When a person is accused of copyright infringement by illegally downloading and sharing movies and music, the prosecuting studios and labels are often simply focused on recouping as much lost revenue from the piracy as they can get. But what if the motivation for the act was due to a long-standing psychological issue rather than intending to defraud business for personal gain?
That was the case with 58-year-old nurse and grandmother Anne Muir, according to her attorneys.
After being accused of pirating an immense collection of 7,493 digital music files and 24,243 karaoke files, Muir’s defense team argued that she suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and depression which resulted in her “hoarding” the files to boost her self-esteem. The court deferred sentencing in the case while a psychological evaluation was obtained.
This week, after the testing confirmed Muir’s OCD and depression, the court handed down a sentence of three years of probation and compulsory cognitive therapy. She must return to court at the end of August to report on her probation.
“Ms. Muir did not make any money. What she did was not commercial,” the Ayr Court Sheriff told Torrent Freak after the sentencing. “She is a first offender so imprisonment would not be beneficial.”
Contrast this sentence with that of Ohio software pirate Qiang “Michael” Bi, who made hundreds of thousands of dollars off of selling counterfeit games. Bi was ordered to spend 2.5 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit over $350,000 of his belongings, including his house and car, for his infringement sins.
This is all important, because it demonstrates that legal systems are really beginning to consider important factors like intent instead of one-size-fits-all penalties for those who engage in piracy. Mental status and intent matter in most other crimes, so why not also for copyright infringement?
