The case against the four people involved in the running of Pirate Bay is heading back to court at the end of September. The appeals trial is tentatively scheduled to start on Sep 28., the Svea Court of Appeals said on Wednesday.

It has been almost a year since Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstr ö m were found guilty of being accessories to crimes against copyright law, and each sentenced to one year in prison. The court also ordered them to pay around 30 million Swedish kronor (US$4.2 million) in damages. All four subsequently appealed the verdict.

Nine days have been scheduled for the trial, the last one being Oct. 15. The dates are preliminary, and can be changed if the defendants or the prosecution have any objections. On Thursday, Sunde's lawyer told the court that Sunde is unable to attend, according to Svea Court of Appeals judge Ulrika Ihrfelt.

The Svea Court of Appeals will now have to decide if Sunde's reasons for not being able to attend are legitimate, according to Ihrfelt. However, that can't be done until allegations of bias against Ihrfelt and her colleague, Judge Kristina Boutz, have been resolved by the Supreme Court, Ihrfelt said. The appeals trial was postponed last year because of the same accusations.

Riding on the coattails of the original verdict, the Pirate Party was able to get 7.1 percent of the votes in the Swedish election for the European Parliament.