BPI appoint Tim Cooper as new Head of Content Protection

22 February 2016 - Press release

The BPI announces the appointment of Tim Cooper to the new role of Head of Content Protection.  

Currently Head of Operations at NetResult, part of Thomson Reuters, Cooper will join the BPI on 20th April and will report to The BPI's General Counsel, Kiaron Whitehead, and to its Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor.

The appointment is part of The BPI's drive to ensure it has the very best talent for its world-leading content protection services for record companies and performers.  John Hodge, who currently manages The BPI’s Content Protection team, has decided to leave after five years with The BPI to head up enforcement for premium-rate phone services regulatory body PhoneplayPlus, which he will join on 14th March 2016.

Tim Cooper joins The BPI after 10 years with NetResult, where he has overseen anti-piracy activities across a wide range of intellectual property rights.  After joining NetResult in 2006, he assisted in developing the world’s first anti-piracy service to combat the damaging effects of live streaming, devising strategies to deal with streams delivered by live P2P networks and streaming platforms.  Prior to this Tim accrued 16 years’ experience working within the sports research divisions of both Kantar and Publicis.

Commenting on his appointment as Head of Content Protection, Tim Cooper said:  “I am thrilled to be joining The BP‎I to head up its content protection work. I have worked in rights protection for over a decade and music has been a passion all of my life. I look forward to leading The BPI’s Content Protection team and working closely with its General Counsel to continue to develop and deliver The BPI’s world-renowned content protection services for record labels and performers.”

Welcoming Tim’s appointment, Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards, added:  “We are delighted to welcome Tim to lead our work protecting the music produced by UK artists and labels.  The BPI has led the way in safeguarding the UK market from illegal sites, and, in that regard, I'd like to thank John Hodge for his commitment and contribution over the past five years, and to wish him well in his new role.  

“The BPI believes that artists and labels deserve to be paid for their work and we are passionate about encouraging the growth of the legal digital market. Tim's arrival will enable us to build on what has been achieved to date and marks a new phase for the industry’s content protection strategy.”

The BPI has spearheaded a major drive in recent years to disrupt the activities of illegal music and torrent sites.  It has removed more than 190 million illegal links from Google search, resulting in many leading illegal sites dropping down from top results.  It has successfully obtained court orders requiring ISPs to block access to 63 websites offering infringing content as well as hundreds of proxy sites, resulting in traffic to those sites dropping by 75 per cent – forcing the closure of several of them.

The BPI’s content protection work has contributed to the UK having one of the lowest piracy rates in the world.  The number of UK consumers visiting illegal sites has fallen to about half the global average, and is lower than any other technologically advanced country except the USA and Japan.  The BPI works closely with The City of London Police’s PIPCU operation (Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit) and with advertisers to choke off the revenues on which illegal sites feed, and is a key partner in the Creative Content UK Get It Right From A Genuine Site awareness campaign, which aims to encourage consumers to value content and to source it from legal sites.