A Chinese man has been sentenced to four years in jail for his role in a DVD piracy operation in London.
Zhong Li was given one of the strongest ever sentences for film piracy in Britain, he was also recommended for deportation at the end of his sentence, the Daily Variety reported Tuesday.
Li was sentenced to one year in prison for breaching the video recordings act, four years for an offense under the copyright, designs and patents act, one year under the Trade Marks Act and four years for contravening the obscene publications act. The sentences are to run concurrently.
About 30,000 DVDs were seized in the raid on Li's premises. Nearly half of them were pornographic, authorities said.
The director general of the Federation Against Copyright Theft, Kieron Sharp, told Daily Variety: "This result is a significant one as it shows that the courts are prepared to punish more severely those who aim to profit from film piracy. The strong custodial sentence sends a very strong reminder to film pirates at every level that this is a serious crime type being dealt with increasingly harshly."
