Major Illegal Musical File-Sharing Copyright Thief Sentenced in U.S. Federal Court

On March 22, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the sentencing of a musical copyright thief to five (5) years in prison.

Here are a few highlights:

The criminal operation transpired from 2012 – 2015

• Largest online file-sharing of infringing musical works in the U.S.
• An estimated 1 billion copies of copyrighted musical works were downloaded through the Internet
• The criminal created links and stored and distributed the stolen music on his sites
• During that period, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent the criminal over 100-emails to stop, which he ignored
• The conservative estimate of the stolen works value is $6.3 billion
• Sentenced to five (5) years in prison and three (3) years of supervised release
• Ordered to pay $458,000. to the RIAA
• The criminal was ordered to surrender on May 10th
• The case was investigated by the FBI[1]

[1] Owner of Sharebeast.com sentenced for copyright infringement, U.S. Department of Justice, March 22, 2018

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/owner-sharebeastcom-sentenced-copyright-infringement

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