Post by sumiseo558899 on Nov 4, 2024 9:49:45 GMT
Michael Smith , 52, from North Carolina, used 10,000 bots to broadcast songs generated by artificial intelligence on various streaming services, Rolling Stone writes .
The musician began his fraudulent activities in 2017, and in 2018, he began collaborating with a music company that began providing thousands of songs generated by AI in violation of copyright. The company's executive provided Smith with thousands of tracks every month in exchange for metadata and a percentage of the revenue from the stream.
During that time, Smith streamed
content writing service songs billions of times on platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube Music, earning at least $10 million, according to court documents. He used profiles to automatically generate up to 661,000 daily plays for his tracks.
Smith used fake email addresses and VPNs to hide his activities. He instructed his accomplices to be “invisible” while they were rigging their listening sessions. In emails from 2018, Smith wrote about the need to quickly create large numbers of songs to circumvent new anti-fraud policies on platforms.
In the indictment, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Michael with three counts: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“Through his brazen fraudulent scheme, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters and other copyright holders whose songs were lawfully streamed,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
$10 Million Scam
Over time, Smith's AI scheme began to attract increasing attention from various participants in the entertainment and music industry. In 2023, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) stopped paying royalties to Smith and launched an investigation.
Background: The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) is a non-profit organization in the United States that licenses music for digital platforms.
Smith and his representatives have repeatedly denied the fraud allegations.
The man now faces decades in prison. Prosecutors say it is the first time they have tried a criminal case of this kind.
The musician began his fraudulent activities in 2017, and in 2018, he began collaborating with a music company that began providing thousands of songs generated by AI in violation of copyright. The company's executive provided Smith with thousands of tracks every month in exchange for metadata and a percentage of the revenue from the stream.
During that time, Smith streamed
content writing service songs billions of times on platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube Music, earning at least $10 million, according to court documents. He used profiles to automatically generate up to 661,000 daily plays for his tracks.
Smith used fake email addresses and VPNs to hide his activities. He instructed his accomplices to be “invisible” while they were rigging their listening sessions. In emails from 2018, Smith wrote about the need to quickly create large numbers of songs to circumvent new anti-fraud policies on platforms.
In the indictment, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Michael with three counts: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“Through his brazen fraudulent scheme, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters and other copyright holders whose songs were lawfully streamed,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
$10 Million Scam
Over time, Smith's AI scheme began to attract increasing attention from various participants in the entertainment and music industry. In 2023, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) stopped paying royalties to Smith and launched an investigation.
Background: The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) is a non-profit organization in the United States that licenses music for digital platforms.
Smith and his representatives have repeatedly denied the fraud allegations.
The man now faces decades in prison. Prosecutors say it is the first time they have tried a criminal case of this kind.