Nice TV - is that legal?

Whether the web service "Schoener Fernsehen" is legal has always been somewhat doubtful. Now, however, the European Court of Justice has made an unequivocal decision. In this practical tip, we clarify what this may mean for you.

Schoener Fernsehen: Legal or illegal?

• With "Schoener Fernsehen" you can receive live streams from numerous German TV stations via the Internet or on your Android smartphone.
• So far you have been in a gray area when you use "Schoener Fernsehen", as the provider probably does not have any licenses for the streams of most channels. If you only used the offer without distributing the streams yourself, you were generally not prosecuted. However, that can change now.
• What was previously a gray area has now been clearly decided by the European Court of Justice. If you use illegal streams on the Internet, you are clearly committing a copyright infringement. This applies without exception and even if you circumvent geoblocking.
• If you are caught with a corresponding violation, it can cost you around 150 euros warning fees. Add to that the license fees for every single movie you've watched. The license fees are around five euros per film.
• It becomes even more dangerous for you as soon as you agree to the P2P streaming on the website. After all, you could make the corresponding stream accessible to other users. A clearly punishable criminal or civil offense.
• If you prefer to be on the safe side, it is better to use a clearly legal TV streaming service like TV Spielfilm live.