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The top European court has ruled the Pirate Bay could be held liable for copyright infringement by users illegally sharing films, TV shows and other content.

Although it is already widely blocked in countries including the UK and Australia, the Pirate Bay continues to provide a platform for users to share files via torrents. Founded in 2003, the site is widely used for pirating movies and TV shows and more even as the Pirate Bay insists it's only a platform and can't be held responsible for what its users share.

But a new ruling by the European Court of Justice points out that the people behind the service must be aware of its use for pirating content and that by providing the platform and its search function they could be considered to be infringing copyright.

In a statement, the Court notes "the operators of the platform index the torrent files so that the works to which those files refer can be easily located and downloaded by users."

The ruling means that copyright holders have a stronger legal position when seeking to compel internet service providers to block sites like the Pirate Bay.

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