Guns N' Roses Leaker Pleads Guilty
Dec. 16 2008, Published 12:07 p.m. ET
The blogger charged with leaking 9 unreleased songs from Guns N' Roses new album Chinese Democracy pleaded guilty to violating federal copyright laws.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles accused Kevin Cogill of leaking the tracks on his blog months before the album by Axl Rose and company becomes available in stores. However, they agreed to probation in return for a plea deal.
Although Cogill hasn't explained how he got hold of the songs, his agreement requires that he cooperate with investigators.
"That's the key to protecting the integrity of our artists' copyrights," an intellectual property attorney told RADAR. "It isn't the guys who are posting the stuff who concern us as much as the guys who are actually hacking into systems to get it."