In Leicester, the Sangam Cinema in the Asian-dominated Belgrave area is being
forced to shut down due to poor collections. It is one of the four cinema halls
in the town that exclusively screens the latest Indian films.
In September, the Southall police and Ealing Council had uncovered an illegal
DVD production factory and 50,000 counterfeit DVDs after officers of Trading
Standards raided an address in Southall.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), it was one of the biggest
seizures to date of CD and DVD burners in Western Europe. However, industry
sources believe that there were many more such sources in Britain.
The manager of the Sangam cinema in Belgrave Gate, Jagir Singh Nehra, told the
media that it would close down very shortly because daily collections had come
down to as low as 40 pounds.
"Last year we were putting on five shows a day and getting 200 people at each
show, now it is just two shows at a weekend with hardly anybody there. We
cannot go on," said Nehra.
The cinema charged 1.20 pounds admission for adults and 50 pence for children,
but pirate video recordings of the same films can be obtained for as little as
80 pence in some cases.
During the September raid in Southall, three people present at the address were
arrested on suspicion of infringing the Trademarks Act 1994 and the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Officers estimate that it only takes five minutes to create a counterfeit DVD,
which means the factory had the capability of producing more than 50,000 DVDs
in a 24-hour period.
Mohammed Tariq of the Ealing Council Trading Standards, said: "The British film
and music industry loses hundreds of millions of pounds every year through DVD
and music piracy.
"The BPI will continue to work hard to ensure that what's sold on the streets
is legal, so that everyone, consumer, trader and the industry, benefits."
Doug Love, head of Trading Standards Officers Ealing Council, added: "The
police and Trading Standards have got rid of a major source of the poor
quality, fake DVDs that flood high street stalls and leave consumers feeling
ripped off."
Meanwhile, Eastern Eye, a leading British Asian weekly, reported that
pornographic material from South Asia was being sold in markets frequented by
people from the Indian sub-continent.
Mohammed Tariq, who was also involved last week in raiding the stalls pointed
out by the weekly, said: "The selling of Asian porn DVDs is a growing national
problem, especially in areas of high Asian concentration.
"We have come across more and more during random checks carried out in the past
month.
"The movies are of an extremely hardcore nature and, because they have not been
checked or approved by the British Board of Control, are not allowed to be sold
legally in this country," Tariq added.
