UTRECHT, Netherlands (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — A Dutch court has ordered file sharing service Mininova to remove all its copyrighted works or face millions of dollars in fines.
The ruling comes as a part of a lawsuit against Mininova by Dutch copyright group Stichting Brein. Mininova, once viewed as an alternative to former file sharing website The Pirate Bay, bowed recently to legal pressure and started removing content when they received a "takedown" notice from copyright owners.
The ruling also comes just one day ahead of the planned sale The Pirate Bay to Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory, who planned to convert the site into a pay-for-content website. In April, the founders of Pirate Bay were found guilty of facilitating copyright infringement and consigned to a 1 year prison term, currently under appeal.
"We are obviously not satisfied with this ruling. The result of this ruling for Mininova is that we have to re-evaluate our business operations. At this time, we cannot determine what this will actually entail or imply. We will have to examine the verdict thoroughly first. We are considering to appeal this judgment." Mininova co-founder Erik Dubbelboer told Wired via email. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
