The rights holders were not successful in Asker and Bærum District Court in their claim that Telenor must block access to The Pirate Bay.
/ 02/11/2009 / codexPress release: November 6, 2009
The rights holders were not successful in Asker and Bærum District Court in their claim that Telenor must block access to The Pirate Bay.
– This judgment means that the copyright holders are without rights and the court's statement confirms this, says Cato Strøm, director of TONO. The court leaves no doubt about the copyright holders' need to stop the infringements and claims that it is necessary to find a solution to meet this need. The judgment refers to the ongoing legislative process in the Ministry of Culture. The legislator must now address this, Strøm continues.
This decision raises the question of whether the EU Copyright Directive was correctly implemented into Norwegian law in 2005.
– The court says that there was good reason for the rights holders to file a lawsuit. According to the court, the case has raised important questions of principle and it has therefore had doubts about the outcome. This is emphasized by the fact that Telenor will not be able to cover its legal costs, says Marte Thorsby of IFPI.
Strøm says this has been a matter of principle about the right to protect artists and producers from misuse of what they have created. For many years, copyright holders have tried to enter into dialogue with internet providers to find solutions to the problem. The industry has also run awareness-raising information campaigns to combat illegal file sharing.
– We have no litigation culture in TONO, says Strøm, but this was the last resort after all other avenues have been exhausted. TONO, together with the other plaintiffs, will now consider whether to appeal the case.
– In our opinion, the verdict is out of step with what is currently happening in the EU countries, states Strøm. Just days before the verdict was handed down, it was announced that the EU Parliament is in favor of allowing internet service providers (ISPs) to block users who engage in illegal file sharing from the Internet without a court order, as long as the decision-making process is fair and impartial.
– The EU has realized that it cannot stop illegal file sharing without locking out the offenders. There is broad agreement in Europe that file sharers should be able to lose internet access. There has only been disagreement on how such a decision should be made. Norwegian legislation is unclear in this area. Now Norwegian politicians must also wake up, concludes Strøm.
In June, a joint film and music industry petitioned for a temporary injunction against Telenor, demanding that Telenor block access to The Pirate Bay for its internet customers. The case was pending in Asker and Bærum District Court in week 42.
The Pirate Bay is a download website that illegally makes copyrighted music and films available.
Cato Strøm, director of TONOMobil: 92 21 63 19 Email: cato.strom@tono.no
Ragnar Bjerkreim, chairman of NOPA and board member of TONOMobile: 90 98 83 78Email: rbjerkre@online.no
Marte Thorsby, director of IFPI NorgeMobile: 99 60 29 59 Email: marte.thorsby@ifpi.no
Jan Richard Kjelstrup, Communications Manager at TONOMobile: 99 24 86 87Email:
(see right column):Press release in Word formatImage of Cato Strøm (photo: Finn Ståle Felberg)Image of Ragnar Bjerkreim (photo: Morten Brakestad)TONO logo