Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73

§2319 Criminal infringement of a copyright

Title 18 › Part PART I— - CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 113— - STOLEN PROPERTY › § 2319

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

People who illegally copy or share someone else’s copyrighted work can be punished with prison time and fines. If a person copies or shares (including online) at least 10 items in a 180‑day period and the total retail value is more than $2,500, they can be jailed up to 5 years, fined, or both. A later felony conviction for the same kind of offense can lead to up to 10 years. Other cases under that rule can bring up to 1 year in jail. Other criminal copyright crimes have different penalties. Copying or sharing 10 or more items worth $2,500 or more can bring up to 3 years; a later felony conviction up to 6 years; copying 1 or more items worth over $1,000 can bring up to 1 year. More serious cases, like those done for commercial advantage or private financial gain, can bring up to 5 years, and repeat profit-motivated felonies can bring up to 10 years. Victims (producers, sellers, rights holders, or their lawyers) may give impact statements for the presentence report. Key terms such as “phonorecord,” “copies,” “reproduce,” “distribute,” “financial gain,” and “work being prepared for commercial distribution” are defined in Title 17 of the U.S. Code.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §2319

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who violates section 506(a) (relating to criminal offenses) of title 17 shall be punished as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) and such penalties shall be in addition to any other provisions of title 17 or any other law.
(b)Any person who commits an offense under section 506(a)(1)(A) of title 17—
(1)shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies or phonorecords, of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $2,500;
(2)shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a); and
(3)shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, in any other case.
(c)Any person who commits an offense under section 506(a)(1)(B) of title 17—
(1)shall be imprisoned not more than 3 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of $2,500 or more;
(2)shall be imprisoned not more than 6 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a); and
(3)shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000.
(d)Any person who commits an offense under section 506(a)(1)(C) of title 17—
(1)shall be imprisoned not more than 3 years, fined under this title, or both;
(2)shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined under this title, or both, if the offense was committed for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain;
(3)shall be imprisoned not more than 6 years, fined under this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a); and
(4)shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined under this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under paragraph (2).
(e)(1)During preparation of the presentence report pursuant to Rule 32(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, victims of the offense shall be permitted to submit, and the probation officer shall receive, a victim impact statement that identifies the victim of the offense and the extent and scope of the injury and loss suffered by the victim, including the estimated economic impact of the offense on that victim.
(2)Persons permitted to submit victim impact statements shall include—
(A)producers and sellers of legitimate works affected by conduct involved in the offense;
(B)holders of intellectual property rights in such works; and
(C)the legal representatives of such producers, sellers, and holders.
(f)As used in this section—
(1)the terms “phonorecord” and “copies” have, respectively, the meanings set forth in section 101 (relating to definitions) of title 17;
(2)the terms “reproduction” and “distribution” refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1) and (3) respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;
(3)the term “financial gain” has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 17; and
(4)the term “work being prepared for commercial distribution” has the meaning given the term in section 506(a) of title 17.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), are set out in the Appendix to this title.

Amendments

2008—Subsecs. (b)(2), (c)(2). Pub. L. 110–403, § 208(1), (2), inserted “is a felony and” after “the offense” and substituted “subsection (a)” for “paragraph (1)”. Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 110–403, § 208(3), inserted “is a felony and” after “the offense” and “under subsection (a)” before the semicolon. Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 110–403, § 208(4), inserted “is a felony and” after “the offense”. 2005—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–9, § 103(b)(1), substituted “Any person who” for “Whoever” and “, (c), and (d)” for “and (c) of this section”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–9, § 103(b)(2), substituted “section 506(a)(1)(A)” for “section 506(a)(1)” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–9, § 103(b)(3), substituted “section 506(a)(1)(B) of title 17” for “section 506(a)(2) of title 17, United States Code” in introductory provisions. Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 109–9, § 103(b)(4), (5), added subsec. (d) and redesignated former subsec. (d) as (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 109–9, § 103(b)(4), (6), redesignated subsec. (e) as (f) and added pars. (3) and (4). 2002—Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “107 through 122” for “107 through 120”. 1997—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–147, § 2(d)(1), substituted “subsections (b) and (c)” for “subsection (b)”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–147, § 2(d)(2)(A), substituted “section 506(a)(1) of title 17” for “subsection (a) of this section” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 105–147, § 2(d)(2)(B), inserted “including by electronic means,” after “if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution,” and substituted “which have a total retail value of more than $2,500” for “with a retail value of more than $2,500”. Pub. L. 105–80, substituted “at least 10 copies” for “at last 10 copies”. Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 105–147, § 2(d)(3), added subsecs. (c) and (d) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (e). 1992—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–561, § 1, amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “Any person who commits an offense under subsection (a) of this section— “(1) shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both, if the offense— “(A) involves the reproduction or distribution, during any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period, of at least one thousand phonorecords or copies infringing the copyright in one or more sound recordings; “(B) involves the reproduction or distribution, during any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period, of at least sixty-five copies infringing the copyright in one or more motion pictures or other audiovisual works; or “(C) is a second or subsequent offense under either of subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section, where a prior offense involved a sound recording, or a motion picture or other audiovisual work; “(2) shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both, if the offense— “(A) involves the reproduction or distribution, during any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period, of more than one hundred but less than one thousand phonorecords or copies infringing the copyright in one or more sound recordings; or “(B) involves the reproduction or distribution, during any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period, of more than seven but less than sixty-five copies infringing the copyright in one or more motion pictures or other audiovisual works; and “(3) shall be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, in any other case.” Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–561, § 2, substituted “ ‘phonorecord’ ” for “ ‘sound recording’, ‘motion picture’, ‘audiovisual work’, ‘phonorecord’,” in par. (1) and “120” for “118” in par. (2).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 2319

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73