Britain's record industry said on Friday it had won a landmark court case against two people caught illegally swapping music on the Internet, forcing them to pay thousands of pounds in bills.

In the first case of its kind in Britain, London's High Court ruled in separate judgements that the two men were liable for illegal internet distribution of music, the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) said.

"It's the first time our assertion that file sharing is illegal has been tested in court," a BPI spokesman told Reuters.

"These individuals felt they had a case to defend, and the courts ruled that they emphatically don't."

The BPI said it had decided not to name the two men, a postman from Brighton in southern England and a man from King's Lynn in eastern England, who it had taken to court for breaking the Copyright and Patents Act.

The judgments were made earlier this month and in November.

The man from King's Lynn was ordered to make an immediate payment of 5,000 pounds, and faces legal costs of 13,500 pounds and as well as an undecided sum for damages.

The postman, a father of two, was told to pay 1,500 pounds pending a final decision on damages and costs.