The government will pump an extra 3 million into the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) to extend the sector's work to stop online piracy and copyright infringement.
The announcement was made by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister for Intellectual Property, at the Anti-Counterfeiting Group Conference in London, who said the extension of funds will be a half million pound increase in cash awarded to PIPCU for the initial 2013-2015 period.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe said: "We will be working over the next couple of years to identify a source of long-term sustainable funding - at this stage we have not ruled anything out or anything in.
"It is clear to me that for units like PIPCU to be successful, they need strong and lasting partnerships with rights holders and their industry representatives."
Despite the film, TV, music and publishing industry reporting a downturn in sales following the formation of PIPCU, the police department has been instrumental in bringing down level of crime related to copyright infringement.
For example, two men were arrested in September for selling discs loaded with fake software originally manufactured by Adobe and Microsoft. The couple was selling the discs on a website, demonstrating a full-scale criminal operation.
In another initiative set up in July, PIPCU started installing pop up ads on websites distributing copyrighted material, warning customers the sites are being investigated for criminal activity.
Another part of PIPCU's job is to close down websites selling counterfeit goods. Almost 3,000 websites selling counterfeit goods have been closed down since the organisation started its campaign, with the bulk of those in the lead up to April of this year and the others in a big crackdown.
Director of copyright protection at the BPI David Wood said: "The work of PIPCU to date has been invaluable in tackling piracy, which is recognised as a significant threat to musicians' income, investment in new businesses and the growth of the UK's creative economy."
