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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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Ron Alvarez is an IP investigations and protection consultant and writer in New York City. He is a former NYPD lieutenant where he investigated robbery, narcotics, internal affairs, and fine art theft cases. Ron has since coordinated the private investigation of international fraud and money laundering cases, as well as IP-related investigations and research involving the four pillars of IP: copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Ron is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and earned a B.A. in Government and Public Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. He has written a number of articles for various investigative publications, as well as published "The World of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Investigations" in November 2021.

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