Know thy enemy:

https://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/ceg-tek-dmca-...

https://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/tag/ira-siegel/

And yes. VPS's almost always store your files in a way that anyone with root to the host can look through your files. They often have automated systems that search everything you store for "bad" files and won't hesitate to contact you when found.