5 crazy ILLEGAL Things in Germany 🐮

[@ravanpee1325]

The car washing ban is more about oil or fuel which can pollute the ground water. 1 drop of oil can pollute 600-1000l of water.

[@segka8536]

@JP4Christ What about secretly pouring engine oil in the river for fun? What kind of argument is this? If the majority washes their cars at home, you will get a bigger problem than we have right now.

[@shhh3683]

​@@hello_this_is_methat's an accident that happens but I think they are smart enough to already prevent it or afford that loss

[@NapoleonDynamyte]

🤦🏻‍♂️

[@migpinx]

Fortunately rain in Germany knows about the law and it's selective.

[@MyYT100]

My friend got a large fine for illegal downloading that her FRIEND did when they stayed with her for a few days. She did not know about it at the time, but she was still responsible for that person's illegal downloads. She did enlist the help of a lawyer to reduce the fine. She ended up contacting her friend to pay for it, too! So, it's helpful to also advise friends and family staying with you to NOT make any downloads using your Wi-Fi!

[@andreashorn9638]

"Up to" in fines normally means that you will never reach that fine. For example for swimming in a lake that is prohibited MIGHT be listed with "up to 5000" but usually it will start by 25 Euro.

[@supertobino]

not always true: in berlin fines for house parties with more than 5 people during the last lockdown were ‘up to 1250’ and I’ve only heard of cases where every single participant was fined the full 1250. so I guess it really depends on how angry authorities are…

[@lphaetaamma291]

@@supertobino the diffrence on the beach is, how close you come to protected areas like nests and reed fields and dangerous places with turbulent water. If you going in the beach til your ankles are under water you will probably get fined much less, than than, when you harm ecosystems. On the other hand: you can't participate a a Party half way, either you do or you don't

[@supertobino]

@@lphaetaamma291 haha, like: officer I was only half there, I didn’t even dance!!

[@andreashorn9638]

@@supertobino The difference is that the enviromental protetction laws have to deal with a much wider variety of cases. Starting with illegal swimming, or maybe disturbing wildlife, ending in dumping rubbish or other enviromentally dangerous stuff. btw: Just looked up the Corona-Verordnung of Berlin, there is no fine of 1250 €. so what you have "heard" might be wrong as is often the case with things that you "hear". The fine for particants of a party would be 500 max.

[@RustyDust101]

That swimming in prohibited waters is not only to protect the body of water from unwarranted bathers. In many cases these lakes are either Baggerseen / excavator lakes that may have unsafe sides that could collapse and cause an underwater suction that might cause even the best swimmers to drown. Or the sides might collapse and tear down the surrounding areas causing significant damage to cliffs, roads, or even buildings. So yeah, sometimes, *Sometimes*, I do understand the "Baden verboten". In other cases it is more a problem of overcrowding a lake's eco-system, especially with the usualy amount of sunscreen people apply today. If 50000 people swim and bathe in a lake that is only able to support 1000 people without killing off its ecosystem, it is easier to prohibit ALL swimming in it than trying to control the number of people getting access to it. Yeah, not really an equitable solution, but to the bureaucratic mind that might be the ONLY solution.

[@christelklinko7683]

I love the way you two respect each other. Funny, compatible and informational. Since I left Germany 50 years ago a lot I did not know, some you walked down memory lane. Thank you

[@Joshua5de]

The first Article in our Constitution is "The dignity of man is inviolable". So therefore we are very serious about handling insults.

[@daffyduk77]

Regrettably we';ve gone too far down this path in the UK also ("causing harrassment, alarm or distress") , & now there is an undercurrent to remove people's right not to be offended. Which I'd support. It should not be criminalised, IMHO

[@MartinZanichelli]

You learned that a little late considering your recent history in the last hundred years.

[@pizzamannmann5239]

About the pirating point: Because of P2P (Peer to Peer) copyright infrigements, German People only use OCHs (One-Click-Hosters) That way it is split. The illegal part is done by an "uploader" who upload it to the servers and the legal part (simple download of the movie/files) can be done by normal people. Although what needs to be said is, it is only legal to download files that are not "obviously illegal", which makes this very vague. Fun Fact: In germany it is allowed to make endless private copies of (copyrighted) files (music/movies/..) because we pay a big fee on every storage medium/device that can be used to store illegal data! ( Pauschalabgabe )

[@ramzi0]

You guys are awesome. I click the like button even before i watch.

[@fabioc981]

I wanted to write the same XD keep up the good work!

[@victorperlain]

Me too! 😂 ❤️❤️❤️

[@victorperlain]

After watching your video(s) l always feel like l spent a wonderful afternoon with dearest friends 🥰. (P.S. criminal offence, maybe a felony?)

[@berlinorama]

I have been here in Germany for 40 years and am still truly baffled at the laws on insults! This seems so petty to me, even if I originally come from one of the most litigious countries in the world (USA). I have been insulted plenty of times here and would never think of calling the police;-))

[@_Yannex]

If the other person who'd insulted you was right , the police can't do anything at all😂

[@ravanpee1325]

Also fines often depend on the income of the person. For example if you insult somebody, you will get a fine of xx day rate's of your income up to a certain max. amout. E.g. you earn 100 € per day. 10 day rate of income as fine = 1000€. Other fines have a fixed amout e.g. travic violations

[@peterfischer7084]

That´s only true for "Geldstrafen" which are punishments for criminal offences. Not for Verwarnungsgeld and Bußgeld which are regulated by the civil code.

[@Undisclosed86467]

This is the most important video of yours that I've seen to date. Moving to Dusseldorf next week. I don't care for attorneys or insurance. THANK YOU!!! May be using the link before we even arrive.

[@simplegermany]

We wish you a smooth move 💪😊

[@laurac1902]

You guys are the best! I introduced my German class to the ‘111 Idioms page’ on your site and they loved it. It inspired my teacher to focus on Redewendungen for the remainder classes. 😊

[@simplegermany]

Hey Laura, that's awesome! Thanks a lot! Glad you like it 😊

[@KK-mk6wu]

Living in Germany from 3 years.. but still was not aware of these things.. thank you so much guys.. you are awesome!

