Music publishers join anti-piracy fight
August 22, 2016
By Colin Mann
The Music Publishers Association (MPA) has become the seventh partner to join Operation Creative, the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) initiative designed to disrupt and prevent websites from providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content.
The MPA has joined existing partners; the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) the Federation Against Copyright (FACT), The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) the Publishers Association (PA), PRS for music and the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE).
Operation Creative was launched in April 2014 as a unique partnership between the City of London Police and the UK advertising industry. It aims to disrupt criminal profits which are generated from websites providing access to stolen and infringing content such as music, films, books and games. It also protects the creative industry which is understood to support approximately 1.7 million jobs in the UK and account for over 5 per cent of the UK economy.
The initiative continues to drive the world’s first online portal for copyright infringing websites, the Infringing Website List (IWL). It contains an up to date list of copyright infringing websites which are evidenced by the creative industries and verified by PIPCU.
To date 1,150 infringing websites have been captured on the IWL and this portal remains a vital tool in sharing information in naming blacklisted sites amongst the partnership.
“I am pleased to welcome the Music Publishers Association to the Operation Creative initiative,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Peter Ratcliffe, head of PIPCU. “The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is committed to reducing the impact of intellectual property crime on the UK’s creative industries and in Creative we have a wonderful tool to disrupt the infringers’ revenue streams and hit them where it hurts them the most.”
“I would also like to thank all the existing partners who have helped to make Creative a success. We are entering a new phase in the operation and the widening of Operation Creative’s membership can only serve to make it stronger.”
“The MPA’s partnership in Operation Creative will strengthen and elevate our involvement in combating piracy, in particular with regards to sheet music, which is unique to the music publishing industry” declared Claire McAuley, General Manager, Music Publishers Association. “We are excited to be joining the partners and look forward to working with them in our collective fight against online music piracy.”