What was the ruling about?
At the start of 2011 the grown-up child of a family in Munich illegally uploaded a Rihanna album onto the internet from a computer in his or her parents’ home.
A few weeks later the parents received a letter from a lawyer representing Universal Music, demanding compensation to the tune of €3,500.
The grown-up child who uploaded the album was one of three siblings living in the house, all of whom were adults.
The parents argued that they had had friends round for the entire evening that the uploading took place and that they couldn’t be held responsible for what their adult children got up to alone.
But they admitted that they knew which of their children had uploaded the album, at the same time refusing to tell authorities which one was responsible.
The BGH told the parents that they were not legally obliged to tell on their kid “but you have to then deal with the consequences.” In other words the parents were ordered to pay compensation.
The judges argued that any other ruling would have given the record labels no chance of successfully pursuing their copyright claims.
What law is this based on?
According to current German law, you can be held responsible for illegal downloads and uploads from an IP address even if you can prove you weren't aware of the crime taking place.
In a flatshare or a private home, the person under whose name the internet connection is registered is legally liable for a crime committed by anyone in the house who misuses the connection.
What does this mean for us?