5,676 police actions during the last quarter of 2005 thanks to Operation Madrid Plus

January 19, 2005

Spanish music producers present a Golden Disc Award to Spanish Enforcement Agencies and Customs for their efforts in the fight against piracy

Madrid, 19th January 2006.- The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Spanish Music Producers' Association, PROMUSICAE, yesterday presented a Gold Disc Award to the Spanish National Police, Madrid's Local Police, the Guardia Civil and the Customs Department of the Tax Agency, in recognition for the efforts of these Enforcement Agencies in the development of their anti-piracy initiative Operation Madrid Plus 2005.

Operation Madrid Plus 2005 is a campaign initiated last October aiming to strengthen the fight against music piracy in the region of Madrid during the Christmas season, when this criminal activity intensifies.

During the last quarter of 2005, the agencies involved in the operation have undertaken a total of 5.676 actions which have resulted in the dismantling of 20 organised networks devoted to piracy and the seizure of 1,020 burners and almost 1,200,000 CDs and DVDs. These figures confirm that Operation Madrid Plus 2005 has placed the region of Madrid at the forefront of the fight against music piracy in Spain. 55% of all organised networks dismantled in Spain during 2005 happened in operations carried out in Madrid. In addition, 61% of all burners and 53% of all carriers seized in Spain were in the Madrid region.

The progress of the investigations carried out by the different Enforcement Agencies and the Tax Agency, the collaboration and sharing of intelligence and the perfect coordination of operations have been key to the achievement of this Operation Madrid Plus 2005 and its successful outcome. During the final months of the year, and for the first time in the many years, Madrid has been a city virtually clean of distributors and sellers of pirate CDs and DVDs.

Operation Madrid Plus 2005 was created following the publication of IFPI's annual report on the evolution of music piracy worldwide. In last year's report, Spain and Mexico were highlighted as two of the countries with higher piracy growth rates in their respective continents. IFPI called for urgent measures to be taken in order to improve situation in both countries. As a result of this appeal, people in charge of different Enforcement Agencies and the Customs Department of the Tax Agency decided to intensify their anti-piracy activities and improve coordination by designing and implementing the operation in the Region of Madrid.

IFPI's Commercial Piracy report finds that one out of four discs sold in Spain has an illegal origin. This is even higher in Madrid or Andalusia, regions where piracy rates reach 40 per cent.

According to PROMUSICAE's figures, during last year a total of 13,224 actions were undertaken in Spain regarding music piracy, which resulted in the arrest of 2,922 people and the seizure of 4,4 million CDs and DVDs, valued in almost 70 million euros. During that year, Enforcement Agencies also seized 3,015 burners with a production capacity in excess of 234 million carriers.

Antonio Guisasola, PROMUSICAE's chairman, said: "Music piracy not only affects authors, artists, producers and music distributors. It is a scourge to the culture and the international image of a whole country. For this reason it is necessary for the Spanish Administration to intensify its commitment to a fight that affects all of us".

"Operation Madrid Plus 2005 has been a success thanks to the union and coordination of all those involved in the enforcement of intellectual property and it will, undoubtedly, set an example to follow in the future. Today, we music producers would like to recognise the effort of those in charge of our security by presenting them with a Gold Disc Award in recognition of a job well done", Guisasola added.

Michael Ellis, IFPI's European Anti-piracy Director, said: "The operation in Madrid is the outcome of tremendous efforts by the authorities. The level of cooperation has been unique, and the industry applauds their approach. The resources and planning dedicated by the Madrid authorities show great commitment to bringing the unacceptable level of piracy to an end."

Unfortunately commercial piracy is just the tip of the iceberg for the Spanish music market. Music piracy has spread from the streets to the Internet and IFPI estimates that currently there are around 885 million music files illegally available on the Net. The music industry is especially concerned about the situation in Spain and requests the government to devote the necessary resources to put an end to these criminal activities as soon as possible.

For further information please contact:
Spain: Antonio Guisasola on +34 (91) 417 0470
UK: Adrian Strain or Julie Harari on +44 (0)7878 7935