The Pirate Bay Threatens To Sue Over Copyright Violations

from the want-to-see-copyright-abuse?-we'll-show-you-copyright-abuse... dept

Tue, Sep 30th 2008 9:01am — Mike Masnick

The folks who run The Pirate Bay sure do seem to have quite a bit of fun. The latest is that, in response to a report from Swedish book publishers about how they scraped TPB's results for a period of time and noticed that 85% of Sweden's best sellers could be found on the site, the folks from TPB are threatening to sue the publishers for copyright infringement. Hypocritical? Yes. But, clearly, the TPB guys are merely making the point of just how silly copyright laws are. The TPB guys aren't big believers in copyright, obviously, so any such lawsuit isn't so much hypocritical as it is pointing out the absurdities of such a system to those who seem to think that copyright systems make perfect sense.

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Filed Under: copyright, database rights, publishers, sweden
Companies: pirate bay

18 Comments

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Michael Vilain, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:08am

Talk like a pirate day
Wasn't that two weeks ago (Sep 19)? If they'd only timed this announcement more carefully...
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Evan, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:10am

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater
Does it really mean that copyright is inherently flawed? Or could it simply mean that The Pirate Bay is trying to pick a fight. If one were to apply Occam's razor here, the latter seems more fitting.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:16am

Re: Throwing the baby out with the bathwater
Nope, copyright is flawed, because economics says so.
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Greg, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:17am

That's pretty funny, actually.

If nothing else, at least The Pirate Bay know how to get publicity, and they have a sense of humor.
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Not sure how i feel about this one Sunde...., 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:22am

I laughed at first but after thinking about it i'm pissed off.
I'm Thouroughly impressed.

After having years of anoying/stressful allegations and cases brought against them TPB can finally hit back (Though feebly) at someone... granted it's not the ones who need a good slapping but it will probably make the crew feel real good about themselves. like they've finally won.

Come on, this isn't proving a point its sticking someone just because you can.

I know i shouldn't get pissed of or even care but.
You've sold yourselves as the big guys in the room, now you've just slunk down the ladder to the creepy guy who'll drug your missus given half the chance.
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SteveD, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:40am

TPB have been taking a lot of flak lately (for example that unfortunate incident with the photos of dead kids).

I'm not sure if this is a real comentry on IP or just a counter-attack in the public opinion war.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Sep 2008 @ 9:55am

But, clearly, the TPB guys are merely making the point of just how silly copyright laws are.
Mike...for the love of Pete, can you please stop stating opinions as if they were facts.
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Casey, 30 Sep 2008 @ 10:01am

Key Words
I think the Key Word here is "threatened". TPB didn't stoop to any low level, they merely pointed out that under copyright law they were violated. If they actually took it to court, they would be hipocrits. At current, they are making a pretty plain statement on how absurd copyright lawsuits can be.
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John Doe, 30 Sep 2008 @ 10:03am

Re:
Not only is he stating opinions as fact, he is inferring that that his their opinion as well. Shouldn't he get their opinion and quote it rather than borrow their credibility to further his own agenda?
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mobiGeek, 30 Sep 2008 @ 10:06am

Re:
can you please stop stating opinions as if they were facts
First, what 'opinion' are you referring to?
Second, why should he stop? This is not a "news" site (though, I don't even know what a "news" site is...).
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Sep 2008 @ 10:21am

"Mike...for the love of Pete, can you please stop stating opinions as if they were facts." This is his "blog", everything is Mike's opinion on someone else's news.
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Bill Engval, 30 Sep 2008 @ 11:08am

Re:
Here's your sign.
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snowburn14, 30 Sep 2008 @ 11:27am

Re: Re:
So, if it's not news, and it's not an opinion, how would you characterize that statement, mobiGeek?
If you're going to come to Mike's defense, try to make a little sense in the process. As mentioned in #11, the whole blog should be taken as his opinion unless sources are cited - as any intelligent person should do with ANY blog (nothing personal against Mike). Same goes for an actual "news" site for that matter, probably even more so.
Mike is probably right, but that doesn't make it fact. But then, neither would a quote from TPB...if they are in fact hypocrites, they probably wouldn't be upfront about it.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Sep 2008 @ 12:25pm

Mike you are hurting your cause
I can promise you this, defending TPB will only strengthen the resolve of the media giants. Afterall, if people are willing to risk stiff fines, and even possible jail time to get to the creative works, obviously there is a market for it. Mike you are like PETA, you hurt your cause by making ridiculous statements and defending the indefensible.

If the public wants digital music distribution, support the legitimate download sites (pay for your music, movies, etc...) If you want free media, create your own, don't steal others works.
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Mike (profile), 30 Sep 2008 @ 1:16pm

Re: Mike you are hurting your cause
I can promise you this, defending TPB will only strengthen the resolve of the media giant

First of all, I wasn't "defending" TPB. Just explaining their actions.

Second, why should I give a damn about "resolve" of the media giants? Resolve is meaningless to the market.

Mike you are like PETA, you hurt your cause by making ridiculous statements and defending the indefensible.

Please explain what I defended that was indefensible?

If the public wants digital music distribution, support the legitimate download sites (pay for your music, movies, etc...) If you want free media, create your own, don't steal others works.

Ok, you are seriously confused. I have never said that it's okay to infringe on copyrights. But I have said that there are models that take advantage of the content being free. It would be a *bad business model* to focus only on paid sites, rather than learning to leverage the free content. What you suggest is commercial suicide.

And, again, you should learn the difference between infringement and stealing. Until you do, it's difficult to take you seriously.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Sep 2008 @ 8:10pm

Re: Re: Mike you are hurting your cause
Resolve is meaningless to the market.

I think this highlights exactly what sometimes pisses me off about you, Mike. There's more to everything than money, economics, and the (currently failing) market. Sometimes you admit that, but too often your view is ridiculously, dangerously limited.

This comment doesn't really relate to this particular post, but that statement provided a perfect occasion I couldn't pass up.
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Mike (profile), 1 Oct 2008 @ 12:50am

Re: Re: Re: Mike you are hurting your cause
I think this highlights exactly what sometimes pisses me off about you, Mike. There's more to everything than money, economics, and the (currently failing) market. Sometimes you admit that, but too often your view is ridiculously, dangerously limited.

Hmm. I was responding to someone saying that the entertainment industry would succeed against TPB due to "resolve."

I think that the market is very much relevant to that statement.

I agree that there is more to everything than money and economics, but if you suggest that a set of companies will succeed in the marketplace, then I think it's perfectly reasonable to point out how silly it is to claim that "resolve" will help them win in the market.

I'm not sure why it pisses you off for me to respond within the relevant context. Your anger seems to be that you wish I ignored the relevant context. I don't see why that should piss you off.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Oct 2008 @ 1:14am

Just to be fair I'm taking chunks from a tuxdeluxe article.

I think we should look to history on this matter. To such great pirates as Benjamin Franklin.
We should look to how the US treated international copyright law in the past.

(Benjamin Franklin made a great deal of money reprinting other people's work.)

At one point the United States refused to sign international agreements protecting copyright, in the belief that this would damage its own publishing industry.

The arguments are remarkably familiar, and are reminiscent of the arguments now used against Western governments and corporations in their negotiations with the rest of the world. At that time Britain was rich and powerful, and America was still a developing country.Sound familiar?
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