A former employee of a multinational DVD and Blu-ray manufacturing company has been charged with stealing pre-release copies of major Hollywood films and selling them online, including titles that were later pirated and downloaded tens of millions of times, federal prosecutors said.
S.H., 37, of Memphis, was indicted on two counts of criminal copyright infringement and one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
According to court documents, Hale worked at a facility that handled DVD and Blu-ray production and distribution for top movie studios. Between February 2021 and March 2022, he allegedly stole discs of unreleased titles—including F9: The Fast Saga, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Godzilla vs. Kong, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dune, and Black Widow—and sold them through online marketplaces.
One of the stolen discs, a Blu-ray copy of Spider-Man: No Way Home, was allegedly copied and illegally distributed online more than a month before its scheduled retail release. Authorities estimate the film was downloaded tens of millions of times, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in losses for the copyright owner.
The charges were announced by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, and the FBI’s Nashville Field Office. The FBI is leading the investigation.
A federal district judge will determine any sentence if S.H. is convicted. An indictment is an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
