GVU

GVU

The Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzungen e.V. (GVU, Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringement) is a registered association under German law. According to its own description it works for the game and film industry and helps to protect intellectual property and to counter the illegal distribution of copied materials. For this purpose, the association cooperates with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).


The GVU was founded in the spring of 1984 and entered the register of associations in February 1985 for the first time. The headquarters were located first in Hamburg, since 2008 they are in Berlin-Mitte. The GVU became known to a wider public by participating in campaigns such as "pirates are criminals“ and investigations in the Kino.to case.