December 2025

Athens Single-Member Court of First Instance Judgment – Dismissal of Company’s Claim for Voice-Over Compensation Due to Conflicting Agreement

Recently, judgment no. 13462/2025 of the Athens Single-Member Court of First Instance (Ordinary Procedure) was issued, which dismissed the claim filed by a company primarily engaged in recording and voice-over services (hereinafter: "the opposing party") against a well-known electricity supply company (hereinafter: "our client"). The claim sought the payment of forty-three thousand seven hundred eighty-five euros (€43,785.00) plus 24% VAT, along with statutory interest from the date of service of the claim until full payment, as compensation for voice-over services allegedly performed under an (alleged) oral service contract.

The Court accepted our argument that the partner and legal representative of the opposing party, within the framework of a broader business collaboration with the legal representative of our client – a well-known electricity provider – through their joint participation in a third company, a radio station (hereinafter: "the radio station"), had undertaken the relevant voice-over services without remuneration. Specifically, the Court held that:

It was proven that under the main contract signed between our client and the radio station, the manager of the opposing party, as a partner in the radio station, due to her personal cooperation with our client's representative and the financial and technical support provided to the radio station by him and our client, had voluntarily undertaken additional tasks beyond the scope of the contract signed between the opposing party and our client, without any additional compensation beyond the agreed remuneration.

The Court placed particular emphasis on the following facts:

• If the alleged oral agreement had actually been concluded, the opposing party’s remuneration would have been clearly determined, considering the significant number of voice-over services provided.

• The opposing party only began to raise the issue of allegedly unpaid fees after the relationship between its manager and our client’s legal representative began to deteriorate, specifically when the latter decided to withdraw from his participation in the radio station.

Based on the above, the Court held that no such contract had ever been concluded, and therefore the opposing party’s claim was dismissed as unfounded.