IFPI and BSA see results after anti-piracy cooperation on plants

December 17, 2002

IFPI and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have recently signed a number of joint settlement and cooperation agreements with optical disc plants in Europe. The agreements reflect the success of two and a half years of collaboration between the two associations to combat piracy at optical disc plants.

The latest agreement was with the Optical Disc Service (ODS) plant in Dassow, Germany after ODS unintentionally produced 5,000 sets of Blade 2 disks which contained unauthorised copies of business software and computer games, as well as MP3 sound recordings. ODS, which cooperated fully in the investigations, has agreed to implement stricter checking routines for the future. In future, ODS will apply SID codes to all stampers and discs it produces and provide samples to IFPI, as well as support the BSA and IFPI in any future investigations that may be necessary.

In the past few months, agreements have also been finalised with the GZ Digital Media plant in the Czech Republic and Euro Digital Disc Manufacturing in Gorlitz, Germany.

This agreement with GZ follows an IFPI and BSA initiative looking at the manufacture and distribution of unauthorised copies of music and business software from Eastern to Western Europe.

GZ has signed this agreement to strengthen its cooperation with IFPI and BSA, and to put in place new measures to avoid the production of unauthorised copies of music and business software. GZ has cooperated fully with all aspects of IFPI and BSA's enquiries in the past. The new agreement updates a 1996 agreement between GZ and IFPI.

In addition, GZ has separately agreed to make a contribution to IFPI and BSA's anti-piracy activities.

The Euro Digital settlement agreement follows the discovery that between 2000 and 2001 EDD produced several thousand copies of eight different sets of optical discs (in CD-ROM format) for Data Media Aps in Denmark. These discs were later sold under the name Syndicate, Volumes 1 to 8.

Under the agreement Euro Digital has agreed to pay a significant sum as damages for the infringement of the rights of IFPI and BSA members.

The Syndicate discs contained unauthorised copies of business software, and unauthorised MP3 files from artists including Faithless, Janet Jackson, the Bee Gees, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mel C, Robbie Williams, Anastacia, Bon Jovi, REM and Britney Spears. Euro Digital has agreed to a number of measures that will limit the possibility of producing pirate software or music in the future.