Harry Potter and the £50,000 bootleg factory -
Summary:
Harry Potter and the £50,000 bootleg factory
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TRADING standards officers have smashed what they believe to be a DVD counterfeiting factory in Leeds.
Thousands of bootleg DVDs, Playstation games and MP3 music discs were recovered from the address in Hyde Park following a raid.
It is estimated the seized merchandise, which included copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban currently being shown in cinemas, has a street value of around £50,000.
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Five people were arrested as a result of the raid, which was a joint operation by West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service .
Paul Smith, principal officer at the Morley-based service, said the raid had uncovered what could be a major pirating operation.
"This raid has uncovered a factory with capabilities to manufacturer counterfeit DVDs and CDs on a large scale.*
"The size of the haul reveals the extent that some counterfeiters will go in an attempt to make large amounts of money at the expense of consumers around the region."
Sentence
Mr Smith said there was no hiding place for those determined to flout the law:*
"This should be a warning to those considering attempting to cash in by illegal means.
"The law will not be far behind and those caught can expect heavy fines and the possibility of a prison sentence."
Jim Angel, director of operations for Federation Against Copyright Theft, welcomed the pro-active stance taken by trading standards and police in the fight against counterfeiters.
"Counterfeit film product is detrimental to the industry and currently creates a multi-million pound loss within the UK," said Mr Angel. "To safeguard the future of the industry, and guard against potential loss of employment, this pro-active multi-agency approach will hopefully prove beneficial to everybody involved."
A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire said those arrested - four men, aged between 19 and 32, and one female, aged 50 - were initially arrested on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and have since been bailed pending further inquiries.
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