• What is FACT?

• FACT’s Guide: How to avoid buying a pirated DVD

• Additional Advice from FACT for buying DVDs safely on eBay

• General Tips from eBay on Buying with Confidence

• Where to get more information

What is FACT?

What is FACT?

The content of this guide is provided by FACT, the UK’s leading trade organisation established to protect the British film and TV industries against piracy.

Audio-visual piracy in the UK is a serious problem, generating £200m a year for criminals. purchasing pirated DVDs, you could be unwittingly helping to fund criminals with links to other forms of serious criminality, including crimes of violence, drugs offences, people smuggling, drugs, benefit fraud and money laundering. By purchasing a counterfeit DVD you are funding someone’s criminal lifestyle.

The maximum sentence for counterfeiting activity is up to 10 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, as well as possible seizure of assets. FACT, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, is the film and TV industries’ enforcement body and carries out investigations across the UK, working with Police and Trading Standards and other agencies.

eBay regularly works with FACT and with Trading Standards departments and Police forces across the UK to prevent and deter piracy on eBay.co.uk.

FACT’s Guide: How to avoid buying a pirated DVD

FACT’s Guide: How to avoid buying a pirated DVD

FACT’s Guide: How to avoid buying a counterfeit DVD

Many eBay users may be tempted to buy DVDs from sellers on eBay offering cheap, brand-new, and seemingly hard-to-find DVDs. But the message is, if it seems too good to be true it probably is, and the chances are that buyers may be left with a poor-quality and illegal copy.

Below is FACT's checklist for what to look out for before bidding on a DVD:

• Is the film still being shown in the cinema? Has the film been released on DVD yet? If a film is still being shown in the cinema then it is likely to be a counterfeit. You can check here to see whether the film has been officially released on DVD, or if not sign up for an alert for when it is released at www.findanyfilm.com

• Does the film have a company hologram on the inner sleeve? If this isn’t obvious from the listing, ask the seller to send you an additional photograph which shows the hologram. Most legitimate DVDs now carry a hologram.

• Does the DVD come in a plastic case or card box? Illegal copies often are packaged in a polythene wallet with no hard case. Official DVDs come in well produced packaging in heavy duty card or plastic hard cases.

• Is the film title hand written on the DVD disc itself? If so, it is likely to be a pirated DVD. Official DVDs have properly printed artwork covering the whole of one side of the disc.

• Is the DVD’s release date the right one? Pirate DVDs may display incorrect dates. You can check here to see whether the film has been officially released on DVD: www.findanyfilm.com

• Does the DVD claim to be from ‘All’ Zone region code? DVDs from the UK should be from Region 2. If a DVD is sold as "all region" it is a good indicator that it is a pirated DVD.

Additional Advice from FACT for buying DVDs safely on eBay

Additional Advice from FACT for buying DVDs safely on eBay

Additional Advice from FACT for buying DVDs safely on eBay

To minimise the risk of buying a pirated DVD through eBay, FACT recommends some basic steps. Many of these steps are those that are recommended as part of any eBay purchase:

• Read the item description very carefully and make sure that you know exactly what you’re buying. If you’re unsure, ask the seller to clarify any questions or concerns you may have. They are normally very happy to help you if it means they will get a sale.

• Learn as much as you can about the seller. Check their feedback – not just the score, but dig a little deeper and look out for some of the following:

- whether the person has been buying a lot of low-value items, because they may have been doing so to build up their feedback score.

- the kinds of items that they have been buying or selling – make sure that the person’s eBay record makes them look like either an established DVD retailer or a private individual selling a used DVD.

- how long they have been registered on the site – if they have been trading for a reasonable period of time, with a positive feedback score, they are more likely to be a trusted seller.

• Ask the seller questions – where they bought the DVD from, whether they have a retail shop or what their company number is. Unscrupulous sellers will tend not to answer such questions or their answers will be evasive.

• If you are buying, ensure you are paying with PayPal. It is a much more secure way of paying on eBay than any other because it offers purchase protection to buyers.

General Tips from eBay on Buying with Confidence

General Tips from eBay on Buying with Confidence

FACT is partnered with the charity Crimestoppers.

To report the sale of counterfeit DVDs call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or go to www.crimestoppers-uk.org  (Please include the Crimestoppers logo)

Where to get more information

Where to get more information

Where to get more information

Websites which provide helpful information on films and DVDs and copyright issues:

• Federation Against Copyright Theft - www.fact-uk.org.uk

• The Industry Trust for IP Awareness – www.copyrightaware.co.uk

• Find Any Film – www.findanyfilm.co.uk

• British Board of Film Classification - www.bbfc.co.uk

• British Video Association - www.bva.org.uk

• Film Distributors' Association - www.launchingfilms.com

• Intellectual Property Office - www.ipo.gov.uk

• Trading Standards Institute - www.tsi.org.uk