Suffolk DVD counterfeiter receives suspended sentence

A man who made thousands of pounds from pirate DVDs of films and TV shows has been given a suspended prison sentence following a case brought by Suffolk County Council’s Trading Standards team.

John Williams received a 16 month term, suspended for two years, plus a fine of £7,500 after pleading guilty to two offences related to the sale, supply and manufacture of counterfeit DVDs.

Williams, 72, of Pot Kiln Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk, was also ordered by Ipswich Crown Court to pay a Proceeds of Crime Order of £77,182, as the criminal benefit he made from the sales of counterfeit discs, plus pay prosecution costs of £42,870.

Suffolk Trading Standards began investigating after receiving a report of fake cult and classic DVDs being sold online.

Test purchases were carried out and the discs analysed, which confirmed them to be counterfeit.

Titles examined included Wonder Woman 1984, Shazam, X Men Apocalypse and TV programmes The Strange World of Gurney Slade and Dial 999.

More than 40,000 copied DVDs were seized from his home in October 2021 along with computers, disc burners, a colour photocopier with print outs of DVD box paper insert sleeves, and address label stickers.

Analysis of the seized computers found Williams had sold fake DVDs when attending film and TV fairs, mainly in London, making up to £1,500 per fair, and that he had a wide network of customers in the UK and abroad.

Williams pleaded guilty to one offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 and one under the Trademark Act 1994.

Graham Crisp, Head of Suffolk Trading Standards, said the original complainant, a UK company called Network Distributing Ltd of London, would purchase copyright licencing rights and restore and remaster the content of classic TV and films for DVD.

However, the company ceased trading in June last year with the loss of nearly 30 jobs.

Mr Crisp said:

“Williams, and those that supply counterfeit discs, contributed to Networks’ demise and have now actually limited the amount of cult TV and film available to purchase because these titles now remain in the archives and may never become available to the public.

“We found correspondence from Williams where he said that trading standards were only concerned with large-scale counterfeiters connected to organised crime and did not have the resources or time to come after people like him – he was wrong. When we find evidence of criminal activity we will always act.”

Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health, Public Protection, & Communities, said:

“There is no such thing as a victimless crime and the greedy and selfish activities of this man contributed to the end of a company legitimately making cult films and TV shows available to the public.

“I applaud Suffolk Trading Standards for its hard work in bringing this totally unacceptable operation to a close.”

Anyone wanting to report the sale of illegal goods should contact Trading Standards via Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.