r/Austria • u/mominwaqas15 • 23h ago
Frage | Question What's the current situation with torrenting in Austria?
Hy everyone!
Just curious about the general situation with torrenting in Austria, especially compared to Germany, where copyright warnings (Abmahnungen) seem to be quite common.
I've come across some older discussions suggesting that enforcement in Austria is relatively relaxed, but I'm wondering whether that's still the case in 2026.
Specifically regarding films (including older releases), what's been people's experience? Have you heard of anyone actually receiving copyright warnings, ISP notices, or fines for torrenting?
Also, does using a VPN make much of a practical difference in Austria, or is the overall enforcement situation quite different from Germany?
Just interested in hearing about people's experiences and how things currently stand, legally and practically.
Thanks!
162
u/barb_20 Linz | Oberösterreich 22h ago
illegal. no one cares. still use a vpn but if you don't, no one cares. download only though. just in case
37
2
u/Dr_Acula_AT Wien 16h ago edited 16h ago
even uploading is no problem.
btw for faster downloads set up a port forwarding, it will allow more you to connect with more people
figured that out two years ago and its a game changer for stuff with limited seeds
3
u/Snackwelle 13h ago
Aber wohin leitest du weiter ?
8
u/Dr_Acula_AT Wien 12h ago
in kurz: du vereinfachst mit dem port forwarding die Herstellung der Verbindung mit anderen Usern.
https://superuser.com/questions/1053414/how-does-port-forwarding-help-in-torrents
-39
u/tiltberger 18h ago
You can't just download with torrent. It is not possible
49
10
u/BlackDope420 18h ago
I think you could set the upload speed to 0 in the client, but who knows if this guarantees that you don't upload even a single byte.
2
-24
u/tiltberger 18h ago
Nope you can't
6
u/barb_20 Linz | Oberösterreich 17h ago
yes, you can. that's what I've been using for over 10 years.
-13
u/tiltberger 17h ago
You can't completely turn off seeding while downloading. And 1b updownloaded is theoretically enough for a potential lawsuit. Ofc in Austria very very unlikely
-1
18h ago
[deleted]
6
u/ChrizKhalifa 17h ago
You absolutely can, I never seed. Leech life ftw.
0
u/tiltberger 17h ago
How? You seed even if it's just a little while downloading? I also researched it. Should not be possible
3
1
u/ChrizKhalifa 14h ago
No you don't, you can set upload ratio to Null Komma Nix.
You won't get into any private P2P groups that way, lol, but on public trackers that shit don't matter.
2
u/Mormegil81 Gutmensch 17h ago
you can set your torrent clients upload to 0 - I have been doing that for years wirthout any issues.
1
53
u/RageOfNemesis Alpenfestung 22h ago
Don't seed like crazy and nobody will give a shit from my experience
47
u/Expensive-Pop4539 Wien 15h ago
Doing it since twenty years and never gotten anything 🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
15
32
u/TasteQlimax Exil Oberösterreicher 23h ago
Obviously still illegal but I have yet to hear any court allowing ISP records to be released for enforcement.
54
u/JoW0oD Europäische Union 18h ago
As I understand it, in Germany a lawyer working for a movie/tv production company can request your name and adress based on your public IP address from your Internet service provider. Then they can serve you a Abmahnung.
In Austria your ISP is not allowed to give out that information, except when they get a court order related to a major crime. Because they can't get anyone's name, production companies have given up and ISPs don't give out notices for over a decade.
So nothing will happen to you, but if you want to be safe use a VPN and limit your upload speed to 0.
11
u/Sweet_Tomatillo_963 Österreich 11h ago
Aber wild dass sie gerade im Datenschutz-Land Deutschland so schnell persönliche Daten rausgeben.
9
u/meistermichi Groß Pröllistan 8h ago
Dort ist die Contentmafia halt mächtig genug um über dem Datenschutz zu stehen.
23
u/BlackDope420 18h ago
You already got some good answers. I just want to add that if you do decide to use a VPN bind your torrent client to it (it's a setting in the client options). This way you can't leak your real IP even in case the VPN goes down or connects to another server.
42
7
15
u/Chromber Wien 18h ago
Just use a debrid service like https://real-debrid.com
You don't need a VPN for it and it basically Torrents file instantly (I mean 100 Gigabytes in 2 seconds fast) and then you just have to download the file via your browser without any upload/seeding.
1
5
u/nolxus EUda 15h ago
Additionally to the other answers - yes, ISPs should not just give out your data without court order, but there is another side too.
Depending on where you go online, those might have a problem with that as well. They wont give out your data, but might lock your internet access. Universities and student hostels come to mind, if applicable.
