Ex-bus driver illegally copied £660k music
A former bus driver's bid to make big profits from £660,000 worth of music illegally downloaded from the internet has ended in failure and a suspended prison sentence.
Derek Smailes put the tunes onto DVDs and CDs which he then tried to sell through a website, a judge heard yesterday.
But the 60-year-old only had seven customers, each paying £15-a-month for the discs, when the scam was uncovered, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor Howard Searle concluded: "He was a failed businessman making very little out of this. He had substantial debts from previous failed enterprises."
Smailes was caught after the British Phonographic Industry(BPI) discovered the racket by making a test purchase from his website in August last year. He sent them a DVD with 40 albums of music on it worth up to £400 to buy for just £5, the court heard.
Copying equipment and around 1,500 DVDs and CDs were later found in a raid on his home in Pine Avenue, Smethwick, continued Mr Searle who added: "Discs littered the premises in crates and on the stairs.
"He had been copying music sites available to anybody on the internet and then advertising albums for resale as DVDs. The BPI estimate the total value of the music involved at £660,000. This shows the potential of what could have happened although the actual result was very different."
Smailes had a multi burner in his bedroom that could make 12 copies of discs at a time but very few customers. Mr Searle concluded: "He was not following up on purchases because of his lack of business acumen. Customers were just coming and going."
Smailes is thought to have illegally downloaded at least 60,000 albums between January 2007 and July 31 of last year. The former bus driver who had also worked at a supermarket has not had a proper job for over three years. He now lives on £128-a-week benefits while acting as the official carer for his mother-in-law, the court was told.
Miss Amrisha Parathalingam, defending, explained: "He has a meagre life style but, failed businessman or not, he understands that this kind of offence has serious consequences." She said that he had boosted his stock of music by paying £1000 for the collection of another man.
Smailes admitted breaching copyright with counterfeit CDs and DVDs and was given a 15 month jail sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work and £150 costs.
Judge Martin Walsh told him: "The figure of £660,000 is notional because it does not represent the true loss in this case."
