The Synovate poll published Thursday in the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter shows the Pirate Party's backing has surged after a court verdict against The Pirate Bay file-sharing site.

The survey of about 1,500 people shows 5.1 per cent of Swedish voters support the party. Four percent is the minimum for a seat in the European Parliament. The error margin was 1.8 per centage points.

The Pirate Party was founded in 2006 with the aim of legalizing noncommercial file-sharing of music and films on the Internet.

Four men behind The Pirate Bay were convicted this month of copyright violations and sentenced to a year in prison. -- AP