From about February 2021 to about March 2022, Steven Hale worked at the Memphis, Tennessee, facility of a multi-national company that provided creative services to the media & entertainment industry; handling pre-release DVD and Blu-ray physical media that was being prepared for commercial distributon.
In May 2025, Mr Hale pleaded guilty and admitted to stealing more than a thousand pre-release DVDs. The government’s criminal investigation was initiated after a referral by the MPA’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE).
One of them, Spider Man: No Way Home, was ripped to a digital copy, placed into online distribution and downloaded “tens of millions of times,” according to a February 2025 criminal indictment filed in Federal court; “with an estimated loss to the copyright owner of tens of millions of dollars.”
Multiple agencies
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Memphis Police Department collaborated in this case.
Penalty
Mr. Hale was charged with two counts of criminal copyright infringement under 18 USC §§2319 (a) and (b)(1); 18 USC §2, and under 18 USC §§2314 and §2 for Interstate transportation of stolen goods. He was sentenced to 21 months in Federal prison under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. At the end of the prison term, he will remain on supervision for three years (minus the time served in prison). Two other counts were dismissed.
Some of the court documents were filed under seal.
Further reading
Motion Picture Association applauds criminal copyright infringement sentence. Press release. September 16, 2025. Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)
Judgment in a Criminal Case. United States of America vs Steven R. Hale. Document 48. September 11, 2025. US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Indictment. United States of America vs Steven R. Hale. Document 2. February 13, 2025. US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Why it matters
“Steven Hale’s actions caused enormous harm to copyright owners, the industry, and consumers alike,” said Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer of the MPA.
“This sentencing sends a clear message: copyright infringement is a serious crime with serious consequences. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for their strong work on this case, and we will continue working together to safeguard the creative economy,” she said.