[@carlesinseattle7660]

ihr zwei seid die besten! seit 5 Jahren lebe ich in Teilzeit in Deutschland. Du hast mir so viele Geheimnisse erklärt! vielen, vielen Dank,😉 Außerdem seid ihr beide so leicht zu hören.

[@TheWuschelMUC]

We learned the difference between Bußgeld and Geldstrafe like this: Geldstrafe will happen if your deed was morally reprehensible (e.g. shoplifting), Bußgeldbescheid if it is morally indifferent (like speeding).

[@dirkschwartz1689]

Regarding legal protection for your workplace or tenancy, I would recommend joining a union or your local "Mieterbund" (tenants' association), respectively. They usually offer even more services at a lower rate than a typical general insurance company, and they engage in social and political work to strengthen the rights of their members.

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

just as a piece of additional info. If your only concern are scummy landlords, you don't need legal insurance. If you become a member of a "Mieterbund" (renters' alliance) you usually also have legal insurance pertaining to your rental agreement for your house/apartment. And it usually is a lot cheaper that way around. Heck, sometimes a letter from the legal department of said alliance is enough to make a landlord back down from outrageous demands. They are also helpful for reviewing your annual bill for costs associated with your home (Nebenkostenabrechnung). Edit: Also concerning the prison sentence for spitting on someone, that likely has to do with it being treated as physical attack (Körperverletzung) - which is a different and more severe crime.

[@benjaminwitkowski4947]

LOVE THIS! Moving to Germany in August and your videos have been nothing but helpful and entertaining. VIELEN DANK!!!

[@zinkzhang1752]

About the online pirate Actually if you accidently or even on purpose (not suggested) download a copyright thing, not likely they will immediately catch you and fine you. Also, if they send a fine letter, you can directly ignore it because this letter is not from goverment and bank etc. Just maybe from a law company which is paied by copyright company to track those private. This letter is not a certain fine you need to pay. This is just a suspicion from the company. And they need to offer further proof if they want to sue you. So just ignore it at the begining, no need to response. If they send more and more letters, then strongly say no you didnt do it and ask them to offer proof. Generally they will stop there because it will become complicated but if they dont, you can say this network was maybe used by other stranger who stole your wifi and you knew nothing about it. Just dont say you do it at any time. Because if you admit it yourself, thats when they will catch your tail and keep all the way until you submit the fine. The one way and best, always use VPN then you will always be secured.

[@Alf3003]

important not to sign the cease-and-desist letter that was sent to you. Because in this one usually recognizes the guilt. In the past, there were forms for a modified cease-and-desist letter without acknowledgment of guilt.

[@pranjaliprajapati7896]

THANKS FOR PROVIDING US THE KNOWLEDGE IN DETAIL.🙂

[@Sina-et9lm]

I love the way that the help each other any in funny way and that makes the contact really interesting to watch 😊

[@robertzander9723]

Very good and important topic, really nice that you did it. In Germany if you change your home, take a look into your maybe new neighborhood and what kind of people living there. It can be a thug experience, some people have the whole day nothing more to do than find something wrong and a opportunity to call the police or a lawyer for small issue. Complaining is a competition in Germany. The cities make a lot of money with Schwarzfahren/ people that travel without paying, it's a huge business. It's also a lot of pressure for the inspectors to find someone.

[@GospodinJean]

Germany is the country of forbidding things and complaining

[@Dahrenhorst]

Especially so called minor misdemeanors which endangers plants, animals and the environment are fined heavily in Germany. For instance letting you dog run around without a leash in the fields or the woods will cost you up to 5,000 € in the time from April to July (because that's bird breeding time). Or hunting down the marten which frequently destroys your car's insulation or cables and capturing or killing will cost you up to 50,000 €. Just like cutting down a tree in your garden without official permission (which you won't get).

[@simplegermany]

Oh wow, those are heavy fines! But good for nature 🙂

[@Goldmember1603]

Love your channel and from time to time I am even learning stuff about my home country. To save you from some fees: you should put a "Werbung" banner in the last chapter 😉

[@MHahn-bg7cu]

The thing with the money... If a judge sentences you to pay he might do in "Tagessätze" which means he takes a look at your overall income and you have to pay according to the money you theoretically have per day. So if a rich man shows you the middle finger it costs him more Euros than a poor man. Trying to catch Porsche ore Mercedes drivers doing it is more lucrative.

[@tobyk.4911]

Some years ago a professional soccer player (who played in the men's 1st Bundesliga) was caught by police driving a car without driving license ... As far as I remember, he was sentenced to 90 "Tagessätze", in other words: about 25% of his yearly income... a penalty somewhere between 1 and 2 million Euro.

[@thomasb.9965]

Another Great episode 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 get the „Rechtschutzversicherung“😇😇😇😇

[@3.k]

It’s also good to know that the Haftpflichtversicherung and the Rechtsschutzversicherung usually do not cover traffic related cases. If you’re looking for legal protection in traffic issues, you might need an additional insurance plan.

[@simplegermany]

Most legal insurance providers offer three different areas for cover. Traffic is one of them, so you can choose to get protection for that area as well. 😊

[@reinhard8053]

Sometimes there are insurance combinations which are cheaper. I have a Kasko and a Rechtschutzversicherung(for traffic and with this car) because together they are cheaper than just the Kasko alone !?

[@pigoff123]

I lived in Germany from 72 to 96. I had a girlfriend that got a ticket because she left her car unlocked in her drive thru. As a teenager if I didn't have the money for the train i stayed in the bathroom until i got off. Only did it a few times. In the 70s we didn't have an app. One time i paid for my ticket and ran for the train which left as I got on. I realized I left my ticket in the machine.

