On Monday, the four men behind file-sharing website Pirate-Bay went on trial in Stockholm, the four being accused of having helped millions of users all throughout the world to have violated the copyright law.

Film and music labels, along with file-sharers are all holding their breath to learn the outcome of the trial, since it could put a strict end-line concerning when file-sharing becomes illegal.

The four men have been accused of having violated the Swedish copyright law for having enabled web users to download protected music, movies and computer games.

Pirate-Bay website does not host content protected under copyright laws, yet it offers Internet users guidance so as to find and download films, music or other protected material via torrents.

Presently, the number of file-sharing users is estimated at approximately 22 million.

The four defendants, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, 28, Peter Sunde, 30, Fredrik Neij, 30, and Carl Lundstrom, 48, could come to spend two years in prison in case the trial ends in their conviction.

In addition, they are facing $14.3 million in compensation and damages claims made by artists whose protected works have been infringed.

Pirate-Bay is financed by Carl Lundstrom, while the other three men administer it.

All four claim that their site is legal, adding that prosecutors will not be able to get Pirate-Bay shut down even if they come to be convicted of copyright infringement.

Plaintiffs in the trial include Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., MGM Pictures Inc., Colombia Pictures Industries Inc., 20th Century Fox Films Co., Sony BMG, Universal and EMI.