Swedish authorities have recently ruled that the Church of the Kopimism, a religion founded to legalize file sharing, is not considered a religion. In April the authorities ruled that Kopimisme is not a religion, because no services were held and the group had no formalized way of praying or meditation. Recently, another application was submitted, but again rejected.

The 19-year-old philosophy student Isak Gerson founded the Church. The Church of Kopimism already has about 1,000 followers. According to Kopimism, copying and sharing information are the most beautiful things on earth. If someone's information or (copyrighted) work is copied, it's a form of respect and appreciation; it is a sign that someone has done something good.

The Church believes that copying has to be embraced through a religion. If that happens, the disciples hope that official recognition of their values will make them immune from prosecution.

The followers hold CTRL-C and CTRL-V as sacred symbols and they argue that they meditate about sharing information and copying files. This was not enough however to be regarded a religion. It is still uncertain whether the followers are going to try to become an officially recognized church.

Reference: Torrentfreak.com