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The statistics can seem posi- tively overwhelming. The fig- ure mentioned above is just part of something in excess of £8 billion covering the nefarious activities of all pirates across a number of industries including film and computer software.
The details are spelt out to me by the folk from FACT – The Federation Against Copyright Theft – who are attempting to stem at least some of this rising tide of criminality from their functional headquarters at the optimistically named Victory Business Park in Isleworth, just west of London.
You wouldn’t guess it now from the relentless urban sprawl of business units and housing but just a stone’s throw away from FACT was once one of Britain’s most famous and productive film factories, Worton Hall. Between 1914 and 1952, the studio helped turn out films like The Ghost Goes West, Things To Come, The Fallen Idol and The African Queen.
That was then, this is now. According to Spencer Mott, director of operations at FACT since joining from Scotland Yard two years ago, he has presided over some 400,000 seizures. But that, he warned, must be seen in the context of an 800% increase in caseload – that’s piracy refer- rals – in the same period.
In more ominous vein, he con- tinues: “That’s dramatically more than when I joined FACT as a result of the influx of DVD and digital media. The actual profit margin – around 1000 per cent – for the pirate is so much bigger and as a result is now drawing in the sort of people previously involved in drug dealing or importing firearms.
“We’re now,” he adds, darkly “encountering the sort of charac- ters that are of interest to NCIS (The National Criminal Intelligence Service).” In other words, Organised Crime.
Mott, who deliberately took a year evidencing the problems facing FACT, says: “There’s a tendency in anti-piracy activity to just conduct one raid after another. It was quite apparent
Spencer Mott
Director of Operations, FACT
with DVD and digital formats coming into play that that was not really going to have a great effect.
‘We’re finding through experi- ence that we’re getting increas- ingly sophisticated criminals who are now involved globally and it’s important to apply some of the techniques you would have used for other serious crimes. A series of unfocused raids might raise a lot of PR and give the impression that much is being done – but it’s not dealing with the underlying problem.”
FACT is a “private, not for prof- it, investigative and representa- tive company” with 10 full-time senior investigators and around ten support staff including three technical examiners. “ The guys,” says Mott, “are working flat out just to keep a lid on it. We can’t carry on at the rate we’re work- ing without getting some more people on board.”
Funded by the Motion Picture Association of America, the dis- tributors and some broadcasters (though not the BBC), FACT is financially “chasing its tail just to stand still,” says director-general David Lowe.
Mott unequivocally describes the funding as “completely inad- equate; in real terms it has gone down substantially since we start- ed.” Lowe, a former military man, responsible for squaring the circle of increased workload and inevitable overspend, strives to be more diplomatic when he states, “the funding arrangement is not satisfactory.”
Says Lowe: “This year we were given £1.2m by our member com- panies of which slightly over half came from the MPAA. There was also a significant proportion from the TV industry. Of course we lost ITV Digital over the course of the year and that had an impact in terms of shortfall in income.”
Apparently the member com- panies are being supportive and the monies for next year will increase. But that’s not going to prevent this year’s ever rising overspend and the fact that Her Majesty’s Government presently owes FACT in excess of £700,000.
David Lowe
Director General, FACT
How come? “Lowe explains: “We’re allowed to get our legal and investigation costs back for all the court cases we bring, but we are still waiting to be re- imbursed out of central funds.”
So why isn’t Government more directly involved in FACT’s work anyway? “It the obvious question to ask,” nods Lowe. “If we are owed £700,000 from public funds today we must have saved the Government at least two or three times that during the course of the year. The loss to the Government through piracy is staggering but they don’t seem to be able to translate that into financial help. We’re working on that all the time.”
Is FACT fighting a losing battle? Says Mott: “I don’t think piracy is beatable as such, but eminently controllable. I know that’s some- times hard for dealers to recog- nise because they’re seeing their product being sold in public mar- kets near to their store every week. What we are doing is con- trolling the manufacture and the import situation, particularly at customs, from South East Asia.
“A lot of our work is necessarily unseen. What we’re keen to do, and it’s proved to be the case, is maintain the high price for pirate product. A DVD is still around the £10 mark and was the cost when I first came into this job. The fact it isn’t being driven down at pres- ent is in itself promising.
“The film industry has over the past year really been a victim of its own success. The pirate market is very much driven by the same factors that drive the legitimate market. Films like Spider-Man, Stars Wars, Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings have all peaked on the piracy rate follow- ing their release – and we’re probably talking about the same customer base.”
So as we enjoy the privilege of our membership tapes and discs, just remember that for the copy- right cops, it’s still a jungle out there.
Copyright theft is currently costing the British film industry £400m a year. As BAFTA members prepare to receive videos and DVDs for voting purposes, Quentin Falk reports on the tireless battle to control piracy.
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