piracy figures

CD piracy generates an estimated £77 million annually for criminal enterprise; increasing by 37% in 2004 alone.

Counterfeiters are increasingly using internet sites to sell their fakes; eBay piracy figures (infringing auctions removed) are below;

2001: 2,315
2002: 3,491
2003: 5,649
2004: 14,318
2005: 57,463
2006: 199,295

The problem is focused primarily around areas with high Asian populations, and at an estimated 70% the level of piracy in Bollywood film and music is far higher than the average UK rate of around 5%.

A raid in Southall in September 2005 uncovered the largest ever factory discovered in Western Europe - capable of producing more than 50,000 fake DVDs and CDs a day. It was concealed at a residential address in Southall, where officers seized a day's worth of production - worth £400,000.