Key File Sharing Trial Commences In Sweden

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

20 February 2009

The trial of four men who run one of the world's leading file-sharing websites started with huge media attention on Monday in Stockholm.

The men are being prosecuted for “assisting making available copyright material”. All four men have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The music and film industry have in addition to this demanded SEK115mn (USD13.5mn) in damages. The trial is one of the largest anti-piracy cases ever to have come to court.

The Pirate Bay is the world’s largest Torrent search indexer. The site, which is still in operation, allows users to collectively seed files which are then indexed publicly on the website allowing users to share files seamlessly using a BitTorrent client. In February 2009, The Pirate Bay reported a user base exceeding 22 million registered users, indexing over 1.6 million Torrent files linking to movies and other media.

The movie and television industry accuses The Pirate Pay of making substantial revenues from the services on the site, claiming to have evidence including a signed agreement to share the advertising revenue proceeds, as well as offshore bank accounts.

The Pirate Bay defended its position by stating that the site only acts as an intermediary between file sharers and does not distribute any copyrighted material.

In 2006, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents the movie and television industry in the US, demanded that the Swedish government take action against The Pirate Bay. In May the same year, the Swedish police raided the organisation’s headquarters and seized control over 186 servers from multiple locations across Sweden. The site however, returned just a few days later through foreign servers.

In January 2008, four representatives from the organisation, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström were principally charged with ‘assisting copyright infringement’ which included direct responsibility for users’ own copyright infringements, and which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison plus heavy fines. However, the prosecution's case is already on the back foot after Prosecutor Håkan Roswall dropped this charge, leaving in place the lesser charge of "assisting making available copyright material."

“Half of the original charges have been dropped, which is a success for us of course. It demonstrates the uncertainty contained in the indictment as a whole. Moreover, it takes away the basis for damages claims. I interpret this as the defence has made an impression on the prosecutor, when we have said that there is no contribution to manufacturing copies,” said Neij’s defence lawyer, Jonas Nilsson.

Peter Danowsky, legal counsel for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents music and film producers in The Pirate Bay case said: "It's a largely technical issue that changes nothing in terms of our compensation claims and has no bearing whatsoever on the main case against The Pirate Bay.”

The Swedish laws of copyright are supported by several international agreements. The trial will however, take place under Swedish law, and not under international law. But experts warn that the outcome of the trial may affect Sweden’s status in international organisations such as the EU and WTO, especially if the accused are acquitted.

The situation regarding file sharing in Sweden has become more complex after a Parliamentary committee recently voted through the controversial “IPRED- directive” (Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive.) The new law is expected to come into force on April 1, 2009, and makes it possible for copyright holders to obtain a court order demanding the release of personal information related to users and organisations suspected of copyright infringements as well as IP addresses. The copyright holders will then be able to use the information to bring cases for compensation against the suspected individuals.

The Pirate Bay trial is set to last until March 4, 2009.

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