Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice combines offences under Section 107 of the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act with other similar offences under that Act. It is therefore not possible to provide prosecutions and convictions specifically under Section 107.
The following tables, for the years 1988 to 2007 (latest available) show the number of prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales where Section 107 may have been used. Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.
Copying from one media to another becomes a criminal offence under Section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 only if conducted on a scale prejudicial to the interests of the legitimate rights holder, or in the course of business.
Proceeded against Offence 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.3 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a — — 219 154 78 Other offences4 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a — 1 110 39 91 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public5 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Total — — — — — — 1 329 193 169
Offence 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.3 86 65 72 59 38 47 65 107 132 176 Other offences4 72 87 79 51 59 56 51 62 130 253 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public5 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 16 33 Total 158 152 151 110 97 103 122 185 278 462
Offence 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.3 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a — — 151 125 73 Other offences4 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a — 1 87 35 74 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public5 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Total — — — — — — 1 238 160 147
Offence 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.3 62 45 51 51 26 40 44 85 109 132 Other offences4 48 66 53 47 45 37 39 55 88 169 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public5 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 13 10 30 Total 110 111 104 98 71 77 89 153 207 331 n/a = Not applicable. 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 The Ministry of Justice cannot separate offences relating to Section 107 from those under section 198. 4 The Ministry of Justice cannot separate offences relating to Section 107 from those under other sections of the Act. Statutes covered by this offence are as follows; Section 107 (1)(c), (1)(d)(i) and (ii) and (iii) Section 107 (2)(a), (2)(b), (3)(a) and (3)(b) Section 198 (1)(c), (1)(d)(i) and (ii) and (iii) Section 198 (2)(a) and (b) Section 201 (1) Section 276 (1) (a) and (b) Section 276 (2)(a) and (b) Section 276 (3) (a) and (b) Section 279 (3) Section 297 (1) 5 Includes S.107 2A and 4A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg 26 (1) Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform
The Ministry of Justice does not hold any statistical information about civil actions being brought specifically for offences related to copying music stored on a compact disc to a digital format for personal use.
This is because the administrative computer systems used in courts do not presently identify this specific dispute type. While the relevant cases will be logged on the system, they cannot be distinguished from other types of actions brought to court. Obtaining the information requested would require the inspection of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
However, we do hold information in relation to the number of claims relating to copyright and design right issued in the Chancery Division of the Royal Courts of Justice, figures from 2004 to 2008 (the latest available figures) are shown in the following table.
Number 2004 195 2005 148 2006 120 2007 172 2008 286 Source: Chancery chambers, bespoke contribution for this publication.