Scottish Courts Soft on DVD Pirates

The multimillion-pound black market in bootleg films and CDs in Scotland is thriving because prosecutors let criminals off the hook, it was claimed last night.

The investigator leading the battle against bootleggers has complained to the Crown Office that procurators fiscal are ignoring clear-cut cases of copyright theft.

John McGowan, of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), said the ?top 10? traders at Glasgow?s Barras market had all been reported in the past three years but none of them had been successfully prosecuted.

McGowan claims many prosecutors do not understand copyright law, despite the fact that bootleggers make a fortune by stealing the work of top musicians and film studios.

It is estimated the black market in pirate videos, music, computer software and other counterfeit goods - largely controlled by organised crime gangs - is worth about £1bn in Scotland.

McGowan told Scotland on Sunday: "A lot of fiscals find it difficult to get their heads round intellectual property theft and obviously don?t fully understand it.

"If you go to any stall in Ingliston outside Edinburgh or in the Barras in Glasgow or in any of the small towns and buy an illicit disc, I?ll guarantee you the person has been reported to the fiscal for substantial offences and nothing?s happened or it?s still to be dealt with. The fiscals seem to see potential problems that aren?t there.

McGowan said the pirates should not be mistaken for small-time crooks.

"Organised crime has moved in and become pretty well established. You can make more money in counterfeiting activity than you would selling cocaine. The potential profits are higher, pound for pound, and the risks are seen as lower."

According to McGowan, making 5,000 pirate copies of a top Holywood film on DVD might cost £1 a disc but could be sold for up to £10 at a market or car boot sale, resulting in a 900% profit of £45,000.

The investigator said a drug dealer would expect to pay about £50,000 for a kilo of cocaine from a ?wholesaler? in the UK, which would be sold on the street for £100,000, a mere 100% profit.

McGowan said "by far the worst" area was Glasgow, with the Barras market in the city?s east end of particular concern.

"In the last three years we have provided evidence on 10 substantial cases involving many thousands of discs recovered. The 10 people who operate in the Barras market have been reported for offences punishable by 10 years in prison and not one has seen the light of day in court," McGowan said.

"This is doing incalculable harm to legitimate businesses operating within a few hundred yards of that market and paying up to £1m in business rates.

"Realistically the public now has a basic consumer choice: they can buy counterfeit goods if they want to."

Fact?s work in Scotland is hampered by its lack of official status. In England and Wales it can act as the prosecuting authority, but north of the Border has to rely on procurators fiscal.

A survey by the British Phonographic Industry estimated counterfeiting and piracy cost UK industry nearly £10bn in 2002, with the Treasury losing about £1.7bn in unpaid VAT.

Dave Martin, head of the BPI?s anti-piracy unit, said: "In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, criminal cases are brought before the courts far more quickly than they are in Scotland.

"It seems to me that intellectual property crime is given a very, very low priority in Glasgow.

"It?s causing tremendous harm, not just to the record companies and artists, but also record shops. They are closing down and losing jobs because they cannot compete."

John Richardson, owner of independent music shop Ripping Records on South Bridge in Edinburgh, said he was less concerned about the sales he was losing of legitimate CDs than the effect on the music industry as a whole.

"They are robbing us to a degree, but the main problem for me is in the long term because this business is on its knees," he said.

"The record companies are all running at a loss and they don?t have money to reinvest in new talent. The last big selling artist in this country was Oasis."

A spokesman for the Crown Office said: "We will, and do, prosecute if there is sufficient admissible evidence and it is in the public interest to do so."

However, the spokesman added: "We recognise that this is a technical and complex area, which is why our Glasgow office has a designated specialist to deal with such cases.

"Glasgow procurator fiscal?s office are in the course of a specialist review of intellectual property cases.

"Fact has written to the Solicitor General, raising a number of issues and that letter is receiving attention and a reply will be issued in due course."

Sound and Vision
Pirate copies of some of the latest films to hit cinemas are easily available at markets across the country.

Derek McDonnell, 38, of Gorebridge, bought DVD copies of animated blockbuster Finding Nemo, Terminator 3, (starring Kristanna Loken below) and the critically acclaimed Whale Rider at Ingliston market for a total of £25 last weekend.

He had to fight his way through a crowd of people to reach the stall.

"There were hundreds of movies that are currently on at the cinema," he said. "Whale Rider was absolutely amazing quality. It was just as good as the videos you can buy in the shops. Terminator 3 was pretty good. Finding Nemo was a disappointment. The picture was pretty ropey."

McDonnell said the pirates were obviously becoming better at producing quality copies. "Last year I bought three films and they were all dreadful.

But this year has been a 100% improvement, so they are progressing quite rapidly."

Story source: scotsman.com.