Parents Must Identify Pirate Kids Or Pay Their Fines, Court Rules

[shamu726]

If parents are aware that their children have committed copyright infringement they must identify them to the court if required to do so, or pay their fines. That was the ruling of Germany's Federal Court of Justice this week in a case concerning the unlawful distribution of 'Loud' by Rihanna, carried out by a minor in 2011.

 

Copyright trolling continues around the world in 2017, with file-sharers the prime targets. From the United States to Europe and beyond, people are still receiving letters in the mail which demand a cash settlement to make a supposed court case disappear.

 

No country has been harder hit than Germany. Hundreds of thousands of citizens, probably more, have received these so-called pay-up-or-else demands. And, due to strict interpretations of copyright liability, many people find themselves digging deep.

 

One such case dating back six years has been more complicated than most. In 2011, a family received a letter from Universal Music, demanding cash alongside claims that Rihanna’s album ‘Loud’ had been illegally shared via their Internet connection.

 

The parents, to whom the letter was addressed, indicated that they had no interest whatsoever in the R&B star. However, one of their three children apparently did, and the parents knew which one had committed the infringement.

 

Perhaps understandably, however, the parents didn’t want to throw their child to the lions. It’s a position that’s supported by a local law which protects family members from having to testify against each other.

 

The case ended up at the Munich Court of First Instance and the parents were held liable for copyright infringement and ordered to pay almost 3,900 euros. From there the case progressed to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH), which handed down its ruling Thursday.

 

In a big win for Universal, the BGH upheld the decision of the lower court, holding the parents liable for copyright infringement.

 

According to the Federal Court, if a person knows which other people in his or her residence (typically family members) shared files illegally, they should reveal the name of that person to the Court. If they do not wish to do so, they must accept liability and pay the fine themselves, no matter whether the offender is a child or an adult.

 

The Court did throw potential future defendants a lifeline, however. If the Internet account holder does not know the name of the infringer, he or she is not obliged to monitor the Internet usage of other family members or to examine computers for the existence of file-sharing software.

 

 

Source: TorrentFreak

 

[46&2]

If parents are aware that their children have committed copyright infringement they must identify them to the court if required to do so, or pay their fines. That was the ruling of Germany

[Sylence]

There is something wrong though. in Germany you have the right to say nothing and in family you can be always silent about things.

that's easy, the children uploaded stuff, the dad said it wasn't him and then they were free, you don't have to tell names.

 

 

 

 there is a good thing aswell, like when you uploaded stuff, you could say it's your wife, your wife could say it was you, so they can't know who really was it, so they drop it off. that's common strategy of lawyers. they just tell you say another name. or you could say it was a trojan because then the trojan creator is the one with fault there so many ways to get out of that you just need to say the right things.   

[straycat19]

3 hours ago, saeed_dc said:

 there is a good thing aswell, like when you uploaded stuff, you could say it's your wife, your wife could say it was you, so they can't know who really was it, so they drop it off. that's common strategy of lawyers. they just tell you say another name. or you could say it was a trojan because then the trojan creator is the one with fault there so many ways to get out of that you just need to say the right things

 

That isn't the way it works.  The homeowner or person the account's name is in can be held responsible for what happens on their system.  Playing stupid is only proof that you are stupid, because a forensic search of the system may well turn up more than they bargained for and in this day and age it is very easy to get a warrant for a computer system.  Usually a warrant can be had within 5 minutes just by declaring that the proof of the crime could be erased, though we all know that isn't totally true unless the drive was forensically wiped and that takes hours not minutes.  The only fortunate thing for file sharers is they are being pursued in civil court instead of having it reported to the police as a crime where their systems would be impounded.  

[steven36]

LOL most likely mostt parents dont even know what there kids are doing. i know I had to warn some of my family about there kids back when they use give out warnings ..And I warn the kids too because they  didn't know they could get a warning   Just because they do something dont mean any normal user would know. I told them to get a VPN if they wanted too download . It's only illegal to download copyrighted works  in Germany  . But  Its OK to stream for now.
 

Quote

 

Is downloading legal in Germany?
In a word, no. There are many cases of individual users fined exorbitant amounts for downloading music, TV shows and movies in Germany.  Making any copy, such as a download, is illegal.

Interestingly, it is the uploading (making copyrighted material available) that usually gets people in trouble. Peer-to-peer file sharing networks often require users to upload files as they are downloading, resulting in a breach of copyright and possible legal action.

 

Is streaming legal in Germany?
This is a grey area and may change in the future, but recent court cases  indicate that streaming is currently legal in Germany. By watching it online without downloading or “owning” the file with no ability to distribute, you do not infringe on copyright.

 

The grey area comes in with how browsers function, in that the file is temporarily saved to your computer. In that way, this is also a breach of copyright. The saving grace for addicts like me is in the difficulty in determining who these users are. At this time, no legal action is taken against people who stream content.

 

While a simple Google search reveals  many sites offering streaming video, they change frequently as they are shut down and re-incarnated with slightly different names. For an example, I highly recommend reading about scandalous Megaupload and its flamboyant German-Finnish operator, Kim Dotcom.

The bigger threat with streaming is that most services are rife with viruses. Pop-ups are incessant and it is vital to have up-to-date virus protection. Stream with caution TV fans.

 

 

 

Confessions of an Expat TV Addict in Germany

https://www.german-way.com/confessions-of-an-expat-tv-addict/

 

[Sylence]

32 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

 

That isn't the way it works.  The homeowner or person the account's name is in can be held responsible for what happens on their system.  Playing stupid is only proof that you are stupid, because a forensic search of the system may well turn up more than they bargained for and in this day and age it is very easy to get a warrant for a computer system.  Usually a warrant can be had within 5 minutes just by declaring that the proof of the crime could be erased, though we all know that isn't totally true unless the drive was forensically wiped and that takes hours not minutes.  The only fortunate thing for file sharers is they are being pursued in civil court instead of having it reported to the police as a crime where their systems would be impounded.  

 

I'm not talking about the laws where you live in, you might be happy your ISPs giving away your data to NSA and others to spy on you, good for you.

 

I was only talking about the Germany which is the post about it. in Germany the homeowner can't be responsible when a other one can cause things. having Free WiFi give you new ways to defend against Anti File Sharing shit. so when you don't have enough info better not comment in the first place lol

[namek]

One needs a good lawyer and reach high court. Otherwise....

[Akaneharuka]

Is [ I am not bad because I am not 18 yet ] law not working anymore ?

[steven36]

6 hours ago, Akaneharuka said:

Is [ I am not bad because I am not 18 yet ] law not working anymore ?

Most adults in Germany  know better than too p2p  Its very risky ... They still many who use Usenet and download via filehost were there is no upload . There more likely to pay for Usenet and filehost then people who are from places that  there not  so strict on P2P . Uploading is  what there really hard on in Germany even on Warez Forums in  Germany they have  raided them and got everyone's IP  they have been many who went to jail or fined . Over there most everyone knows someone who got in trouble before.  So it would take a kid who didn't know the risk to be using P2P .