The crackdown operation on pirate CDs and DVDs is almost akin to military manoeuvres these days. And in more ways than you’d probably imagine. Disturbingly, it is not unusual now for anti-piracy investigators to arrive at raids equipped with their very own bullet proof vests. The protective garment is particularly practical when making swoops on makeshift pirate reproduction factories that have links to former paramilitaries.

Even what seems like a simple task of conducting a raid on an open-air market requires painstaking and vigilant planning, as Hot Press discovered when we recently accompanied IRMA (Irish Recorded Music Association) on a seizures operation in Clara, County Offaly. Their chief anti-piracy investigator, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals at the hands of the pirate gangs, explained how they stake-out markets for period of up to weeks before pouncing. He showed Hot Press an extensive dossier of information about the targeted stallholders, which included descriptions and photos of suspects, as well as photos of their vehicles and registration numbers. IRMA even had detailed maps of the market pinpointing the exact location in which the stallholders were situated.
On the morning Hot Press accompanied a raid, four arrests were made and hundreds of pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated. It was a quick and clean operation, unlike other occasions when it has not been unusual for the investigators to be surrounded and threatened. “I have been intimated by them on a few occasions. I am also wary of somebody knifing me in the side when I go to pick up a breadboard of pirates. I have even been followed by them. One time they waited outside what they thought was our office to follow me home. But they went to the IMRO office instead of the IRMA one,” explained the investigator.
The market in Clara is rapidly becoming one of the biggest culprits for pirated music and films, with up to 18 different stalls operating on an any given Sunday morning. The latest figures available show that in 2004 over 11,000 counterfeits were seized here, with that figure jumping up by an extra 50% by the following year to 16,500 units. “At the moment, the pirate DVDs are outselling the five to one, sometimes even ten to one,” explained the IRMA investigator. “But the CDs are still a huge business. We recently discovered one guy who was producing 10,000 units each week.”
A fake CD at the market is sold for e5 or e8 for a double album, while DVDs can be purchased at five for e20. In the recent past, the majority of fake CDs would appear to be originals, particularly the counterfeits arriving from the likes of Turkey and Spain. It was easy to identify these CDs as illegal because they didn’t include barcodes or a ‘SID Code’ (a source identification code), which is a four character reference that identifies the approved music industry plant that replicated the CD. But you wouldn’t need a comprehensive knowledge of this information to know that CDs for sale here at Clara are fake – just use your common sense: the majority of CDs are unlabelled, or occasionally titled with a marker, and have badly photocopied covers. The lack of quality means low overheads and bigger profits for the sellers, who are predominantly members of the travelling community.
Up until recently, the majority of fakes were produced on industrial equipment, but modern technology means anybody can now “burn” the CDs on computers and sell them on the cheap at markets. The majority of these operations, pointed out the IRMA investigator, are located in a select few “safe houses” across the country, but closing them down is easier said than done. “We do investigate where they’re operating out of but it can be very difficult to close them down because once we seize the equipment, they can go out and buy more relatively cheap. They are buying DVD tower burners for as little as e1,000. And when we do get warrants we have to move fast because they can move the items off the premises quickly,” he explained.
The Clara market has been hit several times during the past few weeks as part of a multi-agency operation, with IRMA and INFACT, assisting the Gardai in pinpointing the culprits. Before the raid is initiated, the anti-piracy investigator carries out a “test purchase” to confirm that the products are fake, before assisting the Gardai in seizures and arrests. Some of the stalls are no more than a board placed on top of oil drums, but some of them are ‘super stalls’ with a young man visiting them occasionally to replenish the stock. Someone comments to Hot Press that it is “almost like a pirate franchise operation”.
The raids have to be conducted quickly, otherwise the illegal traders will abscond the market once they realise what is happening. “Sometimes they will just walk away from the stall and say it has nothing to do with them. A lot of them will have juveniles working the stalls and the main operator will be safely in the background observing. That is why we have to act fast and hit the ‘Mister Big’ – the main supplier – first when we go into a market,” explained IRMA’s anti-piracy investigator.
But even if they manage to squeeze the life out of pirate trade at Clara, there is still up to 30 more markets where fakes can be purchased in the Republic of Ireland. It is estimated that pirate music eats up 10% of the Irish market at a cost of a staggering e11-15million each year. “I would estimate that 15,000 to 20,000 bootleg units are being bought here every week. And I reckon that that up to 90% of houses in this country would have a counterfeit CD in their collection. People know they are fake but they don’t seem to care that it is basically stealing. They wouldn’t go into a music shop and walk out without paying for a CD. So they must realise that buying these fakes is taking money out of the artists’ pockets,” point out the IRMA investigator.
These traders arrested for selling pirate CDs can technically be fined e1,900 for each CD or DVD found in their possession, which could see them hit with a court fine of over e250,000. But according to IRMA, they will normally submit a dozen samples before the court for a maximum penalty of e22,800, as well as a possible 12 month prison sentence.
The very first prison sentence imposed for music piracy in Ireland occurred during the summer when Martin McDonagh, from Longford, was jailed for six months and fined e1,000 plus costs. McDonagh pleaded guilty after being caught on November 26 last year at Drishogue Market with 226 counterfeit music CDs and a large quantity of DVDs.
“This sends out a strong warning sign to anyone involved in illegal counterfeiting and CD selling. It is stealing from people who make a livelihood from music,’ said the Director General of IRMA, Dick Doyle. “This is the first prison sentence that has been imposed and we intend that it will not be the last. We will do everything in our power to seek out and prosecute anyone involved in any form of unlawful music practice.”
The anti-piracy investigator agrees that the prison sentence has “sent shockwaves out amongst the pirates”. He added: “They are saying it is better to stay away from copying CDs and just focus on doing DVDs because the music guys will have you arrested. But apart from this, even the market guys are complaining that downloading music is wrecking their business.”
This is another area of music theft that IRMA is set to tackle following a recent approval by the High Court to go ahead with plans to prosecute 23 people involved in illegal music file sharing and distribution of an estimated 100,000 files.