[@ThomasMunich-f1k]

About the fine for illegally downloaded material: it is a very funny and awkward legal construction. Actually, a lawyer (who has nothing to do with the people who have the copyright) can say that he feels morally offended by your wrongdoing and he can send you a letter demanding that you quit this behaviour. You can comply to his demand and send him a response of compliance to his demand and in this case he will charge you a salary of about 1,000 Euros for his trouble. So it is actually a salary that you pay, not a fine. You can also decline or do nothing, then he might (or might not) eventually bring this case to court and then outcome will be very unsecue ("on high sea and before the court, you are in the hands of God", German saying). I know this thing quite exactly because one friend from school age became such kind of "Abmahnanwalt" and makes a living from this (actually he is not my friend any more).

[@LetumFalcis]

Sometimes it comes down to the person who checked your ticket. Because it happened to me sometime that I forgot to buy a new monthly ticket or the extra tickets you sometimes need. And if you're nice and polite they may ask you what your destination was and will write it down at your ticket so at least you can go to work and do the aftermath of your stupidness later the day :) Of course thats not common and I met some really rude people as well but that's not always the case. Great video =)

[@limfran8959]

Recently I visited Germany. I didn’t know a ticket has to be validated until an undercover staff caught me and gave me a fine of 60 euro. The ticket was a day pass, and I thought that after I purchased the ticket, the next 24 hours it was valid.

[@user-qr7zf6rj6t]

So you have to additionally scan it somewhere to enable it? Or what do you mean by validated?

[@lambertinrolf9879]

Hi I am on old german male an i like your stuff go on. To the point of carwashing. In former Days you could see every Dad on Saturday wash his car on the streets, and belive me it took hours. The reason to forbit it: when you wash your car it will bring oil asphalt and many other things in the canalasitation. This can not be cleared by our water cleaning systems. The carwash stations have special filters to protect the groundwater and the soil. It ist still ok to wash your car inside (the cabin).

[@Daysed.and.Konfuzed]

Many countries have laws against insulting/verbal assault/moral harassment, including most, if not all, in South America. It just happens to be another case of the law unfairly serving the rich. The amount of money, time, and education required to take someone to court, or to even know that you can, it's an amount of resources not available or too costly for most of the population in developing countries. And that's if you even do have witnesses to avoid a "my word against yours" kinda case. So most people, almost everywhere, are used to just returning the insults.

[@janvier119]

Thank you both! As always, got new things to keep in mind☺️.

[@marksauck3399]

You two should watch a movie called Emperor of the North. You’ll really see how harshly you are treated when riding a train without a ticket. The Shack(Ernest Borgnine) ruled the rails until “A No 1” (Lee Marvin) came along and the Shack meets his match. Very violently. 😱 I love this movie and you’ ll see a little what life was like in America during the Great Depression.

[@51pinn]

Wenn Ihr einen illegalen Download macht und Copyright verletzt kann es sein, dass Ihr von einem Anwalt angeschrieben werdet, eine Unterlassungserklärung unterschreiben und eine Abmahngebühr bezahlen müsst. Das ist aber keine Strafe im juristischen Sinn. Die kann nur ein Gericht bei einer Straftat verhängen bzw. eine Behörde bei einer Ordnungswidirgkeit. If you make an illegal download and violate copyright, you may be contacted by a lawyer, sign a cease and desist letter and have to pay a warning fee. But this is not a punishment in the legal sense. This can only be imposed by a court in the case of a criminal offense or by an authority in the case of an administrative offence.

[@nithinrao762]

Get safe is great. I had a consultation right away with a lawyer when i received a driving fine. Great service.

[@mfischer5084]

Some fines are there just to prevent putting yourself in danger. For example: Swimming in certain waters, like River Rhine, might kill you.

[@xcoder1122]

Actually, if you just wash the outer parts of your car only with pure water on paved surface with sewer system, then this is not forbidden as that's exactly the same as if your car is standing outside in the rain (there are court rulings which confirm that). It is however forbidden as soon as you would wash anywhere inside the motor, use any chemical cleaning substance that would normally not get into the sewer system (this applies to pretty much all car shampoos), or if the dirty water can directly enter the environment or the the ground water (e.g. if you do it on grassland, on plain soil, or anywhere else the water would not end up in a sewer system). As barely anyone washes a car without cleaner, you can pretend it is generally forbidden, yet if you would just use a high pressure cleaner with pure water on the outside of your car (not into the radiator grille!) to get rid of some dust or flies while it is standing on a public street with sewer system, you would get away with it, thought this hardly counts as a full car wash.

[@EmmaHope88]

I used wash my dad's car in our driveway, on a main street, with an all natural cleaner and our neighbor walking by (he's a police officer). Sometimes there was a police car driving by. Never have we been fined.

[@hadnoideahow]

The reason why torrents are popular is because some countries are poor and people cannot afford streaming services, going to the cinema, buying an album etc. In Germany, it is absolutely normal to pay for everything because the standard of living--een for ones on minimum wage--is much higher. So while yes, in principle, I agree that paying for someone's work show support for all those who worked on the film/album, while I lived in a poor country, I had no issues with downloading content because there was no other way for me to see/hear it. I would not mess around with torrents in Germany, everyone knows that. :D

[@Shona1337]

Washing your car is allowerd if you follow the following. The fine is also different from Bundesland to Bundesland, in Baden-Würtemberg it is between 500€ - 50.000€ in Sachsen it is between 25€ - 100.000€ Rules for washing your car at home are: - Only wash the car on sealed floors. - Do not use chemical cleaners, just plain water or environmentally friendly cleaning agents - The use of power washers to wash your car at home is prohibited. - Car washing is prohibited on Sundays in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg

[@FFM0594]

Not true! You can buy a ticket on a bus. You can even buy a ticket on a long distance train if you actively seek out the conductor and explain why you didn't get one before boarding (e.g. Machine broken )

[@thorstenguenther]

That is correct, just directly approach the Zugführer (conductor), i.e. the person who signals the train departure in a station, immediately, these persons are extremely helpful. I e.g. due to an attack on a train line that shut off its electricity had to switch to a train in Berlin that Amy ticket wasn't valid for and should have approached the station personnel, but the queue was endless so I asked the conductor and she immediately gave me her okay to use her train. I even had a situation where an expected train did not come and I was stranded at a small station, so after studying the schedule and checking for alternatives, I asked the conductor of the train in the opposite direction if I could take that train and change direction at the next major station, which I was also immediately allowed to.

