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

[Ali]

Blogger Kevin Cogill charged with felony in leak of Guns N' Roses songs

By Michelle Quinn and Swati Pandey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
August 29, 2008

When five FBI agents arrested Kevin Cogill at his Culver City apartment, it marked the newest weapon in the entertainment industry's war on piracy: felony charges against small-time bootleggers.

Cogill posted nine leaked songs from an unreleased Guns N' Roses album, which has been in the works for more than a decade, on his music blog in June. The site crashed under the traffic, and he removed the songs after a few hours when the Los Angeles-based rock band's lawyers complained.

Now he faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. On Wednesday he became the first Californian charged 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.

"In the past, these may have been viewed as victimless crimes," said Craig Missakian, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who built the case with the FBI and recording-industry investigators. "But in reality, there's significant damage. This law allows us to prosecute these cases."

Cogill, 27, was arrested Wednesday and released on $10,000 bond. He was not required to enter a plea. His public defender, Anthony Eaglin, declined to comment.

"I hope he rots in jail," said Slash, the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. "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."

The entertainment industry has long fought to protect official release dates. It contends that sales are lost when a movie or song is available free on the Internet before it hits stores. Leaked songs are often unfinished and of poor sound quality.

Pre-release piracy "pops the balloon," said Eric German, a partner with Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp who has represented the recording industry in piracy cases. "It rips up the lottery ticket. It takes the wind out of everything."

The Recording Industry Assn. of America has long relied on civil lawsuits to combat piracy. But the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 gave it a new hammer -- felony charges with stiff penalties for posting even one song before its release.

The law has been used only a few times, mostly to tackle big commercial piracy rings. But in 2006, two people were charged with distributing a version of a Ryan Adams & the Cardinals album, "Jacksonville City Nights," on the Internet before it hit stores. They were sentenced to two months of house arrest and two years' probation.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-music29-2008aug29,0,729953.story?page=1

Thanks to Blabbermouth.net

Interesting that they quoted Slash.  I'm surprise that he was that harsh, though.  But, I'm sure he has an entirely different perspective being a recording artist.  A perspective that he's certainly justified in having.

Ali

[Genesis]

Any info on how he got the tracks in the first place? They should be looking into that and find the source of the leak.

[$$$$]

holy shit Slash actually said that? harsh

[Dead N' Bloated]

Any info on how he got the tracks in the first place? They should be looking into that and find the source of the leak.

I'm guessing it has to be someone on the production line, or a friend or something like that. Either way the cunt should be locked uo for at least 5 years.


 

[Jim Bob]

wow.  i agree with Slash.  But yes as a recording artist you have a different perspective.   Its all fun to get shit for free until its your shit.  Then it sucks.

[bushkarocks!!]

"I hope he rots in jail," said Slash, the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. "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."

almost sounds as he is in gnr

[norway]

Not really Norway

Buckethead isn't this hugely successful rock star.

He is still successful and gets paid. Also Motley with their cruefest are doing the same.

I don't think CD/MP3-sales will be considered a musicians income in the future. This is what I mean. 

Record Labels and Piracy combined have killed the Rock Star and the industry. People can try the "Do It Yourself" mode, but u aren't gonna get exposure without radio play, videos and a record label putting up the money to promote u and put your ass out on the road.

This will kill the Indy Musician as well cause u just can't get enough fans from YouTube, MySpace and playing local clubs,bars etc to make a good living out of doing music.

Bands careers are over in 5 minutes these days as none have staying power.

Buckethead has been doing it for years, there is no need for a record-company if the package is considered relevant.

Thats what I think Buckethead has proven.

Also with this 5 minutes carreer comment, I think this only holds true for the nonsense record companies have spewed.
They only had the hits and promo, not the core-audience.

You don't need to be a hit-artist, get radioplay etc to be successful

Cool official word from GnR and a kick ass shot of AXL and Tommy.

Yeah, fitting pic if you see the assfucking-reference I see

I like the GnR stand in this, while not really going after the hosters (tho not supporting the sharing), they are after the source.

[GNR4L]

"I hope he rots in jail," said Slash, the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. "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."

almost sounds as he is in gnr

Slash is right ! I think he still cares for Axl, and I hope one day they can become friends even if they never share the same stage again.  The real source like I said earlier is probaly a employee at the label since this guy used to work at universal.

[The Prez]

When you steal something, it implies you took some of financial value from a person or company.  If you illegally download a song, you're not necessarily robbing any financial value from a company.  If you never had any intention of buying that song...the company isn't out any money.  

Let's say that instead having to pay for nine songs in order to hear them, you just download them.

Is your reasoning still valid?



/jarmo

He has a certain point, in the past people recorded songs from the radio on tape, without buying the singles....

