After posing for years as the legitimate rights holders of tens of thousands of songs, two men managed to extort no less than 23 million dollars in royalties via YouTube’s Content ID system. Justice has just delivered its verdict: between 4 and 5 years in prison for the two suspects.
End clap for two American crooks, who for years impersonated the rightful owners of over 75,000 songs on YouTube. To do this, the two men set up a vast scam on Content ID, YouTube’s automated authentication system. For neophytes, you should know that the videos uploaded to the video platform are analyzed and compared to a database of audio and visual content provided to YouTube by the copyright holders.
Step 1, Bypass YouTube’s Content ID System
Once a match is identified, Content ID sends a claim automatically. In this specific case, several actions can then be triggered:
- the video is blocked and its viewing becomes impossible
- the video is monetized with advertising, and in certain situations, the income obtained is shared between the videographer and the rights holders
- the video viewing statistics are scrutinized by the platform
As Google states on its official website, access to Content ID is normally restricted to holders legitimate copyrights. Nevertheless, these two men found a way around it, operating in particular via a trusted third-party company, which had access to Content ID. As a result, the two men founded a fake company, called MediaMuv LLC, and claimed to be the rightful rights holders of over 75,000 songs.
Also read: YouTube – targeted ads allegedly used to track children across the web
The court has delivered its verdict
With great blows of false claims, the two crooks managed to collect a juicy jackpot of more than 23 million dollars in just a few years. Nevertheless, what had to happen happened, and the authorities finally got hold of them. They were charged in 2021 and decided to plead guilty in the face of irrefutable evidence against them.
However, the Arizona court has just rendered its final verdict. Webster Batista Fernandez and José Teran received long prison sentences. While José Teran, considered the number 2 in the operation, will have to spend 5 years behind bars, Mr. Fernandez is finally set on his fate. The man, who preferred to recognize his full responsibility in this vast deception, asked for the indulgence of the court.
One of the biggest music royalty scams
“Mr. Fernandez admits that he made the terrible decision to become involved in criminal behavior, which not only affected his family and children, but also caused financial harm to the victims involved in this case”, said his lawyer. The argument convinced Judge Douglas L. Rayes of the US District Court, who decided to sentence Mr. Fernandez to 46 months in prison (as suggested by its defender).
In addition to these prison sentences, the two men will also have to return part of the amount collected, while several properties and cars acquired with this money will be confiscated by the authorities. According to American justice, it is one “biggest music royalty fraud ever perpetrated”. It also invites potential victims to come forward to claim their share of the restitution costs (the amount of which has yet to be determined).
Source: Torrent Freak