Page's role in piracy conviction
Langley was one of Britain's most notorious music pirates
A music pirate who was convicted after Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page gave evidence against him has been jailed for 20 months.
Robert Langley, 58, was arrested in 2005 after being caught with a massive haul of bootleg CDs and DVDs at a record fair in Glasgow.
The seizure by the British Phonographic Industry included £11,500 of counterfeit Led Zeppelin material.
Mr Page told Langley's trial that he did not sanction the items to be sold.
Langley, from Buckingham, had originally denied the charges against him.
However, after Mr Page gave evidence against him at the trial in Glasgow Sheriff Court last month he changed his plea to guilty by admitting three trademark and two copyright infringements.
Massive sales
Sentence was deferred for reports and when Langley returned to the court for sentencing he was told his offence was so serious that a custodial sentence was inevitable.
Sheriff Sam Cathcart said: "The volume of CDs and DVDs here was considerable. In my view, the gravity of this offence has to be dealt with by means of a custodial sentence."
The 20-month jail term is thought to be the highest sentence handed out to a bootlegger in Scotland.
Rock legend Mr Page, 63, told last month how BPI officials had asked him to come to Glasgow after the raid on Langley at the city's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
This came after the millionaire musician had already become aware of massive sales of pirate Led Zeppelin material across the world.
Mr Langley does have a long lying love of popular music and Led Zeppelin in particular
Murray Macara
Defence lawyer
The collection taken from Langley included a £220 boxed set of a Led Zeppelin tour in Japan and a £40 set of a warm-up session in Denmark.
Also seized was material from The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
Mr Page said: "The legitimate part is where fans trade music, but once you start packaging it up and you do not know what you are getting, you are breaking the rules legally and morally.
"There are some of these type of recordings where it is just a whirring and you cannot hear the music.
"If you have something like this that appears legitimate then it is just not right."
Murray Macara, defending, said the raid had been a "financial blow" to Langley and that he had not worked since.
The lawyer added that Langley and his girlfriend had recently set up an online business selling CDs through "legitimate sources".
Mr Page (centre) appeared as a witness at last month's trial
Mr Macara told the court: "The motivation in this case was for financial gain, but Mr Langley does have a long lying love of popular music and Led Zeppelin in particular."
Langley still faces a Proceeds of Crime hearing later this year, where the Crown is seeking to strip him of assets totalling £250,000.
Bootlegging is a specialist area of music piracy, where performers' live performances are recorded without the permission of the artist or label and are sold on the black market.
Once the main area of music piracy, bootlegging has all been wiped out with the trade now dominated by organised criminal gangs who mass-produce replicas of genuine recordings or illegal compilations.
The BPI welcomed the sentence.
Its piracy manager David Wood said Langley was a "notorious" music pirate who was the last of about 10 major players who had previously dominated the bootleg scene.
"Serious organised criminals now control the distribution of fake CDs, DVDs, games and software, and internet piracy has engendered a culture of mass online copyright theft," he said.
"But as this case shows, by working closely with the authorities we can bring people who profit from music theft to justice."
Source : BBC News
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