NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
How serious is copyright infringement criminal
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal cases. You might recognize our work from high-profile cases – we represented Anna Delvey in the trial that became a Netflix series, handled the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and defended clients in matters involving Alec Baldwin. If you’re facing criminal copyright infringement charges, you need to understand what you’re up against.
Federal prosecutors treat copyright crimes seriously – very seriously. This article explains the criminal penalties under federal law, what separates criminal prosecution from civil lawsuits, and why recent 2025 cases show the Department of Justice is aggressively pursuing these charges. We’ll cover the federal sentencing guidelines that determine prison time, the cases that trigger federal criminal prosecution instead of just civil liability, and what defendants actually face when charged.
Criminal Copyright Infringement Can Mean 10 Years in Prison
The maximum sentence for criminal copyright infringement under 18 U.S.C. § 2319 is 10 years in federal prison. That’s not a civil penalty or a fine you can negotiate – that’s a decade behind bars. First-time offenders face up to 5 years imprisonment and fines up to $250,000. If you’ve been convicted before, the maximum jumps to 10 years and the same $250,000 fine.
These aren’t theoretical maximums. In May 2025, Kristopher Lee Dallmann was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for running Jetflicks, an illegal streaming service. The Department of Justice called it the largest internet piracy case ever to go to trial – measured by total infringement amount and number of violations. Jetflicks had 183,285 television episodes available, more content than Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime combined. Federal prosecutors estimated the copyright infringement value at $37.5 million.
Seven years. That’s what one defendant got in 2025 for streaming content illegally. The DOJ isn’t issuing warnings or slaps on the wrist – they’re sending people to federal prison for years, many, many, years in some cases.
What Makes Copyright Infringement a Federal Crime
Not every copyright violation becomes a criminal case. Civil copyright lawsuits happen all the time – someone copies your work, you sue them, they pay damages. Criminal prosecution is different. The government – not the copyright holder – decides to charge you with a crime. That only happens when specific elements are present.
Under 17 U.S.C. § 506(a), federal prosecutors must prove you infringed a valid copyright willfully and for commercial advantage or private financial gain. Willfully means you knew what you were doing was wrong. Commercial advantage means you made money or expected to make money from the infringement.
There’s also a threshold amount. To charge you with felony copyright infringement, the government must show you reproduced or distributed at least 10 copies during any 180-day period with a retail value exceeding $2,500. Below that threshold, you’re looking at misdemeanor charges – still criminal, but maximum one year in prison and $100,000 fine instead of five years and $250,000.
Federal prosecutors focus on cases involving substantial financial harm, organized schemes, or commercial operations. They’re not prosecuting someone who downloads a single movie for personal use – they’re targeting people who run piracy websites, sell counterfeit software, or operate illegal streaming services that compete with legitimate businesses.
Federal Sentencing Guidelines Determine Your Actual Prison Time
The statutory maximum is one thing. What you actually get sentenced to is determined by the federal sentencing guidelines, specifically Section 2B5.3 for copyright infringement. These guidelines calculate your sentence based on a point system – start with a base offense level, add points for aggravating factors, subtract points for acceptance of responsibility or cooperation.
The base offense level for criminal copyright infringement is 8. That’s your starting point. If the retail value of the infringing items exceeds $2,000, the guidelines add levels based on how much the amount increases. An infringement amount between $2,000 and $5,000 adds one level. Above $5,000, the increases follow the table in Section 2B1.1 – the loss table used for fraud and theft offenses.
Two other factors commonly increase the offense level. If the infringement involved a pre-release work – like a movie that hasn’t been released to theaters yet – add two levels. If the offense involved uploading, importing, or manufacturing infringing items, add another two levels, with a minimum offense level of 12 for device trafficking violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Let’s say you’re charged with reproducing and distributing copyrighted software with a retail value of $50,000. Base level 8, plus 6 levels for the $50,000 amount under the loss table, puts you at level 14. If you accept responsibility and cooperate, you might get 3 levels reduced to level 11. With no prior criminal history, that’s 8 to 14 months under the sentencing table. If you have a criminal history or don’t cooperate, you’re looking at significantly more time.
The DOJ Is Actively Prosecuting Digital Piracy in 2025
The Jetflicks case isn’t an outlier – it’s part of a broader pattern. In February 2025, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania unsealed an indictment charging three men with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, DMCA violations, access device fraud, and wire fraud. One defendant faces up to 130 years if convicted on all counts. These cases involve sophisticated operations – obtaining copyright-protected content through fraudulent means, distributing it through streaming platforms, and profiting from subscription fees or advertising revenue.
Federal law enforcement agencies – FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, even Postal Inspection Service – investigate copyright crimes as part of their intellectual property theft portfolios. They use undercover operations, financial records analysis, server seizures, and cooperation from legitimate copyright holders to build cases. The statute of limitations for criminal copyright prosecution is five years, giving prosecutors time to investigate complex schemes thoroughly before filing charges.
What triggers federal attention? Large-scale operations, organized criminal enterprises, international distribution networks, and cases involving significant financial harm to copyright holders. If you’re running a streaming site with hundreds of thousands of pirated episodes, selling counterfeit software that competes with legitimate products, or operating a conspiracy that generates millions in revenue – you’re on federal law enforcement’s radar.
Why You Need a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney Now
Copyright infringement prosecutions involve complex technical evidence, detailed financial analysis, and interpretation of digital communications. Federal prosecutors bring in forensic accountants, digital forensics experts, and industry witnesses to prove retail value, willfulness, and the scope of infringement. The presentence investigation report will calculate guidelines using methods most defendants don’t understand.
At Spodek Law Group – we’ve handled federal criminal cases involving financial crimes, fraud conspiracies, and complex white-collar prosecutions. The cases we’re famous for handling are cases others said were unwinnable. Our managing partner, Todd Spodek, is a second-generation criminal defense lawyer with many, many, years of experience successfully defending clients in federal court. We’ve represented clients in cases that attracted national media attention – cases covered by the New York Post, Bloomberg, Newsweek, and others.
If federal agents have contacted you, if you’ve received a target letter from a U.S. Attorney’s Office, if you’re under investigation for copyright infringement – time matters. Prosecutors are building their case while you’re wondering what to do. Early intervention by experienced federal defense counsel can sometimes prevent charges from being filed, negotiate cooperation agreements that reduce exposure, or begin building defenses before the government finalizes its theory of prosecution.
Unlike other law firms who take every case that walks through the door, we focus on clients we can truly help. Regardless of how complicated your case is, or how challenging it is – we can provide the strategic defense you need. Federal copyright prosecutions are serious. Seven years in prison is serious. Facing the full weight of the Department of Justice with their unlimited resources is serious. You need attorneys who understand federal sentencing, who know how to challenge the government’s retail value calculations, who can negotiate substantial assistance agreements when cooperation makes sense.
Criminal copyright infringement isn’t just about civil damages anymore – it’s about federal felony convictions and years in prison. The 2025 cases prove the DOJ is prosecuting these offenses aggressively, particularly for digital piracy and streaming operations. If you’re facing these charges, contact Spodek Law Group. We’re available 24/7, we handle cases coast-to-coast, and we understand what’s at stake when the federal government targets you.