THE record industry is expected to unleash lawsuits against music pirates in Britain within the next month in an intensification of their battle to protect copyright material.

Industry sources have told The Times that record companies plan to target the most flagrant users of peer-to-peer internet file-sharing sites such as Grokster and Kazaa after the success of similar legal action in America.

Latest music industry sales figures, released yesterday, showed that the legal campaign in the US, where thousands of lawsuits have been filed against alleged music pirates, has helped to reverse a prolonged slump in record sales there.

“The lawsuits have had an impact in the US, but there remains a problem in the UK,” an executive familiar with the industry’s position said. “There is massive file sharing here, and I would say that the benign neglect policy that has been in place with regard to piracy in the UK coming to an end.”

The decline in global record industry turnover slowed to its lowest rate in four years during the first half of the year, figures released yesterday revealed. Music sales worldwide fell by 1.3 per cent to $13.9 billion, from $14.1 billion in the first half of last year, while unit volumes increased by 1.7 per cent to 1.22 billion, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

America led the wider industry, with growth of 3.9 per cent in value to $5.05 billion during the six months to June 30, while the UK, the third-largest market, fell by just 0.2 per cent to $1.26 billion.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has previously threatened music pirates in the UK with legal action. It has already sent thousands of instant messages over the internet to warn the most frequent users of file-sharing services that they are being watched.

However, although the BPI had hoped to encourage music fans to stop swapping their files illegally and move on to legitimate music download sites such as iTunes and Napster, thousands of people still exchange music free over the internet.

“The industry would take a particularly dim view of those people,” another source said, “especially in light of the variety of legal options now available to them.”

The record industry’s half-yearly figures also revealed that DVDs have emerged as a strong driver of growth, helping to offset sharp declines in older music formats, such as cassettes and CD singles. Music video sales grew by more than 20 per cent in the first half, to account for 7.2 per cent of the total recorded music volume.

John Reid, executive vice-president of marketing for Warner Music International, said: “DVDs are growing exponentially. They have gone in leaps and bounds, and it’s not just an afterthought following the release of a CD these days, it’s part of the entire artist-development process.”

The 1.3 per cent drop in total music sales compares with a 10.7 per cent fall in the first half of 2003. However, several key markets continued to decline rapidly. European sales fell by 7.7 per cent as France suffered a 22 per cent plunge and Spain a drop of nearly 11 per cent.

Jay Berman, IFPI chairman, said: “The real litmus test on the recovery will come in the second half of the year, which accounts for 60 per cent of overall sales.”

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