Pirate CDs cost music industry £165m sales

The British music industry lost about £165m last year due to CD piracy, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said.

The losses amounted to more than the combined sales of the top 13 albums last year, including James Blunt, Coldplay and Robbie Williams.

The BPI says about 37 million pirate CDs are sold across Britain each year.

According to an independent study of 2,000 people aged 15 years and above, 45 per cent would have bought the original if fakes had not been available.

The survey was carried out in February and March this year.

The BPI urged the police to make intellectual property crime more of a priority and called for regulation of car boot sales and markets, as well as making company directors liable when employees took part in piracy.

"Already the UK has a world-beating recording industry, but it will struggle to remain that way with its piracy problems worsening," Peter Jamieson, the BPI's chairman, said.REUTERS