Thinking About Torrenting in Germany? Get Ready to Pay the Fine
Considered to be among the most developed countries – living in Germany is accompanied with multiple perks including health, education, entertainment, and serenity but there is one aspect Germany is strict about and it is torrenting copyrighted material!
The Copyright Act is one of the most powerful ones across the globe making torrenting in Germany increasingly difficult. There is more to this sad news, in case anyone is charged with copyright violation – the fine is tenfold compared to the cinema ticket.
While the users are safe to stream the legal content through the legal sites, browsing through the dubious torrenting sites without protection can be used against them. The German ISP providers are bound to store the private data of their customers for 10 weeks. This data includes IP address, physical address, and names of the users.
If the users are not masking their IP addresses while torrenting the latest season of their favorite show – they are in for a surprise (not a nice one!). Torrenting in Germany without prior necessary precaution is certainly the recipe for disaster. Today, we will focus on all the available information so our users can protect themselves from upcoming Abmahnung.
Torrenting Law in Germany
The Copyright Act of Germany aims to eliminate the repeated offend of infringement of the copyrighter material which is the product of the owner. It prohibits the complete and partial infringing of the material.
Any person intentionally or unintentionally involved in infringing the copyrighted material will be served by a notice (Abmahnung) by a legal firm and the offender needs to cater to it during the provided timeline. The offender is liable to pay for the damages to the injured party. The fine is calculated based on reasonable royalties, the infringer’s surrender of the profit, and profit loss due to the act of infringement.
Beware of the deceitful Abmahnung
With the implementation of the Copyright Act to prevent illegal torrenting in Germany – a serious concern raised causing the mass to fear every Abmahnung. In the majority of the cases, dubious law firms send Abmahnung with the warning to pay a specific amount now or get ready to be sued for ‘thousands of pounds.
“Every Abmahnung is not real!”
What makes this issue a debacle? In the majority of the cases, these firms do not have the rights of the material and in some cases, the crime has never been committed. Playing on the general fear of the population, unethical firms send Abmahnung to claim the money from the public just by collecting IP addresses on a random basis.
It is important to know your rights, if an individual is certain that he/she was not involved in breaching the Copyright Law, it is imperative that fight for the cause rather than just paying the set fine.
Is Torrenting illegal in Germany?
The answer to this question is no. Torrenting is just a means to share files without involving a central network. Users can share their files and not get fined for it. Sharing the material protected by the Copyright Act is a different story. The majority of the European countries do not ban torrenting but they keep a strict check on the type of material into consideration.
“In Germany, torrent users are under continuous pressure of warning, monitoring, and the possibility of fines”.
If the user is utilizing legal sources to torrent files – they don’t need to worry about the ramifications. Those who are breaching the law should be ready to receive the warning and the official notice known as “Abmahnung” to pay a hefty fine that can go up to 1000 euros.
Is Streaming illegal in Germany?
Streaming your favorite shows on Netflix and other streaming services like YouTube and HBO Max is not illegal. As you are paying for the services – you have the right to utilize them whenever and wherever you want. Using the sites such as 123movies that do not follow the copyright law is however illegal and if a user’s IP is detected, an Abmahnung is sent by the legal firm.
How not to get an Abmahnung?
If you want to torrent safely without the fear of someone knocking on your door to deliver Abmahnung, invest in a VPN service that does not log your activity. Kill-switch can be your best friend and it will disconnect you from the server as soon as your internet is down making snooping impossible. Think about what you want from a VPN and then look for the reviews of the product.
Top 3 VPN for torrenting in Germany
If you are unable to make your mind about which VPN to select, here is our pick of the top 3 VPN that will make you invisible while you are torrenting in Germany.
NordVPN
With over 240 in Germany and 5,697 global servers operating in 60 countries – NordVPN is one the best service to unblock geo-locked content, ascertaining the privacy of the users, and unblocking popular streaming content. It boasts the fastest internet speed, absolute encryption of the traffic, and 24*7 chat support.
ExpressVPN
With fast speed and built-in kill switch, you can trust the efficacy of ExpressVPN. It can unblock geo-restriction at an amazing speed and provide secure encryptions. It also offers round-the-clock chat support to the users.
SurfShark
In case of a tight budget, you can avail all the exceptional services boasted by top VPNs with SurfShark. Easy to use with a fast speed – SurfShark can be a dream come true for torrent users in Germany.
Even though streaming and torrenting in Germany is not illegal, you have to hide. Rather than focusing on the free VPN services – it is important to be smart when surfing online. You will be paying pennies for your safety and prevent the nuisance of a legal notice. Invest in the VPN service with a kill-switch to limit your chances of getting caught. We don’t promote or condone torrenting but ask you to think of your privacy and safety first.