DVD and CD forger faces jail

A master forger faced jail today over a near-£900,000 DVD and CD scam uncovered by Wolverhampton Trading Standards officers.

Steven Adams illegally copied almost 30,000 game, film, music and business software discs and sold them through a website and at computer fairs in the Midlands and North West of England.

The 38-year-old is reckoned to have made more than £180,000 from the counterfeit operation that cost the DVD and CD industry at least £885,000 in lost sales.

He was originally picked up by trading standards officers at a computer fair at Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton, in April 2006 but continued to pirate discs for two years as inquiries continued.

The assets of Adams from Loweswater Drive, Lower Gornal, Dudley, have been frozen amid suspicions that money from the illegal operation has been used in the purchase of two houses.

Mr Barry Berlin, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday: "This case has grown like Topsy over a lengthy period.

"A conservative estimate of the loss to the industry is £885,000 with almost 30,000 infringing objects and at least £180,000 profit for this man."

Adams admitted 41 breaches of trademark legislation over a three-year period up to May of this year.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of having DVD and CD duplicating towers.

He was remanded in custody until next month for pre-sentence and medical reports but was told by Judge John Warner; "This is not to determine whether you should be imprisoned but to help decide for how long you should be detained."

Few facts were given to the court yesterday but the full details of the case are likely to be revealed during the next appearance of Adams which is scheduled to take place on August 29.

He downloaded an image file of the DVD or CD to be pirated and used specialist software equipment to create a master disc that was then copied on duplicating towers that took less than half an hour to create up to ten illegal versions that were then sold at cut price through an internet website or at computer fairs.

A man and a woman also face charges in connection with the inquiry but their cases have still to be dealt with.

Experts said that the equipment used in the massive con could probably be bought for just a few hundred pounds.

Wolverhampton Trading Standards officers declined to comment about the case until Adams has been sentenced.