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by DanBC 4662 days ago
So, the police should only be getting involved in copyright infringement when done as trade, right? right? They seem to be keeping that bit quiet.

See section 198 of the relevant law, which is clear about the need for business to be involved for a criminal offence. (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/cdpact1988.pdf)

See section 7 (http://copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law) - where they don't mention "trading", which is what tips it into a criminal, rather than civil, offence.

See also section 8, which doesn't mention "format shifting" - it's not legal to rip a CD that you buy to MP3, but this is changing. (Or has changed?) (http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/dec/20/uk-copyright-la...)
1 comments
UVB-76 4662 days ago
Based on the initial arrests made by this unit, it would appear the target remains commercial IP infringement: http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/sep/13/police-intellectu...
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deletes 4662 days ago
There are people still pirating on physical media !?

I think it is ok to go after the sharks but where do you draw the line, 10 copies, a 100?

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UVB-76 4661 days ago
Absolutely. It's an enormous market in parts of the world. Worldwide, I suspect more people are pirating things on physical media than downloading direct from the Internet.

I think common sense applies in drawing the line. A kid who burns the occasional DVD and sells it in the school playground to cover his costs, probably not worth pursuing. An organized group importing counterfeit DVDs by the container-load and distributing them through an established distribution network, probably worth pursuing.

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