The buzz in Sweden this week seems to be all about the Pirate Bay trial. Unless you’ve been living under a rock on planet Zog, you have most likely heard about file sharing. I have purposely left out the word “illegal” from the previous sentence, because file sharing comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. And some of it is quite legal, as it happens.
But as it also happens, The Pirate Bay, as its name indicates, also enables the sharing of… well… pirated material. The website is (I am assuming that until the end of the trial, it still is) run by four Swedish guys: Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström, who needless to say, deny any wrongdoing.
Their site only enables the sharing process and no pirated material is stored on its computer servers. And its computer servers are stored in far away countries.
Here’s the news blurb about the trial (in English) from The Local.
Now, it’s not my place to judge whether file sharing is right or wrong. Personally, I don’t do it and wouldn’t know a bit torrent if it hit me square in the face.
But a couple of years ago, Sweden was identified as the only Western European country with a rampant internet piracy problem. And that much is true. Swedes consider downloading of whatever strikes their fancy as their God-given right – just like New Yorkers feel about jaywalking. And just as with jaywalking in New York, it’s impossible to enforce the currently existing law.
And just how old is the current law? Not that old at all. The law banning the downloading of copyrighted material came into effect only in July 2005. And the first file-sharer in Sweden was convicted in October 2005 after a lengthy trial.
This current Pirate Bay trial is expected to last about three weeks. And whatever the verdict, I’m sure it will have far reaching consequences not only for download-loving citizens of Sweden, but also for Swedish movie producers.
Have you seen the hit Swedish movie “Let the Right One In” (Låt den rätte komma in)? Last November its director and producers made a plea to the Alliance (Allians för Sverige) leaders to get tough on those who breach copyright laws by downloading movies.
Here’s that plea. I couldn’t have said it better myself:
Open letter to the Alliance party leaders.
November 25th 2008
Dear Fredrik, Maud, Jan and Göran,
Four years ago we began work on a movie based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In). After two years work looking for financing, in which we used money belonging to us and other people, we managed to raise the 28 million kronor ($3.5 million) necessary to realize the project. Since then, almost 400 people from the Swedish film industry have participated in the project.
It takes maybe thirty seconds to transfer all this effort and the money invested onto a USB memory stick that will fit in your back pocket. This copy can then be used to generate new copies, and so on ad infinitum. Not only is our product expensive and difficult to produce, it is also sensitive to say the least in its physical form.
We are proud that our work has put Sweden back on the international film map. The movie has already won sixteen international awards and has received glowing reviews in every country in which it was premiered. In the United States alone, the movie is going to be shown in more than forty cities. The movie has been sold to over fifty countries, making it one of the biggest Swedish film exports of all time. This is a one in a hundred occurrence that has a lot to do with luck and timing, but it is mainly down to the hard work skill of all four hundred of us who have contributed to making the film.
On October 24th the movie had its Swedish premiere. Ten days later, the thing that shouldn’t be allowed to happen did happen: a stolen copy of our movie was made accessible for piracy on The Pirate Bay and other similar sites. Now the movie is available for anybody to watch free of charge. It should be clear to anybody that this is a catastrophe for us.
Regardless of how much international success it garners, it’s not going to be enough for the movie to cover its costs. Only a small fraction of this money makes its way to us. It is on the home market that Let The Right One In has to make the money back.
Despite the fact that we work with the development of fantasies, the economic realities we face are as crass for us as they are for any other industry. Our reality is as concrete as that of a car manufacturer. We are part of the Swedish film industry and live under the same conditions as any other industry - except for the fact that we’re just supposed to accept that what we produce is not protected against theft.
We are often asked by our colleagues abroad why Sweden has become such a paradise for internet pirates. Swedish laws are considered something of a joke and our politicians are viewed as arrogant for not taking this seriously. Sweden has the worst laws in this area and, consequently, the worst problems with piracy. It is embarrassing that Sweden has waited so long to put in place a directive that was implemented long ago by our European neighbours.
If this state of affairs continues to prevail, we will no longer be able to support ourselves with our work. We will have to either switch jobs or move away from here. The logical extension: no more files to share.
We are left to wonder why we do not enjoy the same legal protections as other industries and why you as party leaders and ministers do not openly express your support for copyright protection?
Tomas Alfredson, Director
John Nordling, Producer
Carl Molinder, Producer
www.efti.se
