20/04/2009

Last Friday, the four co-founders of Pirate Bay, the world’s most high-profile file-sharing website, were found guilty of infringing copyright by a Stockholm District Court. Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde face one year in prison and a total fine of SEK 30m (EU 2.68m) in damages.

The landmark decision from the Swedish Court is a victory for the record and music industries. As well as for major studios Warner Bros Entertainment, MGM Pictures, Columbia Pictures Industries, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony BMG, Universal and EMI, who had originally asked for over SEK 100m in compensation for lost revenue.

A spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association said: “This is an important decision for rights-holders, underlining their right to have their creative works protected against illegal exploitation and to be fairly rewarded for their endeavours. This decision will help support continued investment in talent and in new online services (both locally and internationally), and the creation of new films and television shows for enjoyment by audiences around the world”.

Johan Holmer from the Swedish Producers’ Association added: “Illegal file sharing is one of the main obstacles to a positive development for Swedish film production. An international study estimated the lost revenues at SEK 700m. These are huge sums for Swedish cinema”.

The four Pirate Bay co-founders, who were said to be shocked by the guilty verdict and the severity of the decision, are now going to appeal. Established in 2003, Pirate Bay hosts torrents for television, film and music files held on its users’ computers. The site itself does not actually contain copyrighted material, which was an argument put forward by the defendants.