Over €115m lost in pirated DVDs and videos

CRIMINALS selling pirated DVDs and videos deprive businesses of over €115 million a year, making almost €50m in the process.

The major pirates have links to organised crime syndicates, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business was told yesterday.

A delegation representing the home entertainment industry, which included the Irish National Federation Against Copyright Theft (INFACT), warned if the sale of counterfeit DVDs and videos continued unabated, "by the end of 2005, the (market) will be dominated by pirates".