The Pirate Bay has broken its operation in two after an organization backed by the music and movie industries took aim at its backer.

According to TorrentFreak, The Pirate Bay today shifted its operational duties to Norway and Spain. Previously, the Swedish Pirate Party was providing it with the bandwidth it needed to operate its site. However, the Rights Alliance, an organization backed by the biggest music and movie companies, threatened to sue the Swedish Pirate Party over its support. That lawsuit could have cut off the Swedish Pirate Party's ability to pay for The Pirate Bay's bandwidth and put it out of commission.

"You always have to chose your battles wisely," Swedish Pirate Party leader Anna Troberg told TorrentFreak. "It would be crazy to enter a game where the rules are decided by the other team. The Pirate Party's mission is not to produce martyrs for the copyright industry. Our mission is to create long-term political change that ensures that the copyright industry in the future will not be allowed to threaten companies, organizations and individuals into silence with our common judicial system as a weapon."

Luckily for The Pirate Bay, it didn't have much trouble overcoming the Rights Alliance's move. According to TorrentFreak, the site simply hooked up with the Pirate Party in Norway and Spain. The Pirate Bay's leaders ostensibly believe that they have some legal cover in Norway, due mainly to courts ruling in their favor in recent attempts by ISPs to block the site. Spain, according to TorrentFreak, has remained largely apathetic to the controversy surrounding The Pirate Bay, making it another worthy safe haven.

Looking ahead, the battle between the Rights Alliance and the Swedish Pirate Party might not be over. In a statement to TorrentFreak, Troberg said that her organization may file a police report against the Rights Alliance claiming "unlawful coercion."