WOULD-BE CD and computer game counterfeiters were today warned to beware after a husband-and-wife team were arrested at their North Yorkshire home.

The couple are said to have been running a counterfeiting operation from their spare room and offering goods for sale on the Internet.

Counterfeit music CDs, DVDs, computer games and talking books, along with a computer and copying equipment were allegedly seized in a raid in which the couple were arrested and interviewed by police.

They will be reported for offences under the Trademarks Act and have been released pending forensic examination of the confiscated equipment and products.

It is believed the couple were also allegedly operating an Internet mail order service for the illegal goods.

Their operation was uncovered after an investigation by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) anti-piracy unit and North Yorkshire trading standards officers.

In a separate incident in Scarborough on Monday, one man was arrested by police after a North Yorkshire Trading Standards team investigation discovered an illegal copying factory in the spare bedroom of his home.

Again, it is thought the product was being offered for sale via e-mail. The man is to be reported for offences under the Trademarks Act.

The MCPS anti-piracy unit said it was seeing an increase in home-based illegal copying units, with the development of new technology.

Nick Kounoupias, from the unit, said: "Copying music in any way without a licence is illegal, as is manufacturing product which bears registered trademarks - many band names are registered trademarks - and we will continue to prosecute those engaged in illegal activity. They will face potential imprisonment and heavy fines as a result.

"We are seeing many operations like the ones in Selby and Scarborough which are being set up as commercial enterprises by otherwise respectable citizens just because the technology is around which allows them to do so.

"It is a sad fact that many of these people see the opportunity to make some extra money by setting up a counterfeiting operation in the back bedroom of their home - they believe that this will not arouse suspicion of their illegal activities.

"But these recent examples show that with active and vigilant trading standards teams like the one in North Yorkshire, there really is no hiding place. I would urge anyone thinking of engaging in this kind of illegal activity to think again - to ask if the activity is really worth the shame of a police van arriving early one morning; of your home being raided in front of your children; of finding yourself with a criminal record?

"Counterfeit operations such as these are not harmless home-taping operations; they are businesses and their effects go deep. They are cheating composers, music publishers, songwriters as well as artists and producers of their own right to earn money from their creations.

"And ironically, when someone buys illegal CDs, they are harming the very people whose work they most admire."

Members of the public with information about music piracy are asked to call the new Copyright Advice and Anti-Piracy Hotline on 0845 603 4567.