It’s been over 8 months since the workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine leaked unto the interwebs. CNET reports someone involved has finally been arrested. Early this morning Gilberto Sanchez, a 47 year old from Bronx, N.Y. was arrested. With leaks like this he is most likely not the sole perpetrator as the media gets passed down through a chain. Sanchez will be looking at up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.
Gavin Hood‘s film reportedly cost $100 million and went on to make almost $375 million. Market researcher BigChampagne reported that the film had been downloaded around 4.1 million times, which definitely had to account for some dent in the gross. It is not known how Sanchez obtained a copy, but he did use Megaupload to spread the film.
Check out the exact charges below:
[17 U.S.C. ? 506(a)(1)(C) and 18 U.S.C. ? 2319(a), (d)(1)]
On or about March 31, 2009, in Los Angeles County, within the Central District of California, and elsewhere, defendant GILBERTO SANCHEZ, also known as (“aka”) “theSkilled1,” aka “SkillfulGil,” aka “Skillz101,” and aka “SkillyGilly,” did willfully infringe the copyright of a copyrighted work by the distribution of a work being prepared for commercial distribution, by making the motion picture “X-Men Origins:Wolverine” available on www.Megaupload.com, a computer network accessible to members of the public, when he knew and should have known that the work was intended for commercial distribution.
Are you surprised it took this long to find the pirate?