NinjaVideo Website Operators Charged with Criminal Copyright Conspiracy

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment in Alexandria, Va., charging five individuals with one count of conspiracy and five substantive copyright infringement counts for their involvement with the Internet website NinjaVideo.net, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton.

According to the indictment, the NinjaVideo website operated from February 2008 until it was shut down by law enforcement in June 2010.  NinjaVideo allegedly provided millions of website visitors with the ability to illegally download infringing copies of copyright-protected movies and television programs in high-quality formats.  Many of the movies offered on the website were still playing in theaters, while others had not yet been released.

The website allegedly offered many copyrighted movies and television shows free of charge, and offered access to a greater selection of copyrighted content for a “donation” of at least $25.  The website also generated significant revenue through advertising.  The defendants allegedly collected more than $500,000 during the website’s two-and-a-half years of operation and facilitated the infringement of millions of dollars of copyrighted movies, television programs and software products.

The indictment charges the following individuals: Hana Amal Beshara, 29, of North Brunswick, N.J., and Matthew David Howard Smith, 23, of Raleigh, N.C. , identified in the indictment as founders and administrators of NinjaVideo; Joshua David Evans, 34, of North Bend, Wash., and Zoi Mertzanis, 36, a resident of Greece, alleged to be two of the most active uploaders of copyrighted material to the site; and Jeremy Lynn Andrew, 33, of Eugene, Ore., the alleged head of security for the website.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 16, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Criminal indictments are only charges and are not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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