Music companies seek to block access to website

A legal action has been launched aimed at blocking access by Irish internet users to the free file-sharing website Pirate Bay and related sites.

About 200,000 Irish users access the Pirate Bay monthly, the Commercial Court heard. Four music companies have brought the case against five internet service providers (ISPs) aimed at requiring them block or disable access by their subscribers to the sites.

The action is by EMI, Sony, Warner Music, and Universal against UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, and Hutchison 3G Ltd, and all the defendants consented yesterday to the case being fast-tracked in the Commercial Court.

In an affidavit, EMI chairman Willie Kavanagh, who is also chairman of the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), said the Pirate Bay operated as “a vast directory of what is overwhelmingly copyright material” that internet users were making available for downloading, copying, and onward distribution by other internet users.

The directory indicates what is available and who is making it available, he said. An expert for the plaintiffs estimated the minimum advertising revenue of website at between $20.5m and $36m (€15.6m-€27.3m).

Mr Justice Peter Kelly said it appeared the defendant companies were “innocent parties” seeking to achieve a constructive end to the litigation and he indicated the best approach may be to have experts for the sides get together to work out a way forward.

The case will involve the first court examination of issues arising from new copyright legislation introduced last February, he said.

Jonathan Newman, for the music companies, said experts for the sides had met before but he had no difficulty with another meeting.

He said, while Mr Justice Peter Charleton previously ruled he could not make such a blocking order relating to Pirate Bay against Eircom, that company had voluntarily blocked access by subscribers to the site and the music companies also believed the legal situation had changed via the new statutory instrument.

Cian Ferriter, counsel for Vodafone, said his client does not condone copyright piracy and was not opposed in principle to what the plaintiffs were seeking, but a lot of issues had to be “ironed out”.

Gerard Kelly of Matheson solicitors, for UPC and Hutchison, said his clients favoured a meeting.

Mr Justice Kelly said he would transfer the case to the Commercial Court but would defer making further directions. If no agreement was reached, the areas of disagreement should be identified and the case would return to court late next month, he added.