In one year, UK piracy has increased by more than 80%. This is according to figures released recently by the Federation Against Copyright Theft. The latest Lara Croft action film Tomb Raider, The Cradle Of Life, has already hit the British streets in DVD form - prior to the premiere in the theaters. Officials from the UK Film Council, found the Tomb Raider II DVDs for £ 5 each in London's Oxford Street.
Chaired by Nigel Green of the UK Film Council, the task force includes representatives of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK film producers, distributors, cinema chiefs and Equity. They will assess the scope of the problem and determine appropriate legal responses.
One seizure in Hornsey, north London, netted 100,000 DVDs, worth an estimated £ 1,425,000, as well as computer equipment, artwork, and DVD labels, according to FACT. The products were traced to the Far East. Piracy is believed to have cost the UK film industry £ 400 million in the past year, FACT says. Illegal copies are often sold at car boot fairs and street markets. They are well packaged to look like the real thing but often suffer from poor sound, colour and clarity. |
It is estimated that about 30 percent of the videos purchased in the UK are copies. The number of DVDs pirated is increasing at an alarming rate. The fakes are easily identified as they usually will not brandish the British Board of Film Classification.
Source: dvd-recordable.org
