Copyright
The battles over copyright, private file sharing, and large-scale dissemination of links
in the Nordic region are primarily playing out in the courts under the close watch
of international organizations like the International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry (IFPI). One Swedish court case over a file-sharing site has earned the most
notoriety, but there have been several other cases in neighboring countries where
copyright disputes ended in Internet filtering.
The Pirate Bay is a Swedish Web site that tracks BitTorrent files. 20 The Web site has
an estimated 22 million users and is one of the Internet’s largest sources for file sharing. While it is predominantly known for illegal P2P file sharing of music and films, it
also handles links to content that can be legally shared. The fate of the Pirate Bay is the
subject of a court battle as well as a forceful grassroots Swedish political movement that
has resulted in the creation of a new political party called Piratpartiet (The Pirate
Party). 21
In Denmark, any attempt to access the Pirate Bay using a Danish ISP leads to a block
page with links to a January 2008 ruling in a Danish civil court that all access to the
Web site should be blocked. Rights holders originally filed the case against the Danish
ISP Tele2, which today is owned by the Norwegian telecom Telenor. The Danish national court, Østre Landsret, confirmed the decision on November 26, 2008. 22
In April 2009, the Pirate Bay case 23 was submitted to the Danish Supreme Court. The
basic question for the court to consider is whether an ISP can be charged with blocking
access to a Web site, and whether the ISP, as the provider of the connection, can be
held responsible for any content transmitted. Thus, the case is about the Danish interpretation of the EU Infosoc 24 directive on copyright and related rights, often called the
Information Society Directive. Danish and Swedish parliaments and courts disagree on
the interpretation of this directive.
This is not the first case of its kind in Denmark. In March 2006, the country’s largest
ISP, TDC, was forced to block certain IP addresses used for the transmission of copyrighted material by a Supreme Court decision. 25 The court declared that the transmission of copyrighted files was equal to temporary unauthorized copying and thus illegal.
Court orders in 2007 forced Danish ISPs to block access to two Russian file-sharing
Web sites, Allofmp3 26 and MP3Sparks.
On April 17, 2009, the four founders of the Pirate Bay were sentenced to one year in
prison by a Swedish lower court and a combined fine of 30 million Swedish krona
(USD 4 million). The Stockholm District Court determined that the defendants worked
as a team in the operation and development of the Web site and that they had been
aware that copyrighted material was being shared.
The convicted individuals filed a complaint that the presiding judge was biased, as
a member of pro-copyright organizations. To the chagrin of the defendants, the court
Nordic Countries
327
The battles over copyright, private file sharing, and large-scale dissemination of links
in the Nordic region are primarily playing out in the courts under the close watch
of international organizations like the International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry (IFPI). One Swedish court case over a file-sharing site has earned the most
notoriety, but there have been several other cases in neighboring countries where
copyright disputes ended in Internet filtering.
The Pirate Bay is a Swedish Web site that tracks BitTorrent files. 20 The Web site has
an estimated 22 million users and is one of the Internet’s largest sources for file sharing. While it is predominantly known for illegal P2P file sharing of music and films, it
also handles links to content that can be legally shared. The fate of the Pirate Bay is the
subject of a court battle as well as a forceful grassroots Swedish political movement that
has resulted in the creation of a new political party called Piratpartiet (The Pirate
Party). 21
In Denmark, any attempt to access the Pirate Bay using a Danish ISP leads to a block
page with links to a January 2008 ruling in a Danish civil court that all access to the
Web site should be blocked. Rights holders originally filed the case against the Danish
ISP Tele2, which today is owned by the Norwegian telecom Telenor. The Danish national court, Østre Landsret, confirmed the decision on November 26, 2008. 22
In April 2009, the Pirate Bay case 23 was submitted to the Danish Supreme Court. The
basic question for the court to consider is whether an ISP can be charged with blocking
access to a Web site, and whether the ISP, as the provider of the connection, can be
held responsible for any content transmitted. Thus, the case is about the Danish interpretation of the EU Infosoc 24 directive on copyright and related rights, often called the
Information Society Directive. Danish and Swedish parliaments and courts disagree on
the interpretation of this directive.
This is not the first case of its kind in Denmark. In March 2006, the country’s largest
ISP, TDC, was forced to block certain IP addresses used for the transmission of copyrighted material by a Supreme Court decision. 25 The court declared that the transmission of copyrighted files was equal to temporary unauthorized copying and thus illegal.
Court orders in 2007 forced Danish ISPs to block access to two Russian file-sharing
Web sites, Allofmp3 26 and MP3Sparks.
On April 17, 2009, the four founders of the Pirate Bay were sentenced to one year in
prison by a Swedish lower court and a combined fine of 30 million Swedish krona
(USD 4 million). The Stockholm District Court determined that the defendants worked
as a team in the operation and development of the Web site and that they had been
aware that copyrighted material was being shared.
The convicted individuals filed a complaint that the presiding judge was biased, as
a member of pro-copyright organizations. To the chagrin of the defendants, the court
Nordic Countries
327