Couple jailed for DVD piracy

A married couple arrested for pirating music, films and games have received jail terms totalling 27 months.

The pair, now separated, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court and convicted of copyright offences and benefit fraud.

The action is seen as an escalation of a piracy crackdown by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). 

The conviction was part of Operation Zouk, a nationwide scheme headed by the Department for Work and Pensions. 

Trading Standards officers from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, along with local police and an ELSPA investigator, searched the couple's home in Formby and uncovered a secret cupboard containing an array of counterfeit discs estimated to be worth £28,000. 

Under Operation Zouk, carried out last August, a total of 57 people have been arrested, and counterfeit discs with an estimated value of over £500,000 seized.

"Not only are consumers short-changed when they buy poor quality fake goods, but legitimate retailers lose out on business," said Andrew Naisbitt, head of Trading Standards for Sefton Council.

Andrew King was sentenced to 18 months but faces an additional term for an earlier intellectual property theft conviction for which he received a conditional discharge. Angela King, his estranged wife, received a six-month sentence.