GEMA is pretty aggressive in Germany. Talking jane random and they don't do file sharing because they are in fear of GEMA.

People are afraid to file share but not because of GEMA which for once has nothing to do with this. Right holders (especially of popular music, movies, and TV shows) connect to torrents and log who is also in the swarm (i.e. uploading and downloading). They then go to court quickly with your IP which orders your ISP to give up your name and address.

They tell you about GEMA although as the cause of their fear, at least to me. The details, as you say, are probably different.

Yes, for some reason GEMA has become the scapegoat for all music-related inconveniences in life.