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California Penal Code Section 653u

Legal Research Home > California Lawyer > Penal Code > California Penal Code Section 653u

(a) Any person who records or masters or causes to be
recorded or mastered on any article with the intent to sell for
commercial advantage or private financial gain, the sounds of a live
performance with the knowledge that the sounds thereon have been
recorded or mastered without the consent of the owner of the sounds
of  the live performance is guilty of a public offense punishable as
provided in subdivisions (d) and (e).
   (b) In the absence of a written agreement or operation of law to
the contrary, the performer or performers of the sounds of a live
performance shall be presumed to own the right to record or master
those sounds.
   (c) For purposes of this section, a person who is authorized to
maintain custody and control over business records reflecting the
consent of the owner to the recordation or master recording of a live
performance shall be a proper witness in any proceeding regarding
the issue of consent.
   Any witness called pursuant to this section shall be subject to
all rules of evidence relating to the competency of a witness to
testify and the relevance and admissibility of the testimony offered.

   (d) Any person who has been convicted of a violation of
subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail
not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison for
two, three, or five years, or by a fine not to exceed two hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or by both, if the offense
involves the recording, mastering, or causing to be recorded or
mastered at least 1,000 articles described in subdivision (a).
   (e) Any person who has been convicted of any other violation of
subdivision (a) not described in subdivision (d), shall be punished
by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by a
fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or by
both.  A second or subsequent conviction under subdivision (a) not
described in subdivision (d) shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail not to exceed one year or in the state prison or by a
fine not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), or by
both.

Last modified: January 12, 2009