Internet thief strikes sour note with local artist

CTV BC: Cyber thief steals B.C. composer's songs A Vancouver man is furious after his original songs he posted online were stolen and sold for profit.

A Vancouver man is furious after his original songs he posted online were stolen and sold for profit.

In 2012, composer Jeremy Lim posted his song “Into Ether” on YouTube. But he was startled to receive a copyright violation notice from YouTube last August stating: Your video may include a song owned by a third party.

“I was horrified. I wasn't too worried at that point in time, but I thought this could be a problem," said Lim.

The YouTube notice warned Lim had copied a song by a composer named Joseph Ti titled "Into the Deep."

When Lim clicked on the song online, he heard a very familiar melody.

"When I listened, the worst possible thing happened, it wasn't just a stolen melody, it wasn't even inspired by it. It was the actual hard music," he said.

Lim’s original composition titled "Into Ether", had been stolen and renamed "Into the Deep" by someone named Joseph Ti.  That wasn’t the only song that had been stolen. His melody "Halcyon" was renamed "Impassive". The composition "Uncharted" was now called “Tomorrow.” Lim’s song “Aeolus” became "Voice of the Wind".

"I don't remember ever being that mad. I thought my heart was going to tear right through my chest. I was livid. I was absolutely livid about the experience," said Lim.

Lim vented his frustration online and began the long and tedious process of alerting the various online music stores and distribution companies that they were dealing with pirated material.

One of the distributors, Proton Radio, took action immediately, helping him take down the plagiarized music, and cutting him a cheque for his lost profits.

Proton Radio CEO Jason Wohlstadter told CTV News, "Jeremy received 100% of the royalties we received from the stores for sales of his tracks,"

Lim managed to get 200 tracks of his stolen music taken down online. Since then he has made several new connections with people wanting to collaborate on musical projects. He says he is now moving on and doesn’t want to bother launching a lawsuit.

"It definitely was a positive experience in the end. [But] I wouldn't recommend anyone go through this," he said.