The Pirate Bay trial – Counsel for the record company plaintiffs sums up

2nd March 2009

Peter Danowsky, counsel for the record company plaintiffs in The Pirate Bay case, made the following points in his summing up:

• This case is not about the copyright law Sweden should have, but a case based on the law that Sweden does have.
  


• The trial has been about the application of Swedish copyright law in the digital environment and Sweden complying with its international obligations in that regard.
  


• What the defendants have done, with financial and strategic help being directed by Carl Lundstrom, is create a database available to anyone in the world allowing users to download copyright works through just a few clicks with no recompense to any rights holders.
  


• The defendants actively assisted and encouraged illegal actions and this should affect the compensation awarded to the plaintiffs.
  


• In looking at the causal connection between file sharing and damage to the industry the court is not prohibited in applying common sense and it should do so in this case.
  


• The defendants’ claim that The Pirate Bay is a non-profit organisation is clearly contradicted by the evidence. They have developed a valuable trade mark, considered tax planning and set up corporate structures to deal with the business. This is plainly a commercial organisation.
  


• The activity of others on the internet is irrelevant – the prosecutor has chosen to charge the defendants for the facilitation of illegal activity enabled by The Pirate Bay, one of the world’s largest services of its type.
  


• The Pirate Bay’s activities are not protected under Section 18 of the Swedish Act on Electronic Commerce and Other Information Society Services. The site operates actively and with the sole purpose to encourage and make possible the infringement of copyright. The E-Commerce Directive was never intended to cover this type of site and as such they cannot benefit from the safe harbours and are liable to pay damages.
  

For further information contact:
IFPI London - Adrian Strain or Alex Jacob
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