A grand jury in Nashville indicted two men yesterday (March 7) for posting pre-release music by Ryan Adams & the Cardinals on the Internet.
Robert Thomas, 24, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Jared Bowser, 21, of Jacksonville, Fla., were charged under the federal Family Entertainment & Copyright Act signed into law last year. The two men posted portions of “Jacksonville City Nights” on a Web site frequented by Adams fans last August, the indictment says. Nashville-based Lost Highway Records, a unit of Universal Music Group, holds copyright in the recordings.
“Any perception that copyright violations are victimless crimes is just plain wrong,” said Jim Vines, U.S. Attorney in Nashville. “Federal copyright violations are both a national and local priority, and will be aggressively prosecuted in this district.”
If convicted on all counts, the defendants each face up to 11 years in prison.
