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The creators of one of the world's most high-profile, file-sharing websites are claiming their site is "100% legal" as their landmark trial gets underway.
The Pirate Bay's creators are being taken to court by the world's media giants, including Sony and Warner Bros, which accuse them of facilitating the spread of piracy by offering a massive index of pirated content for download.
If convicted they face two years in jail and a fine of around $143,500.
The defendants, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde Kolmsioppi and Carl Lundstorm, argue that as their site does not host any of the content, they are doing nothing illegal. Indeed, speaking at a news conference, the four struck a defiant note over the trial. |
"What are they going to do about it? They have already failed to
take down the site once. Let them fail again," said Gottfrid Svartholm Warg. "It has its own life without us."
The plaintiffs, which number Warner Bros, MGM Pictures, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony BMG, Universal, and EMI, are demanding $14.3 million in compensation for lost revenues, but the defendants claim the figure is beyond them.
"It does not matter if they require several million or one billion. We are not rich and have no money to pay," added Peter Sunde Kolmsioppi. "They won't get a cent."
However, the record industry has responded that the case is about more than just money.
"The criminal prosecution of The Pirate Bay is about protecting creators from those who violate their rights and deprive them of their deserved rewards," says John Kennedy, chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries.
"The Pirate Bay has hurt creators of many different kinds of works, from music to film, from books to TV programmes. It has been particularly harmful in distributing copyrighted works prior to their official release. This damages sales of music at the most important time of their lifecycle."
