LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- A San Marcos man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Los Angeles to a felony charge of using the Internet to distribute a pirated copy of "Slumdog Millionaire" in violation of federal copyright law.

Owen Moody admitted that he uploaded a copy of the multiple Oscar-winning film late last year to a Web site called thepiratebay.org, where others could download the film, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa E. Feldman said.

Moody, 25, also admitted posting a link to the film at two Internet sites, demonoid.com and mininova.org, the prosecutor said.

At the time Moody uploaded the movie, it was in limited release in domestic theaters and was not yet available on DVD, she said.

Moody, who used the Internet screen names "Tranceyo" and "Gizmothekitty," found the copy of "Slumdog Millionaire" on a Web site called funfile.org. Someone had uploaded a digital copy of the movie, which had been sent as an Academy Award "screener" to a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for voting consideration, according to court papers.

After searching the Internet and realizing the movie was not readily available to the general public, Moody downloaded it from funfile.org and uploaded it to piratebay.org, along with creating links to the movie on the two other Web sites, to make the movie available to the general public, according to the plea agreement.

Although Moody uploaded the movie from his home in San Marcos, the U.S. rights to "Slumdog Millionaire" under copyright are owned by Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc., which is located in Los Angeles.

Moody pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess in downtown Los Angeles. Feess is scheduled to sentence Moody on Oct. 5. The charge of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution carries a statutory maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense, whichever is greater, Feldman said.

Two weeks ago, a Ventura County man who obtained Academy Award screeners of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Australia" pleaded guilty to uploading those films to the Internet.

Derek Hawthorne, 21, of Moorpark, pleaded guilty to two counts of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in Los Angeles on Sept. 28.