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Shop manager admits selling fake DVDs

21/ 5/2008

A SHOP that was caught selling bogus DVDs has been ordered to pay nearly £4,000.

Chandra Patel, the manager of Cheetham News And Wines on Cheetham Hill Road, pleaded guilty to eight counts of being in possession of DVDs bearing fake trademarks at Manchester Magistrates Court last Wednesday (7 May).

He was charged £1,990; £200 for each offence and £390 costs.

Cheetham News And Wines was itself also charged identical amounts for these offences, and ordered to pay the same costs, making a total of £3,980 that must be paid by both Patel and the business.

A trading standards officer went to the premises on a routine visit in April 2007 and found several copied discs, of films including Wild Hogs and Codename: The Cleaner.

These DVDs were then sent to the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), which confirmed they had been printed with bogus trademarked logos of film companies such as Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Brothers.

The companies also provided statements to the City Council confirming they had not given consent for the trademarks to be used.

Councillor Neil Swannick, Executive Member for the Environment, said: "Counterfeiting is a crime, and the City Council will come down hard on any business which is found to be flouting the law.

"The size of this fine reflects how seriously the courts will treat this offence, and should send a strong message to any businesses who think they can get away with it."