German Movie Studio Demands Cash From People It Thinks Shared Its Movies Online

from the and-here-we-go... dept

Fri, May 8th 2009 12:59pm — Mike Masnick

While the recording industry made the fateful (and self-destructive) decision years back to start suing file sharers directly, the movie industry, for the most part has avoided going down that path (in part after witnessing how badly it failed for the RIAA). The movie industry has been quite active in trying to shut down file sharing systems and sites, but for the most part has avoided accusing home consumers of infringement. It appears that may be changing in Germany. Michael Scott alerts us to the news that a major German movie studio has started sending out threat letters to 500 people (out of a list of 10,000) that it believes shared some of its movies. The letter demands $1,000 per infringing work, or promises a lawsuit. What's unclear is how this list was created, and how accurate (or inaccurate it is). Demanding $1,000 from people without any real proof that they did anything illegal certainly seems to come quite close to the classic definition of extortion. We've see how some have used similar shakedown letters for profit, and it makes you wonder why they're allowed at all.

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Filed Under: file sharing, germany, lawsuits, movies

15 Comments

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Ima Fish, 8 May 2009 @ 1:29pm

Germany killed six million people without any "real proof that they did anything illegal." In comparison, this is hardly anything to worry about.
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- Ryan, 8 May 2009 @ 1:31pm
  
  Re:
  Ima, have you been bought out by Israel? I believe the more correct total you are alluding to is 11 million...
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  - Tgeigs, 8 May 2009 @ 1:47pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I thought I was the defender of Jewish people? :)
    
    Either way, the point is this is Germany. Big effing surprise. Let's just hope they don't decided to go after "infringers" in Poland or it'll be WWIII.
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- Rob R., 8 May 2009 @ 1:49pm
  
  You HAVE to be kidding me
  You're seriously comparing this to the Holocaust?!? You're now on the Dumbass List.
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  - lounge music, 8 May 2009 @ 3:09pm
    
    Re: You HAVE to be kidding me
    Hey Rob,
    you are absolutely right! Strange to compare this with holocaust. Shame on them!!!
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- Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 2:03pm
  
  Re:
  Hitler was a vegetarian, so am I. Beware of me jews ;)
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- Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 2:29pm
  
  Re:
  I think that you will find that it was a crazy little Austrian man named Hitler and the Nazi party...not Germany. Its not like Germany is the California of Europe where the landscape moves on its own and the forests undergo spontaneous combustion every year.
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  - Tgeigs, 8 May 2009 @ 2:39pm
    
    Re: Re:
    True, but "Germany" also isn't the German people. Maybe I should have said it more clearly in a way that describes my feeling that Germany is a place where BS like this happens?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 1:41pm

Demanding $1,000 from people without any real proof that they did anything illegal certainly seems to come quite close to the classic definition of extortion. We've see how some have used similar shakedown letters for profit, and it makes you wonder why they're allowed at all.

Since no one appears to know why these people were selected, it does seem a bit over the top to immediately associate this matter with "extortion".
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thomas, 8 May 2009 @ 1:41pm

nothing new
Don Corleone said in "The Godfather" "10 lawyers can steal more than 100 men with guns" (more or less). Better yet, lawyers don't get sent to jail like men with guns.

Once lawyers learn they can extort money without proof, there is no reason for them not to run amok.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 1:47pm

"Ima, have you been bought out by Israel?"

Nope, just using Godwin's Law before anyone else had the chance.
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Matt, 8 May 2009 @ 1:56pm

this is actually illegal to do in germany
which is why they're doing it in the US.

Meanwhile, I plan to start sharing their movies tonight, hopefully I'll be seeding them by tomorrow.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 1:57pm

Coming Soon: "Pulling Teeth From the Comfort of Your Own Home!"
Ugh. Just a bit too Nazi for my taste--

Pulling teeth to get me to the theater already involves a nominal amount of extra work and marketing by the Studios. Now, the illegal practice of pulling gold teeth from corpses without leaving home is just over the top!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2009 @ 6:08pm

Nazis?
I was told that all entertainment world wide was controlled by the Jews. Now I'm told it's the Nazis that run the RIAA, MPAA, and the rest of those goose stepping, hate mongering, romanticism based fascist organizations?

Oh, wait - that does make sense. My interaction with Jews involved episodes such as doing a little satisfying and mutually beneficial business and I had a very nice lunch at Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House in Miami once.

It's the movie studios that engage in the vicious witch hunts.
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OMAC (profile), 9 May 2009 @ 10:59am

Would this startegy work in reverse?
What if someone like Anonymous or another massive group of people decided to sue the RIAA or MPAA in small claims court on or near the same date? If several thousand lawsuits were started wouldn't they have to be present at each and every one or risk a default in the plaintiffs favor?

If 5000 people sued the RIAA in small claims court because of emotional distress or some other made up thing, and all the court dates were in the same week, wouldn't that put a massive strain on the RIAA's resources?

I am not sure what you could sue for but if you don't show up for the suit you lose...right?
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