I received a letter from Frommer Legal, I did use a streaming site to watch a movie and they tracked that although from what I know I didn’t do any uploading of said movie.
Now my question is what can I do further, the fine is for 935euro and says it must be paid in about 2 weeks which is impossible for me, also I saw a few websites such as https://sos-recht.de/abmahnung/ that claim they check the fine and see if it is possible to get the fine reduced for free but I’m not even sure if that is true, what should I do ?
Update:
Talked with the lawfirm that I posted about they said I have two options with them, pay 200 and they try to negotiate but it would only go down by about 200-250 or pay 290 and they will decline any liability and I can possibly get off scot free although this options has the risk of them giving me a lawsuit which would result in additional costs. They said they would email me and I could call them back to discuss but alas I still have not received a email.
Today I talked with a lawyer he said it would be easiest and safest to make the payments in installments I agreed with him to pay 100, we called the firm he talked with them and they agreed to this so now I’m waiting for another brief to come from them,
In short never pirate, never watch movies online unless they are on subscription based platforms in Germany, I don’t know much about VPN’s but it isn’t worth the risk so I am not even considering it
5 comments
A “streaming site” or a p2p torrent? In the former case, you didn’t upload anything. And it’s unlikely they have any data from the webserver of what you watched…
You seem to be taking pride in not paying for your stuff- beggars cannot be choosers.
Next time do not be an Idiot.
Reading through the comments, it seems you’re aware you’re liable, so let’s skip that.
Number one, this letter is NOT a fine. This is coming from a law firm that is acting on behalf of the rights holder. This is somewhat legal in Germany whereas in other countries it would be illegal (solicitation). In any case, I repeat, it’s NOT a fine. They are saying “pay us this money and we won’t pursue further”
Number two, paying is a BAD idea, because in the legalese hidden in the letter, you admit culpability by paying, and they could choose to prosecute you anyway.
Advice – get a lawyer specialized in these demands. You don’t have any recourse here to argue you didn’t do it, so you’ll likely have to pay something, but a lawyer will be able to talk it down.
YMMV but a friend of mine via a lawyer was able to talk this down to 300 euro including the lawyer fee
Google ‘modifizierte Unterlassenserklärung’. Also, if you live in a WG you can testify that this is a shared connection and that you deny any allegations.
Search the sub here; this company comes up quite a lot. Don’t sign anything they sent to you, get a lawyer.