[@insideAdirtyMind]

We have a secluded lake property next to the forest and we can not let anyone swim there. If something happens to the swimmers we will have a lot of legal trouble, so we have to tell them to leave the property or call police if they refuse to leave. Also you must look for water quality if you provide a lake for swimmers, in summer a lot of people get poisoned by the blue algae. Swimming lakes have to get checked regularly. Also, in the area I live a lot of lakes are used for fish farming and when people swim in them it stresses the offspring and they may die. The owner will be very angry with you. You sometimes can´t tell the difference between swimming lakes and fish farming lakes, so you have to look at the signs. I wish you a wonderful summer and nice swimming in clean water. 🥰 Edit: the spitting thing...because you can transmit diseases that may affect the health of other people (and sometimes also cause the death of other people), spitting is classified as "Körperverletzung" (mayhem), that is the reason you maybe see the prison from the inside after that^^

[@NeniEmSu]

Watching this for like the 3rd time and I noticed something cool at 14:57 when Jen says to like the video, the like button block lights up. That is so cool! Watching on pc btw not sure if it works on the mobile app

[@simplegermany]

Yes, that’s a cool new feature from KZbin 😊

[@seromidang]

Not quite sure if I want to live in Germany anymore lol...

[@federerfanatic]

They have machines that dispense tickets: a dutch colleague joked that these machines are IQ tests (deliberate) ;-) Keeps Germans sharp.

[@haukenot3345]

They aren't that complicated really, but the software can sometimes be very laggy, which can easily trip you up if you arrive at the station last minute.

[@JennHolt]

I watched this initially because you guys are adorable and I wondered which laws you would discuss. I learned about the technology of torrents. Who knew 😄 Let me also second the “nicht schwarzfahren” recommendation.

[@raimondschaaf1027]

Die Freigabe der IP geht eigentlich folgendermaßen: Zunächst stellt der Abmahnanwalt eine Strafanzeige im Namen seines geschädigten Klienten. Dann verlangt er Akteneinsicht als Nebeklägeranwalt und erfährt so die IP-Adresse und die Anschrift des Schädigers. Damit stellt er dann die Schadenersatzansprüche an den Schädiger.

[@alfalfasprout69]

Very good video, living here for 1.5 years and I can’t wait to leave this country Germans in NRW seem very mean, yell at you for just standing there, but the culture contradicts itself as for example my neighbour in the city keeps putting the garbage bins in front of my garage, I asked them not to and they argued with me that there is no other place to put it and walked away, but then they tried to fine me to parking my car in my driveway which was apparently blocking part of the walkway … It’s a culture of angry people where I like

[@tomatom9666]

Generational trauma in these slavic eastern Germans

[@graytoby1]

Bro I lived in NRW for way too long and I can't agree with you more the Germans here are miserable miserable bastards. I don't think I've ever seen one of them smile or laugh. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@monakulasic5669]

Very good information for people that are not from Germany.

[@karlludwigbonitz791]

Another illegal thing which might surprise people from the US (f. i.); Recording people without their consent (including/especially police!).

[@Folgemilch21]

“anzeigen” does not mean “to sue” or to “take to court”. it means “filing a report with the police”. What comes of that is up to the prosecutors

[@tobyk.4911]

Ok, "to sue" or "to take to court" is then probably rather "verklagen" in German

[@lianet5500]

California passed a law to cut down on frivolous lawsuits. It is called "loser pays" and this means if you sue someone and lose in court you pay for their attorney, their court costs and they walk away with no legal bills whatsoever. This was done to cut down on the litigious (unreasonably prone to suing others) people who were clogging up the courts with lawsuits that have no merit. Example: A person might go into a market, pour some liquid on the floor and stage a "slip and fall" accident and demand payment from the market since they are a scammer. If the store video shows they poured the liquid themselves and set it up they lose. Lawyers cost $1,000 an hour to start and go up from there. How much does a lawyer cost in Germany? I am curious about the rates for lawyers in Germany.

[@simplegermany]

Oh interesting, makes perfect sense! The legal expenses in Germany depend on the amount in dispute. The fee structure for legal experts is regulated in Germany, however, a lawyer can decide on the costs depending on how much work the case is. To give you a simple example, a disputed amount of 1.000 euros could cost around 114 euros in lawyer fees. Additionally, the court fees could be anything between 120 and 500 euros. So you could face legal expenses of 234 to 614 euros.

[@BreeinOC]

@@simplegermany Those are really low court costs and lawyer fees in comparison to the US. A recent estimate stated to prepare for a lawsuit in America would cost you $1 million dollars just to get to the courthouse steps. Once the trial begins you pay for the hours your attorney is in court and the time they spend after court preparing for the next day. In the end attorney fees are about $5-10 million for what they charged you for the trail. Court feeds are around $1,000. Then if the judge or jury finds you guilty that can levy huge fines. Example: in a court case involving an employee suing her former employer for sexual harassment she won a judgment of $25 million dollars. This was appealed, so they went back to court, ran up more legal fees on both sides and in the end she won again. The company wanted to set up her winnings with legal fees, but the former employer has to pay her legal fees, so it was a double loss for the company. The judge was also quite angry because it was clear the company allowed her to be sexually harassed and didn’t protect her at all. The judge was super angry! We have crazy high legal fees for lawyers and court costs in America. One lawsuit can ruin your life and bankrupt you. We don’t have much available for legal insurance either. Legal insurance is uncommon. Thanks for your response! Germany looks much more reasonable than America for legal fees and lawyer fees. In America it can take you 5 years or longer to get into the courtroom. It’s a long, difficult and expensive process which wears you down mentally, emotionally and financially

[@tobyk.4911]

In Germany, also the "loser" pays for the costs (e.g. for the lawyers). ... Therefore, if someone sues you without a valid reason (and you win the process therefore), you don't have to pay.

