PROLIFIC MUSIC UPLOADER PLEADS GUILTY TO MUSIC PIRACY

16 October 2014 - Press release

Two individuals behind the illegal music forum, Dancing Jesus, to be sentenced on 10 November 2014

A prolific uploader of music to the illegal forum, Dancing Jesus, pleaded guilty on Tuesday 14th October at Newcastle Crown Court to illegally distributing music, announced the BPI.

Dancing Jesus was an online forum which allowed members to post tens of thousands of illegallinks tomusic which were uploaded to cyberlockers like Rapidshare, Filesonic and Mediafire. The music tracks were often distributed before they were officially released – also known as pre-release piracy – causing harm to musicians and music companies large and small.

Richard Graham, of Leicestershire, illegally distributed thousands of files on the Dancing Jesus site including more than 8,000 pre-release tracks and originally entered a “not guilty” plea to illegally distributing music. However, he changed it to “guilty” earlier this week after seeing the evidence against him being presented to the judge and jury.

His guilty plea follows that of Kane Robinson, of South Shields – the owner of the Dancing Jesus site– who on 8 January 2014 also pleaded guilty to illegally distributing music.

In 2010, the BPI’s Copyright Protection Unit commenced an extensive investigation with the cooperation of the City of London Police and US Department of Homeland Security, which identified the creator and operator of the site as Robinson. On 1 September 2011 Robinson was arrested and, in a coordinated operation with US law enforcement in Dallas, the servers behind the forum were seized.

Commenting on the investigation, the Director of BPI’s Copyright Protection Unit, David Wood, said,

“This case is significant. The guilty verdict confirms that posting illegal online links to music is a criminal offence which economically harms musicians and the labels that support them. Pre-release piracy, in particular, robs musicians of artistic control, leaving them with no say in when and how their music - which has taken blood, sweat and tears to produce - is released.

“In a first-of-its-kind operation, the collaboration of UK enforcement bodies and the US authorities shows that the protection of intellectual property is a global issue that can and will be dealt with across borders.

“I’d like to thank the City of London Police, Leicestershire Police and the US Department of Homeland Security for their commitment to this investigation and professionalism shown throughout the case.”

Richard Graham and Kane Robinson were investigated under section 107(1)(e) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 which states that:

“A person commits an offence who, without the licence of the copyright owner…distributes otherwise than in the course of a business to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright, an article which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe is, an infringing copy of a copyright work.”

Both individuals will be sentenced by Judge Sherwin on Monday 10 November 2014.