Appeal Punishes File-Sharer, Fine Increased 6x Over

A man caught sharing dozens of music tracks on the Internet who initially collected a tiny fine had his case go to appeal. The end result was a bad one.

The 26 year-old from Sweden had previously been monitored sharing 44 tracks via a Direct Connect sharing hub during the summer of 2009.

He later went to the District Court for that offense and was fined 2,000 kronor (apprx $300).

In its reasoning the Court found that the offense was very minor and had not led to any economic loss to the plaintiffs in the case – the four big music labels.

However, the prosecutor did not agree. He felt that in light of the earlier conviction of the Pirate Bay founders, the man should face a heavier sentence, even prison, and insisted on the case going to appeal.

That appeal has now been heard and for the 26 year-old things didn’t go well.

The Court of Appeal found that although the man’s initial sharing was small, it created a significant risk of music being spread further. The Court did acknowledge that the man had no aggravating financial motive so ruled out prison but handed down a larger fine.

The original fine was boosted from 2,000 kronor (apprx $300) to 13,000 kronor (apprx $2000), more than 6 times the original amount.

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