First Arrest Made For Online Leak Of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

C-Net News recently reported that the FBI has made an arrest in the case of the work-print of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that was leaked and available for download a month before the movie was to be released theatrically. There apparently was nothing saying whether Gilberto Sanchez, 47, the man arrested, was responsible for the initial upload of the film, or how he might have acquired a copy to upload.

FBI Spokesperson Linda Eimiller said that the Bureau has not ruled out the possibility of more arrests, but didn’t comment further. If convicted, Sanchez could face up to three years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

The workprint that was released, as most will remember, was an unfinished version of the movie with wires still shown on performers and unfinished, or not-yet inserted effects. By the time Wolverine was released in theaters, it had been estimated that the pirated version had been downloaded over 4 million times. This didn’t seem to hurt the box office too badly, as it still opened to a nice $85 Million domestically and has earned nearly $375 Million since it’s release in May.

Meanwhile, a more recent case, involving a woman caught recording video of Twilight: New Moon, was released, according to The Daily Herald; as it was explained that she was filming a birthday party and had only recorded a couple short moments of the film itself. Charges were dropped after authorities went over the contents of the video, and might have also been helped by the film’s director Chris Weitz coming to her defense.