2008.12.15 - NBC Los Angeles - Man Pleads Guilty to Leaking Guns N' Roses Tracks (& other related articles)

Man Pleads Guilty to Leaking Guns N' Roses Tracks

LOS ANGELES -- A Culver City man Monday pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to a misdemeanor count of violating federal copyright laws by leaking on the Internet songs from a then-unreleased Guns N' Roses album.

Kevin Cogill, 28, who uses the online name "Skwerl," admitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul L. Abrams that he posted nine tracks from "Chinese Democracy" on the Internet blog Antiquiet last June, five months before the album was officially released.

"I got my hands on pre-release versions of Guns N' Roses songs --something my audience was heavily anticipating," Cogill told the judge.

Asked if he uploaded the material onto his Web site for financial gain, Cogill said he didn't, "but I understand all the attention helped me."

As part of his Dec. 10 plea agreement, Cogill agreed to cooperate with the government in any future investigations of the case.

Cogill faces a maximum of one year in federal prison, a $100,000 fine and five years probation when sentenced March 3, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian.

According to an affidavit, Cogill's arrest on Aug. 27 came after an investigator for the Recording Industry Association of America, a music industry trade group, told the FBI that a blogger using the name "Skwerl" had uploaded nine previously unreleased Guns N' Roses tracks to the Internet.

Officials said the Web site received so many hits after the songs were posted that it crashed.

At 17 years in the making, "Chinese Democracy" arrived in stores Nov. 23 and peaked at No. 3 on the charts before dropping off to No. 18 in its second week.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/local/man-pleads-guilty-to-leaking-guns-n-roses-tracks/1850048/

Reuters, same date:
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LA Man pleads guilty in Guns N' Roses piracy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man accused of illegally posting songs on the Internet from an unreleased album by rock band Guns N’ Roses pleaded guilty on Monday and faces up to one year in prison, a prosecutor said.

Kevin Cogill, 28, pleaded guilty to a copyright violation, said Craig Missakian, assistant U.S. attorney.

The charge was reduced from a felony to a less serious misdemeanor because he is cooperating with authorities to identify the original source of the leak, Missakian said.

Cogill posted tracks from the album “Chinese Democracy” onto Web site www.antiquiet.com months before its November release, and was arrested in August at his Los Angeles home.

“I think the Internet affords a level of anonymity to people that lulls them into believing that what they are doing is either not criminal or beyond the reach of the law,” Missakian said. “But that’s certainly not the case.”

Cogill, who is free on bail, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine at his sentencing scheduled for March.

Authorities have yet to arrest anyone responsible for leaking the track originally, but Missakian said their investigation continues.

Cogill apparently posted the songs online seeking nominal financial gain and because, as a fan of Guns N’ Roses, he wanted others to hear the new album, Missakian said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gunsnroses-idUSTRE4BF04B20081216

Associated Press, same date:
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Blogger Pleads Guilty To Guns N' Roses Leak

A man accused of leaking nine unreleased tracks from the Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" has pleaded guilty to a federal copyright violation.

Kevin Cogill entered the plea this morning in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Prosecutors accused him of leaking the album online on his blog, months before Axl Rose's long-delayed opus arrived on store shelves in late November. A document shows they agreed to recommend probation in exchange for the plea deal.

Cogill admitted he leaked nine of the 14 songs that appeared on the album. According to his plea deal, Cogill could be sentenced to a year in federal prison, probation and a hefty fine.