Interview with Gilberto “SkillfulGil” Sanchez

Scribbled by Lethal Illness @ 10:47 AM on December 15th, 2011.

Last time I interviewed Gilberto “SkillfulGil” Sanchez, an extremely talented artist, was in a round of Insane Spotlight. Today, I’m going a little out of my comfort zone. A few years ago Gilberto “SkillfulGil” Sanchez got in trouble for some copyright infringement and I want to get the whole scoop for the world to see. Therefore I’m going to interview Gil again, but this time were not going to talk about his music. Were going straight to the copyright infringement case that has been picked up by many news stations across the country. Let’s jump right into it!

Interview

Gil, for years, even before I had met you, you were a serious member of various movie sites and considered one of the elite amongst it’s members. It seems to have caught up with you; in December 2009 you were arrested for leaking the work-print of X-Men Wolverine Origins to the world. What have been the repercussions of that?
Well G, since 2009 I have been going back and forth to L.A’s Federal Court. It’s exhausting, humiliating, and over all just plain bad. It’s all coming to an end on December 19th. Damn, that’s karma for you. If I’m correct, that’s exactly the day I got arrested in 2009.

Must be really hard for you bro. What are you looking at in terms of jail-time?
If you look at any DVD that you rent or buy, I think it states “5 years and/or $500,000 fine”. Although the Federal courts sentence by their own guidelines and they take prior criminal record, simular offenses, and if you gave the courts any problems in them trying the case into consideration.

Copyright infringement is no joke. Though, being put away for 5 years seems a bit much when I looked into a few cases similar to yours. In fact, the ones who uploaded Love Guru and the The Incredible Hulk got house arrest, an ankle bracelet, and a small fine – no jail-time.
Yeah I read up on that. But every case is tried differently. The prosecution is asking for 3 years I think. But my defence team, out of LA, are doing they’re thing in trying to convince the court otherwise. The courts are taking into consideration several factors that may or may not help me.”

Why so much time spent on one person? Why has this process taken so long?
The prosecution needed time to try and calculate the losses of Fox Studios. Then the judge needed time to evaluate my case more in depth. The prosecution was saying I was responsible for 160,000 downloads”

That seems like a lot of downloads. How is it working out with that many downloads?
It benefited me. Megaupload released papers stating my file was downloaded 158 times. Times that by a ticket price, take into consideration that not all theaters cost the same and I have less losses to be responsible for, not 160,000. I’m glad that came up the way it did.

When famous artists get arrested they create a buzz for sales. Due to this arrest what has happen to you personally since then?
G, I kid you not. If I can go back into time. To that very April Fools Day in 2009

April Fools Day? *laughs* Seems like you’re the only one to get punk’d!
Yeah, no one thought it was real. But my number and stats at the sites read other wise. But if I can go back to that date, I would have never uploaded it. I had a good job as a window installer. Had open doors at 3 studios in the Bronx and all that got shut down to me. All because News 12 and some Post reporters were always calling up my superiors badgering them with questions and asking for some kind of statement. They got fed up, I don’t blame them.

How’s your parents doing? I know they have been sick recently.
Mom has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now. Hopefully she’ll return on Monday.

Monday? That’s when you go to court right?
Yeah. Hopefully I’ll return also to spend this Christmas and New Years with them. But you could never tell what’s going to happen in a court. Unfortunately, I’ve been in them before. It’s not always a pretty picture. It’s life altering and this is what this case has done to me. I’m at risk of losing my apartment and having to stop my studies. They’ll be put out. Where will they go? I don’t know. It breaks my heart whenever I think of it. But I put myself into this mess. I don’t blame anyone but myself. It’ll be a long lasting ripple effect.

You’re studying to be a counselor, right? What made you want to do that.
That’s right, an HIV and a Substance Abuse Counselor. I’m trying to give back to all who are going through what I did. I was raised in the time of AIDS and Heroin. I’ve seen too many people go out the way they shouldn’t have. My two sisters, one of my sister’s daughters, three cousins, one uncle, and about 50 close friends have died due to complications from the virus. Then they’re are all those friends and relatives that have either died or messed up their lives due to drugs. Hospital & institutions is where that leads.

That’s inspirational. Have you cleaned up and been doing well for a while then?
Yessir! But I don’t pat myself on the back for that because I still need like 10 more years of sobriety to balance it out. But I’ve never felt better and been more responsible in my life as I am today. I love what I’m doing now. Many people look up to me and respect me. If I can change? Anyone can.

It’s actually ironic because you’re an Artist. Did you ever think about Copyright infringement? Did you know that it was illegal to upload a movie?
Honestly G, when I first started doing movies, I came across it by accident. I was surfing the net and came across a site that had an embedded player where you were able to watch a movie. I liked that, so I frequented it. Then I googled to see if there were similar sites and there were 100′s, if not thousands. I didn’t think anything was illegal about it. There were just too many sites dedicated to it on the net. It was after I was already neck deep into it that I was seeing and reading about the taking down of sites and arrests. About me being an Artist and copyright infringement, too many mixtapes coming out with other peoples music on it featuring no name artists. I always thought there was nothing wrong with it. I mean if it was illegal, why weren’t the people who were being infringed upon not making waves? But there was this day I ran across one of my productions being by a singer. In a way, I felt complimented but then I thought, he didn’t even give me credit. So it was a catch 22 thing for me.

You’ve learned your lesson now though, right?
No doubt. Who didn’t go see the movie because they saw the work-print? I don’t know. No one knows; not the prosecution, not the courts, not my lawyer, not Fox Studios. But I do know one thing. It may have caused people grief the average worker on the set. The ones you see their names scrolling at the end credits. The caterers, set designers, make up, and you know, the average person who clocks in.

If the courts, the prosecution, the movie executives, or the average person were reading this right now, what would you tell them?
I wholeheartedly apologize for my actions. I’m full of remorse. I wasn’t really thinking at the time. If I have caused anyone monetary and/or emotional loss, I can assure you that I would do my best and try to deter others from doing what I did. It’s just not worth it.

Seriously, I’m not joking. What ever happen to that Korean you purchased the movie from? In my opinion he should be more at fault because he sold the movie and continues to sell movies for a profit.
*Laughs* You know, I’ve seen him a few times. But he somehow got wind of what was going on with me and now he sees me and heads the opposite way. Not his fault either. He didn’t upload it, I did.

Thank you Gil. As always, this was an interesting interview. We’re still waiting for your CD to drop. When can we expect it?
As soon as I find out what’s going to happen to me. Lots of people have been asking. Hopefully, If everything works out in my behalf, you’ll be hearing it in 2012. Speaking about 2012, the world’s not going to end, and get out and VOTE! Also, please check out my PSA video below.

Anything else you want to say?
Yeah G. Thank you for having me back. It’s always a pleasure to be interviewed by someone who takes his goals and aspirations seriously.

Gil’s PSA