Beware of fake streaming offers

Currently, a number of fake companies seem to be taking advantage of the copyright reform and putting fake streaming services online.  I reported on this last month.  However, since I had 8 in the last week alone! inquiries about my website, it is probably helpful to warn once again.

The websites have exciting names like Woplay, Streamba or Oneflix.  Thenames vary constantly, as do the company names in a possible imprint. Currently, these are company names such as “Turquoiz Limited”, “Lovelust Limited”, “Bizcon Limited”, “Anmama Limited”, “CIDD Limited”, “OLJO Ltd”, “SAFE4MEDIA Ltd”, “Kino Bino Limited” and “Kino Cinemas Ltd”.

The websites look confusingly similar, only the URL and logo are different. Of course, the websites do not adhere to German law in terms of consumer information, T&Cs and other obligations. Rather, special offers and the like are used to try to persuade users to register. If this works, the login allegedly often fails with an error message or in the login area is not visible, combined with a “Sorry, come back soon” or similar nonsense. If you think nothing of it, you will be surprised a few days or weeks later when aggressive reminders for subscriptions of 24 or even 48 months arrive in your mail.

Googling for information continues to not help either, as the fake YouTube lawyers are ranking higher and higher and showing up on the top of the search results. The only thing that probably helps here is to keep sharing the alerts.

It can only be advised either not to do so or – in case of the support of a legal protection insurance – to contact an experienced lawyer. Only in the case of a court order (and here please also pay attention to authenticity), MUST! be reacted.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.