Man sentenced to 33 months in jail for film piracy

A man was recently sentenced to 33 months imprisonment for recording a blockbuster film in a cinema, uploading it to the internet, and producing and selling copies to the public.

On the 17th May 2013 Philip Danks went to the Showcase cinema in Walsall and used a camcorder to record 'Fast and Furious 6', the first day it was released anywhere in the world. Danks uploaded this copy of the film onto the internet on the 18th May and the film was subsequently downloaded more than 700,000 times causing millions of pounds of loss to Universal Pictures and the audio-visual industry in the UK. Furthermore, Danks used Facebook to offer copies of the film for sale for £1.50 each, which he advertised alongside other well-known films such as Iron Man 3.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) identified Danks by linking him to the online name of the uploader, which was 'TheCod3r'. On one website where the film was available, TheCod3r had written "Enjoy the movie, it took me 2 attempts to get this movie for release as my first camcorder went dead (terrible battery life) 40 mins into the film and I had to go back and watch it a second time to get a decent cam with a better camcorder. A watchable copy until something better comes along." Five days after the recording was made Danks was arrested by West Midlands Police.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that despite his arrest Danks continued to copy, sell and distribute illegal copies of films. He also enlisted the help of his sister's ex-boyfriend, Michael Bell, who uploaded films on his behalf. Bell received a 12 month Community Order with 120 hours unpaid work.

Chris Marcich from the MPAA said, “Online copyright infringement represents a significant threat to the continued success of the UK's creative industries and to the continued development of legal sources of film and TV content. It is important that those making money on the back of other people’s hard work and creativity, paying nothing back into the creative economy, are held accountable and we welcome today’s verdict. This is one important element of the wider strategy to tackle this issue which also includes educating consumers about legitimate online sources of content through schemes like Creative Content UK, working with advertiser and payment processors to cut off the revenue streams pirate sites rely on and blocking illegal sites through the courts.”

Please follow and forward the below link to you staff for a chance to win £500, as well as educate your team regarding film piracy. http://www.fightfilmtheft.org.uk/