Blogger arrested, accused of posting 9 unreleased Guns N' Roses songs

[anythinggoes II]

mister saint laurent is probably shitting his pants right now.

i was thinking the same thing, makes the banner on his site all the more funny

i have a feeling they "will catch you"

[GNR4L]

So he used to work for Universal so now it starts to make more sense now.

[Jim Bob]

This is really good news actually.   This is a step in the right direction to fight copyright pirates.   Universal is making a great move here.   Let this guy sit in jail as an example.

[ForeverGNR]

Arresting guys for sharing low quality demos of unfinished songs...yeah. I lost all respect for GnR today. I won't buy the album too like many now are saying everywhere.

Well fuck you then!


We don't want your kind here.



The so called fans who are blaming this on GN'R are fucking amusing.

Like they need a reason for posting shit like that.

Without this news, they would've blamed something else for not buying it.






/jarmo

Wow, what a nice example in the use of words, the admin is showing here!

[destroier]

I look at it this way you couldn't walk into a McDonalds and go behind a counter and steal a hamburger and fries.  It's the same with music, I would like to see something were only the artist and a rep from the label only have copies and keep them in a safe or locked somewhere it couldn't leak.

Bad analogy. When you take that food from McDonald's, they lose that money they paid for the raw materials to make the burger and fries. There is no raw material involved when downloading music. If you download an album, that artist and record company aren't any worse off than they would have been if you didn't download it... unless you download it instead of buying it. If you weren't going to buy the album anyways though, then it doesn't make a difference.

In this case, there is no album to buy, thus there are no sales lost. If the entire CD leaks, I will download it, and if the CD ever comes out I'll still buy it the first day.

[zosobob6]

I try to imagine if it was Nirvana's leaks, Kurt's reaction. I mean...this is getting ridiculous.
the FBI involved for leaks...I'm always trying to figure how is USA world today...I admit I'm like David Bowie...I'm afraid of americans.
(and don't get me wrong, I respect copyrights, intellectual property etc, but come on, there's other ways to do that).

dude, im an american...and im afraid of americans

[Limulus]

"Cogill, who is appearing today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is the first to be charged under the new federal statute in the West, said Kathy Leodler, director of investigations for the RIAA's Western region office in L.A."

now this surely sounds no good for him as often proven in the past the 1st one is the one to be THE example for all possible followers.

[GNRVahland]

mister saint laurent is probably shitting his pants right now.

I think (or he thinks) he has covered his ass. Maybe the UMG lawyers see a leak in his defence .....

[jarmo]

Wow, what a nice example in the use of words, the admin is showing here!

Look, I don't need to be nice to so called fans who are obviously trying to fuck over the band they claim to support while breaking the law.

Too bad if you're so sensitive.



Judging by your username, I'd assume you were on the right side of the fence.

In this case, there is no album to buy, thus there are no sales lost.

But you don't fucking own it. You don't have the right to take something that's not yours and do as you please with it.

That's what they call copyright.






/jarmo

[willow]

this both made my day and disgusted me.

I for one back Jarmo. I am so glad that this guy is going to pay for this. A lot of people just don't seem to get it! The record industary is dying because of Assholes like this guy!! I am glad GNR took the time to track this guy down!

The sad part is the leaks are out there. I sure hope there still is some surprizes left on the cd. And its sad that this is what its come down too. Bands have to be the bad guy to protect themselves. Its just to bad.

[bazgnr]

Kevin Cogill, 27, is accused of posting the songs, which were being prepared for commercial release

Gee, wonder why the record company would be interested in that?

/jarmo

What concerns me is the use of "were" in this quote.   I can only hope that it doesn't mean "past tense" as in "delayed / no longer happening."  Sheesh.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/145014-guns-n-roses-leaker-dude-arrested-by-feds

[gearbm95]

This is GOOD news. CD is finally coming...if you check YouTube you'll also see that all the "Shackler's Revenge" leaks that were up there a week or two are now GONE. Could we see more lawsuits coming towards those people or YouTube itself? There were tons of videos featuring the versions of "TWAT", "Rhiad", and "If The World" that the guy who's being sued leaked on YouTube awhile back.

I think the whole stealing music thing is needed though. Look at what NIN is doing, Trent encouraged everyone to steal Year Zero and his back catalogue, and that in turn pissed off Universal/Interscope. Interscope /Universal are the bad guys here...physical music sales wouldn't be down if the industry would have evolved and not tried to price gauge at every opportunity possible. Look at the cost of say, and Avril Lavigne record vs. that of one of the UYI...I GUARENTEE there's at least a $5/$6 difference. The industry priced their products based of the fan bases and now that people are catching on there pissed. Fuck the major labels!

[Fernando]

Good read.  I like Jarmo's f-bombs! 