[@aceace632]

Such lawsuits where you sue someone for millions of Euro when you burn your hand because the coffee you bought was too hot or something like that don't happen and aren't really possible in Germany I think. The expenses of lawyers are regulatet in the "Act on the Remuneration of Lawyers". The fees depend on the value of the claim. Of course a lawyer can make a seperate contract with the client that the client has to pay, say, 250 Euro per hour for example. To pay a lawyer more than 1000 Euro per hour seems like crazy. I guess it usually ranges between about 250 and 750 Euro per hour that lawyers would take, depending on the case, client etc. But if you lose you just have to pay the fees of the other lawyer acording to the Act on the Remuneration of Lawyers. Does the US don't have a law that regulate the fees of a lawyer? Or does no lawyer want to work for that fees and always wants to have such a huge amount of money per hour?

[@BreeinOC]

@@aceace632 There are no caps on what a lawyer can charge per hour in America. They set their own rates. In a lawsuit situation they charge you their hourly rate and they also take 35-40% of whatever money you win in a lawsuit. If the judge or jury awards you $5 million dollars? The attorney takes 40% of your judgment. Plus you also pay their hourly rate. Lawyers double dip in America and get paid off both ends. This is why so many people go to law school. They know they can make a lot of money. I had an ex-boyfriend from 20 years ago complained to me, I’m only making $400,000 a year! He was a patent attorney who worked for Silicon Valley. He wrote the patents for text devices. He was so upset about it. He felt like a failure for not making more money. I told him, you don’t even spend what you make. What does it matter? Work less hours and enjoy your life more. He didn’t like my response. How much a lawyer charges depends upon what kind of law they practice. For example the attorneys who make the least amount of money work for the UN or as I’m house consul for a company. If they are prosecuting war crimes they don’t make much money because the UN doesn’t pay well. I knew someone who did that in Rwanda after the genocide. For example when I worked in Hollywood in the early 2000s our company attorney charged $650 an hour to write contracts and review contracts. My clients complained about the contract being 12 pages of legalese they couldn’t understand. I rewrote the contract in plain English got it down to 2 pages. No producer has time to review 12 pages! They’re way too busy for that sort of nonsense! The corporate attorney got mad at me for cutting down his contract and showing everyone at the company it could be done. The attorney didn’t want me taking his job, so he protested and we got into a big argument. I won! My film studio clients refused to read or sign a 12 page contract, so I got the new shorter version. Hollywood attorneys just read and write contracts all day long. It isn’t glamorous, but they charge outrageous fees. Hollywood attorneys charge a lot because film studios have deep pockets. They’re the people who add outrageous riders to contracts for film stars and rock stars. Ex: I want 17 white towels in my dressing room. I want my dressing room pained all white. I want this many bottles of water in my dressing room. Etc. This is what Jennifer Lopez puts in her contracts when she’s on tour singing. I attempted to find an attorney to sue a doctor who misdiagnosed me and ultimately killed me. I died in the emergency room at the hospital. I scared the crap out of the medical staff after they declared me dead and I sat up and started screaming. I was furious about being sent back to brain damage and I was mad as hell! Hence I started accusing the staff of doing something to bring me back and I don’t want to be here! Put me back! Put me back! I really lost my temper when I got back to my body. It took me 3 years learn how to walk again, talk again, keyboard, bold silverware and not stop it, hold a pen, etc and I can no longer speak German or Finnish. The language center of my brain was badly damaged. I taught myself English because no doctor would help me, but my accent is all fucked up when I attempt Finnish or German and that really shocked me. No attorney would take my case because we are required to sign a mediation and arbitration agreement before any doctor will accept us as a patient. This effectively bars us from suing a shitty doctor. No attorney would accept my case because there wasn’t enough meat on the bone to interest them. The attorneys were only interested in suing a hospital or medical device manufacturer and that’s it. I called all over California and they all agreed I had a legitimate case, but no one would represent me. The state statute says we only have 3 years available to sue and my time ran out. It was an egregious medial malpractice error, but no attorney would take my case. Just because you have a good, strong case doesn’t mean you can find an attorney who will agree to represent you. Attorneys only take cases if they can get a big payday. Divorce lawyers are some of the nastiest, most cruel people to walk the face of the earth! They actively try to get the couple to keep fighting and not settle because that’s how they drive up their bill. I’ve seen people go 8 years trying to settle their divorce when it only takes 6 months! You can’t trust a divorced attorney in America. They are people who steal from their clients. I did my best to reel in my own divorce attorney, but it still cost me $60,000 in 1996 and I didn’t have any children, businesses or any real estate with my ex. It was a simple divorce. $60,000 in 1996 is an outrageous amount of money for a simple divorce! My divorce attorney charged me for every single phone call. He billed in 10 minute increments. If my phone call was only 4 minutes I still paid for 10 minutes. Every document he read he charged me for that and if it took 3 minutes I paid for 10 minutes. My ex had legal insurance through his employer, but he was limited to $15,000 per year. He was threatening to kill me for leaving him and using all kinds of people to threaten me. For each piece of paper his attorney asked for? I sent 5 pages. His attorney charged him to read those pages and I used up his legal insurance. He settled down real quick once he had to pay his attorney’s fees. The death threats didn’t stop because he was from India and Indians don’t give up easily. 10 years later karma killed him, so I’m safe now! We graduate more attorneys from law school each year than what we actually need. We have more lawyers than we could possibly use. The American Bar Association doesn’t limit how many law schools exist or how many people graduate each year, so we have lots of jokes about how much we hate attorneys in America. Our lawyers often enter politics and this is why our politicians are terrible and we can’t make sense of the laws they write. The two most hated groups in America are lawyers and politicians.

