March 5, 2013 12:56

Sony suing Swedish music fan for $233,000 for leaking Beyoncé album

47-year-old is on receiving end of hefty lawsuit for leaking '4'

Photo Gallery: Beyonce
Photo: Andy Whitton/NME

Sony are suing a Swedish music fan for $233,000 (£154,000) for leaking an early copy of Beyonce's album '4'.

According to Torrentfreak, on June 8 2011, a 47-year-old man from Gothenburg shared a copy of the singer's most recent studio album ahead of its June 24 release date. Although his identity is unknown, it is believed that he works in the music industry.

Sony have now filed a submission to the Gothenburg District Court claiming that it has been negatively affected by the leak for numerous reasons, including suffering damage to its marketing strategy and sales revenues. They also claim that the leak damaged their relationship with Beyoncé, and that her reputation had been hurt by the incident.

Earlier this year, two hackers charged with stealing music from Sony including unreleased material by Michael Jackson were given six month sentences suspended for a year and were also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to computer misuse offences. James Marks, 27, from Northants and James McCormick, 26, from Blackpool downloaded up to 7,000 files including music by the likes of Beyoncé and Elvis Presley before their arrest in May 2011.

Meanwhile, Beyonce's UK and Irish tour sold out 12 minutes after going on sale last Friday (February 23). Tickets for the singer's 2013 'The Mrs Carter Show' tour, which calls at Birmingham, London and Manchester and Dublin, were snapped up at lightning speed leaving many fans frustrated after the Ticketmaster UK crashed as thousands of fans bombarded the website hoping to see the singer in action.

Beyonce will play:

Birmingham LG Arena (April 26, 27)
London O2 Arena (29-30, May 1, 3-5)
Manchester Arena (May 7-9)
Dublin The O2 (11, 12)

To check future availability of Beyonce tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

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