Infringement of Copyright—Movie Piracy

Two people have been charged with felony violations of movie piracy. In one incident, Marc D. Hoaglin has been charged with illegally uploading Star Wars III onto the internet a day before its release.^[1] Seven other people have been charged with misdemeanors for their involvement in the illegal release of the movie.^[2] According to court documents, the individuals responsible were located by looking at forensic markings on “screeners,” which are copies of films made available for the purpose of reviews and industry awards programs.^[3] Mr. Hoaglin is charged with violating the recently-enacted Family Entertainment Copyright Act^[4].

In the other felony incident announced yesterday, Eric Wright pleaded guilty to a single count of trafficking in counterfeit DVD labels attached to copyrighted movies.^[5] He admitted making unauthorized copies of two movies, affixing counterfeit labels to those copies, and then selling the DVDs to others.^[6]

Family Entertainment Copyright Act
Under the recently-amended 17 U.S.C. § 506, it is illegal for a person to willfully infringe a copyright if the infringement was committed by the distribution of a work being prepared for commercial distribution, by making it available on a computer network accessible to members of the public.^[7]

The punishment for a violation of this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 3 years, or both.^[8]

Counterfeit Labels
Trafficking in counterfeit labels is punished by 18 U.S.C. § 2318. Under this section, it is a crime for a person to knowingly traffic in a counterfeit label affixed to a copy of a motion picture.^[9]

The punishment for a violation of this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.^[10]

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[1] US Attorney’s Office, Press Release: Eight Charged wirh Copyright Infringement for Distributing Latest Star Was Movie That was Stolen from Post-Production Firm Prior to Theatrical Release, Sept. 27, 2005, available here [hereinafter USAO].
[2] Charges in ‘Star Wars’ Piracy, Monterey County Herald, Sept. 28, 2005, available here [hereinafter Charges].
[3] Id.
[4] Pub. L. No. 109-9, 119 Stat. 218, available here.
[5] USAO, supra note 1.
[6] Charges, supra note 2.
[7] 17 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1)(C).
[8] Id. § 506(a) (incorporating by reference the punishment standards found in 18 U.S.C. § 2319(d)).
[9] 18 U.S.C. § 2318(a)(1)(C).
[10] Id. § 2318(a).