Music companies want Pirate Bay founders to pay fine

The Stockholm District Court should decide that two of The Pirate Bay's founders have to pay a fine since the file-sharing site is still open and they are still involved, according to a recent filing from the music industry.

In October last year the court decided that file-sharing site should be closed, and if it wasn't, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg would each have to pay a fine of 500,000 Swedish kronor (US$71,000). Now the Swedish divisions of Universal Music, EMI Music, Sony Music and Warner Music want the court to make that threat a reality, according to a motion registered by the court on Dec. 28.

This part of the battle between the founders of The Pirate Bay and the entertainment industry started last May. The entertainment industry filed a motion with the Stockholm District Court to fine the people behind The Pirate Bay as long as the site's users can access copyright-protected material.

The district court has stated that the site will have to remain closed unless Neij and Warg are exonerated on another, similar case they're involved in, which is now on appeal. In that case both men were found guilty of being accessories to crimes against copyright law. The appeal was postponed in October, and will be heard later this year.

Neij defends himself by saying that the original case has not yet been decided and that he isn't involved with the running of the site. Warg has stayed quiet throughout this process, according to court documents.

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