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BERLIN -- The trial that pits the Hollywood majors against the operators of BitTorrent tracking service Pirate Bay closed today with the verdict from the Stockholm district court expected to be handed down on April 17.

Swedish prosecutors are demanding jail sentences of up to one year for each of the four defendants, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom. The four also face hefty fines.

The plaintiffs, including Warner Bros., MGM, 20th Century Fox and Sony, accuse Stockholm-based Pirate Bay, one of the biggest file-sharing websites worldwide, of costing them millions in the illicit traffic of films, music and software.

Backed by the Motion Picture Assn., the Intl. Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the Recording Industry Assn. of America, they are suing for $14.3 million in damages.

Prosecutors have argued that the four Swedes violated copyright laws and enriched themselves via the platform, adding that it generated net profits of around 10 million kronor ($1.1 million) a year.

Boasting some 22 million users worldwide, Pirate Bay claimed late last year it had even asked the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize it as the world's largest illicit tracker.