Major Pirating Bust; $152,684 In Movies, Music Seized

November 6, 2008

fbipiracy.jpgA major  DVD and CD pirating operation in Atmore has been busted, with officers seizing $152,684 worth of pirated movies on DVD.

The Atmore Police Department served a search warrant at 218 Perdido Street, near Escambia County High School, seizing the counterfeit DVDs and CDs. Atmore investigators say Delilah Wilson, 54, and Amber Kilpatrick, 30, were downloading movies and music from the Internet, burning them to the discs and then sell them to the public. That’s a felony in Alabama.

Elizabeth Kaltman, vice president of corporate communications for the Motion Pictures Association of America, said video piracy costs the motion picture industry about $18 billion a year, and it’s not unusual to find piracy operations in small towns like Atmore. What was unusual, she said, was the size of the home-based operation.

“This was pretty significant in size for an operation being ran out of a home,” Kaltman told North Escambia.com from her Los Angeles office. “Piracy is happening all over the country and all over the world. It’s happening in cities, but is happening in urban and rural areas too.”

Atmore police say they began their investigation after receiving complaints about the operation. Undercover officers they made several purchases of counterfeit movie DVDs from the home.

While executing the search warrant, police discovered and seized numerous computer systems and components, DVD and CD burners. In addition of the $152,684 in bootleg DVDs, police also seized $6,075 worth of counterfeit music CDs.

Movie and movie piracy is the simple act of making unauthorized copies of movies or music for sell or distribution, according to the MPAA.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News