[MeanBone]

Wow, that's harsh words from slash. from someone who openely admits he spent half of his life stealing from other people i suppose he should be in jail as well, by his own standards of judgement

[Jada]

Wow, that's harsh words from slash. from someone who openely admits he spent half of his life stealing from other people i suppose he should be in jail as well, by his own standards of judgement

He could have refused to say anything on this matter, he didn't have to be on gnr's side. Props to Slash for being there, although I wonder why they chose to interview him in the first place.

[MeanBone]

they chose to interview him because most people still think of him as the guns n roses guitar player. Slash could do many things in his life, but he'll always be Gn'rs Guitar player, more than the guys that are actually in Gn'r.

The outside world pays no attention to line up changes.

But he could agree with the Federal investigation and the charges, but to say the guy should rot in Jail strikes me a little odd, specially coming from a guy who's a cleptomaniac and not so long ago stole a guitar (3,000 $) from the hard rock cafe, wich he latter gave back, but still he has 100 guitars, why would he need to get another one?

the awnser is he has a criminal mind and he admits that in his own book.

so i find it funny for a criminal to condemn a normal person who acted mostlly outta of ignorance and disregard to Gn'rs Intelectual property.

and i still have my doubts whether or not slash said that. i just can't imagine him being that harsh on the matter. it's not like he's getting any cut at the cd, and VR's last cd didn't leak, but it still didn't sell shit. so i dunno what's his beef, it's not like he's ever been affected by this.

[gunns1]

Blogger Kevin Cogill charged with felony in leak of Guns N' Roses songs

By Michelle Quinn and Swati Pandey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
August 29, 2008

When five FBI agents arrested Kevin Cogill at his Culver City apartment, it marked the newest weapon in the entertainment industry's war on piracy: felony charges against small-time bootleggers.

Cogill posted nine leaked songs from an unreleased Guns N' Roses album, which has been in the works for more than a decade, on his music blog in June. The site crashed under the traffic, and he removed the songs after a few hours when the Los Angeles-based rock band's lawyers complained.

Now he faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. On Wednesday he became the first Californian charged 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.

"In the past, these may have been viewed as victimless crimes," said Craig Missakian, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who built the case with the FBI and recording-industry investigators. "But in reality, there's significant damage. This law allows us to prosecute these cases."

Cogill, 27, was arrested Wednesday and released on $10,000 bond. He was not required to enter a plea. His public defender, Anthony Eaglin, declined to comment.

"I hope he rots in jail," said Slash, the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. "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."

The entertainment industry has long fought to protect official release dates. It contends that sales are lost when a movie or song is available free on the Internet before it hits stores. Leaked songs are often unfinished and of poor sound quality.

Pre-release piracy "pops the balloon," said Eric German, a partner with Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp who has represented the recording industry in piracy cases. "It rips up the lottery ticket. It takes the wind out of everything."

The Recording Industry Assn. of America has long relied on civil lawsuits to combat piracy. But the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 gave it a new hammer -- felony charges with stiff penalties for posting even one song before its release.

The law has been used only a few times, mostly to tackle big commercial piracy rings. But in 2006, two people were charged with distributing a version of a Ryan Adams & the Cardinals album, "Jacksonville City Nights," on the Internet before it hit stores. They were sentenced to two months of house arrest and two years' probation.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-music29-2008aug29,0,729953.story?page=1

Thanks to Blabbermouth.net

Im suprised at slash for responding like that

he must have a vested interest in the current gnr/chinese democracy in some way to speak out like that
( IM NOT INSINUATING ANYTHING) , but to say someone should "rott in jail" is a pretty harsh statemet to make...

[LeftToDecay]

as a recording artist you have a different perspective.   Its all fun to get shit for free until its your shit.  Then it sucks.

It should be illegal to whine about that if one is a recording artists of behemoth caliber though.
Kids who will never earn as much money as you have burned on drugs steal your album, forcing you to settle with only ONE huge  Malibu Mansion and buy only one new sports car only every 2nd month? Boo fucking hoo.
It takes a twisted set of morals or dangerous fanaticism  to feel any  sympathy for the " victim" in most of these cases.
Different game for struggling artists of course.

Ofc the event at hand is a different case since  we are talking about thievery from artist  resulting in loss of something different than money.
CD being unreleased and all.

After about a decade of cock teasing regarding release of CD, my humble opinion is that entire GNR fan community deserves the  full moral right to download every single fucking leak out there if they wish. Those who disagree..well they prolly don't download the leaks. (or proceed to earn a massive amount of hypocrisy points)
It sure is fortunate that in the end of the day, it doesnt boil down to Jesusing all over the place about how terrible all this leaking stuff  is, or isn't. Instead, it's all about what you choose to do.
Freedom of choise is amazing thing!

