E-crime

The PA’s e-Crime unit works to combat the growing threat of Internet enabled crime to publishers, authors and consumers.
 
The primary focus of the unit’s work is Internet enabled counterfeiting and piracy, including Internet sales of sub-standard counterfeit copies to UK consumers. Other crimes investigated by the unit include handling and sale of stolen books and audio books and illegal importation of cheap foreign editions.
 
Key facts:
  • UK presents a growth market for Internet enabled sale of counterfeit books and audio books.
  • UK Criminal gain £30 million pa on sales of counterfeit product worth £150m
  • 2006 brought a shift from "pirate" copies to faithfully reproduced counterfeits, designed to mislead the consumer
  • Since April 2007 local authority Trading Standards Officers have had a power and a duty to act in cases of copyright crime
  • The PA actively works to support prosecution of for-profit counterfeiters in the UK and abroad

Click on the links below for the PA member-only section, information about law enforcement or to report an e-crime: