A DVD counterfeiting duo in London have been sentenced to a total of four years and six months for running an illegal factory worth £5 million a year. It is the first case of its kind for the Film Piracy Unit since it was established in 2006, funded by the Federation Against Copyright Theft.

Long Lin was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and Xiao Zhong Shi was sentenced to three years and three months for conspiracy to contravene the UK Copyright and Design Act and the Trade Marks Act.

The Film Piracy Unit executed a search warrant at an address in the Hackney borough. Inside the house there was evidence of a fire in the kitchen. The London Fire Brigade established that this fire was due to an overloaded electrical circuit. The occupants had left in a hurry, leaving behind a counterfeiting DVD factory, several personal belongings and a large stash of Machetes.

The factory is believed to have been able to produce in the region of 14,500 discs per day when running at full capacity, potential earnings being in the region of £43,000 per day.

Paperwork found at the premises led the police to Long Lin and Xiao Zhong Shi as key organisers in the DVD factory. "Extensive equipment from DVD copiers to colour printers were in various rooms in the property indicating that the house was an organised and structured operation, in which individual rooms were allocated for certain roles." Vast quantities of blank DVDs, counterfeit DVDs, DVDs and other paraphernalia associated with a DVD factory were found at the address.

Several Chinese nationals were arrested and over £9,000 in cash seized. Shi claimed that the money had come from a large casino win, stating he had only stayed in the ground floor of the premises and had no idea that the DVD factory was upstairs in the property. However, police surveillance on Shi’s home address, revealed him taking delivery of approximately 3,500 blank DVDs. He was also seen delivering large black bin liners to addresses in Peckham, New Cross, Lewisham, Walthamstow and Stamford Hill suggesting that he was distributing merchandise across southeast London.

A warrant was executed on the home address of Shi led to the discovery of 10 disc copying burner towers, disc printers and approx 18,000 counterfeit DVDs including titles such as Casino Royale, which had not yet been on general release. Titles also included pornography including bestiality.

Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, said: "The sentencing in this case reflects the serious and organised nature of the criminality. These two individuals were involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of millions of knock off DVDs and the criminal profits will have been ploughed back into organised criminal networks in the UK and overseas."

Story filed 20.02.08