Kevin Cogill, the thief who posted 9 stolen Guns N Roses songs on his website and was then arrested by the FBI, is asking for you to pay his legal fees.
Cogill, who posts under the name Skwerl, has appealed to people to fund his bills.“It has definitely been by far the biggest expense I have ever faced in my entire life, and my resources are very limited while formidable costs shall continue to pile up,” he writes. “It`s beyond daunting, being a single independent citizen facing a full-force prosecution by the most powerful government in the world”.
“The United States Attorney`s Office has almost unlimited resources to prosecute. The FBI has nearly unlimited resources to investigate. And while by “resources” I mean taxpayer dollars of course, in this case they also have the added resource of the band`s lawyers, on which they have already relied”.
“Supporters have expressed an interest in contributing to a defense fund, so I`ve opened one up”.
Poor Cogill (and he will be poor Cogill after all this is over). No matter how you slice and dice what happened here, Cogill distributed stolen goods.
Furthermore, despite doing it, he wrote, “I am now facing a federal criminal charge by the United States Government of copyright infringement, after allegedly hosting a stream of 9 Guns N` Roses songs, for a brief period of time in June”.
“Allegedly”' This guy has got to be kidding.
It is not the right of you or I or Kevin Cogill to distribute an artist`s copyright work. Only the owner of the copyright work has the right to decide how the work will be distributed.
Hollywood loudmouth Bob Lefsetz has spent the week trying to justify why the Guns N Roses leak was okay. Not only is that ridiculous, it is careless.
Arguing that it will increase the thirst of the fan for the finished release, that the leak won`t hinder sales, or that Axl deserves it because he no longer has cred just shows the ignorance of the man.
To argue that Cogill had no financial gain out of this is equally silly. Robin Hood also had no financial gain when he stole from the rich and gave to the poor ... but he was still a thief.
Kevin Cogill may have been ignorant to the law, but ignorance is not a defense.
This is different to when RIAA sued little old ladies and school children. This time the thief has been caught with his hand in the till.
Bob Lefsetz has chosen to be the Nelson Muntz of the music industry. However, pointing his fingering and laughing “ha ha” at the problems of the music industry does not make him right.