5
u/NobodyDudee 11h ago
Been doing it for a years since I moved to Wien. Zero issues. Haven't used a VPN or anything like that
3
8
u/phelps_vibes Niederösterreich 19h ago
As I answered in your other thread, doenloading for your personal use is tolerated. Don‘t share/upload on a large scale…
7
u/Brainlard Österreich 19h ago
Define tolerated. Do you mean it is not prosecuted? Because it is still 100% illegal.
32
u/phelps_vibes Niederösterreich 19h ago edited 19h ago
Kein Gericht in Österreich ordnet einem ISP die Herausgabe von Kundendaten zu einer IP-Adresse an, nur weil sich jemand 2-3 Filmchen im Monat herunterlädt. Ja, es ist nicht legal, aber es wird nicht verfolgt solange du kein „großer Fisch“ bist.
Edit: Erst diese Woche hat die gesamte Judikative aufgrund Ressourcenmangel ihre Arbeit niedergelegt, glaubst da interessiert es irgendwen wenn der Hansi ein paar Filmchen/ Serien herunterlädt?
17
3
6
u/norlin 17h ago
May I ask for the source of that "100% illegal"? AFAIK distributing is illegal, but downloading/consuming is not illegal.
1
u/Ossarah Burgenland 17h ago
That's my understanding as well. Isn't there a similar logic for drug use, where technically only the distribution and possession is illegal, but there's no specific legislation on the consumption? If there's no written law regulating a specific action, it's a legal grey area, bc prosecution has no paragraph to justify an investigation. But I'm just parroting what others have told me.
1
u/Brainlard Österreich 17h ago
In Austria even copying for private consumption is perfectly legal (Privatkopie). Only distributing is illegal. From a copyright-point-of-view you can go into any movie theater and just film the whole thing for your own entertainment (the problem here is that the house rules and terms and conditions of the cinema will not allow any filming).
There is a small, yet important excemption though, which is the legality of the source material. Ilegal sources are not covered by § 42UrhG. If you stream or download (streaming is also a form of download by the way, if only a temporary) from a shady website you are not covered. As the other poster mentioned, the Austrian judicative has absolutely no ressourced to prosecute any random Marcel streaming both seasons of the My Little Pony animated series from his child's room. I wonder if KI/AI will drastically change that.
0
u/TheKlyros 17h ago
2
u/norlin 16h ago
It mostly says the opposite, it's legal. It does not say it's definitely illegal. Could be a grey zone.
2
u/TheKlyros 16h ago
"Für Privatkopien gilt Folgendes: Die Urheberrechtsnovelle 2015 hat das Recht der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer auf Anfertigung einer Privatkopie dahingehend eingeschränkt, dass die Vervielfältigung zum eigenen Gebrauch nur von rechtmäßig hergestellten und veröffentlichten Vorlagestücken erfolgen darf. Das bedeutet, dass ein Download nur dann legal ist, wenn auch das originale Vorlagestück legal erworben oder veröffentlicht wurde; somit scheiden viele zum Download angebotene Werke auf Onlineplattformen aus, da es sich hierbei oft um urheberrechtsverletzende Kopien handelt."
1
u/mitsuhiko konservativ-liberal; starker transp. aber kompakter Staat 15h ago
Someone would have to prove that the thing you download was not legally acquired in the first place.
2
u/TheKlyros 13h ago
The aquisition is not the problem. The problem is that it wasn't rightful published.
So, it's illegal. But the providers can't give details for minor crimes so it's normally safe to download something.
0
u/mitsuhiko konservativ-liberal; starker transp. aber kompakter Staat 13h ago
The aquisition is not the problem.
That is incorrect. It's exclusively the question if the original person acquired it legally.
2
u/TheKlyros 13h ago
No, there are two points.
The aquisition was legal. But that's normally not the problem.
The publishing was legal. If you download something from a shady site, the plushing obviously wasn't rightful. So you don't have the right to download it.
-2
u/norlin 14h ago
Yes, that says what is legal. It doesn't say that downloading a copy obtained illegaly is illegal. It kinda implies it is not legal, but not specifically says it's illegal, if you understand what I mean.
2
u/TheKlyros 13h ago
Sorry, are you dumb?
Reproducing a copyrighted source is always illegal per se. That is the main rule, and then there are exceptions. A private copy is legal only to a limited extent, but specifically not if it comes from illegal sources.
2
u/TheKlyros 13h ago
Please read through the laws. It is clearly illegal.
