Pirate Bay Defendants Jailed for 33 Copyright Convictions

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The founders and two employees of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have been sentenced to a year in jail in Sweden for breaking copyright laws.

Founders Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, and two other employees Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom, were sentenced to a year in jail after being found guilty in a Swedish court of making 33 copyright-protected files accessible for illegal downloading on the website PirateBay.org. The four also were ordered to pay $3.6 million in damages to copyright holders including Warner Bros., MGM, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony and Universal, according to Swedish media reports.

In a Twitter posting before sentencing, Sunde said, "Nothing will happen to TPB [the Pirate Bay], this is just theatre for the media."

Sunde later described the verdict as "bizarre." He also has said they will never pay the fine and he believes the legal process will eventually go their way without the four having to spend a single day in prison.

The Pirate Bay has let an estimated 22 million users download content.

Defense lawyers had argued the defendants should be acquitted because The Pirate Bay does not host any copyright-protected material but provides a forum for its users to download content through torrent files. The court found the defendants guilty of helping users commit copyright violations "by providing a website with ... sophisticated search functions, simple download and storage capabilities, and through the tracker linked to the website."

Judge Tomas Norstrom told reporters that the court took into account that the site was "commercially driven" when it made the ruling. The defendants have denied any commercial motives behind the site.

Supporters set up a website dedicated to the trial, and the defendants sent updates from the court hearings through Twitter.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst for Forrester Research, said, “The music industry has come out of this with a ruling that is more positive for them than many had been expected." But, he warned, file sharing will continue to grow through instant messaging, email and blogs, as well as file sharing websites. He said the verdict could have implications for Google, as it provides links to illegal content.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

JuicyAds Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

JuicyAds has won its World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the company's site and defraud customers.

Anissa Kate, Jordan Starr Top AEBN for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top-selling stars for the second quarter of 2025, with Anissa Kate landing atop the leaderboard for straight theaters and Jordan Starr heading up the gay rankings.

AEBN Reveals Eva Maxim as Top Trans Star for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top trans stars list for the second quarter of 2025, with Eva Maxim landing atop the leaderboard.

France Reinstates Age Verification Rule for EU Sites

France’s highest court, the Council of State, on Tuesday reinstated age verification rules for EU-based sites under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, ruling in favor of the French government and against Hammy Media.

Whisper Fans Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Whisper Fans has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Utherverse Launches 'Red Light Center' Virtual World

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse has launched its new virtual world, RedLightCenter.io.

European Commission Approves AV Guidelines, Unveils Prototype App

The European Commission on Monday released its final, approved guidelines for protecting minors online under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and made public a “white label” age verification app intended to help sites and platforms comply with age verification rules under the DSA.

New Membership Site 'Sluts Corner' Launches

R18 Entertainment has launched a new membership site, SlutsCorner.com.

Show More