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Judge Sentences Michael Smith to 18 Months for AI Music Fraud

By Drooid · Oct 8, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Michael Smith Sentenced

Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced North Carolina resident Michael Smith to 18 months in prison.
Smith pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the first AI-music streaming fraud case.
In April 2023 he used 10,000 bots to stream his songs, including 80.9 million YouTube plays versus Taylor Swift’s 9.3 million.
The court ordered forfeiture of $8,091,843.64 and two years of supervised release after imprisonment.

Summary

Streaming Platforms Crackdown

IFPI launched the Streaming Integrity Initiative in September, backed by Universal, Virgin, Sony and Warner Music.
Spotify removed over 75 million spammy tracks in 2025 and introduced AI-content labeling tools.
Apple Music demonetized about 2 billion fraudulent streams in 2025, reclaiming $17 million for artists.
YouTube now requires creators to disclose AI-generated audio and automatically labels such content.
Deezer reports over 60,000 AI-generated tracks uploaded daily, with 85 % of 2025 streams fraudulent.

History

Historical Context

After the RIAA’s 2010 lawsuit that forced LimeWire to shut down and led to a $105 million settlement in 2011, the music industry has relied on legal pressure to curb digital piracy. That legacy underpins today’s response to Michael Smith’s bot-driven YouTube fraud, which Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced in 2024, prompting the IFPA’s Streaming Integrity Initiative backed by Universal and Sony.

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Michael Smith Sentenced

Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced North Carolina resident Michael Smith to 18 months in prison.
Smith pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the first AI-music streaming fraud case.
In April 2023 he used 10,000 bots to stream his songs, including 80.9 million YouTube plays versus Taylor Swift’s 9.3 million.
The court ordered forfeiture of $8,091,843.64 and two years of supervised release after imprisonment.

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