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Legal News Update
29 September 2011
Landlord fined over copyright abuse
A pub landlord who admitted receiving television programmes without paying for them, has been ordered to pay more than £1,400 by his local Magistrates court.
Steven Currell, who owns the Woolpack in Haverhill, admitted three charges under the Copyright Act of dishonestly receiving a programme with intent to avoid payment.
According to Cambridge News, the offences were on April 3, April 12 and May 22 this year and this week, Magistrates at Bury St Edmunds fined him £300 for each offence. In addition to the fine, Mr Currell was ordered to pay £500 costs and a £15 victim support charge.
His conviction is just one of many being handed out by British courts following recent government pledges to clamp down on copyright abuse.
Figures show that the illegal downloading of copyrighted material is costing creative industries more than £5 billion annually. As such, measures like the Digital Economy Act have come into force, greatly heightening the dangers awaiting those who continue to abuse copyright laws.
For more information on the Act and how you can avoid punishments such as those undergone by Mr Currell, contact our copyright experts today.