Protoss: Not if it is necessary to use the software properly, in German law.
http://dejure.org/gesetze/UrhG/69c.html http://dejure.org/gesetze/UrhG/69d.html THANK YOU! +1 for you. I'd been looking for that, but for whatever reason I couldn't find it.
Just a quick and dirty translation for the non-German speakers out there of the most relevant part of Article 69d:
(1) Insofar as no specific contractual provisions exist, the actions specified in Article 69 Nos. 1 and 2 [the usual fair use provisions regarding usage, copying, cracking, distribution and so on] do not require the approval of the rights owner if they must be performed by any person authorised to use a copy of the program in order to use the computer program in a permitted fashion.
Protoss: It is by the way to note that since someone is allowed to crack legally bought games if this is the only way to use them, and since the rights owner is not allowed to forbid distribution of any games available in the EU in Germany (69c, 3, UrhG), it is perfectly legal to crack games that can't be activated on Steam due to the publisher's wish but that can be legally bought inside the EU. Here's looking at you, COD:MW2.
Well, I got myself a NA version gifted on Steam so I didn't run into that issue. But it is good to know what you're allowed to do. ;-)
This, however, is not strictly true. It falls under the Internal Market regulations which prohibit restrictions on trade within the EU and also encompass digital goods - nothing to do with the German Copyright Act.
