Illegal downloads are a shockingly common crime. Oftentimes individuals download an illegal copy of a movie or will get all of the songs from their favorite album for free. Sometimes artists will allow free downloads of their music for promotional purposes, but there are many illegal websites that will offer free downloads to consumers. The act of illegally downloading property is considered a copyright violation. In fact, the Copyright Act of 1976 states that all works of authorship, including movies and music, are protected by copyright.
The crime of copyright infringement occurs when the works of authorship are reproduced, used without permission of the copyright holder, or republished. Posting all songs or movies for free would be a violation of this copyright because the works are being used without the copyright holders permission. In most cases, illegal downloads are considered a civil matter, and the illegal downloader may be sued or forced to reimburse the artist for the expense. Yet in some jurisdictions the government will also apply criminal punishments.
Most often, illegal downloaders will be given a fine, whether as a criminal penalty or a civil penalty. Because of this, most illegal downloaders don't take the warnings to steer clear of illegal downloads seriously. They assume that if the worst that they can be forced to do is pay a fine, there's a chance that they will still be saving money. Many illegal download enthusiasts gather that a one-time fine will be cheaper than paying for every song, album, or movie that they want. Unfortunately, this is not true. Penalties can add up and become quite pricey.
Under the federal copyright law, the damages that you may owe for your crime can range from $750 to $30,000 per work. This means that you can be charged this large amount of money for every single song or movie that you downloaded. To give an example, if you downloaded 100 songs, you may be forced to pay $3 million in compensation for the offense. Courts can also evaluate each illegal downloading case with their own discretion, so some individuals may be forced to pay even more than this. In the past, some offenders have been charged with stealing or another theft crime for illegal downloading, bringing on harsher sentences.
Recently, a 32-year-old woman in Minnesota was found guilty of downloading 24 songs. She was fined $80,000 per song downloaded, for a grand total of $1.9 million dollars. These fines are not dischargeable in a bankruptcy, so the woman was forced to come up with this massive amount of money on her own. Financial difficulties like this can send a defendant into his or her own type of prison, even if the individual never has to go behind bars.
If you want more information about illegal downloading, or need defense because you have been accused of this crime, then you will need to hire a local criminal defense attorney to help you. You may be able to use a viable defense to show that you did not download the files attributed to you. For example, a hacker may have used your computer, framing you for his or her crime.
Also, a friend may have illegally downloaded music onto your computer, or illegally downloaded a movie to send to his or her computer. Other times you may be able to prove that you were completely oblivious to the fact that the site you got the movie from was illegal, or that another individual encouraged you to download the properties. No matter which defense you attempt, you will need to contact a lawyer near you today to get optimal representation in your case!
