Government link with creative industries for biggest ever UK crackdown on counterfeiting and benefit fraud

A BPI, DWP, FACT & ELSPA PRESS RELEASE

Thursday 16 March 2006/... The government and creative industries today announced the completion of the biggest crackdown on counterfeiters and benefit fraudsters ever seen in the UK.

The operation was conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in conjunction with British record industry association the BPI, film industry anti-piracy body the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and interactive entertainment trade body ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association).

The operation culminated today with the arrest of 29 suspects as Merseyside and Lancashire Police raided 17 addresses in the Liverpool, Sefton and Skelmersdale areas. The operation has exposed five major duplicating factories operating in these areas.

Today's dawn raids, which involved more than 135 police, trading standards officers and BPI, FACT and ELSPA investigators, follow a six-month investigation into benefit fraud and the supply, distribution and sale of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and computer games in the region.

For the first time, suspects will face multiple criminal fraud charges collectively brought by the BPI, FACT and DWP. If convicted, they face having the proceeds of their crimes confiscated.

It is understood that 70% of the gang's fakes were sold at Liverpool's two worst piracy hotspots, Stanley Dock and Walton Market, with another 30% sold on to smaller units in the Liverpool area. The DWP estimate that an average counterfeit stall in Liverpool was turning over £4,000 a day.

The raids come amid increasing cooperation between Government and the creative industries to fight the growing problems of benefit fraud and intellectual property theft.

Following the arrests, DWP's Anti-fraud Minster James Plaskitt said; "This operation is proof that by working together we are tackling benefit fraud and counterfeiting. People who commit benefit fraud take money intended for the most vulnerable in our society. The public can help the department's skilled fraud investigators stamp out benefit fraud by calling the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440"

Michael Rawlinson, deputy director general of ELSPA commented: "We were pleased to work alongside the BPI, DWP and FACT in this investigation - the excellent results achieved show just how successful a united front can be in shutting down illegal activity. ELSPA would like to thank everyone involved for their work in helping to protect local traders and the general community from the effects of pirated goods."

BPI Director of Anti-Piracy David Martin said; "The criminal gangs that control the production, manufacturing, distribution and sale of counterfeit goods may have become increasingly organised and large in number, but so have we.

By taking a multi-agency approach to tackle this growing problem, we can not only pool our intelligence and resources, but seek far stiffer penalties for those who profit at the expense of the creative industries and the taxpayer alike."

Raymond Leinster, FACT Director General said; "Working with the DWP, the Police, Trading Standards and HM Revenue & Customs we are seeing increasing recognition of the serious nature of piracy and the criminal organisations behind it.

We are also working with the Assets Recovery Agency to ensure that the monies and assets gained from piracy can be identified and recovered using the Proceeds of Crime Act."

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EDITORS NOTES

For further information contact:

ELSPA

Heather Wilkins/Emma Cowie, Barrington Harvey, 01462 456780

BPI

Harriet Gardner, Press Office, 020 7803 1395

David Martin, Director of Anti-Piracy, 07836 607 701

DWP

John Lees, DWP North West Regional Press Office

0161 874 4613 - 07766 134171

FACT

Eddy Leviten, Head of Communications

07768 057464 - 020 8568 6646

ABOUT - ELSPA

ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) was founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the computer and video games industry. Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK. ELSPA's activities include: Official Chart and Industry Reports, Anti-Piracy UK and EU, PR and Communication, Events.

http://www.elspa.com

ABOUT - BPI

The BPI is the trade association for the UK record industry and its remit is to protect and promote its 300-plus membership which comprises all four "major" record companies and hundreds of independents - representing literally thousands of labels.

Seizures by the BPI's Anti Piracy Unit in 2004 had an estimated retail value of £77m. This represented and increase of 37% in 2004.

The BPI's anti-piracy work is to protect its members - who provide the vast majority of the essential investment in new British music - which runs into hundreds of millions of pounds per year.

http://www.bpi.co.uk

ABOUT - FACT

The Federation Against Copyright Theft [FACT] is a representative and investigative organisation for its member companies, who include major British and American film companies, media manufacturers and distributors, as well as companies within the television and satellite TV industries.

Film piracy in the UK is:

• A business generating over £250m a year for criminals

• A crime which affects other people and the wider community - involving benefit fraud, people smuggling, drugs and other serious criminality

The total loss to the UK audio-visual sector is over £810m through lost sales and cinema admissions, illegal downloads, burned private copies and sharing of illicit copies

http://www.fact-uk.org.uk

ABOUT - PIRACY

Music, film and software piracy not only threatens local retailers, but it fuels other areas of crime. It denies creators and investors their rightful income and it damages future investment in British artists. Piracy can often be linked to other crimes which affect the wider community including people smuggling, drugs, violence and exploitation of children as well as funding and sustaining affluent criminal lifestyles for those involved.

In the UK, the majority of music, film and software piracy is conducted by criminal gangs who organise the production of counterfeits across networks of small DIY factories, and control the distribution of them at local markets, car boot sales and industrial units and via street vendors.

A factory of 20 multi-CD/DVD burner units, three photocopiers, three computers and a labelling machine would be capable of producing up to 30,000 fakes a day - worth an estimated £200,000 on the black market - but could easily be concealed in a room of a family home.

ABOUT - GOVERNMENT, POLICE & INDUSTRY COMBATTING PIRACY

The BPI formed an enforcement alliance with the DWP, FACT and ELSPA in 2003, after investigations revealed that many music pirates were also claiming benefits.

In February 2006 FACT and the Metropolitan Police launched the Film Piracy Unit, a unique initiative aimed at targeting the criminal organisations behind film piracy and depriving them of their monies and assets.

Operation Zouk, the last DWP initiative to work alongside the music and film industries to catch benefit fraudsters was recently the subject of BBC Documentary Series "On The Fiddle" - broadcast on BBC 1 in early 2006. Of the 132 people arrested during the operation, 104 were found to be illegally claiming state benefits.

The BPI, FACT and ELSPA are members of the Alliance Against IP Theft - a group of organisations representing over 500 of Europe's best known brands and creative and retail businesses that brings together copyright and trademark bodies to lobby for better protection against intellectual property crime.