A 27-year-old non-resident Indian trader has been sentenced to 15 months in prison in London on charges of selling pirated DVDs of Bollywood films and British-Asian music.
The trader from Southall Broadway, Raghubir Singh Chopra, pleaded guilty before a Southall court to possessing illegal counterfeit DVDs for sale and associated offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.
He was found with over 20,000 illicit DVDs and CDs. The haul was seized during a raid on a retail unit in 'Punjabi Bazaar' and an associated flat by officers from the council's Trading Standards team and the Southall Broadway Safer Neighbourhood Police Team on May 5, 2006.
The case came to trial earlier this week. Police Sergeant Shahid Malik of Southall Broadway Safer Neighbourhood Team said: "We will continue to gather intelligence and evidence against people who continue to break the law to combat this sort of offence. We are fully committed to targeting and ultimately stopping local crime networks that are involved in counterfeit sales and distribution."
British Phonographic Industry Director of anti-piracy, David Wood, said: "Despite the fantastic efforts of the Metropolitan Police and Trading Standards, Asian music and film piracy remains an enormous problem, particularly in Southall, and the piracy rate is still some way above that of western products."
"By selling vast quantities of counterfeit Bollywood CDs and DVDs Chopra's criminal activity was illegally generating him significant income at the expense of the music and film industries, London's legitimate retail businesses, honest taxpayers, and of course the artists themselves," Wood said.
Officers raided the unit and flat following intelligence and information received from a variety of sources including local residents.
Nearly all the DVDs seized were of Bollywood films, some of which had not yet been released in UK cinemas.
Film piracy is estimated to net more than 270 million pounds a year for criminals in the UK. Counterfeit DVDs and CDs are sold everywhere from ice cream vans to barber's shops and pubs and clubs.
Ealing Councillor Jason Stacey said: "Film and music piracy may seem like a victim-less crime but it has links to organised crime and other criminal activity including the drugs markets, violence, benefit fraud, and the abuse of people who are forced to sell these items on the street.
"When consumers buy a pirated DVD, not only do they risk viewing a poor quality film, they are also supporting organised crime."
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