> They didn't send cease and desist letters. As I understand it they asked for money right away.
That’s sort of combined in Germany. You can ask for (reasonable) damages and lawyer fees plus for people to sign a ceae and desist. (Of course, in actuality those letters can ask for anything they want. It just might not hold up in court. That’s why receiving one of those letters as a private person sucks. Those don’t have a lawyer on staff to quickly look those letters over.)
In this case the damages they asked for were €15.50 and the lawyer fees were €234.50 (together €250).
This process exists in Germany to efficiently resolve disputes without having to use the courts (mostly between companies, actually) but when it comes to copyright infringement of private persons one could arguably say that it is abused.
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> They didn't send cease and desist letters. As I understand it they asked for money right away.
That’s sort of combined in Germany. You can ask for (reasonable) damages and lawyer fees plus for people to sign a ceae and desist. (Of course, in actuality those letters can ask for anything they want. It just might not hold up in court. That’s why receiving one of those letters as a private person sucks. Those don’t have a lawyer on staff to quickly look those letters over.)
In this case the damages they asked for were €15.50 and the lawyer fees were €234.50 (together €250).
This process exists in Germany to efficiently resolve disputes without having to use the courts (mostly between companies, actually) but when it comes to copyright infringement of private persons one could arguably say that it is abused.