What does the government have to show to prove that the defendant illegally transferred sound recordings?
In order to prove a defendant guilty of the offense of unauthorized transfer of sound recordings, the Commonwealth must prove the following four elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt:
- That the defendant directly or indirectly transferred sounds recorded on any of the following:
- A phonograph record
- A disc
- A wire
- A tape
- A film
- A video cassette
- A sound recording
- That the defendant knew he or she was transferring such sounds
- That the defendant did so without the consent of the owner of the master recording
- The defendant intended to any of the following:
- Sell
- Rent
- Transport the recorded copy
- Play the recorded copy in a public performance for profit
- Intended to cause one of the above to happen
Note that the statute preventing the unauthorized transfer of sound recordings also punishes selling such a recording with knowledge that the sound transfer was made without the consent of the owner.
What is the punishment for illegally transfer of sound recordings?
If a defendant is convicted of the crime of unauthorized transfer of sound recordings, jurors must then go on to determine how many unlawful recordings were made. They only need to consider the question if they find the defendant guilty, so that they will know which range of sentences the law permits in the case in question.
If the jury delivers a guilty verdict, jurors will have to indicate on their verdict slips which of three possible ranges the number of unlawful recordings falls into. These ranges are as follows:
- The first range between 1 and 99 sound recordings or 1 and 6 audiovisual recordings
- The second range between 100 and 999 sound recordings or 7 and 64 audiovisual recordings
- The third rangebetween 1000 or more sound recordings or 65 or more audiovisual recordings
Jurors will select an appropriate range based on the facts of the case in question.
IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFER OF SOUND RECORDINGS, AND YOU NEED AN EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER WORKING ON YOUR SIDE TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS, PLEASE CONTACT CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY WILLIAM J. BARABINO.
CALL 781-393-5900 TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR AVAILABLE DEFENSES.
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