THOUSANDS OF FILMS AND TV SERIES SHARED WITHOUT PERMISSION: SLOVAK POLICE CHARGE MAN WITH MASSIVE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Over 23,000 audiovisual works were allegedly published on the internet without the authors' consent. Police in Humenné charged a 32-year-old man who had been illegally making protected content available for many years. The damage exceeded tens of thousands of EUROS.

The case was uncovered by the police in Humenné, who have now brought charges against the 32-year-old man. According to the findings, he repeatedly violated copyright between 2020 and 2024 by making protected works available to the general public via the internet.

Thousands of files on one server

The man allegedly used electronic devices with internet access to gradually upload content to an internet server operated by a Czech company. According to TASR, there were more than 23, 000 files in total, which were freely available for further distribution.

According to the police, this was a serious violation of the law.

"These were audiovisual works, i.e. copyrighted works, without the consent of the copyright holder,"

said Jana Ligdayová, spokesperson for the Regional Police Directorate in Prešov.

By unlawfully publishing the material, the accused caused damage to the company in excess of EUR 19,500.

He faces imprisonment

The man is currently under prosecution but remains at liberty. However, the case has serious consequences. According to the law, he faces up to two years in prison for the crime of copyright infringement.

The police are continuing to analyse the scope of the proceedings and gather evidence. The case is another warning that the illegal distribution of films, series or other audiovisual content can have serious legal consequences.

Source: istream.cz