A Birmingham man was this week jailed for two and a half years, the longest jail sentence ever handed out in the UK to a CD counterfeiter.
Gleeson was found to be manufacturing counterfeit CDs when the National Crime Squad raided his home and business unit in March 1999. One thousand illegally copied CDs were seized along with a twenty-bay CD copier, colour printer and a shrink-wrapping machine. Gleeson was capable of producing 2,000 sophisticated counterfeit CDs each week with an estimated loss to the music industry of £1 million annually. The counterfeits faithfully reproduced the original CDs, including copying artist trademarks. |
Sentencing Gleeson at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Taylor, said this case should be an example to others. Gleeson, he said, had clearly impinged on the rights of songwriters.
Two and a half years.. it's something to consider when u'r doing something with illegal cd's. Let this be a warning
Source: ELSPA