[Jaakko]

Any info on how he got the tracks in the first place? They should be looking into that and find the source of the leak.

I'm guessing it has to be someone on the production line, or a friend or something like that. Either way the cunt should be locked uo for at least 5 years.


 

It's in the official Guns-page: they're looking for the original source.

Perhaps Axl makes a civil-arrest (I'll take it, goddammit !)

[dub05]

Whatever about kevin going to jail (i highly doubt it).I just wonder is this all to stem all the attention away from who passed on the songs in the first place    

[The_Wretched]

as a recording artist you have a different perspective.   Its all fun to get shit for free until its your shit.  Then it sucks.

It should be illegal to whine about that if one is a recording artists of behemoth caliber though.
Kids who will never earn as much money as you have burned on drugs steal your album, forcing you to settle with only ONE huge  Malibu Mansion and buy only one new sports car only every 2nd month? Boo fucking hoo.
It takes a twisted set of morals or dangerous fanaticism  to feel any  sympathy for the " victim" in most of these cases.
Different game for struggling artists of course.

Ofc the event at hand is a different case since  we are talking about thievery from artist  resulting in loss of something different than money.
CD being unreleased and all.

After about a decade of cock teasing regarding release of CD, my humble opinion is that entire GNR fan community deserves the  full moral right to download every single fucking leak out there if they wish. Those who disagree..well they prolly don't download the leaks. (or proceed to earn a massive amount of hypocrisy points)
It sure is fortunate that in the end of the day, it doesnt boil down to Jesusing all over the place about how terrible all this leaking stuff  is, or isn't. Instead, it's all about what you choose to do.
Freedom of choise is amazing thing!

dude.... you're a badass! i agree 100%

this board and fuck.... everyone has d/l or burned a cd, or had a friend give them a burned cd... fucking hyprocrites.

[rds.06]

Jeez Slash, dont over react about it   Rot in jail? Come on now, this is hardly the crime of the century.

He'll get a slap on the wrists and off he will go with his tail between his legs.

Songs leak on the internet on a daily bases, whole albums have been known to leak. Its hardly the end of the world.  

[Leddy]

Im suprised at slash for responding like that

he must have a vested interest in the current gnr/chinese democracy in some way to speak out like that
( IM NOT INSINUATING ANYTHING) , but to say someone should "rott in jail" is a pretty harsh statemet to make...

I think he just has a vested interest in supporting anti-piracy measures, as all recording artists do.  He would only have been approached for a comment due to his previous affiliation, and in the absence of elaboration from the Gn'R camp.  His response should be seen as typical of ANY recording artist commenting on ANY piracy case.

[gunns1]

as a recording artist you have a different perspective.   Its all fun to get shit for free until its your shit.  Then it sucks.

It should be illegal to whine about that if one is a recording artists of behemoth caliber though.
Kids who will never earn as much money as you have burned on drugs steal your album, forcing you to settle with only ONE huge  Malibu Mansion and buy only one new sports car only every 2nd month? Boo fucking hoo.
It takes a twisted set of morals or dangerous fanaticism  to feel any  sympathy for the " victim" in most of these cases.
Different game for struggling artists of course.

Ofc the event at hand is a different case since  we are talking about thievery from artist  resulting in loss of something different than money.
CD being unreleased and all.

After about a decade of cock teasing regarding release of CD, my humble opinion is that entire GNR fan community deserves the  full moral right to download every single fucking leak out there if they wish. Those who disagree..well they prolly don't download the leaks. (or proceed to earn a massive amount of hypocrisy points)
It sure is fortunate that in the end of the day, it doesnt boil down to Jesusing all over the place about how terrible all this leaking stuff  is, or isn't. Instead, it's all about what you choose to do.
Freedom of choise is amazing thing!

dude.... you're a badass! i agree 100%

this board and fuck.... everyone has d/l or burned a cd, or had a friend give them a burned cd... fucking hyprocrites.

On the whole "to leak, or not to leak, to download , or not to download saga"
All Im going to say is

whether its gnr's fault or not


90% OF GNR'S True fans (the ones that have stuck by gnr in times of silence/no word/no tour )
IS BECAUSE we have had access to the leaks, we have downloaded them/heard them
in order to keep us interested in the band we love,
and because of these leaks, the gnr fanbase has had no choice but to grow and expand into a great community,
whether anyone chooses to accept this or not, its up to you, but just imagine the past 5 years without any leaks...
how hard would the wait of been then?
How many fans would have waited without knowing such great material exists?
These leaks provide the fans with hope, and though I do not encourage leaks,
it has benefited gnr in 1 way
it has gave them the support of the fans by showing the band encouragement  in standing behind them year in, year out...