The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

Counterfeiter convicted of £1m audiobook crime

24.11.08 Catherine Neilan

A man has been found guilty of illegally selling more than £1m-worth of counterfeit audio books over the internet, in what is thought to be the UK's first conviction for making money by selling counterfeit books.

Andrew Sloper was sentenced to 21 months at Derby Crown Court yesterday for copyright and trademark offences, as well as money laundering. He was found to have illegally copied and sold thousands of audio books via eBay over a five-year period.

Counterfeit books sold included JK Rowling's Harry Potter range, titles from the Lemony Snicket series and a number of language courses by Michel Thomas.

The Publishers Association uncovered Sloper's activities while investigating "several suspected sellers on eBay". The body "carried out test purchases" which revealed counterfeit goods were being sold. The matter was then referred to the police and Trading Standards.

In total Sloper was found to have sold more than 6,000 counterfeits, with a retail value of approximately £1.17m. He is estimated to have made a profit of £85,000 from the sales.
Robert Hamadi, head of e-Crime for the Publishers Association, said: "Counterfeiting is not a victimless crime. Offences of this nature threaten the substantial contribution which the publishing industry makes to the economy and strike directly at the jobs of hard working men and women."

He applauded the industry's approach to tackling counterfeiting as "robust", saying it would send "a clear message to all offenders".

Hamadi added: "As this case shows, we will detect and investigate these criminals and bring down the full force of the law upon them."

In 2005, counterfeiting in the publishing industry alone was estimated to account for £150m of retail value goods every year, translating into an estimated criminal gain of £30m. Figures from the Audiobook Publishers' Association recorded total invoice sales of £71.4m over the same year.

Detective constable Richard Foster, of Derbyshire police's Economic Crime Unit, said: "People often don't see this sort of crime as serious but as is demonstrated by Andrew Sloper there is a lucrative trade to selling counterfeit goods and once he had started he found it hard to stop."

Hamadi will be speaking at this weekend's Society of Young Publishers' conference Publishing 2.0, as part of a panel discussing The Cost of Free Publishing. The conference takes place tomorrow (Saturday 22nd November) at University College, London and costs £30.

publishers association Catherine Neilan

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