[@baluvideo]

Could you please make a video on how landlords might try to scam someone? I've already started reading ads using the knowledge you gave us in your rental video. But getting some extra info on what might happen during the time one rents an apartment would be great.

[@simplegermany]

We cover how to avoid scams and so much more in our ebook: simplegermany.shop/products/get-your-keys

[@baluvideo]

@@simplegermany awesome! Thanks!

[@nkyibe1299]

I learn a lot from your videos. I'm new in Germany and find your videos helpful

[@karlwhite2733]

You ladies are awesome. 🧡

[@NyelljeanBadowski]

Your videos are great help. Keep it up Guys!🎉

[@Jan_Seidel]

Walking a dog in an enviromentally protected area will even result in a 10.000€ fine

[@pavithravenu314]

Thankyou guys!

[@Jacob_._Roberts]

We have the exact same thing in Dallas County, Texas. People check your train ticket. If you don't have one, you have to pay a fine.

[@asdfasdf-mn8iu]

Wait, how is riding on a bus without a ticket, downloading illegal content or insulting people crazy illegal things? :D To me it's rather crazy copyright laws aren't enforced in public. Another thing is: You must not fish without a license and then are only allowed to fish in specific bodies of water.

[@_Yannex]

The fish brings me to the question.. If I didn't liked the movie I've seen right know before in cinema, can I insist on getting my money back?🤔🤔

[@peterfischer7084]

You forgot to mention "Verwarnungsgeld" (as compared to Bußgeld and Geldstrafe) and "Vergehen" (as compared to Ordnungswidrigkeit and Straftat).

[@lphaetaamma291]

many fines depend on your income. for example you can get fined to pay what you earn in 20 days so the fine can be very high for rich people

[@lphaetaamma291]

@@emilwandel i just wanted to explain, why the fine for insults differs so much and that the fine depends less on how you insult someone, but how much you earn. In my opinion "Ordnungswidrigkeiten"-fines should also depend on your income as they (how i think to remember) do in norway: a 50€ fine might threaten a poor mans ability to pay his basic needs, while it's nothing for someone with a decent income

[@TMD21Apr09]

You guys are doing amazing work. Thanks for that. Streaming the content online from any website is not an offence, right? I stream movies from a Indian based website for which we don’t need to pay.

[@pelle7771]

The "fine" für downloading/uploading ist actually neither a Bußgeld nor a Geldstrafe. It is money you pay to the artist/studio because they (probably) lost money (Schadensersatz) and to the lawyer for the effort of catching you, writing the letter,... (Aufwandsentschädigung). So it is not the state penalty but a "civilian".

[@lookolol]

Dude...your channel is LIFE SAVING! SOOOOOO NEEDED THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!

[@Danny30011980]

When I was on a homevisit in Germany lately I went somewhere where only the slow "Bummelbahn" trains stop, which stop everywhere. Connection back and forth is two hourly, pretty inconvenient as by the time I was on my way home one train had only left. Luckily this was next to a big town so I tried to chance my luck and take a train to the opposite direction to that bigger town (less than 5 mins ride) in order to take a Regional Express train home (half an hour ride). there was a queue at the ticket machine and when the train rolled in evereyone was rushing down the stairs and up the other to the other platform. I went over to the conductor on the train and explained the situation and he let me do the quick one-stop-hop over and said it was ok, cause I had approached him straight away on this occasion. At the bigger station I could go to the DB travel centre and asked them how I best made my way home, since I believed the ticket to be to/from that small village only and that I may need a proper ticket to cover the difference, but much to my surprise the ticket stated the towncode of that bigger town, so I in fact I haven't been "schwarzfahren" at all. Guess that village is so close to the big town that they belong together in terms of ticketing zones.

[@ThomasMunich-f1k]

In Germany, insulting people during Straßenverkehr is a national sports too. But sueing people is a national sports either. Perfect if both match each other. Lawyers make big money from that.

[@simplegermany]

And yet Germans are very calm on the roads compared to other countries 😉 it always depends on perspective.

[@amjad88aa]

This is really an eye opener

[@somaiabaker814]

You are amazing! you really made Germany simpler for me :)

[@SpTChiKus]

You need to add this one: if you take out you phone when you ride a bike, you will be fine with 50 euros, also light of bike.

[@anthonydyer3939]

I was told that Killing a wasp in Germany can result in a fine of 5000 Euros. Apparently they are protected species in all locations in Germany. In the UK, they are considered pests if they are on your own property or they are causing a nuisance.

[@simplegermany]

Yes, that is one of the rather newer laws.

[@fannychristozova8158]

Very nice video! 😉 I sort of already knew most of these occasions. Sort of. Well, at least combining the detailed cultural insights you've created and written with all the information you put together here, it gets rather... logical to me. It's good to know how seriously Germans take the good demeanors! And btw, one gesture I noticed from you, Yvonne, at 13:39 came in very interesting and beautiful. When Jen stuck out her tongue just to show it (while actually looking you in the eyes), you stood with a straight face, drew your hand and exchanged a handshake. I'm not sure if it's something the two of you do or is it more culture and education related, but such a small thing spoke a thousand words on how someone would feel if the situation was real. Vielen, vielen Dank für einen weiteren hilfreichen und sehr wichtigen Inhalt! 👍👍

[@caroln63]

what if you buy the pirated stuff in Guatamala and bring it to Germany - and you play them on your laptop?

[@simplegermany]

Well let's call that a grey area, but for the sake of the video, no one could link that to your IP address. Customs at the airport might be the ones finding it and fining you. 😉

[@RustyDust101]

Buuuuuut: if you buy the pirated stuff anywhere else, then come to Germany AND use it in your torrent to improve your torrent rating by placing it in your upload folder, then you are again distributing it, which makes you liable for a fine again, even if you didn't download it in Germany. It is not the act of DOWNLOADING something; it is the act of redistributing such a copyrighted file without a legal license for it from your IP that is illegal. What you are paying, literally, is the distribution license for the original copyright holders through GEMA, the German administration office for the collection and distribution of such copyright license fees to the artists and creators of such art (in the broadest sense of ART). The cockroaches, eeeeer, lawyers sending you the letter with the citation obviously take their (not so fair) share from that.

