On a quiet Wednesday in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Culver City, a man was arrested and later released on $10,000 bond. Such an incident is no cause for concern in a city like L.A., however 27-year-old Kevin Cogill wasn’t arrested because he was peddling drugs or fled the scene of a hit and run or because he was involved in a domestic dispute, oh no. Cogill was put in jail and now faces not only 3 years of prison time, but $250,000 in fines because he posted nine leaked songs from an unreleased Guns N’ Roses album on his music blog in June. The songs from the album “Chinese Democracy,” which has been in the works for more than a decade were only available to stream and not download on Antiquiet, Cogill’s blog. The site ended up crashing and he removed the tracks after a couple hours when GNR lawyers complained.

If it had ended there, this story wouldn’t be ridiculous; but it didn’t end. In fact, it had just begun. The FBI became involved and interviewed Cogill at both his office and home and now, he faces the aforementioned charges under a 3-year-old federal anti-piracy law that makes it a felony to distribute a copyrighted work on computer networks before its release

The Los Angeles Times quotes Slash, the former GNR lead guitarist as saying “I hope he rots in jail.”

“It’s going to affect the sales of the record, and it’s not fair. The Internet is what it is, and you have to deal with it accordingly, but I think if someone goes and steals something, it’s theft,”he continued.

Really Slash? You hope he rots in jail? For posting songs to LISTEN to, not download on a tiny little personal website from an album that’s more than 10 years overdue? You should actually be thanking Kevin Cogill and perhaps pay him, for the publicity and hype he’s just created around your band’s album. You have millions upon millions of dollars and you’re going after a guy who lives in Culver City and runs a blog?

I get it, it’s illegal. The material is copyrighted and Cogill is probably being prosecuted to set an example to others, but 3 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, not to mention FBI agents? I think that’s beyond ridiculous.

And the unbelievable idea that Guns N’ Roses, who tout fans all around the world are going to lose record sales over this incident is completely ludicrous.

GNR and their lawyers should take a note from Stephenie Meyers, author of the wildly popular “Twilight” series. A portion of Meyers’ manuscript of her new book “Midnight Sun” was leaked earlier this week and in a quite refreshing move, Meyers posted about the incident on her own website:

“I’d rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes,” she wrote.
“But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I’ve decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this message on the Midnight Sun page). This way, my readers don’t have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward’s head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That’s what inspired me to write it in the first place.

I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.”

At least one person feels the same way I do. “Bringing that hammer down on an individual music fan strikes me as entirely inappropriate,” Corynne McSherry, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. “Taxpayers should be concerned that they are picking up Hollywood and the music industry’s legal costs, particularly when you are going after an individual like this.”

Photo by simonlouw

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Related Post

• No Related Post