Carpathia has so fair maintained Megaupload's 28 petabytes of data but said it can't access it. Megaupload wants the data retained, but its funds have been frozen since the site was shutdown. The U.S. government said it copied the data it needs for the case.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has said it wants the data preserved since the organization may have civil claims against Megaupload and users who may have infringed copyrights using the site.

Seven people and two companies are charged with copyright infringement and money laundering in connection with Megaupload, which federal prosecutors allege caused more than $500 million in damages to copyright holders.

Megaupload's founder, Kim Dotcom, remains free on bail in New Zealand, although the U.S. plans to try to extradite him to face trial.