Google Fonts cease-and-desist letter: what to do?

Since the judgment of the Regional Court of Munich I (20 Jan 2022, case 3 O 17493/20), numerous letters have been sent demanding damages and cease-and-desist over externally loaded Google Fonts — partly automated and in questionable volume.

Is this a risk?

Transmitting the IP to Google without a legal basis can give rise to a claim for damages (Art. 82 GDPR). Whether there is a compensable damage in an individual case is disputed; mass letters that are serial and abusive have been rejected by courts. Having the specific letter reviewed by a lawyer is advisable.

What you can do

• Do not pay without checking and do not sign a pre-formulated cease-and-desist declaration without review.
• Fix the technical cause immediately: embed Google Fonts locally.
• Document the letter and the state of the site (screenshot, source code).
• Engage a law firm specialising in IT law.

How consentglass helps

The free scan checks the delivered HTML and shows which services are embedded, whether a cookie banner is detected and whether privacy-policy and legal-notice links are present — with context for each finding. It is not a substitute for legal advice.