The British TV and film industry has launched an online educational service for consumers that it hopes will help combat the continuing problem of illegal downloads.

The Copyright Clinic will show short video clips that address common questions about intellectual property rights (IPR), including the legal aspects of uploading and downloading content protected by copyright.

With an estimated 127 million movies and TV shows illegally downloaded in the UK last year, compared to 158,000 legal downloads, digital copyright theft cost the British film and TV industry £152m.

However, this arm of the entertainment industry appears to have little appetite for the litigious approach adopted by the music industry; this is despite the increased public desire for digital content fuelled by the growth in broadband and applications such as the BBC's iPlayer.

The Copyright Clinic will be hosted on the website of the Industry Trust for Intellectual Property Awareness. This body was set up in 2004 by UK film studios and retailers as an educational tool to give the public clearer information about IPR and, in particular, copyright in the digital age.

The trust’s research shows that there is huge confusion surrounding IPR. It found that two-thirds of consumers don’t understand the concept of intellectual property (66 per cent). One in eight is confused about copyright theft (12 per cent) and one in 10 internet users doesn't recognise the difference between illegal and legal download sources.

Liz Bales, director-general of the Industry Trust, said: “Providing clearer information about the positive role of copyright is a vital ingredient in the mix of measures needed to counter copyright theft.”

The trust also wants to impress on the public that not respecting copyright could not only put studios and the whole industry at risk, but could cheat individual actors as well.

Actor Arthur Bostrom, who starred as officer Crabtree in the BBC TV comedy 'Allo, Allo', said: “The majority of actors are out of work 90 per cent of the time and an illegal download means the loss of residuals from reruns. I have no problem with the short clips on sites such as Youtube because it can bring you a new audience but I do have a problem with people putting up whole episodes.”

The trust also wants people to contribute to the Copyright Clinic by submitting copyright questions; these will be converted into new video clips for the site. The organisation said it had a small budget that would allow it to run advertising campaigns towards the end of the year. It is also in talks with internet service providers to find additional ways of getting its message across.