Judge Rejects DigiProtect's Demands For Made Up Legal Fees In Germany
from the there-goes-that-idea dept
Back at the end of last year, we wrote about how some had noticed that DigiProtect, one of a group of companies that purposely puts files online to see who downloads them, and then threatens them with "pay up or we'll sue" letters, was potentially in trouble in Germany for not following the law. German law says that you can't base "legal costs" on a contingency like winning. Yet, DigiProtect's agreement is that it only gets paid if it can collect on the pre-settlement letters. That goes against the law. And, now, a court has agreed, and found that DigiProtect can't ask for legal fees in Germany unless it can actually prove what those real fees are. The court did offer DigiProtect an out: open your books and show what the real costs are, and how they are paid. DigiProtect refused to do so. This basically cuts out pretty much all of the massive profits DigiProtect and others brag about.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: germany, legal fees, pre-settlement letters
Companies: digiprotect
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
there not suing people
copyright at 14 years was to allow a company limited time to make a buck LIKE a patent then we the public using that example would get to have a generic made cheaper , that extra they charge for the 14 years would goto funding the added R&D of a new project.
BUT as i said perhaps we should take that 100% under govt and have the govt fund the scientists and then we NEVER HAVE the 14 year period were we in society pay a lot more.
EXCELLENT 2nd post thanks for reminding us how drug patents steal money form society.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: there not suing people
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Good news!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]