It is common practice in germany not to persecute almost every petty crime like, let's say, shoplifting or the possesion of minor amounts of narcotics if it is a first-time offense. Depending on the scale of the offense either nothing will happen (you will receive a note the case was dropped cause of insignificane) or you will be slapped with a fine and a warning - the case will only go to court if you don't accept the fine and warning.
This a) keeps the number of people with a criminal record low and b) takes workload off the courts.

If you don't follow the GVU's (german RIAA) calculations, but keep in mind how much of a DVD's price actually is a copyright holder's profit, downloading a movie is more in the league of stealing a candy bar than a car, and that's even ignoring evidence that downloaders are more likely to go to the movies or buy CDs than non-downloading Joe Does, so treating a downloader like a shoplifter makes sense to me.

Additionally, the headline is misleading: The reported is only true for one state of germany - saying "sharing... is safe in germany" is like saying whatever Texan legislation would be valid in the whole U.S.