The file-sharing religion known as 'Kopimism' has been officially recognised as a religion by Swedish authorities, making file-sharing itself a "holy act" for its followers.

Known as "Kopimists", these believers treat CTRL+C and CTRL+V as holy symbols, and call the sharing of information online "kopyacting".

Led by 19-year-old philosophy student Isak Gerson, the religious group needed to apply three times officially before they were given the thumbs up.

But despite the recognition, this does not mean file-sharing is legal in Sweden - just that the religion of Kopimism is now official.

Their website, has been slashdotted - meaning that it can't handle the extreme volume of traffic it's currently dealing with - but the pared-down homepage does have this press release from Gerson, which states:

"For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains, and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore, copying is central for the organisation and its members."

"Being recognised by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of kopimi. Hopefully, this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution."

Check out the website - as it currently stands, anyway - to sign up for more information.