Why it matters: This fall, Swedish public television will debut a docudrama that delves into the history of The Pirate Bay. While the TV series will initially air exclusively in Sweden, it is already contracted for global distribution. However, the distribution company has not announced a platform or timeline for international release. Ironically, many viewers will pirate the series on The Pirate Bay the day it goes live.
This November, the notorious file-sharing site The Pirate Bay will make its debut as a television series on Swedish public broadcaster SVT. The series, which dramatizes the controversial history of the site, promises to be a nostalgic journey for those who have followed The Pirate Bay's saga over the years. The show is generating significant buzz ahead of its premiere, highlighting some of the most infamous moments, including the site's bold responses to legal threats.
The inception and early years of The Pirate Bay represent a fascinating chapter in internet history. While most pirate sites operated quietly from the shadows, The Pirate Bay's founders – Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Gottfrid Svartholm – openly defied and provoked the entertainment industry, becoming modern-day folk heroes to some in the process. Despite their eventual imprisonment, their influence on the global entertainment landscape is undeniable. TorrentFreak notes that without The Pirate Bay, the entertainment industry would have rejected or been slow to adopt streaming platforms like Netflix and Spotify.
The upcoming series, written by Piotr Marciniak and directed by Jens Sjögren – known for the "I am Zlatan" documentary – has been in development for several years. Studio B-Reel Films is producing the show for SVT, while American distribution company Dynamic Television has acquired the worldwide rights. However, Dynamic has yet to announce international release dates.
The first trailer was posted to SVT's YouTube channel about a week ago, showing a glimpse of what viewers can expect. The series features actors Arvid Swedrup, Simon Greger Carlsson, and Willjam Lempling portraying The Pirate Bay's founders – Anakata, Brokep, and Tiamo. One of the standout moments in the teaser is the re-enactment of an infamous response from Anakata to a DMCA takedown notice from DreamWorks in 2004, demanding the site remove a Shrek 2 torrent. Anakata's scathing reply became legendary, reminding the studio heads that "Sweden is not a state in the United States of America" and suggesting they "sodomize" themselves with "retractable batons."
Picking a fight with record labels and Hollywood didn't pan out for the founders in the long run. Neij (Tiamo), Sunde (Brokep), Svartholm (Anakata), and Carl Lundström (CEO of the ISP that hosted The Pirate Bay), were eventually arrested and charged with "assisting in copyright infringement." They were each sentenced to a year in prison and collectively ordered to pay 30 million SEK ($3,620,000 US) in damages.
After the verdict, Brokep famously held up an IOU during a press conference, stating that was all he would pay.
"Even if I had any money I would rather burn everything I own and not even give them the ashes," he added. "They could have the job of picking them up. That's how much I hate the media industry."
If you live in Sweden, you can legally watch the show when it debuts on November 8. The ultimate irony is that with no worldwide release in sight, many watchers may be "forced" to download the episodes on pirate torrent sites, including The Pirate Bay. Dynamic Television might want to get on the ball with distribution to a broader audience.
Image credit: Santeri Viinamäki
The Pirate Bay TV series set to premiere in Sweden this November
