A Tennessee court has sentenced 37-year-old Steven R. Hale, a Memphis resident, to 57 months in prison for stealing and selling digital copies of unreleased movies. Hale, who worked at a DVD and Blu-ray manufacturing and distribution company, was accused of stealing discs between February 2021 and March 2022.
In May 2025, Hale admitted to criminal copyright infringement and agreed to compensate the victims, returning more than 1,160 stolen DVDs and Blu-rays. Prosecutors said he sold ripped versions of the discs online before their official release dates, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses for copyright owners.
The list of stolen titles includes major blockbusters such as Godzilla vs. Kong, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dune, F9: The Fast Saga, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Black Widow, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Investigators revealed that Hale bypassed encryption on the Spider-Man Blu-ray and leaked a digital copy more than a month before its official release. The pirated movie was downloaded tens of millions of times.
Hale, a convicted felon with previous armed robbery charges, also pleaded guilty to unlawful firearm possession after investigators found a gun with one round in the chamber and 13 in the magazine.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico said Hale’s actions inflicted massive financial damage:
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“The copyright owner lost tens of millions of dollars as a result of Steven Hale stealing DVDs and Blu-rays of blockbuster movies and selling them before their official scheduled release dates.”
