Pirated audiobook seller jailed

Sloper copied audiobooks and sold them to order on the internet

A man who sold counterfeit audiobooks, including the best-selling Harry Potter stories, has been jailed for 21 months.

Andrew Sloper, 42, of Alvaston, Derby, made and sold fake audio CDs and DVDs, earning more than �85,000.

Sloper was sentenced at Derby Crown Court after pleading guilty to infringing copyright and selling goods with false trademarks.

It is estimated his fake audiobooks resulted in a retail loss to the publishing industry of over �1m.

Sloper had set up a "sophisticated and determined" cottage industry in a room at his home, the court heard.

He copied DVDs and CDs of popular audiobooks, also including the Lemony Snicket children's books, the Lord Of The Rings series and the Narnia Chronicles.

Offences of this nature... strike directly at the jobs of hard-working men and women

Robert Hamadi
Publishers Association

He then sold them to order over the internet auction site eBay - using up to 37 aliases during the five-year scam.

The court heard Sloper was originally caught out by Trading Standards in 2003 and told to stop his activities.

But he continued and developed a more sophisticated scheme, the court heard.

Marilyn Nair, prosecuting, said Sloper was selling sets of the first six Harry Potter audiobooks for only �6.49, compared to a retail price of about �300.

Sentencing him to 21 months in prison, Recorder John Aucott told Sloper: "It is not a victimless crime because - although you have enriched yourself to the extent of �85,000 - you have deceived the public and you have reduced the revenues owing to the copyright owners by more than a million pounds."

Speaking after the hearing, Robert Hamadi from the Publishers Association said counterfeiting had a significant effect on the UK's �5bn-a-year publishing industry.

He said: "Offences of this nature threaten the substantial contribution which the publishing industry makes to the economy and strike directly at the jobs of hard-working men and women."