Many consumers get mails from alleged lawyers Dirk Uwe Zajonc and Florian Ruck. They accuse them of copyright violations on YouTube.
Law office doesn't exist
The Consumer Centre Brandenburg warns against these faked reminders. According to this German public authority, the men Zajonc and Ruck are not registered in the lawyer index and therefore it is highly unlikely that they are actual lawyers with an office. The website given in the mails is not working. They don't state any adress of their office.
Threat due to alleged copyright violations
The alleged lawyers claim that they represent a firm called "Intl. Musik Copyright Agency", short "IMCA". In the mails, the recipients are accused of having violated copyrights by streaming works of IMCA on YouTube.
They don't tell which work is affected nor if it is a video or a song. They only write that due to the act of streaming, intermediate storage is technically necessary which leads to duplications and therefore copyrights are violated.
Payment request
The recipients of the mails are requested to pay about 40 EUR to Florian Ruck in order to cover the damage of IMCA. They state a period of ten days, after which the amount would rise extensively.
Don't let them intimate you!
No legal basis
If and under what circumstances streaming actually violates copyrights is a highly complicated topic. Please find further information at our article "Streaming platforms". But, regarding the fake mails of Zajonc and Ruck, we can assure you: The claims are not valid!
Tips of ECC Austria
- Don't pay the requested amount!
- You may file charges at the next police station. In order to do that, print the mail and take it with you.
- Don't let them intimidate you!
