The bell has tolled for file-sharing websites after file-sharing provided by the Swedish website The Pirate Bay (TPB) was declared unlawful by the High Court.

A group of record companies representing the UK music publishing industry is seeking an order for the six main retail Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – including Sky, BT and Virgin Media – to block the site. The six have a combined market share of some 94 per cent of UK Internet users.

Under UK and European copyright legislation, the courts have powers to issue blocking orders against ISPs for copyright infringement. The music companies want the ISPs to take measures to block – or at least to impede – access by their customers to TPB.

Last July, it was held that the High Court had jurisdiction to make an order requiring BT to block another file-sharing site known as Newzbin2. UK and European courts have also declared that there is no requirement to join either TPB or any of its users in such an action, so the current case does not involve either TPB or any of the users of the site. TPB is currently facing litigation in other countries.

In conclusion, the court stated that ‘users and the operators of TPB infringe the copyrights of the claimants (and those they represent) in the UK’. Remaining questions as to the extent of the responsibility of the ISPs to prevent such infringement will be heard in due course.