THERE will be many people who shrug their shoulders today at the seizure of 10,000 suspected counterfeit DVDs and computer games as no big deal.

There is a perception among many that counterfeiting is a ‘victimless’ crime because it is only hitting the big studios in the pocket.

And they’re all rolling in dosh in Hollywood, ain’t they? What harm is there in grabbing a £5 copy of Toy Story 3 for the kids?

Well, there is harm that filters down to us here in little old Oxford.

Looking at the potential figures, it could be argued that those 10,000 films have taken thousands of pounds out of the retail market. And that is just what was seized yesterday in Blackbird Leys.

Now you begin to see the scale of the problem — and it isn’t just £5 here and there.

Oxford has been pushing itself more aggressively as an ideal location for films because of the economic spin-offs in jobs and studio pounds being spent in the city.

But if the movie industry is pulling in smaller profits it has less to invest making films or going out on location.

And places like Oxford will feel the pinch.

Your £5 bogus copy of Cemetery Junction (filmed in Gloucestershire after all) could be taking money out of your pocket indirectly.