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Two Ryan Adams fans in the States have been charged with violating copyright laws after they made songs from the singer's Jacksonville City Nights available online.
Robert Thomas and Jared Bowser face up to eleven years in the slammer - getting slammed, since they're probably pretty indie boys - if found guilty on all counts. They made a selection of songs from Adams' second album of 2005 available for downloading back in August. The album didn't come out officially until September.
Although their actions were almost certainly innocent at heart, US attorney Jim Vines has little sympathy:
"Any perception that copyright violations are victimless crimes is just plain wrong.
"Theft of music, trade secrets and other intellectual property victimizes the creators of such works, who have a legal right to determine how their work is distributed."
DiScuss: Does this put the willies up anyone? Is it possible to crack down on all illegal filesharers, or are the powers that be fighting a losing battle?
