Court-documented cases where low-frequency noise and infrasound led to convictions, nuisance findings, and shutdowns — with named counsel, the legal landscape by country, and the sources behind each one.
Deliberately aiming bass at a neighbor does get people convicted — but under general harassment, stalking, or noise-nuisance laws. No country covered here has a specific "low-frequency" offense. Companies that cause low-frequency noise mostly lose civil nuisance suits rather than face criminal charges.
The weak spot everywhere is measurement: standard A-weighted (dBA) meters under-read bass, so logs, recordings, and expert surveys usually decide these cases.
This page summarizes publicly reported cases for research and educational purposes. It is not legal advice. For attorneys by practice area, see the Legal Directory.
A Florida woman was charged with aggravated stalking for it. South Korea's Supreme Court ruled in December 2023 that deliberate noise can be stalking. UK councils prosecute people who break noise abatement orders and seize their speakers.
In Godfrey v Conwy, a UK court found a nuisance without any particular dB level. Courts in Ireland and Massachusetts shut down wind turbines on residents' testimony and recordings, even though operators said they met planning limits.
Residents in Granbury, TX beat a motion to dismiss in their nuisance suit, though criminal noise citations there failed. Prince William County, VA switched to dB(C) limits, which pick up the bass that dB(A) misses.
Low-frequency noise clearly causes annoyance and lost sleep. Direct health harm from infrasound (below 20 Hz) at typical levels isn't established. A July 2026 study suggests many cases of "the Hum" may be low-frequency tinnitus.
Fourteen cases with a documented outcome, plus two still pending at the allegation stage.
Speakers mounted face-down on her condo floor, weighted with cinder blocks, switched on and off by remote.
Outcome: Charged with aggravated stalking; found guilty of stalking (2019); affirmed on appeal 2020.
31 early-morning noise episodes aimed at the upstairs family, who kept a daily log and video.
Outcome: 8 months, suspended for 2 years. The first top-court ruling that noise can be stalking.
A woofer mounted on their ceiling played household noises and "ghost sounds" into the unit upstairs 10 times.
Outcome: ₩7M fine.
A bone-conduction woofer sent hammering, drilling, and hum sounds upstairs 41 times.
Outcome: Convicted of stalking and a noise offense; fined ₩10M, reduced on appeal; speaker confiscated.
Amplified music; broke an abatement notice 8 times.
Outcome: Harassment conviction: 12 weeks suspended, restraining order, subwoofer and soundbars forfeited.
"Dominant bass beat"; the council took 38 recordings over 7 days.
Outcome: £1,500 fine plus costs (his 2nd conviction); speakers seized under a warrant.
Bass from a band studio 180 m away.
Outcome: Nuisance proven without any dB threshold.
Abatement notice for "excessively loud music and bass."
Outcome: Upheld; the venue must fit sealed sound limiters.
Appeal over a noise abatement notice.
Outcome: The council won. The High Court held that an abatement notice can simply require the noise to be abated without listing the steps to take, so the resident's challenge to the notice failed.
A wind turbine's pulsing "thump."
Outcome: Nuisance found; turbine ordered off at night; damages awarded (payment paused pending appeal; injunction still in force).
Neighbors' health complaints about two town wind turbines.
Outcome: Ruled a nuisance and ordered shut down; the town didn't appeal.
Low-frequency fan noise and vibration from a bitcoin mine.
Outcome: Motion to dismiss denied (2025); case ongoing.
Constable's citations for readings above 85 dB.
Outcome: Jury acquitted; personal responsibility wasn't proven.
Police used an LRAD "sound cannon" alert tone on protesters.
Outcome: Painful tone banned; $98k to plaintiffs plus $650k in fees.
A class action over bitcoin-mine fans, alleging "low-frequency sound that manifests like vibrations." Not yet decided.
Proposed federal class action by residents near a data center in Dowagiac, Michigan, operated by Alliance Cloud Services (a Hyperscale Data subsidiary). The complaint alleges inadequate soundproofing and that constant noise from the facility interferes with residents' use of their homes. Not yet decided.
Counsel of record where it is publicly reported. See the brief for attorneys and the Legal Directory for practitioners by area.
Earthjustice (Gulf Regional Office) — the main nonprofit representing residents against bitcoin-mine noise in Texas.
Weitz & Luxenberg — a large plaintiffs' firm now bringing crypto-mine noise nuisance claims in New York.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough — MARA's regular defense firm.
Gill & Brissette (Fort Worth) — won the acquittal on the Texas criminal noise charges.
Kings Chambers (Sarah Clover, Leo Charalambides) — UK specialists in licensing and statutory nuisance.
Noonan Linehan Carroll Coffey, with John Rogers SC — won the Irish wind-farm noise case for the neighbors.
Stokoe Partnership — instructed for the resident (Beckford), whose challenge to the abatement notice failed.
Christopher G. Senie — Massachusetts lawyer for the neighbors of the Falmouth wind turbines.
Elena Cohen and Gideon Orion Oliver — civil-rights counsel on the NYPD sound-cannon (LRAD) case.
