Gilberto Sanchez, the 49-year-old Bronx father who uploaded a bootlegged "work print" (unfinished) copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the internet in 2009, has been sentenced to one year in federal prison. Where's the fine for the producers that greenlit the sloppy mess of a flick to begin with?
Sanchez, who claims he picked up the bootlegged copy from an Asian street vendor on a street corner near his house in Parkchester, was tracked down by the FBI post-Wolverine leak and has been accused of "regularly uploading pirated movies for four or five years." He "did not appear remorseful after charges were brought," although Judge Margaret Morrow called his actions "extremely serious." "The federal prison sentence handed down in this case sends a strong message of deterrence to would-be Internet pirates," U.S. attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a statement. "The Justice Department will pursue and prosecute persons who seek to steal the intellectual property of this nation."
How much of an impact did Sanchez's leak have on the film's performance? "Although Fox was able to get defendant's Wolverine workprint removed from his Megaupload account within approximately one day, by then, the damage was done and the film had proliferated like wildfire throughout the Internet, resulting in up to millions of infringements," prosecutors said in court documents. Despite the leak, Wolverine went on to gross $373 million worldwide—so what's most shocking about this entire case is actually how many people were still willing to pay to see Hugh Jackman's muttonchops on the big screen.
