Record industry welcomes arrest of British DJ for piracy

PALMA
THE recording industry have welcomed the arrest of a British DJ resident in Majorca on suspicion of making thousands of euros by selling pirated dance mix albums.

The 39-year-old man was allegedly buying mix albums in the UK to illegally copy for sale to the bars and clubs in Calvia.
Following a tip-off from British company Music Factory Entertainment Group, who discovered that pirated copies of its music was being sold on the island, the Guardia Civil's Organised Crime Group began an investigation. “This illicit enterprise aimed to corner the market on the holiday island, taking several thousand euros per month which by rights should have gone to the independent record label that actually produced the albums,” said Len Hynds, Head of Enforcement at the IFPI - the organisation that safeguards the interests of the record industry worldwide.

The membership of the IFPI comprises 1'400 major and independent companies in more than 75 countries. “We would like to thank both the Guardia Civil and the Metropolitan Police for their efforts and Interpol for coordinating the enquiry,” added Hynds.
The chief executive of the label, Peter Parkin of Music Factory Entertainment Group, said that it was “extremely annoying that this man was making money for himself by taking our music and selling copies of it without permission, but we are delighted to now be able to offer legitimate mix albums for bars and clubs in Majorca to play to attract and retain customers”.

The head of Interpol's intellectual property programme, John Newton, said “this was a very simple but very profitable criminal enterprise”. “The suspect clearly believed that by buying the originals in the UK and selling copies in Spain he would evade detection, a view that turned out to be naïve in the extreme.” Jose Luis Perez Quintero, the Director of Investigation at Promusicae, which represents the Spanish recording industry also welcomed the Guardia Civil investigation.