These days, what can’t you find on the Internet? More people are bidding farewell to cable TV, movie theaters, music stores, bookstores, and video game stores. They are, instead, opting to find this content on the Internet for free. Even though nearly everyone you know does this, and as easy as it is to access this information, it does not negate the fact that it is illegal since it is copyright infringement. You may not have gotten in trouble legally for this yet and you have been doing it for years, but it is still copyright infringement.
Anytime you copy, display, distribute, or sell a creative work, songs, movies, books, etc., that you did not create yourself, it is copyright infringement.
The copyright belongs to the original creator or owner of the content, like the author of a book or the singer of the song; they own the rights. Songs, for example, are to be purchased on a CD or a music-streaming service. If you find one to download for free from an illegitimate source, it is copyright infringement because you do not have an official right to access it.
Offenses for copyright infringement can vary, and it generally is based on the value of what was infringed upon. For example, if a person displayed 15 copies of a movie online, the total retail value could be a few thousand dollars. This would give them a few years in prison. If the person displayed 100 movies online, the retail value of that increases, and so does their prison sentence.
People tend to think they are invincible in these situations and will not get caught, but the truth is, the police do arrest individuals for copyright infringement, and the defendant never suspected it.
Bail bonds are available to those who are granted bail, and we at Lancaster Bail Bonds can assist with this.