Man In The UK Sentenced To 26 Months In Jail For Selling Stolen Music On CDs… In 2026

How the hell does anyone sell mix CDs in 2026? Well apparently there’s still big demand, and it’s resulted in one East Yorkshire man being sentenced to 26 months.

Marc Kearn, 47, AKA DJ Marc Landish, made approximately £220,979 (!) over 5 years by creating and selling unauthorised mix CDs of copyrighted tracks online.

Using a laptop, CD burner, and printer, Marc created and copied the physical CDs from home then sold the mixtapes through eBay, Facebook, and his personal website thecdlab. The guy was operating like it was fully legal and made over £220k from June 2017 – September 2022.

As per MixMag, Marc was eventually busted when East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Trading Standards launched a formal investigation, and in September 2022, his home was raided and his equipment was seized, along with hordes of CDs.

Marc pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court last week to multiple charges of making and distributing copyright-infringing goods.

His defence argued that he genuinely believed copyright infringement was purely a civil matter rather than a criminal offence. However, the prosecution exposed a massive double standard: Marc had previously tried to pursue legal action against someone else for copying his own mixes. Gah!

The judge really stuck it to him for this, calling his defence “hypocrisy of the highest order.”

Fortunately for Marc, he avoided immediate prison time. His 26-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months, provided he completes 250 hours of unpaid community work. He was also ordered to pay £21,885 in court costs, wiping out a (very small) portion of his illegal profits.

Absolutely wild that this story took place post-2006, but as I said – it’s big business even now if you can get away with it. Apparently there’s still demand for CDs, burned or otherwise, in hairdressers, independent shops, or just for nostalgia heads or those who prefer physical media over digital streaming. Not to mention people driving ancient cars that still feature built-in dashboard CD players. Those were the days eh?

All in all, it sounds like DJ Marc Landish did pretty well out of this. He was essentially made to pay 10% tax on his massive sale of mix CDs, and now all he has to do is help out in a soup kitchen for 250 hours and he’s good as gold. Is this story meant to be a deterrent, or what?

To watch a rapper pick a fight with DJ after he stopped playing his song, only to get launched into the crowd by security, click HERE.