26-Year-Old Student Risks Up To 8 Years In Prison For Sharing Research Paper Online

A twenty-six-year-old Colombian student, Diego Gomez, is facing nearly a decade in jail after he was sued by the author of a research paper he shared online.

According to a Daily Dot, while studying for Masters degree in Conservation and Wildlife Management in Costa Rica, Gomez found a relevant research paper which he shared on academic resource website Scribd.

The author of the paper subsequently suez Gomez for "violation of economic and related rights".

If found guilty, Gomez might be jailed for between 4 to 8 years.

But Gomez claims that he shared the paper just to help others who might need the information, adding that he did not claim authorship nor made money from sharing it.

"I shared with them documents and information considered relevant for our scientific interests," Gomez.

Interestingly, Gomez claims that he is not the only person that has shared the article online.

"Although I was not the only one (the document was in several sites already), for sharing knowledge—recognising the authorship—now the author advances a criminal case against me."

He stated that he will fight the charges because "Sharing is not a crime."

No one can ascertain the reason why the author picked out Gomez for his lawsuit.

There is however hope that Gomez may escape jail as a Colombian high court ruled in 2008 that copyright infringement cannot be criminal if there was no intent to profit off of the infringement.