Short Answer
You must respond to a copyright warning letter within the specified deadline instead of ignoring it or paying the full settlement amount immediately. Specialized legal firms monitor peer-to-peer networks to extract high out-of-court payments from internet account holders.
What Most Expats Don't Realize
You downloaded a movie using a standard torrent client without utilizing a virtual private network. A specialized law firm captured your IP address during the automatic upload process and sent an official "Abmahnung" demanding an immediate settlement. You panic-paid the full €900 demand because you were terrified of criminal prosecution. You lost hundreds of euros for an automated download because you didn't realize the settlement figure was highly negotiable.
What To Do
- Call an attorney specialized in "Urheberrecht" (copyright law) to review the exact claims in the letter.
- Ask the attorney to draft a "modifizierte Unterlassungserklärung" to protect you from future automated penalties.
- "Ich werde die geforderte Summe nicht ungeprüft bezahlen." (I will not pay the demanded sum without verification.) — say this to the opposing law firm to buy time while your lawyer handles the reduction.
The Truth
Germany has an aggressive cottage industry of law firms that do nothing but hunt torrenters. Since torrenting uploads while it downloads, you aren't just watching—you're distributing, which is why the fine is so high.