Police Seize Bollywood Copies

A police raid on a Paris store had led to the seizure of about 200,000 counterfeit DVDs manufactured in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

The Thamilan Music Centre, which is in a neighbourhood largely populated by Tamils, had a large stock of Bollywood films.

Officers from the Police National Judiciaire raided the store February 13, following a formal complaint from the IFPI. They made one arrest.

"Bollywood piracy is a growing problem throughout Europe. It is one that anti-piracy officers from the U.K. have a good track record of dealing with and we are sharing this expertise with law enforcement agencies across the continent," said BPI Anti-Piracy Unit director David Wood. Members of his organisation control many of the copyrights for the theme music and songs used in Bollywood films.

IFPI head of enforcement Len Hynds said some criminals have the mistaken belief that if they smuggle and sell counterfeit CDs they will escape the attentions of the authorities, who are only concerned with drug trafficking.

"In fact the authorities are very aware that the pirate music trade defrauds the public, evades taxes, costs jobs and denies artists an income from their work. That is why it is so important that police and rights-holders work together to combat it," she explains.