U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

2635 Century Parkway NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30345
(404) 679-9000
Contact: SA Steve Lazarus
Phone: (404) 679-6368 (O),
(404) 392-4098 (C)

May 13, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

Atlanta - Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI, and Chief Richard Pennington, Atlanta Police Department, announce a broad array of arrests, searches and seizures which occurred earlier today. These law enforcement actions were conducted as part of an ongoing investigation targeting widespread copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property rights involving the illegal duplication and sale of music CDs and movie DVDs.

FBI Agents, along with APD Red Dog units, raided and searched 2 Atlanta area warehouses suspected of being storage and sales points for the illegal music and movie discs. The warehouses were located at 790 Woodrow Street and 680 Murphy Street in Atlanta's West End. Although the exact numbers have not yet been tallied, it is estimated that well over 100,000 CDs and 100,000 DVDs were seized during the searches.

In addition to the searches, APD Detectives arrested 7 the Woodrow Street address, most on charges of obstructing officers. These and other subjects are suspected of distributing and selling pirated CDs and DVDs. They were identified earlier in the week, after they unwittingly sold discs to undercover APD officers and Investigative Consultants for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

These arrests and searches came about as the result of a two-month joint investigation involving FBI, APD, MPAA, and RIAA. Investigators purchased bootlegged copies of music CDs from artists such as 50 Cent, Usher, Beyonce, and Ruben Studdard, as well as first-run movies such as "Man on Fire" and "Walking Tall" for as little as $2.00 apiece. The majority of the discs seized during the searches will be destroyed by RIAA and MPAA representatives