As mentioned already, the Federation against Copyright Theft (FACT) is the enforcement body for the film and broadcast industry in the UK. In addition to them, and their partnership with Police and Trading Standards through Crimestoppers, rights owners also have the right to police their own copyright. Typically, they will employ Internet Investigators to patrol illegal activity happening online.

You commit a criminal offence in the event that, without the proper permission, you:

• sell or make available for hire, or
• for commercial purposes, import to the UK, exhibit to the public or distribute, illegally obtained film or TV content, where you know (or have reason to believe) that the content is illegally copied.

The criminal penalties available in relation to this activity are high and depending on the seriousness of the crime could lead to either:

• imprisonment for up to six months or a fine not exceeding £5,000; or
• imprisonment for up to ten years or an unlimited fine.

These are the legal remedies that are available to protect the rights in film and TV content and to protect the interests of the film and TV industries.

Yes. Downloading film or TV content without the proper permission is a civil offence. This means that if you act illegally in your use of film or TV content, you are at risk of being sued by the film or TV rights owner.

Film theft is a crime punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment. You can still be punished even in you are not making profit on the illegal material. Legal alternatives to digital film theft are growing all the time, with services including LoveFilm, Apple, BT, HMV, Woolworths and even BitTorrent offering legal downloads at a fair price.

This is worrying – your friend should not be ripping/burning material from the DVDs he or she rents. When you buy a DVD, although you own the DVD, you do not own the copyright in the film contained in the DVD - you simply have a licence to watch it. You are usually expressly prohibited from making a copy of the DVD for anyone else. When you rent a DVD, the rental company owns the licence as you have only paid to view it for a specified time period.

I’m very sorry to hear you’ve experienced this problem.  We would advise that you report this to the Federation against Copyright Theft (FACT), which is a policing organisation continually working hard to fight against the supply and trade of illegal DVDs. Please visit www.fact-uk.org.uk  to report this, and for more information about FACT (you can also follow the link from the copyrightaware.co.uk site). You should also contact the auction site to let them know.

There are a few ways to find this information. The first is to contact the Federation against Copyright Theft (FACT), which protects the interests of the film and broadcasting industry against copyright and trademark infringements.

FACT works in close partnership with police, Trading Standards and other enforcement agencies to combat the growth of pirate DVDs, film and other forms of broadcast material including the increasing threat from online/internet based piracy.

The best way to report any criminal activity is to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. FACT has a partnership with Crimestoppers enabling them to get the information quickly and easily.

Alternatively, you can use the reporting form on FACT’s website: www.fact-uk.org.uk or you can email info@copyrightaware.co.uk