A Spanish court has likened the practice of filesharing to that of lending books. This comment was made as a long running case between cvcdgo.com – a site which linked to various torrents and filesharing resources on the web – and and combination of Columbia Tristar and Egeda, a media company. The case was first decided back in May 2009 when it was dismissed from a Madrid court. Columbia and Egeda decided to appeal, but that case too was thrown out earlier this week.
Not a good time for Columbia Tristar and Egeda, but a great sign for music fans that at least some courts and some judges are sensible enough to see pas the mega-rich corporations.
This decision is in stark contrast to filesharing-related decisions made in courts recently in the UK, US and Sweden. In all of these countries law makers are moving towards the removal of filesharing from society, and towards the protection of media conglomerates. The problem these three countries have will be in enforcing the laws across so many international jurisdictions. Having a problem in the US? Move to Spain (or just move your operations to Spain, nothing needs change other than that).
As always in the world of filesharing, there is no quick and simple solution to any perceived ‘problem’.