A man in Central California had to learn that copyright infringement warnings are not just for show the hard way.
Authorities arrested and charged Trevon Maurice Franklin with a federal criminal charge of copyright infringement for allegedly uploading the Marvel film “Deadpool” on his Facebook page after the movie was released in February 2016.
Franklin made his first court appearance in Fresno after he was arrested on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old may face the maximum penalty of up to three years in prison if found guilty.
According to an ABC30 report, Franklin reproduced the movie at least 10 times and used the screen name “Tre-von M. King” to post it online, allowing at least 5 million Facebook users to watch the movie for free.
“He’s a very young man, but it’s not uncommon to see Hollywood or the music industry go after people who are young or of modest means for distributing copyrighted films,” ABC30 quoted Attorney Roger as saying.
Bonakdar said the Hollywood warned the public of “very serious consequences” to “innocuous” actions.
Photo Credit: Nerdist