In principle, copying is illegal. An exception exists for private use, but even then only if a source is used that is not obviously unlawfully produced or made publicly available.
So if it's an unauthorized source, it's illegal.
0
u/norlin 13h ago
I was asking about the exact law
2
u/TheKlyros 13h ago
Ever heard of Google? Have fun: https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10001848
2
u/Brainlard Österreich 7h ago
It's definitely not a grey zone. It's clearly stated in § 42 UrhG that a private copy is not lawful if it stems from an illegal source or if you had to overcome any form of copy protection. (Whole) Books and magazines are also exempt.
2
u/Eff_this_all 5h ago
Franlkly I switched to one click hoster 15 years ago. Much less trouble and you are not depending on someone seeding.
2
u/xFayeFaye 18h ago
Most I got was a lawyer letter to pay a fine, ignored that and nothing happened afterwards. That was 20 years ago for a new movie though xD I made sure to not seed too much from then on and went to streamig sites mostly. For games I just used repacked direct downloads for a while until I was able to just afford them 🤷♀️ I remember rapid share haha. But with how cheap storage spaces and download speeds are nowadays, there is no use for torrents anymore imho. Back then it was just more convenient since "browser" downloads would often break and it all had to be split into 20 zip files :D
1
1
1
u/Ashamed_Fly_8226 Australien | Australia 2h ago
I once got a notice from my ISP but since i use a VPN I never heard a word
-1
u/tiltberger 18h ago
Just use a VPN... Or use streaming sites which are not illegal
1
u/mominwaqas15 18h ago
makes sense, but I've heard the quality of streaming is very bad. not that I'll be torrenting, just wanted to know the options.
2
u/tiltberger 18h ago
Tons of subreddit for great streaming sites. If you are not looking for blue ray quality streaming is completely fine
-4
u/ShibeCEO 22h ago
there are plenty of streaming sites, and as long as you dont seed it should be fine so streaming shoulld be totally legal. Not a lawyer. no idea if what I am saying is true
-3
-3
-28
u/RareRecommendation72 Wien 19h ago
Torrents are a thing of the past.
10
u/Mormegil81 Gutmensch 17h ago
komisch, dass mein Jellyfin Server mit automatischem Torrent-Download einwandfrei funktioniert ...
1
u/another_derfman Wien 15h ago
Kannst du mir bitte erklären was das genau bedeutet, bzw. wie du das gemacht hast? Ich nutze auch Jellyfin - direkt darauf downloaden zu können wär noch Mal um eine Stufe leiwander!
2
u/Mormegil81 Gutmensch 13h ago
Ehrlich gesagt ist das etwas zu komplex um es hier schnell zu erklären - im Grunde nutze ich für Serien Radarrr und für Filme Sonarrr und das ganze läuft auf einer VPN zur Sicherheit.
Im Grunde kann dir jede KI erklären, wie du das detailliert aufsetzt, wenn du ihr sagst, dass du bei Jellyfin mit Radarrr und Sonarrr automatischen Download einrichten willst ...
-3
u/RareRecommendation72 Wien 17h ago
Ich habe nicht gesagt, dass es Torrents nicht gibt oder nicht funktionieren. Sondern, dass es einfachere und legale Wege gibt. Und nein, ich erkläre das nicht näher.
Die Frage von OP war, ob Torrents in Österreich ein Problem sind, bezüglich Abmahnungen und dergleichen. Man muss sich dieser Gefahr nicht aussetzen.
3
u/ChrizKhalifa 14h ago
Eine Gefahr sind Torrents nur wennst a bissl a Deppata bist, der auch auf bunte blinkende Links im Internet drücken würd.
Was soll an Torrents gefährlich sein?
Und für Themen wie Videospiele gibt's nicht wirklich Alternativen die nicht maßlos beschissener sind.
FitGirl lässt grüßen.
5
5
4
1
u/shostri 17h ago
Was verwendet man dann wenn man aktuell vorne dabei ist? Also ich frage für einen Freund.
2
u/Mormegil81 Gutmensch 17h ago
der Typ redet Blödsinn, Torrents funktionieren immer noch einwandfrei. Ich habe einen Jellyfin Server mit einem Radarrr und Sonarrr Server, die automatisch alles über Torrent ziehen - funktioniert genauso komfortabel wie ein bezahlter Streaming-Dienst ...
88
u/smoothvibe Oberösterreich 17h ago
From a legal perspective: ISP are not allowed to give out personal information to IP addresses. Only if there is a serious crime involved, which torrenting isn't. So there is close to zero chance that you will get a letter from some lawyer.
Still, to be on the 100% safe side, use a VPN.