Germany is getting tough on file sharers, but instead of the civil lawsuits that have become the common antipiracy tactic of the music industry, German police have filed criminal charges against more than 3,500 people accused of using the eDonkey peer-to-peer (P2P) network to share copyrighted music illegally.

The alleged uploaders used eDonkey.

The move is the "the biggest single action against illegal file-sharing," according to the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the global recording industry's trade group.

"No one should be surprised that we are stepping up our campaign in this way," IFPI chief John Kennedy said in a statement. "Internet piracy has hurt the whole music community in Germany, with legitimate sales falling by a third in just five years."

The charges were filed only against people who uploaded music to file-sharing networks, not those who only downloaded music from them. Each individual faces both criminal prosecution and claims for compensation for their actions under civil law.