Looks like crime doesn’t pay, as Variety reports the New York resident who illegally uploaded X MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE prior to its official release in an unfinished version will get one year in federal prison. It is one of the most severe punishments ever given out for piracy. Gilberto Sanchez of the Bronx was found guilty of uploading an almost final “work print” of the 20th Century Fox feature in 2009 almost a month before the film’s theatrical debut.
Variety spoke with assistant United States Attorney Lisa E. Feldman, a worker in the FBI’s computer and intellectual property crimes section: “We believe this is the longest sentence ever imposed for a defendant charged with uploading a single copyrighted film to the internet.”
The film was uploaded to the website Megaupload.com and remained there for about a day before 20th Century Fox pulled it down from the site.
Judge Margaret M. Morrow also imposed a year of supervised release and numerous restrictions on sanchez, in addition to his year in federal prison. It was estimated that nearly 15 million people downloaded the film, which counted for millions of dolllars in losses.
This next step in punishment against piracy will hopefully start a tough debate: should piracy continue to be illegal? Should the consequences be this harsh or even harsher? Is there such a thing as intellectual property?
Iconic French New Wave auteur Jean-Luc Godard (BREATHLESS, VIVRE SA VIE) had this to say on the matter in September 2010:
I am against Hadopi [the French internet-copyright law, or its attendant agency], of course. There is no such thing as intellectual property. I’m against the inheritance [of works], for example. An artist’s children could benefit from the copyright of their parents’ works, say, until they reach the age of majority…. But afterward, it’s not clear to me why Ravel’s children should get any income from Bolero….
We shall see what happens next in the “fight against piracy”.
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