LA Police have arrested a blogger who allegedly stole new music tracks that have been 14 years in the making created by rock legends Guns & Roses and then posted them online.
Police say that the posting of nine unreleased songs from rock band Guns N’ Roses’ 14-years-in-the-making “Chinese Democracy” album was behind the arrest of the blogger at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Kevin Cogill, a 27-year-old who operates the blog Antiquiet, posted the songs online in June, but removed them shortly thereafter following a reported request from the band.
Cogill admitted to posting the songs to an FBI agent, according to an affidavit, the Times reports, and is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles today.
“I always said that the more that Axl and Geffen jerked around trying to figure out how to release this finally finished album that we’ve all been waiting over 13 years for, the greater the chances would be that it would slip out of a pressing plant or office somewhere and wind up in the hands of some asshole with a blog,” Cogill wrote on his blog at the time he posted the tracks.
Under the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, Cogill could face penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, in addition to civil penalties sought by copyright holders.
