Entertainment Legal News

Two Defendants Plead Guilty Ininternet Music Piracy Crackdown

Two defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully reproduce and distribute copyrighted music over the Internet, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg of the Eastern District of Virginia announced today.

Arthur Gomez, 25, of La Habra, Calif., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. His sentencing has been scheduled for July 13, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. Sergey Ribiakost, 21, of Bardonia, N.Y., pleaded guilty on April 17, 2007, before U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris. His sentencing is scheduled for July 10, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. Both defendantspleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and face up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

Gomez and Ribiakost were leading members in the illegal software, game, movie and music trade online, commonly referred to as the warez scene. The defendants were active members of the pre-release music group Apocalypse Crew (APC), one of a handful of organized online criminal groups that acted as “first-providers” of much of the pirated music available on the Internet. Read more at cybercrime.gov.

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	Did You Know?
	Production Company is a major factor in entertainment The production company acts as central headquarters for all stages of production. They range in size from a single person to over twenty employees and commit to duties ranging from the inception of an idea to making sure the final print's delivered to the theater on premiere night. They're core functions, however, are to assist the headlining producer in developing scripts, attaching talent, and running the day-to-day production activity. Although a handful of production companies fall under corporate studio umbrellas that cover their overhead, most work on a project-to-project basis much like the artists.