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BPI comments on conviction of vinyl piracy gang
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 17 December 2018
UK record industry trade group the BPI has commented on the recent sentencing of four men involved in a piracy operation that was selling unlicensed vinyl copies of Northern Soul recordings via eBay and Amazon.
Alan Godfrey, Christopher Price, Robert Pye and Stephen Russell were all involved in the piracy venture and were variously accused of copyright and trademark infringement as a result. Late last month they each received sentences of between eight and ten months.
The BPI’s anti-piracy team supported South Wales Police on the case, with all three major record companies and niche indies like Rollercoaster Records and Ace Records being impacted by the copyright infringing operation. The trade group says that police recovered 55,635 seven-inch records, 4678 CDs, 907 twelve-inch records and 26 ten-inch records – all bootleg copies – when they raided properties owned by the four men.
Commenting on the convictions, BPI General Counsel Kiaron Whitehead said: “These important prison sentences send a very strong message to music pirates around the country. Whether it’s an illegal music website or fake vinyl being sold on eBay and Amazon, the BPI and the police are watching you and you will be prosecuted”.
He went on: “This four-man counterfeit gang were raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds by ripping off genuine music fans and undermining artists, record companies and legitimate record stores. The BPI would like to thank South Wales Police for their great work in stopping the gang; and I would like to personally congratulate BPI’s content protection team for their unfailing perseverance to reduce music piracy”.
