GN'R Leaker Sentenced

07/15/09 1:08pm

by Bianca Marcus (CHARTattack)

A California court has sentenced Kevin Cogill — the blogger responsible for leaking tracks from Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy on his blog before the disc was released — to two months home confinement and a year's parole for breaking U.S. copyright law.

Cogill posted the highly-anticipated album's nine tracks on his music blog, Antiquiet, five months before Chinese Democracy dropped. Lawyers for GN'R frontman Axl Rose immediately requested Cogill remove the songs. The Los Angeles resident was still arrested and charged despite his compliance.

Cogill pleaded guilty to one count of copyright infringement in December.

"I never intended to hurt the artist," said Cogill, according to the U.K.'s The Guardian. "I intended to promote the artist because I'm a fan."

The blogger has agreed to appear in an anti-piracy ad, expected to air during the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Cogill originally faced up to a year in prison and hefty fine of up to $100,000 U.S. (about $112,000 Canadian). But U.S. magistrate judge Paul Abrams decided to decrease the level of punishment, based on Cogill's cooperation and after concluding that the GNR fan had no intent to profit from his crime.

Two months of home confinement shouldn't be too difficult for Cogill, as it seems he does much his work from home anyway. That is, of course, unless he can't use a computer.

Cogill's source for the originally leaked files still remains to be discovered. He has not disclosed his supplier's identity to authorities, although investigators say he was assisting them in finding the initial culprit.