The time of directly fighting piracy is over. Film companies have to change their business models to survive challenges by digital distribution. This is what News Corp. Peter Chernin said this weekend, at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s convention. “We look at this as an opportunity, hopefully profitable. The challenge is how do we protect our margins, especially our margins of existing distribution. We’ve got to look at new forms of distribution as an opportunity for content providers,” Chernin said.

“We all have a vested interest in protecting copyright, but we all need to find the best ways to deliver our content to customers where and when they want it and at an affordable price. If we do not find a legal way to do that, people will find illegal ways,” he added. Chernin echoed the general idea the MPAA opted last month. They said the movie industry has “to give folks the choices they desire — legally — in the comfort of their homes and wherever else they wish to enjoy our movies.“

It is as if the industry is opening its eyes. Stopping piracy by regulation is nearly impossible and the only solution for them is putting a better (legal) product on the market.

In addition to the $111 million approved by the court below, the MPAA wants another $15 million from The Pirate Bay in damages for copyright infringement.

The Pirate Bay is one of the most used illegal download site and says to have over 2.5 million users. Among the most popular movies are ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Pink Panther.’ Most of these movies were released even before they came out on DVD and therefore the fine per movie is even higher.

As seen on their site, The Pirate Bay doesn’t take these threats too seriously. With a popular site like this they’d be filthy rich by now anyway.

That’s a big ‘oops’ for Torrentspy, the download site that went down last March because of the ongoing court battle. If you ever thought it would be a good idea to start up a torrent site and have some fun, this should make you think otherwise. Torrentspy juts got ordered to pay the MPAA $111 million, $30,000 x 3,700 violations (movies). A great victory for the Motion Picture Association of America.

Needless to say, site owner Valence Media LLC filed for bankruptcy.