[@aligdev]

1 more crazy thing: You are not allowed to kill bees and wasps, otherwise might get fined up to 60,000 euro!!!

[@Vonkater]

Good information ! Danke 😁😎👍

[@pendarshahbazi4613]

Thank you so much for this useful video. Awesome information that any foreigner must know! By the way I liked the video before I completely watch it. Good luck!

[@lphaetaamma291]

on buses you usually can buy a ticket when you enter the bus and in trams there might be a ticket mashine. but the moment you obviously don't care about geting a ticket anymore, you can get asked for showing one and get fined

[@RustyDust101]

Buses, yes, you can get one from the driver. But if you enter in the back and you get checked on, you'd better have a ticket, because you can't go up to the driver to buy your ticket anymore. Trams, U-Bahn, S-Bahn: I have never seen a ticket machine ON the trains. There you HAVE to get a ticket BEFORE boarding the train.

[@lphaetaamma291]

@@RustyDust101 I know one tram system, where at last on some trams are machines on board, but yes, you can't relay on this if you are a foreigner. there is only one way of geting around it: if you proof, that there is no working machine in the trainstation by noting the number of the defect machine. But if then comes a controller, you have to go to him/her actively

[@jurgenmeier-muller3852]

Illegal download from foreigners? Hmm, a 14 year old german son is enough. 15.000€ fine happend to a friend. The cruel thing, YOU have to prove, that you have not download this files (Umkehr der Beweislast)....Autsch!

[@simplegermany]

Yea very fair point! Wow 15.000 is a lot 😬

[@axiosschmidt6001]

About the pirating stuff. You can buy a VPN to prevent your ISP from tracking you.

[@simplegermany]

We talk about VPNs in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2HNdGucpsx6j5o

[@robertwiessler1507]

Als Kinder haben wir gesagt" Das sage ich meiner Mama", als Erwachsener sagen wir "Sie hören von meinem Anwalt"!;-))

[@simplegermany]

😂 very true!

[@carrstone01]

It's good to know that, in Germany, there are laws that cover every eventuality. On the bad side in Germany, however, there are laws that cover every eventuality.

[@nathalie-danielle]

omg! What about watching series or films online like on Soap2day? I suppose that too?

[@simplegermany]

Yes, that too is illegal.

[@FINNSTIGAT0R]

They've trued that extortion letter stuff here in Finland as well, regarding the illegal downloads. The thing is, at least in here, that it's just extortion, pure and simple. So the law firm has the distributor as a client and they search the distributor's content, mark the IP addresses up, try to get the IP owners name from a court and if they get it, then they send letters which demand really large sums of money in the hopes of people just paying up to not end up in court. The extortion letter scheme is AT LEAST as shady as downloading stuff from the internet. And it's morally bankrupt as well, as the sums beung asked are really really big, and the evidence the lawyers alledgedly have is, let's say...not bullet proof. So it's just a legal form of extortion. Thankfully the few court cases there's been have resulted in much more modest fines, and as I understsnd it, now the courts do not hand out IP information to these extortion artists in bulk or with such shaky evidence (evidence sometimes being just an excel sheet with bunch on IP addresses). I'm not pirating, I get everything I need from legal streaming services, but I loathe those crappy lawyers who do such stuff...

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for your insights!

[@johnsheridan7428]

Great show AGAIN THANKS 😊🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@nurimustafa3817]

Thank you! You save me from potential fine. even though I rarely use torrent and did not intend to use in Germany. I have already downloaded torrents, which are seeded in background. I should delete them before moving to Germany. Otherwise, when Windows starts, torrent is automatically started in the background and start seeding :)

[@MartinZanichelli]

Have a VPN to hide your IP.

[@laureneastwood5936]

“But then again don’t spit at people!” 😂😂😂

[@TheLtVoss]

That is "Körperverletzung"

[@MrMuesli]

I'm sure if you ask the policeman "Du" how do I get to the Hofbräuhaus, you won't get a report even as a German. With liability insurance you have to be careful. If you can pay the amount yourself. Do that. If you report every little thing to the insurance company, they will call you out.

[@Mr.Nichan]

I think that in some parts of the world (?"Middle East"?), a thumb up traditionally means the same thing as a middle finger does in America or Europe.

[@don3745]

You can also ad one more thing in the list is feeding the pigeons and ducks is forbidden.

[@richtermichael3168]

Well the first point in your video is not completely correct: 1. If you can by a Ticket directly in public transportation depends on how the company who runs the public transportation in the state your living in have build and are managing their system. In some states you can buy tickets directly in public transportation from machines or from the driver, in some states you can not. So it depends on how the system from the local company works, but it‘s probably the best to buy your ticket before you entering public transportation. 2. the money you should pay when you get controlled and have no ticket is not NOT a fine by law. The company’s who run public transportation in Germany are PRIVATE company’s, so they can‘t really fine you. What they do is, that they tell you to pay the amount of money they say or they will take you to court. You can refuse to pay the money they want, but you should have a good reason for that, for example if the machine in the station where you tried to buy a ticket was out of order, so you were not able to buy a ticket. If something like that had happened, and they take you to court, you will have to pay nothing. But beware that you can prove your point, better contact a lawyer before you take these steps. If you refuse to pay the money an they take you to court and you loose, then you will get a fined by law for real and the money you you will have to pay will be much, much higher then the money the company wanted you to pay in the beginning. That‘s the reason most people pay them the money they want to have.

[@christine9122]

The car wash really surprised me the most.

[@spot1401]

Starting with the invisible turntables. Will be good!

[@PPfilmemacher]

😂

[@mahdokhtmohamadi804]

Are you sure about the name of the insurance? isn't the Rechtsschutz responsible for paying the lawyer and the Haftpflicht­versicherung useful when I damage someone's property?

