A French court has mandated the operators of a website facilitating illegal movie downloads to pay over 625 million euros ($650 million) in fines, damages, and interest to various film studios, including prominent US ones, announced prosecutors on Wednesday.
During the trial held from October 11 to 13 in Rennes, six administrators and moderators of the Torrent 411 website were prosecuted, while the site's Canadian founder was tried in absentia.
Leading American studios including Disney, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Universal, Paramount, and Warner Brothers were granted damages and interest.
Before the site's administrators were apprehended in 2017, Torrent 411 hosted over 700,000 links for illicitly downloading films and music.
According to the France Ouest daily, the French moderators, having pleaded guilty prior to the trial, received suspended jail sentences.
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The IT specialist served a short jail sentence, which was already encompassed by his pre-trial detention.
The site's creator, Jonathan Jolicoeur, was not turned over to France by Canada. He was found guilty in his absence and sentenced to three years in prison and a 150,000 euro fine.
“The civil penalties are always very high in these types of cases,” the head prosecutor in Rennes, Philippe Astruc, told AFP.
