A MAN has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after being caught with 4,000 counterfeit CDs and DVDs.
Paul McPhillips, 41, pled guilty to the crime and was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday (Tue).
McPhillips had previously pled guilty to making, offering and supplying counterfeit and unauthorised music goods under the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988, between 1st June, 2007 and 1st July, 2009.
Chief Inspector Bryan Rodgers said: “This has been a large-scale counterfeiting operation run from an Edinburgh flat.
“Today’s sentence is the result of a complex joint operation involving the Intellectual Property Office’s Intelligence Hub, the British Recorded Music Industry and Lothian and Borders Police.
“The British Recorded Music Industry initially highlighted concerns over a website advertising counterfeit CDs and DVDs for sale.
“They informed the Intellectual Property Office Intelligence Hub, who successfully identified the owner of the site as Paul McPhillips.
“This information was then passed to Lothian and Borders Police, who searched the property and made the subsequent arrest.
“McPhillips home was equipped with everything needed to manufacture and distribute counterfeit goods, and this was having a significant impact on the music industry.”
Baroness Wilcox, Minister for Intellectual Property said: “This case clearly demonstrates that organised piracy of copyrighted material is linked to criminal activity. Buying pirated music, films and games puts money directly into the pockets of criminals and the Government takes this issue very seriously.
“Today’s successful prosecution demonstrates how the police, music industry and the IPO’s intelligence hub work in partnership to tackle these threats.”