[@RustyDust101]

Giving the one-finger-salute, 'den Vogel zeigen', shouting curse words so loud IN your car that someone outside hears you and can feel targeted by it, all of those can be considered insults. Depending on the situation, yes, you can get fined for it; as a repeat offender you might get a (short) prison stay for very severe cases and repeats, especially if done in conjunction with other crimes. But insulting someone in an official position (Beamter) or in a similar position such as a cop, a fire-fighter, EMT, etc during their work, especially when combined with other aggressive behavior, can result in an immediate prison stay, even for first time offenders. While those are rare (very, very rare), they MIGHT happen. The 'Du' as an insult to an official (like a cop) is usually coupled with such other curse words as "Du Arsch", or "Du Arschloch", ie "you ass" or "you asshole". Here you get a very strange result. If you call a cop "Sie Arschloch" you will be fined for the "asshole", but not the "Sie", as it was the formal, polite adress, instead of "Du". Again, this really, really depends on the situation. If you are super agressive, show them the finger, and then throw around multiple "Du..." with added curse words, yeah, the "Du" might get you fined more than a "Sie". This is a hold-out from the Prussian Beamtenbeleidigung, which was a criminal offence in the Kaiserreich era. While it was not formally brought forward, it has its hold-outs in the German legal system that never really were updated to current situations. While the actual Beamtenbeleidigung is not a legal paragraph anymore, the actual act of insulting someone in an official position during their work, especially when combined with other incriminating factors, can result in a higher fine and/or punishment than a standard insult to a normal civilian. Yeah, totally agreed, really stupid and worthy of a "Huh, what?!?" moment. 😂

[@madrooky1398]

About that download stuff, torrents are not smart just because you get caught easily, the sources and the networks itself are very often not trustworthy. Think about it, if an agent can track your ip in such a network any hacker can too. Any kiddo who knows some basic cmd lines to back track traffic finds out your ip. Its generally not a very smart idea to have open ports in a network you cant trust. And thats what you do using torrents, its like you leave your adress on facebook and a note where to find the keys. There is a way to download stuff very safely that is commonly used in Germany, but i wont discuss it here. After all it still is used to download stuff illegally, even if the services used to do it are perfectly legal.

[@kenngoidiomas]

Adding bureaucracy to all this, would mean you could spend years behind bars.

[@nomirrors3552]

What about using a VPN to access streaming from another country? For example I might not be able to stream a movie in Germany, but my US Netflix account would work fine. If I use a VPN to stream from my US Netflix, I assume this would get me a fine as well?

[@ravanpee1325]

VPN isn't illegal in any way, but pretty normal. The pirating thing was more about e-donkey, kaaza, pirat bay and other filesharing peer-to-peer programs back in the day.

[@nomirrors3552]

@@ravanpee1325 So while streaming a movie in Germany that I don't have the right to stream is technically illegal, it's not being enforced in the same that BitTorrent sites are being monitored for downloads and uploads.

[@simplegermany]

Exactly! We go into more detail here: www.simplegermany.com/streaming-in-germany/

[@nomirrors3552]

@@simplegermany Oh, thanks you guys!!

[@Kaasmof]

oblemwith the carwash are not the chemicals used in the soap, it is the oil-particles that cause mayor problems for the clearing system. Streaming from a LEGAL provider is without a problem. Streaming from illegal providers will cause the same reactions as downloading! At first this is a CIVIL violation and there is no fine, but it is a payment to cover the economic damage caused by the illegal download. And let us be fair, would you not also like to be payed for your job? It can become a criminal offence depending on the amount of content that is downloaded.

[@Claudi.141]

Urheberrechtsverletzung is not covered by any legal insurance! Be careful there!

[@witty2u]

Hi there ! First of all I enjoy your videos a lot. - You both are so likable. 🤗 Here comes my funny story. - Back then in the 70s I was riding my bicycle, and as teenagers often do, I had a friend sitting on the Gepäckträger. 🙂Completely out of the blue a car suddenly pulled out right in front of us and almost caused us to have an accident, since I had to stop abruptly. Therefore I was furiously mad... Lol... Showed the person in the car the "bird", as we call it, when you tip on your fore head to signal someone is stupid, and I yelled at him.... "You have lost all your marbles you idiot... How could you cut us? ... We almost caused an accident." - Then the person said... Careful young lady, this is "Beamten Beleidigung" and he pulled out his criminal investigator ID, and said that he will accompany me home, to talk to my parents, since I committed a crime. ( I answered him that for committing Beamtenbeleidigung, I would habe to know that he is one, because he was in civil and drove a civil car either. 😀) ... He continued... It is forbidden to transport a person with our bike. (Which we all know, but no one says anything, if you do it.) So while I was riding my bike, I considered a way to escape, where the car cannot follow me... Lol... but then I decided to not cowardly run away, and to own my mistake... Besides, I knew no one is home anyways. 😂 The guy then wanted me to open the door to see that I really live there, he took down the address, and later in the evening the phone rang, and it was him on the phone. He wanted to talk to my dad. Of course I told my dad instantly what happened, and he thought it was funny, but said to better watch out in future times and maybe not show the bird to a stranger, and call them names. 😀 After he hung up my dad told me that I was correct... He indeed is an idiot! 😂 He knew him from an incident at work, where he had to deal with him. He was the kind of person, who was getting in all that doesn't even fall into his responsibilities. Gladly no fees, but I got a warning. 😂

[@witty2u]

Later in life a police car stopped me, and that same friend way past midnight, when we both were riding on my bicycle, and with a grin in their face said to walk home, since it's forbidden. - We apologized, walked and waited until the police car was out of sight and hopped back on the bike, when suddenly that same car came out of a different road, stopped us again, and these two officers still friendly said that they hope to not meet us a third time this night ... Lol. Gladly they did not ask for our IDs, since we weren't even 18 and weren't supposed be outside at that time at night. There are those that are cool and friendly, and they are the norm I would say. - At least in Cologne. 🙂