Residents: Earthjustice (Rodrigo Cantú, Rebecca Ramirez, Jennifer Powis, Meghan Riley). MARA: Nelson Mullins (Robert Thackston, Paula Pendley, Tanya Scarbrough, Kurt Greve).
MARA: Nelson Mullins. County: County Attorney Matthew Mills, Arturo Martinez de Vara (Martinez De Vara Law Firm), Charles Sierra.
Prosecution: Hood County Attorney Matt Mills. Fischer: Gill & Brissette, Fort Worth (Bob Gill, Miles Brissette).
Plaintiffs: Weitz & Luxenberg (James Bilsborrow, Emma Dietz, Robin Greenwald, Devin Bolton, Robert Quigley). Digi Power X: Matthew Bird (firm unconfirmed).
Neighbors: John Rogers SC, instructed by Noonan Linehan Carroll Coffey (solicitor Philip Coffey). Operator: not publicly reported.
Council: Andrew Price. Beckford: Jonathan Powell, instructed by Stokoe Partnership.
Venue: Sarah Clover (Kings Chambers). Council: Leo Charalambides (Kings Chambers).
For the council: Waseem Raja. Defendant: none; sentenced in his absence.
Protesters: Elena Cohen and Gideon Orion Oliver. City: NYC Law Department (Corporation Counsel James E. Johnson, ACC Peter Brocker).
State: AG Ashley Moody's office (AAG Allison Morris). Seachrist: Public Defender James Purdy's office (APD Kathryn Radtke).
2017 trial counsel not reported. In the earlier Drummey v. Falmouth (2015), the neighbors had Christopher Senie; Town Counsel Frank Duffy Jr.
Granbury, TX (TIME, July 2024): More than 40 residents described migraines, vertigo, tinnitus, and lost sleep. Their evidence ranged from phone apps (one mother logged 72 dB in her daughter's bedroom at night) to a constable's cheap meter used over about six months. A county-commissioned study measured only 35–53 dBA at homes — a vivid example of how A-weighting hides bass. Health causation is the residents' belief and isn't proven.
Great Oak, Manassas, VA (Semafor, 2025): After Amazon swapped the fans on its data centers, residents said the sound dropped in pitch and started rattling dishes and frames, which pushed the county toward a new ordinance.
Falmouth, MA: The judge found plaintiff Barry Funfar credible that the turbines significantly worsened his insomnia, anxiety, and nausea; he moved away part of the year to escape them.
Omagh, Northern Ireland (Guardian, Nov 2023): A town-wide hum led the council to look into specialist detection equipment. No source was found.
Windsor Hum (CBC): A rare hum with a confirmed source. It stopped in 2020 when U.S. Steel idled its Zug Island plant.
Oct 28, 2025: Prince William County, VA passed a dB(C) data-center noise ordinance (73 day / 68 night), effective May 1, 2026. Residents called the limits too weak (Bristow Beat / InsideNoVa).
Jan 2025: Most US intelligence agencies said it's "very unlikely" a foreign adversary caused Havana syndrome, though two partly disagreed (ODNI). NIH studies in 2024 found no MRI-detectable brain injury (NIH).
July 2026: An NTNU study (PLOS One) suggests most people who hear "the Hum" have low-frequency tinnitus (ScienceDaily).
There's effectively no federal remedy; the Noise Control Act of 1972 lost its funding. Limits are set by states and cities. Texas's 85 dB criminal threshold is among the loudest; NYC caps some noise at 42 dB inside the affected home.
Routes: local ordinance complaints; private nuisance suits for an injunction and/or damages (Granbury, Falmouth); stalking or harassment charges when the noise is deliberate and targeted (Seachrist); HOA or condo enforcement.
Measurement problem: most ordinances use dB(A), which strips out bass. The trend is toward dB(C) or octave-band limits. Enforcement can also stall on who is personally liable (the Texas acquittal).
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 s.79–80, councils must investigate complaints and serve an abatement notice when they find a statutory nuisance (GOV.UK). Breaching a notice is a criminal offense, and equipment can be seized.
A notice can simply order the noise abated without listing steps (Enfield v Beckford [2025] EWHC 1218). The Protection from Harassment Act and Community Protection Notices are also used. Under s.82, individuals can bring a private complaint to magistrates.
DEFRA NANR45 (Salford, 2011) is a reference curve for 10–160 Hz third-octave bands, checked against the complainant's log — guidance, not a legal threshold (PDF). Councils admit LF noise is hard to investigate because ordinary meters may not register it (Torridge DC).
A private nuisance claim can win even when the source complies with planning guidance, and courts will order operating restrictions (Webster).
The Stalking Punishment Act covers deliberate, repeated noise, with penalties up to 3 years in prison or a ₩30M fine.
Habitability, nuisance, and personal-injury theories for low-frequency noise cases.
National and state-by-state legal resources by practice area.
Assessing and responding to low-frequency noise complaints.
The peer-reviewed evidence base on infrasound and low-frequency noise.
These are publicly reported cases, compiled for research. If you know of a documented case we've missed, or a correction, we'd like to hear it.
Structured symptom logging, evidence export, and documentation tools for low-frequency noise cases.