The Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) has declared a provision in the Baden-Württemberg Higher Education Act on a so-called secondary publication obligation to be unconstitutional and null and void (case reference: 2 BvL 3/18 of 24 March 2026).

This regulation (Section 44 (6) LHG BW) obliged academics to make academic contributions that were created as part of their official duties available as non-commercial secondary publications. In the opinion of the Second Senate, the state does not have the legislative authority to do this, as it is a regulation on copyright law. However, the federal government has exclusive legislative competence in this area. This does not change if, as in this case, it is a matter of secondary publication rights in the field of science, the purpose of which is to make the publications available to other scientists by non-commercial means (open access).