Peer-to-Peer Networks – New Decisions

Initial Situation

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have repeatedly dealt with music or video downloads or downloads of games.

Most decisions, of course, have to be made by the lower courts. There is a variety of decisions and trends here.

At the end of 2022, the Düsseldorf Local Court once again addressed the question of whether a connection owner, who could not have initiated the download themselves, must nevertheless be liable for other connection users.

Düsseldorf District Court, 15.12.2022 – 10 C 102/20

The Düsseldorf District Court has now stated that in such a case, the account holder is not liable as a perpetrator, participant, or interferer. At least when the account holder has fulfilled their obligations regarding the burden of presentation, they then do not have to pay either warning or license costs.

Evaluation

Lower courts will still have to make a multitude of different decisions. Nevertheless, this judgment can help in argumentation to defend against excessive warnings.