Germany’s Federal Supreme Court handed down a decision in May 2010 concerning the conditions under which owners of wireless LAN routers may be held responsible for third parties downloading pirated material using their routers.
Germany’s Federal Supreme Court handed down a decision in May 2010 in the Sommer unseres Lebens (summer of our life) case, concerning the conditions under which owners of wireless LAN routers may be responsible, under German law, for third parties downloading pirated, copyright-infringing material, using their routers.
The facts of this case were simple: the defendant, a private person, was the owner of a wireless LAN router providing access to the Internet. An unknown third party had used this wireless LAN router while the defendant was on holiday and had offered, inter alia, an illegally copied music file called Sommer unseres Lebens for download on the eMule file exchange platform.
The plaintiff owned the copyright to the recording. It was discovered that the defendant’s wireless LAN had been used in order to offer the music for download. The plaintiff asserted claims for a cease and desist order and for damages.
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Online piracy, Sommer unseres Lebens, security
