Yael Adler wins Amazon lawsuit
Author Yael Adler has won a lawsuit against Amazon in Berlin over an unauthorized book that used a title similar to her bestseller.
Dermatologist and bestselling author Dr. Yael Adler has won a legal case against Amazon. The Berlin Regional Court II ruled fully in her favor in March 2025, finding that Amazon violated her general personality rights by distributing an unauthorized book with a title confusingly similar to her work.
The lawsuit centered on Adler's book "Genial ernährt! Klüger essen, entspannter genießen, besser leben," published by Droemer in March 2025. That title reached number 7 in the Börsenblatt annual charts for 2025 nonfiction hardcovers. In August 2025, a paperback and audiobook by a different author appeared on Amazon.de. Its title was "Genial ernährt! Aufgaben: Die praktischen Schritte zur Umsetzung der Lehren von Dr. med. Yael Adler." Adler sued to stop its sale.
The court stated Amazon's use of the prominent doctor's name was a conspicuous exploitation for purely commercial interests of an unrelated product. It found no public information interest or contribution to current events in the offering. Amazon must also reimburse Adler's warning costs.
Author and Publisher Reactions
Yael Adler expressed relief at the outcome. "As an author, I put years of medical expertise, heart, and scientific work into my books to provide readers with sound advice," she said. "When free-riders exploit the good reputation of my name and the success of 'Genial ernährt!' to make money with inferior, unauthorized companion books, it deliberately misleads consumers. I am very glad the court has clearly put a stop to this commercial exploitation. Global platforms like Amazon must not profit from the unauthorized misuse of well-known personal names."
Doris Janhsen, publisher at Droemer Knaur, added her support. "I am delighted by this important first success in court," Janhsen said. "The ruling sends a valuable signal: A major marketplace like Amazon must live up to its responsibility and ensure the protection of copyright and personality rights on its platform. It is just as important that we as publishers and authors now all stay on the ball to consistently protect copyrights and personality rights in digital trade in the future."
Legal Precedents and Next Steps
Adler was represented by the law firm Gelbart Legal. Its Managing Partner, Norman Nathan Gelbart, called the judgment a milestone. "The court has made it unmistakably clear that platform operators may not exploit the reputation and pull of well-known brand and personal names without authorization for their own commercial purposes in the context of free-rider products," Gelbart stated. He also noted the court rightly rejected Amazon's defense that the offer was allegedly only aimed at customers in Japan due to pre-set delivery addresses, due to a lack of concrete evidence.
The judgment is not yet legally binding. Gelbart Legal had previously obtained preliminary injunctions against Amazon for Yael Adler in five similar cases. Amazon accepted two of those; two others are currently under appeal at the Berlin Court of Appeal.
Yael Adler is a specialist in dermatology, venereology, phlebology, and nutritional medicine. Her books published by Droemer, including "Haut nah" (2016), "Darüber spricht man nicht" (2018), "Wir müssen reden, Frau Doktor!" (2020), "Genial vital!" (2023), and "Genial ernährt!" (2025), have all been Spiegel bestsellers, often reaching number one. They have been translated into up to 35 languages. You can explore more about publishing milestones and author careers in our stats section, which tracks industry trends and successes.
