In a civil proceeding, the district court of Hamburg ordered the operator of an illegal streaming platform for Sky Deutschland content, Stream4u.tv, and its technical service provider to pay damages of over €18,000.
The court ruling is the first civil court order to pay damages as a result of illegal Sky streaming within the scope of joint liability. This means that the supplier is also liable for the full amount as a result of aiding as a jointly liable debtor because the district court determined that the supplier who delivered the necessary hardware was aware that the hardware would be used for the illegal distribution of Sky content.
As a result, every technical service provider informed by Sky about the illegal use of the pay-TV operator’s services risks significant liability if the service provider does not immediately react and terminate its service, according to Sky Deutschland.
“The ruling is a warning for all those involved in the illegal distribution of Sky content,” said Thomas Stahn, Director Anti-Piracy & Technology at Sky Deutschland. In contrast to criminal law, he added, every helper was also liable for the full damages suffered by the injured parties – regardless of whether or not the helper profited from the illegal business.
