Dear people,
My girlfriend received a fine of almost €1000 for apparently illegal downloading a movie. What are steps that can be taken? I’ve read a lot about it on the internet. The amount of the fine is insanely high. I’m asking you for advice on what to do in this situation. Me and my girlfriend are not from Germany.
by Puzzleheaded_Map6036
7 comments
It doesn’t look like a fine, it looks like a law firm asking her to sign a cease and desist, threatening a lawsuit and billing her for damages and lawyer fees.
You want to get this checked by an attorney asap and not pay anything until then.
Well first did she download a movie? If not you won’t have to pay.
If she did it’s possible to dispute the adequate size of the fine wich has been succesfull in many cases. You can find help for that online.
Most importantly don’t just pay. Getting the money back is nearly impossible then. Also don’t ignore them, answer with a letter that you want to dispute it (again help for that is findable on the Internet)
It’s never about “downloading”, it’s always about “uploading”.
And yes, that is a valid letter. But an “Unterlassungserklärung” is not a fine.
You can go about and haggle a little. Well, *You* can’t and shouldn’t – a laywer can.
In most cases, a short letter from a specialist can haggle down the amount to 500-600€ (YMMV, samplesize: 1) at a cost around 200-300€ … less, but still a lot.
No, you can’t just ignore it. And please! NEVER answer these things all by your own, always get professional help!
Relevant section in the sub’s wiki: https://old.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/living/downloads/
Is there any listing what movie and when you downloaded it and from where?
I know that some law firms try to scam people with fines, that have no legal basis, but some people pay, because they think it’s legit.
I’m no lawyer, but it couldn’t hurt to ask for some reference, when and where you should have downloaded something…
Back in the old days where getting mp3s and such was a big thing my dad also got one.
He take a lawyer.
The lawyer made a „modifizierte unterlassenserklärung“. He signed it. Send that back. And in that saying: only my dad with his ip wont download anymore and he will pay 150fine.
After that the lawyer took also 150. and shit was done.
If they get money and a signed paper they will mostly not go after a few € more.
But that was 20 years ago. So maybe things changed.
I’ve gotten the same thing. I disputed it (with the help from a lawyer). Then they contacted me 2 years later with a Mahnbescheid. I paid another lawyer who charged me 200€ and had them take about 200€ off the fee. My 2nd lawyer was horrible.
They are only allowed to do this for certain movies. We should make a list of what movie this was.
If you are not from germany how did this happen? Depending on the circumstances, they cannot prove who downloaded the movie and thus might not even have a case in the first place.