[zosobob6]

I think the whole stealing music thing is needed though. Look at what NIN is doing, Trent encouraged everyone to steal Year Zero and his back catalogue, and that in turn pissed off Universal/Interscope. Interscope /Universal are the bad guys here...physical music sales wouldn't be down if the industry would have evolved and not tried to price gauge at every opportunity possible. Look at the cost of say, and Avril Lavigne record vs. that of one of the UYI...I GUARENTEE there's at least a $5/$6 difference. The industry priced their products based of the fan bases and now that people are catching on there pissed. Fuck the major labels!

this^^^^

[patcooper]

whats funny is this dude gets arrested but their are still plenty of links and torrents for all the leaks. also most rock bands became "famous" through people bootleging their ALBUMS. People would tape and sell and give cassetes out of AFD in the 80's. Thats how metallica got their break, through bootlegs of kill em all.  now the internet makes it worlwide instead of a few hundred people.

[Sober_times]

This case fell in the lap of RIAA, Universal, and The FBI. A perfect example of how much a regular person does not know about uploading copy-righted material. The RIAA goes after people in civil court 95% time because the burden of proof is much less. T I am not a fan of the RIAA. The only reason this is a criminal case is because how ignorant the guy who uploaded it was. 

Don't get me wrong, though I may not sound like it, I am against copyright infringement. I am just also against the methods The RIAA and other organizations like it use to prove it.

He wasn't looking to profit off it. He was just a fan who wanted to share unreleased tracks of a band that hasn't released anything in very very long time. I understand its the bands material However, I think they should sympathetic to fans like this and cut the guy a break. Hopefully he doesn't face too much jail time. And Guns doesn't need the bad press this is going to create.

This will not stop anything else from leaking. When the album is finally close to release there is no question in my mind it will leak. This case in paticular will do nothing to discourage people that leak albums. However, it will just stop morons from uploading tracks on their own blog.

this both made my day and disgusted me.

I for one back Jarmo. I am so glad that this guy is going to pay for this. A lot of people just don't seem to get it! The record industary is dying because of Assholes like this guy!!

The record industry is dying because they refuse to adapt to the current times. Instead of attempting to adapt to the technology available to them. Instead of finding ways to change their entire buisness model they use guys like this to blame poor sales on. And its a shame when people like you actually buy into that pile of shit. 

[Rockin' Rose]

Just saw somewhere else that Metal Sludge did the same thing last year...they posted 3 leaks on their site and literally said steal it...and after they got a notice from GnR, they pulled it. They did the exact same thing as Kevin.

So why no arrest there, but here? Because this is just 1 guy who has no influence in the scene but Metal Sludge does?

What about Eddie Trunk? He did simlar things....

This all smells bad.

The difference is the album is DONE. The leaks were probably FINISHED songs. That's the difference. 

Those leaks weren't the finished/mixed/mastered songs, Ron's guitar parts ain't in them, I admit, I've listened, I liked.

It's a bit complicated situation, with internet now a days.

People who have no intention to buy the album, are going to download it from somewhere when it leaks.

Some people who are going to buy it, will download it from somewhere, IF it leaks before it hits the stores, some of them might not like it and might decide not to buy it.

And some people will wait for the albums release and buy it then.

I could have waited for the album to be released but decided not to, my reason for it is that I have suffered from depression for the last ten years, and mid June it hit hard, medication helps some but not much and I really can't describe how much easier it has been to get through the darkest of days when listening to Guns N' Roses and Axl's singing, (if someone from the GN'R camp reads this, THANK YOU!!!)

I think that what HIM (the band) did with their latest album, having all the song listenable in their myspace page for a while, was a good move, have I bought it yet, no, have I downloaded/pirated it, no.

Is it cool for someone to leak unfinished songs? Not really, the fans usually understand that they are only demos but the casual consumer who hears them might not think the same way and that can be harmfull, a lot of people have not heard the leaks but the media attention the band receives from them is amazing and probably have only helped the band in the negotiations with the record company and other parties involved.

A bit off topic but if you change some of the words it applies quite well to the music business, here is what one of the big guys at EA feels about pirating.

?I?m not a huge fan of trying to punish your consumer. Albeit these people have clearly stolen intellectual property, I think there are better ways of resolving this within our power as developers and publishers.

?Yes, we?ve got to find solutions. We absolutely should crack down on piracy. People put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into their content and deserve to get paid for it. It?s absolutely wrong, it is stealing.

?But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I?m not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games.?

http://gonintendo.com/?p=53740

[Axl4Prez2004]

I am glad they arrested this guy.  I know I'm in the minority on this one, but he broke the law, and he should be punished appropriately.

Bitch all you want about the price gauging.  Hell, launch a class-action lawsuit if what they are doing is illegal...but don't break the law in response.  Two wrongs don't make a right...isn't that what we were taught back in grade school?  

[LunsJail]

So he used to work for Universal so now it starts to make more sense now.

Yeah, I'd say the Feds found out that the person who took the songs out of record company offices and posted them on his site were one and the same.  Maybe this will set an example for the other employees at the record companies.  I know a bunch of these leaks come from them (not GNR specifically, but all artists.)  

[--DEA--]

How did he found/came over the songs?