FOUR MAJOR record companies have brought a legal action against a Dublinman over allegedly operating a CD counterfeiting “factory” from his home, producing large quantities of copied CDs and DVDs.
Stephen Trimble has denied operating a factory to copy CDs and claims the reason he had equipment capable of burning 20 CDs and DVDs in seconds is because he is lawfully involved in producing wedding DVDs, the court was told.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly listed the action by the companies against Mr Trimble, of Suncroft Drive, Tallaght, Dublin, to the Commercial Court yesterday and will hear next week the companies’ application for an order restraining Mr Trimble copying CDs in which the companies either own the copyright or have exclusive license to it.
The companies also want orders restraining Mr Trimble having equipment specially designed to burn CDs and DVDs, to deliver up to them any such equipment and to disclose the number of CDs allegedly produced by him or by others acting under his direction or control.
The court heard a prosecution against Mr Trimble in the Circuit Court had failed after the trial judge ruled CD and DVD burning equipment seized from his home by gardaí was unlawfully seized and could not be relied upon.
Brian O’Moore SC, for the companies, said equipment remains in the possession of gardaí and was to have been returned to Mr Trimble on December 31st last. His clients wanted an order that if the equipment were returned to Mr Trimble, he should deliver it up to solicitors for the companies.
The companies allege the equipment has no practical use except for the unlawful production of commercially published DVDs and CDs.
Counsel said Mr Trimble was suggesting he has a bona fide use for the equipment and was prejudiced by the Garda retention of it. It was hard to see what other use there was for equipment, which could produce hundreds of CDs per hour, except the use suggested by the record companies, counsel said. The equipment also included machines that bypassed the regionalisation of DVDs, meaning DVDs produced for the US market, for example, could be copied for use in Europe.
In an affidavit, EMI managing director Willie Kavanagh said he believed, if the equipment were returned to Mr Trimble, he would “resume infringement of the plaintiffs’ copyright on a substantial scale” or would dispose of the equipment to enable others to do so.
He said counterfeiting operations cause serious and ultimately unquantifiable losses both to the record companies and their legitimate retail distribution chain and added to the problems already being experienced by the music industry as a result of the illegal downloading of music.
Counsel for Mr Trimble said the Circuit Court had ruled the material seized from his client’s home was unconstitutionally obtained and could not be relied upon. His side would be making the same argument in the Commercial Court proceedings.
Mr Justice Kelly said he was satisfied the case related to copyright and that serious infringement of copyright was being claimed. He listed the injunction application for hearing on January 28th.
