£16,000 bill for illegally copying Net pinball

A woman has been ordered to pay £16,000 after a swoop on Britons who illegally share games and films over the internet, lawyers said today.

The unnamed woman is among the first to be taken to court in the UK by computer game manufacturers seeking to protect their copyright.

The Patents County Court in London ordered that the woman pay damages of £6,086.56 and costs and disbursements of £10,000 to Topware Interactive, owner of the computer game Dream Pinball 3D, law firm Davenport Lyons said.

The firm has launched civil proceedings on behalf of Topware Interactive against 100 people suspected of illegally uploading copyrighted works.

The case is focusing on peer-to-peer networks, which give subscribers direct access to each other's computers, allowing people to download files without paying fees to the copyright owner.

Earlier this year, the Central London County Court ruled against four people who were found to have infringed copyright by sharing games on the internet.

The High Court in London has ordered internet service providers to release names and addresses of suspected file sharers, the firm said.

The Government recently brokered a deal between the UK's music and film industries and ISPs to tackle illegal file-sharing.