Andre Yoskowitz
18 Dec 2013 21:10
Two years after the popular private tracker Swebits closed down, one of its uploaders has received a suspended jail sentence, 160 hours community service and a massive $652,000 damages award.
The uploader shared over 500 movies, but the fine was just for one film: a pre-release CAM version of "Beck – Levande Begravd."
Anti-piracy group Antipiratbyran brought the case, and the rightsholders had called the man the "worst ever" individual movie pirate in Swedish history, demanding a one year prison sentence.
Rights Alliance lawyer Henrik Pontén says the damages award was the largest ever for a piracy case, adding that "[The $652,000] refers to compensation and is equal to what the man would have paid if he had bought a license to distribute the movie for free downloads. "The man also has to pay damages for other losses such as disturbing the market and goodwill losses. This shows what damages are caused to the creators and rights holders by the illegal file-sharing of one movie."
Making the fine even more ridiculous is the fact that the film made just $1.4 million in theaters. The film's publisher says the poor quality of the upload led to the reputation of the film being damaged. Apparently the court agreed.