government.

pfd/ksb (dpa, AFP)