Police anti-piracy operation cuts advertising on illegal sites by 70%

Operation Creative, backed by ad industry and film, music and TV trade bodies, seeks to stop legitimate brands' campaigns appearing on pirate websites

A police operation to starve websites offering pirated films, music, books and TV shows of income has resulted in a decrease of more than 70% in advertising appearing on illegal sites.

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit said there has been a 73% decrease in advertising from the UK's top spending companies appearing on illegal websites since it launched a crackdown in 2013.