A Twickenham-based business is leading the fight against illegal streaming.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is a leading provider of intellectual property protection, digital forensics, and due diligence services which is committed to protecting creative producers.
Though it may seem easier to visit an illegal website and have every film instantly available, just watching pirated content could result in a heavy fine, not to mention the effects it has on creative industries.
FACT chief technology and marketing officer Eddy Leviten said: “Intellectual property is the bedrock of everything in creative industries.
”If people are stealing intellectual property, there’s no creative economy.”
Intellectual property refers to media owned by the person or persons who created it.
This means that if people do not pay for films then creative industries won’t have the money to keep creating your favourite movies and TV programmes.
Leviten explained that if people are copying, streaming, and downloading illegally, then ultimately there’s less incentive for creators to make that content and less incentive for people to invest as well.
Creative industries in the UK generate billions for the economy and create millions of jobs, so protection of this is vital, said Leviten.
Leviten likened it to shoplifting and said: “If you ran a shop and people were continuously stealing from you, then at some point the shop is no longer worth running at all.”
FACT works very closely with the police as it is unable to make arrests so instead it provides reports with lots of evidence resulting in a high success rate in prosecutions.
The company won The King’s Award for Enterprise, the highest award for British businesses, in May this year, recognising and celebrating business excellence across the country.
It was awarded this for its impressive increase of 327.48% in international trade in the last three years.
Leviten explained: “It was a really nice thing for staff because a lot of staff here have worked really really hard over the past few years to be able to deliver that success, so it was nice for them to get that recognition.”
Leviten added the ability to use The King’s Award logo for the next three years will boost business due to its significance.
FACT is also one of the only five businesses in Greater London that achieved The King’s Award this year.
FACT is partnered with many well-known companies, such as Sky and the Premier League.
Leviten revealed FACT is now collaborating with a major manufacturer of disposable and refillable vapes to combat illicit vapes.
FACT will also be improving its work on due diligence and corporate investigations.
Featured image courtesy of FACT, with thanks
