Cease and desist order (“Abmahnung”) concerning filesharing from Rasch attorneys, Waldorf attorneys, Sasse attorneys

Did you receive a so-called cease and desist order of one of the law firms prosecuting copyright infringements in peer-to-peer networks?

I. Video information to copyright warning letters:

Here you can see our video informations:

II. How should you react?

File sharing of copyrighted material in networks like “Bear Share” is illegal in Germany according to § 19a UrhG. It can result in a lawsuit and this is a massive phenomena  in Germany since 2005. Right holders have hired several law offices such as Waldorf and Rasch to prosecute the copyright infringements.

The law firms of Waldorf, Rasch, Sasse, and other firms are sending these kind of letters in growing numbers in recent years. We represent thousands of clients since 2005 against the right holders and their law offices and have a detailed experience of each law office as Rasch and Waldorf. You should be aware that all of these law offices follow slightly different strategies, but the key points are always the same:

In the formal letter you received the law office will ask you first of all to sign a so called cease and desist declaration which is a formal contract between you and the right holder. Further they ask for a financial settlement which varies between Euro 500,00, to Euro 800,00 (Sasse) to 956,00 (Waldorf) and Euro 900,00 (Rasch).

So you will have to decide whether to sign a cease and desist agreement and in which manner and also whether to pay or to reject the claim.

If you also received a cease and desist order we would strongly recommend the following steps: