Pirate Bay trial – music companies' lawyer outlines “purposeful crime on a grand scale”

18th February 2009

Legal counsels for the music and film companies today outlined their compensation claims against the four defendants in the trial of The Pirate Bay.

Peter Danowsky, representing the music companies, said that investigations made following the police action in May 2006 had concluded that "The Pirate Bay was aiding and abetting the extensive infringement of copyright".

"The business that The Pirate Bay was undertaking led to an extensive injury and an extensive loss of sales and marketing ability," Danowsky said. The investigation had found that the defendants were contributing to making available copyrighted works for download, and that was the basis for the compensation claim of the music companies.

Danowsky said the activities of The Pirate Bay affected the music companies' legitimate sales of CDs and online recordings, as well as the potential to develop new online sales.

The music companies are claiming compensation of 2.1 million euros, based on a sample of 23 tracks selected by the prosecutor. “But the real loss is greater than that", Danowsky said. The Pirate Bay had created an "unassailable competitor" which led to reduced possibilities for online music sales and new digital music services.

Many recordings had been made available for download before their legitimate release, further compounding the damage to the music companies.

"This is about a purposeful crime on a grand scale with significant income as a result", Danowsky said. He dismissed claims by the defendants that they would be unable to pay the damages, pointing to the fact that The Pirate Bay website was continuing to display adverts after the police raid of May 2006.

For further information please contact:

IFPI Sweden - Johanna Bostrom Stone or Ludvig Werner
Tel: + 46 8 735 9750

IFPI London - Adrian Strain or Alex Jacob
Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7935
Email: press-office@ifpi.org

MPA Press Office - +44 7802 157516